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Washington Capitals Must Replace Fehr
Winter Classic hero-turned hated Penguin Eric Fehr will be more difficult to replace than most are imagining right now. Fehr never lived up to his full potential, but was one of the only reliable depth scorers that the Capitals had over the past two seasons. Fehr was probably better suited to play in the top-six over a player like Brouwer, but he played a very vital role on that third line.
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The only immediate replacements on the current roster for Fehr’s open position are Brooks Laich, Jay Beagle and Andre Burakovsky. Let me just say that in no way, shape or form should Beagle take Fehr’s old spot. Beagle is what he is: a very hard worker that is an above average fourth-liner and a very valuable penalty killer.
Brooks Laich is very maligned at this point by fans because of several reasons. He is oft-injured, has seen worrying declines in production even while healthy this past season, and because of his monster cap hit. Laich was probably never worth $4.5 million, but he was valued very highly by the organization because he is a good penalty killer, and used to be a fairly reliable offensive threat to a degree. The injuries have derailed his production, though.
Andre Burakovsky is another option mentioned by GM Brian Maclellan. I would really like to see Burakovsky get top-six time with Kuznetsov and Williams, but I just don’t know that is going to happen, at least at first. He would bring a lot of skill to that third line one way or another. I really don’t want to see Burakovsky get stuck into that 3C role long-term when he could very well become a top-line winger. But, is he not the best option for that 3C role currently? That is very debatable, and it is going to be very interesting to see this situation pan out.
It doesn’t sound like Maclellan will be going after any more free agents, so at this point I think the best way of trying to match Fehr’s production would a line of Burakovsky/Johansson-Laich-Wilson. That is obviously dependent on Laich staying healthy, something both he and Fehr have struggled to do. If Laich is able to find some of his old magic, the Capitals will have three very strong lines that pose a threat on every single shift.
Next: One Player, Several Roles