Top 5 biggest trading mistakes in Capitals history
The Washington Capitals have been known to have made mistakes throughout their history when it comes to making trades. This post will look at the top 5 biggest trading mistakes the Capitals ever made.
These trades were knee jerk reactions that whoever the general manager was, thought would make the team useful but ended up hurting them in the long run. Sometimes it’s giving up a star or a valuable prospect. Other times it’s those knee jerk reactions for a temporary solution in landing a big star.
Let’s look at 5 of the Caps biggest mistakes when it comes to trades.
#5 Robert Lang for Tomas Fleischmann and two draft picks
The 2003-04 season was the lowest point for the franchise. Not only were they failing to win on the ice but were also facing financial difficulties. This move would give the Detroit Red Wings a boost but would continue to make things complicated for the Caps.
Up until the 2004 trade deadline, Robert Lang had the best season of his career leading the league in scoring with 29 goals and 45 assists. The Caps got Tomas Fleischmann in the deal along with a first round draft pick in 2004 and a fourth round draft pick in 2006.
Lang would see the playoffs instantly with the Red Wings. Fleischmann struggled and didn’t have good production until 2007.
#4 Jaromir Jagr for Anson Carter
Going hand in hand with the other slide, the Caps had to part ways with Jaromir Jagr. He wasn’t living up to the contract that they gave him and as a result put the Caps in financial hell. In that trade deadline of 2004 they dealt Jagr to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter.
It actually wasn’t the trade deadline when this deal happened but it did kick off the Caps fire sale. Carter only played in 19 games with the Caps scoring five goals and five assists for 10 points before being traded at the deadline to the Los Angeles Kings.
Jagr struggled during his time with the Caps but would find instant success with the New York Rangers. He had just 16 goals prior to getting traded from the Caps and finished the season with 15 goals with the Rangers.
The next year Jagr had a whooping 54 goals and then would have 30 and 25, respectively, before continuing his NHL tour elsewhere. Although this trade was bad this was something the Caps had to do.
It was this kind of mess up and another one that we’ll talk about soon that led to the drafting of Alex Ovechkin.
#3 Bob Crawford, Kelly Miller, and Mike Ridley for Bobby Carpenter and a 1989 second rounder
This trade came in 1987 and was by far one of the worst trades the Capitals made in the early days of their franchise. Bobby Carpenter was drafted by the Capitals in the first round at third overall in 1981. He was the first American born player to get selected that high.
Carpenter scored 32 goals in his first two seasons and had 28 his third season before scoring a career high 53 goals in his fourth season. He had 27 goals in his fifth season before he was traded to the New York Rangers in the middle of his sixth.
The 1989 second rounder turned out to be Jason Prosofsky.
Bob Crawford played just 12 games with the Capitals closing out the 1986-87 season and never played in an NHL game again. He didn’t score any goals during his time with the Caps.
Mike Ridley ended up being better as he scored 15 goals in 40 Caps games that remainder of the season. He would even score 41 goals in 1988-89.
Kelly Miller, well he was alright but not as good as Ridley and certainly not as good as Carpenter. The most he scored was 24 goals in 1990-91. Basically Ridley was the best player out of the deal.
#2 Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk
This trade that occurred in 2001 put the Caps back but it also may have put the Caps forward though it may not have seemed like it at the time.
Jaromir Jagr not working out in Washington was what led the team to ultimately draft Alex Ovechkin. Prior to landing in D.C., Jagr was excellent with the Pittsburgh Penguins, making nine NHL All Star Games and winning back to back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992.
Trading for him before the 2001-02 season brought a lot of excitement to the area with fans hopeful the Caps would turn the corner. After they traded for him, the Caps signed Jagr to a seven year contract worth $77 million. The Caps sent the Penguins three of their prospects: Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk.
Jagr did not live up to the expectations or the contract. After averaging almost 40 goals per season during his time with the Penguins, he only averaged 28 goals in the three seasons he played with the Caps.
Not only did the Caps have to trade Jagr during that fire sale, they had a hard time finding a team willing to take on that lucrative contract.
#1 Michael Latta and Martin Erat for Filip Forsberg
This is by far the worst trade in Washington Capitals history. Filip Forsberg was also drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft. He was the Capitals’ first selection in the first round at 11th overall and the team would later draft Tom Wilson at #16th.
In the trade deadline of the 2013 lockout shortened season, then General Manager George McPhee wanted to give up a prospect for a veteran for a shot at winning the Cup. We all know what happened after that.
Erat scored just two goals as a member of the Capitals for two seasons. One of them was an empty netter. Forsberg blossomed into an NHL star with the Nashville Predators. Michael Latta was OK and even formed a good friendship with Tom Willson but he didn’t last very long with the Caps which was unfortunate for Wilson.
Last season Forsberg scored a career high 42 goals and 42 assists for 84 points. It was his best season offensively since he scored 33 goals in the 2015-16 season. This was another prospect that the Caps got away but if there’s any silver lining this trade did lead to the Caps trading for T.J. Oshie, and we all know how that turned out.
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Those are five of the biggest trading mistakes the Capitals ever made. Which one was the one that made you yell out the most choice words?