Top 5 biggest trading mistakes in Capitals history

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Anson Carter, Washington Capitals (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

#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.

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