Washington Capitals: 3 trade proposals for John Carlson

One unpopular (or maybe it’s popular) opinion some Washington Capitals fans have is that the team should move on from defenseman John Carlson.

Carlson is a good offensive defenseman, in fact he’s a great one. He scored a career high 17 goals to go along with 54 assists for 71 points. So what’s the problem that Caps fans have?

It’s Carlson’s defense, or lake thereof, that’s alarming. He also had a costly turnover in overtime of Game 6 that ended the Capitals season early yet again. He turns 33 in January and has a cap hit of $8 million. He’s under contract through 2026-27 after signing the extension in the summer of 2018 after winning the Cup.

John Carlson for Vince Dunn

Vince Dunn plays for the Seattle Kraken and can play both right handed and left handed. He’s a versatile option with a cap hit of four million. He’s also just 25 years old. Other defenseman on the Kraken include Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson but they both have no trade clauses.

Dunn had seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points which is good production. The only downside is that his plus minus is a minus 21. He averages 20:41 minutes of ice time. He would be a good cheap option.

John Carlson for Brandon Carlo

Brandon Carlo is another 25 year old defenseman. He plays for the Boston Bruins. He’s definitely another one on the cheaper side with a cap hit of $4.1 million. Charlie McAvoy, while he only made $4.9 million this season, is in the middle of a contract extension where he will make $9.5 million beginning next season.

Carlo had six goals and nine assists for 15 points last season. In the playoffs he had an assist as the Bruins lost in the first round to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. Carlo also has some decent advanced stats.

Carlo’s Corsi For percentage in the regular season was at 51.66 percent, his Expected Goals For percentage at 50.84 percent, and his High Danger Chances For at 52.91 percent according to Natural Stat Trick.

For comparison’s sake let’s look at Carlson’s possession metrics. His Corsi For percentage came out to 50.73 percent, his Scoring Chances For percentage at 49.71 percent and his High Danger Chances For percentage 49.90 percent, per Natural Stat Trick. Those numbers are just below Carlo in each category.

In the playoffs Carlson’s Corsi For percentage dropped to 44.20 percent. Carlo’s postseason Corsi For percentage was at exactly 50 percent. Again this is another move that could give the Caps some cap relief while getting a younger defenseman in the process.