Washington Capitals: Top 3 needs heading into the offseason

#3 Defense

The Caps will need a new defensive coach as well as an upgrade to the current personnel. Todd Reirden has found an opportunity as an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. As far as who would be a good assistant coaching defense on the Caps they should look no further than Brooks Orpik.

The Caps will have two unrestricted free agents in Brenden Dillon and Radko Gudas and a restricted free agent in Jonas Siegenthaler. Gudas carries a cap hit of $2,345,000, Dillon’s is $1,635,000. Siegenthaler carries a cap hit of $714,166.

There are several big names available if the Caps are unable to re-sign Gudas or Dillon though they should certainly try to bring back Dillon. One player is Chris Tanev. Other names include Trevor van Riemsdyk, Dylan Demelo, Dustin Byfuglien, Alex Pietrangelo, Justin Schutz, Tyson Barrie, Torey Krug, Andy Green, and Sami Vatanen. They need a defenseman who’s proven and that’ll be at the top of their shopping list.

The Caps next coach should have a defensive mind as well. Someone like a Peter Laviolette. The Caps were ranked 17th in goals allowed by surrendering 212 goals in the regular season. In the playoffs the Caps were ranked 13th allowing 23 goals.