It’s hard to find things to look forward to when there’s no Washington Capitals games on for a while. But the offseason is another season in itself. It’s the time where NHL general managers are put to the test, tasked with constructing the rosters. In the end, only one GM gets it right and we don’t find out until the end of next season.
Last summer there’s still four GM’s with teams in action right now determining which one did the right moves on the chessboard.
I’m not going to put on my GM hat and say what the Capitals should do. We’ve written plenty and we’ll continue to write more. But the purpose of this post is to help you mark your calendars for the important stuff that’s going on.
First and foremost the season is over for all NHL teams except four. Those four lucky squads are competing for this year’s Stanley Cup and the last possible day of the best tournament in sports (sorry March Madness) is on June 30. The Cup could be awarded well before then but we’ll see.
Once the Cup gets awarded then it’s full speed ahead for the offseason. On July 7th and 8th, the NHL Draft will be held at the Belle Centre in Montreal, home of the Canadiens. The Habs hold the first pick of the draft after the down season that they had. The Caps will be selecting 20th in the first round.
Less than a week later, things begin to get really silly. On July 13 at 12 noon eastern time, free agency begins. That’s where unrestricted and restricted free agents will be eligible to sign with any NHL team that pursues them.
But before that free agency period begins comes July 11 where the Caps have a deadline to extend qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. Those RFAs include Ilya Samsonov, Vitek Vanecek, Brett Leason, Beck Malenstyn, Damien Riat, Tobias Geisser and Lucas Johansen.
Among those names, Samsonov, Vanecek, and Johansen are eligible for arbitration. If any of those RFAs don’t get a qualifying offer they can become an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team they wish.
Those salary arbitration hearings can take place between July 27 through August 11. Also be on the lookout sometime after the draft for the Caps to bring back their development camp after it took a hiatus during the pandemic. We’ll all be missing hockey and even if it’s just prospects it’ll be good to get a glimpse of some future Caps.