Trade Deadline: Washington Capitals Standing Pat?

The trade market exploded before we even reached the trade deadline. The Washington Capitals, after making the biggest trade, should end there.

It’s the most exciting day in the hockey world, the trade deadline. This year’s deadline could be more boring than years past, as most of the blockbuster trades have already been made. The Washington Capitals shouldn’t be looking to make another big move.

The Washington Capitals did in fact, make a move this morning, be it a minor-league trade. The Capitals sent goaltender Joe Cannata from the Hershey Bears, in exchange for San Antonio (Colorado affiliate) defenseman, Cody Corbett.

Acquiring Pheonix Copley from the Blues in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade, Cannata was pushed out of the Bears line-up and became expendable. Corbett will be no more than a depth-defenseman in Hershey, so this move won’t likely effect the Capitals directly in the near future.

Washington Capitals

At 23 years old, Corbett is in the midst of his development. There is a possibility he could break an NHL roster in the future.

As far as moves at the NHL level, the Capitals should do absolutely NOTHING.

Some believe that moving centerman, Zach Sanford, for Kevin Shattenkirk did create a new need, depth.

The Capitals are comfortable with their starting roster going forward. Forward depth however, could be an issue in the playoffs.

Players like Jakob Vrana and Riley Barber are perfectly fine to play NHL games in the regular season, but come playoff time can you really depend on them? While they are both great players in their own respect, they’re still rookies who can be liabilities on the ice.

Capitals GM, Brian MacLellan might make a small move to fill that depth position. The current cap space of the team may however, prevent that.

According to CapFriendly, the Capitals only have $1,324,424 of available cap room due to LTIR relief.

That little of space to make a move would require MacLellan to move a player on his current NHL roster. It wouldn’t make sense to move anyone currently on the roster to make room for a depth player. That would effectively defeat the whole purpose.

It’s clear the Capitals are all in this season. However it’s tough to make a move that will improve the league’s best. Shattenkirk was the rare anomaly, and should remain just that.

Next: Capitals Acquire Kevin Shattenkirk

The trade deadline is today at 3:00 PM. We’ll see then if the Capitals do squeeze in a trade with their limited room to work with.