Are The San Jose Sharks And Washington Capitals Good Trading Partners?

The Washington Capitals need to retool their lineup. So far this off-season they have shaken up the goaltending by getting rid of their two younger options in Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov. Vanecek now with the division rival Devils, Samsonov a UFA who could potentially still return on a smaller deal.

While the goaltending was a weak spot on this team for the past couple of seasons I still think more needs to be done on this team. This is why I think the team is in a really tricky and gross situation.

Standing pat doesn’t make sense at all. This is a team that has lost in the first round for four straight seasons. You need to shake it up now. That being said, This is an older team now with the stars getting to or passing their mid thirties. The team needs to start thinking about the future. What kind of shake up can you do that doesn’t hurt the long term future of this team, but gives them enough of a jolt to potentially put them back in contender status.

Thankfully I am not the general manager of this team because some very tough decisions need to be made, and need to be made soon.

If the Capitals wanted to make a couple of trades to help this team I potentially know of a team they could contact. The San Jose Sharks.

There are two players on that side that I think would be interesting additions to the Capitals. One of those players is incredibly unlikely to, one, get traded at all, and two, get traded to Washington thanks to the cap situation. But it is still fun to imagine all the same. We’ll start by talking about the unlikely one.

Logan Couture.

Honestly, as much as it would hurt to sit Nicklas Backstrom for a year, considering the injury and the surgery he had I don’t think it would be the worst idea ever. Let him take a year off and get him completely healthy for the next season. Don’t force him or don’t let him force himself to try to play even one second too early.

That is probably unlikely to happen as well even though it probably should.

But lets just say that does happen. If it did, the Capitals would need a new center and a lot of cap room to to go get one. The Capitals also need someone who is proven and someone who can help in the playoffs. That’s Couture.

The Capitals have struggled in the playoffs for years now. Couture is one of the best playoff players in the league, at least in my opinion, and the numbers tend to back me up on that.

Between 2010, Couture’s first playoff year, and 2019, his most recent playoff appearance, he ranked fourth in scoring total. His 101 points were only fewer than Sidney Crosby at 123, Patrick Kane at 109 and Evgeni Malkin at 106. Couture had more points than Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron, Alex Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom, just to name a few.

During that time there was only one player to score more playoff goals than Couture. That man being Ovechkin who scored 50 goals between 2010 and 2019. Couture had 48. The next closest was Crosby at 42 and Joe Pavelski also at 42. Kane had 41, Malkin had 39 and you can keep going down the list to find impressive names Couture is ahead of.

There are several obvious problems with this deal. The first, I have no idea who or what the Capitals could offer to get Couture. Picks would be obvious, likely a prospect and maybe a player. I have no idea. If the Capitals wanted to send some salary the other way maybe the Sharks would take a player like Anthony Mantha. Someone who can score who is somewhat younger, but hasn’t seemed to fully find his way in D.C. yet. I have no idea. I am not a fan of making up trades for teams.

Another issue would be the salary. Couture has a $8 million cap hit and that does not expire until 2027. If you got him you would have him for the next several seasons, this would not be a simple one or two year thing. According to CapFriendly Couture also has a modified no trade clause. He would need to approve a trade to the Capitals.

The other and probably most important issue. The Sharks are still in denial that they are in the need of a rebuild, even after changing GM’s. Why would you trade one of your top two centers if you think you can try to compete? The problem is they probably won’t compete, therefore, being in denial. To get a guy like Couture you would likely have to give up a lot.

At the end of the day, that one is just a pipe dream. A dream of adding a second line center who is a beast in the playoffs, a time of the year that the Capitals have struggled. The Capitals potentially need a center. There is a good one. I know there are plenty of reasons this deal would never happen, but it’s mid July. It’s the time to fantasize.

However, there is one trade these teams could make that makes more sense. That would be for another team need, goaltending. James Reimer.

If the Caps do not bring back Samsonov on a cheaper deal after signing another goalie, seemingly Darcy Kuemper, they would need another goalie. Could they use someone they already have in the system? Someone like Zach Fucale who had a chance with the team last season? Possibly.

It would be nice to go get another proven guy though. Reimer is just that.

Reimer has played in twelve NHL seasons. In all of those seasons he has never had a save percentage below .900 to finish the season. He has finished at exactly .900 twice.

In 433 career games played Reimer has a 2.80 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. Reimer really has not had the privilege of playing for great teams. He played on one good Leafs teams in 2013 where he had a 2.46 GAA and .924 save percentage. His next good team was San Jose in 2016 where he played in 8 games as a backup, but had a 1.62 GAA and a .938 save percentage. That Sharks team was the best team he played on, that team went to the Cup final after all, but he did not play much. But he did show what he can do behind a good team.

The Capitals are still a good team. A good team that could use a goalie or two.

Reimer also doesn’t have the worst contract. He currently has one year left on his deal at a hit of $2.250 million. Thanks to injuries to Adin Hill, Reimer was basically the Sharks starter last season. In 48 games he posted a 2.90 GAA. That’s not great. But his save percentage was .911. That is pretty good considering his goals against.

The Sharks have three goalies right now. There really isn’t a reason to have three goalies. They have two younger options in Adin Hill and Kaapo Kahkonen. San Jose needs to get rid of salary and make some room, there is an extra two plus if you can find a good place for Reimer.

Both of these deals makes sense, one a lot more than the other and one a lot easier to do than the other. These are positional needs for the Capitals. If they feel the need to make a trade to fill those needs maybe they should give San Jose and new General Manager, and former Cap, Mike Grier a call.