Top 5 trades the Capitals need to make in 2022
The Washington Capitals are near the top of the NHL standings but that doesn’t mean there’s zero room for improvement. It’s not about the Presidents Trophy, it’s about the chase for Lord Stanley in the spring. Any moves do you think the salary cap strapped Caps could make in the midseason to help put them over the top?
It feels like the lineup is a revolving door with the injuries and the COVID issues. For this exercise I’m going to protect many of our youth and the popular veterans (Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and T.J. Oshie you’re safe). Here are the top 5 trades I would make at the deadline if I was Brian MacLellan.
#5 Carl Hagelin for Trevor Lewis
Carl Hagelin scored last night which was a holiday miracle. We loved having him with the Caps but it’s time to part ways. In return the Caps wold get Trevor Lewis from the Calgary Flames who’s a right winger on the fourth line and also an effective penalty killer. Basically a swap for swap from one teams fourth line and PK to the other.
Lewis carries a cap hit of $800,000 compared to Hagelin’s cap hit of $2.75 million. That would make it a little tricky but it’s certainly not impossible.
#4 Justin Schultz for Radim Simek
This one will be a little tricky as Justin Schultz is in the last year of his contract. Still it might be a good swap from blue line to blue line. Schultz has a cap hit of $4 million and with two other right handed defensemen on the San Jose Sharks in Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson making more the Sharks may not want to take this.
If they do want to take it, however, the Caps could be getting a bargain. Radim Simek makes $2.25 million a year. He’s also 29. Schultz is 31 and has two goals and four assists for six points in 28 games. He’s currently in COVID protocol. Simek has one goal and one assist in 20 games so far this season.
Schultz’s advanced stats aren’t too shabby. He has a Corsi For percentage of 51.49 percent, a 53.65 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 53.13 percent Scoring Chances For percentage.
Simek’s advanced stats are a little smaller but he also played in eight less games than Schultz. He has a Corsi For percentage of 49.27 percent which is still decent. His Expected Goals For percentage is 52.02 percent while his Scoring Chances For is 55.22 percent.
Would this move make sense for the defense or would you rather see someone else get moved?
#3 Michael Sgarbossa for Nathan Walker
This is some wishful thinking on my end. Usually I’m against these types of things of brining a player back to their old team with very few exceptions. This is one of them. Another is when LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers but that was also a little different.
Nathan Walker carries a cap hit of $750,000 and plays left wing. Michael Sgarbossa is a center but can slot to the wing when needed. The Caps wouldn’t lose much at the center position with their top four centers back in the lineup. That’s why they sent Sgarbossa to waivers in the first place but he cleared and is now on the taxi squad.
Sgarbossa, when he’s in the lineup, has an identical cap hit of $750,000 so this might be a good swap after all. Plus we would get the Australian star back in Nathan Walker as he’s the first and only player from Australia to play in the NHL.
Walker has four goals and one assist for five points in seven games with the St. Louis Blues. Playing time won’t be guaranteed but then again who knows with the COVID-19 issues across the world of sports.
#2 Lars Eller for Michael Rasmussen
A lot of people think Lars Eller won’t last till the end of the season. That’s not to say he’s a bad center, in fact he’s the best third line center in the league. That’s why this particular trade was a hard one to write about or propose.
Michael Rasmussen has just three goals and seven assists for 10 pints in 29 games this season for the Detroit Red Wings, who for some reason have liked to do business with the Capitals lately. This would basically be a third line center swap.
Eller has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 26 games. After a slow start and a bout with COVID he has heated up with three goals in his last five games. Eller has won 49.1 percent of his face off draws while Rasmussen has won 50 percent of his draws. Not too far off.
Had Eller not heated up lately their numbers would be nearly identical but here’s where this type of trade could benefit the Caps. Rasmussen carries a cap hit of $1.46 million. Eller’s cap hit is $3.5 million. Plus I feel like the Red Wings owe us not only for sweeping the Caps in the Stanley Cup Final but taking Jakub Vrana away.
#1 Vitek Vanecek for Marc-Andre Fleury
At the end of the season no matter what happens in the playoffs Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan has a tough decision to make. Or does he? Perhaps with the way Ilya Samsonov has heated up it looks like the decision has been made. At least, that’s what we think if this trade were to happen.
The rumors have it that the Caps were interested in a potential veteran backup. If they were to go that route Marc-Andre Fleury would be the perfect choice. That would also create a win win scenario for both parties. Vitek Vanecek would get his opportunity to shine elsewhere.
Vanecek carries the smallest cap hit on the team at $716,667. He almost got his opportunity to shine elsewhere when the Seattle Kraken took him in the expansion draft. Then they elected to with Philipp Grubauer allowing the Caps to trade back for him. Time is a flat circle.
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Fleury has a cap hit of $7 million which would make this trade tricky but if the Chicago Blackhawks want to get younger in goal, it presents a good opportunity. Those are the top 5 trades I would make and if you’re mad about this list hey at least I’m not GMBM.