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Washington Capitals: Christian Djoos gets what he rightfully deserves

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 10: Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos (29) fights for a loose puck in the third period with Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) on October 10, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 10: Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos (29) fights for a loose puck in the third period with Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) on October 10, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos is coming back.

The Washington Capitals 2012 seventh-rounder was awarded a one-year, $1.25 million dollar contract by a neutral arbitrator following Monday’s hearing. Christian Djoos was one of the best young defensemen that helped lead the Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2018 and after a setback last season, he’s determined to bounce back in 2019-20.

Djoos finished with 10 points (1 goal, 9 assists) in 45 games in 2019-20, a season that saw him have to overcome a midseason thigh injury in September that sidelined him for 23 games.

Djoos was on the third pairing next to Brooks Orpik for much of the season with some rotations with Jonas Siegenthaler. The playoffs saw Djoos play in three games but scratched the other four.

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Djoos recorded 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists in 63 games his rookie season in 2017-18 and had an assist and a +5 during the Capitals run to the Stanley Cup.

Djoos additionally had the best Corsi-For among defenseman at even strength at 52.2% (via Hockey Reference) and is the last remaining defenseman that was a rookie on that team who came up from Hershey.

The third defense pair will be something interesting to keep an eye on. The top should consist of Michal Kempny and John Carlson while Dmitry Orlov and Nick Jensen will occupy the middle. To the left of Radko Gudas will be a battle between Djoos and Siegenthaler or perhaps a consistent rotation.

Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post reported that the two parties settled to a medium after the Capitals asked for $800,000 for Djoos’ extension while Djoos and his agent asked for $1.9 million. General Manager Brian MacLellan was forced to compromise.

While this was the right move for the Capitals, it now puts them in a shaky situation with their salary cap. As you may recall, the Capitals headed into the hearing with $935,706 in cap space. Now, they’re $341,000 over the salary cap of $81.5 million that was set by the NHL for the 2019-20 season. Washington’s total projected cap hit is at $81,814,294 per CapFriendly.

The Capitals are allowed to be at 10% over the salary cap until the end of training camp when all 31 NHL clubs must submit opening night rosters. Chandler Stephenson’s arbitration is still on the horizon coming up on August 1. The Capitals will have to dump a contract, make a trade, anything, to get back either at or below the cap.

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Djoos though finally got his raise and he’ll have a chance at an even bigger payday next summer when he’s an RFA once again with arbitration rights on July 1, 2020.

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