Top 5 bold predictions for the Capitals heading into free agency

The Washington Capitals enter an interesting free agency period. There will be some tough decisions to make and for the first time in years, we might see a big upgrade at forward. We’ll also probably see a new veteran net minder and part ways with either Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov.

Free Agency across the NHL begins on Wednesday July 13 at 12 noon eastern. It will be a wild day for all the teams but especially the Capitals.

Can the team find a center to replace Nicklas Backstrom? What about Tom Wilson who they’ll be without till around Thanksgiving at the earliest? There’s got to be a tough player available to fill that void.

#5 More money, bigger splash

Unlike previous years, the Capitals will be entering this free agency period with more money to spend. Per CapFriendly, the Caps have $8,978,334 in cap space. That doesn’t include Nicklas Backstrom or Tom Wilson going on long term injured reserve, as that hasn’t kicked in yet. But let’s do some match.

Adding Backstrom and Wilson’s cap hits for when they would go on LTIR, the Caps will have $23,345,000 in cap space. That’s A LOT of money to get a veteran net minder and two top six forwards.