Washington Capitals: 5 trade-deadline rumors we’re glad that never happened

Marc-Andre Fleury Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
Marc-Andre Fleury Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
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Marcus Johansson, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Marcus Johansson, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Washington Capitals trade deadline is in the books and reality is here. We’ve got Marcus Johansson and Johan Larsson for the foreseeable future as the team looks to make a playoff push and try to keep a closing window open as long as possible.

Now that we know what actually happened and we can all exhale (or rage if you weren’t happy), let’s look at the things that could’ve happened, the rumors that were popping, but didn’t actually happen and we can breathe a sigh of relief.

But first let’s get this out of the way. I’m sure the Caps were outbid for Max Domi but wow he wound up on those Carolina Hurricanes bunch of jerks. Oh well.

Reilly Smith Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Reilly Smith Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

#5 Reilly Smith

There was a suggestion (shoutout FanSided) that the Caps could go for the Vegas Golden Knights right winger. There is a point there but now that T.J. Oshie and Anthony Mantha are back in the lineup it’s a good thing the Caps didn’t gamble on this one.

Reilly Smith has the same amount of goals as Conor Sheary with 16 as well as 22 assists for 38 points. He also carries a cap hit of $5 million per cap friendly. Just didn’t have the money for it.