5 free agents the Capitals should sign

We are just 10 days away from NHL Free Agency opening up. It takes place on Wednesday July 13 at 12 noon. The Washington Capitals will have big decisions to make and now big holes to fill.

Nicklas Backstrom said on breakdown day:

“The hip’s not going to be 100 percent. That’s something we know. Some days are less good: that’s just life.”

General Manager Brian MacLellan added:

“I think he’s going to explore all options here. He wants it to be better. He wants to be more physically comfortable when he plays, so he’s going to explore it.”

#5 Andrew Copp

Andrew Copp was a center that made an impact last season with the New York Rangers. He recorded 53 points in the regular season with 21 goals and 32 assists in 72 games and was an important part of Gerrard Galant’s second power play unit.

Copp will be looking for a raise as he had a cap hit last season of $3.64 million. He could get a raise of up to five million and now the Caps have extra money with two key forwards about to enter long term injury reserved.

Copp would be a perfect fit at center to replace Nicklas Backstrom on the second line. Keep Evgeny Kuznetsov up top.

#4 Darcy Kuemper

One player the Caps could pursue at goaltender is Darcy Kuemper of the Colorado Avalanche, who just won a Stanley Cup with them, besting the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. That ended Tampa Bay’s two Cup winning streak.

Although he helped the Avs win their first Stanley Cup since 2001, he enters this summer as a pending free agent. He spent 10 NHL seasons with four different teams and would be a slam dunk to be the Caps number one goalie with either Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov backing up.

In his career, Kuemper posted a .918 save percentage with a 2.48 goals against average. In four of the last five seasons, he’s posted save percentages of .920, .925, .928, .907, .921. With the Avalanche this past season he had a 25.1 goals saved above average.

Kuemper is 32 years old and a downside to his game is that he did have injury issues. His last contract was $4.5 million and he will certainly be looking for a big pay day as he’s in the final legs of his NHL career.

The Caps would love nothing more to win a Cup again and adding a Cup winning goaltender could help mentor a young Vanecek or Samsonov. He’s definitely one of the best on the market that could be a great fit with the Caps.

#3 Evgeni Malkin

Yes this was very weird to type but it looks more and more like the Pittsburgh Penguins are ready to move on from Evgeni Malkin. That likely means it’ll be time for Alex Ovechkin and Malkin to put their differences aside if General Manager Brian MacLellan does successfully pull the trigger.

Imagine him centering a line with his fellow Russian Ovechkin. Malkin was drafted at number two after Ovechkin was selected in 2004 at number one. Penguins fans would totally lose their mind at that imagination.

With Nicklas Backstrom out for an extended period of time, it looks more and more likely the Caps will gun for a top tier center to replace Nicky. Malkin would easily fit that bill.

In 41 games last season, Malkin had 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points. Like Ovechkin, even at age 35 he’s still got it. And he turns 36 at the end of the month. In the playoffs, Malkin had six points in seven games with three goals and three assists.

Could Malkin be intrigued to play with Ovechkin or will he pull a Marc Andre Fleury due to the awkwardness that comes with coming from Pittsburgh to Washington? We’ll have to wait and find out.

#2 Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell had another solid season with the Toronto Maple Leafs but he was even better this past season than he had been in previous years despite another first round exit. Campbell went 31-9-6 with a .914 save percentage and a 2.64 goals against average. In the playoffs he had a 3.15 goals against average and a .897 save percentage.

The challenge with Campbell is that the Maple Leafs do want to re sign him. But that would be easier said than done as they have issues with the salary cap. They would have to part ways with Petr Mrazek in order to have enough money to re sign Campbell.

Campbell thrived as a backup when he came to the Maple Leafs and took over as a starter this past season. He is loved by his teammates and seems like a great guy in the locker room. Whatever happens as he enters free agency, he’ll want a high price among his suitors.

Campbell is coming off a deal that pays him $1.6 million and expect another team to shell out at least five million dollars from their pockets. It certainly won’t be the Toronto Maple Leafs. If there’s anything good about two injuries it’s that now there’s some money to spend.