The Washington Capitals will have a lot to work with next month. While they wait on more news from Nicklas Backstrom’s hip injury and Carl Hagelin’s eye injury we can assess they’ll at least need to spend on a forward.
Don’t worry we’re going to have another free agency article exclusively for the goalies. But today we’ll see what forwards and defenseman are available on the market.
On the forward front, only trade deadline acquisitions Marcus Johansson and Johan Larsson are unrestricted free agents. On the defense there’s Matt Irwin, Michal Kempny and Justin Schultz.
Don’t forget to take into account that Tom Wilson will be out for six to eight months. A LOT of decisions are coming.
#3 Nikita Zadorov
We’ll start off with a defenseman. Nikita Zadorov played for the Calgary Flames and he’s a hard hitting Russian defenseman. He’s listed as six foot six and 235 pounds. Last season he had a career high four goals and 18 assists for 22 points. He was traded last summer to the Flames from the Chicago Blackhawks for a third rounder.
Zadorov can play both the left and the right side. He can be great on a third pairing with Trevor Van Riemsdyk. This would be their best move on defense.