Washington Capitals: Five Bargain Bin Free Agents To Consider
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The Washington Capitals have had an excellent off-season, to say the least. Not only did they sign former Los Angeles Kings forward Justin Williams to a deal that many consider to be a bargain, they also added a legitimate first line wing by trading for St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie. They also re-signed center and master penalty killer Jay Beagle. This immediately erases all the concerns that the Washington Capitals and their fans had about their forward depth.
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Despite all of these moves, the Capitals likely aren’t done, according to head coach Barry Trotz. At a recent luncheon, Trotz suggested that they are exploring options in case star center Nicklas Backstrom isn’t 100% ready by October 10th when the Caps open their 2015 regular season. Backstrom is recovering from a hip injury that he sustained in the playoffs.
This year didn’t offer that many good options at center to begin with. Now that we’re deep in free agency, a good number of those options have signed elsewhere. Incumbent third line center Eric Fehr has likely priced himself out of the Washington Capitals range. However, there are still several candidates out there in free agency that likely won’t cost much. It’s worth noting that Trotz never said where he’d add that center from, so the Caps might be having trade talks with another team. However, considering the Caps center depth once Backstrom is back, one would think it would have to be a cheap center.
There are five centers out there who I think the Washington Capitals should be looking at. At worst, they would provide depth. At best, they could wind up being the piece that winds up putting the Caps over the top. It’s worth noting though that if you think the Caps are a bargain bin player or two away from being strong Stanley Cup contenders, chances are they already are strong Stanley Cup contenders.
They’ll need cap space to sign pretty much anyone. They can always shop Jason Chimera and sell him to the highest bidder. They could also pursue moving Brooks Laich, though they would most likely need to attach a draft pick to him in order to trade him at this point.
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