3 past Capitals offseason deals that led to postseason success
The Washington Capitals have had a good offseason. Perhaps probably their best offseason since 2017. We’ll look at two deals they made that offseason plus one they made a couple of years prior that led to the success of the Stanley Cup.
The Caps entered this offseason with a ton of questions just like the way they entered that particular summer of 2017. We all saw what came out of it and hope the same thing happens again this year.
These were the moves that helped the Caps cruise their way to the Stanley Cup. One move they swung for the fences in a trade, the other was a cheap contract that turned to gold and another was an important contract extension.
#3 Extending Evgeny Kuznetsov
One of the most important moves the Caps made in the summer of 2017 was extending the contract of Evgeny Kuznetsov. They signed him to an eight year, $62.4 million deal where he makes $7.8 million a season through 2024-25.
This move paid off and it would show that postseason. Kuznetsov led the team with 32 points and 20 assists to go along with 12 goals. Some of those goals were clutch including one that eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins. If Alex Ovechkin didn’t win Conn Smythe, Kuznetsov certainly would’ve.
#2 Devante Smith Pelly
After the Caps re-signed Evgeny Kuznetsov, they parted ways with Marcus Johansson. After the New Jersey Devils bought out the contract of Devante Smith Pelly, the Caps signed him to the league minimum at the time of $650,000.
In the regular season DSP scored seven goals and nine assists for 16 points. But it was in the playoffs where he became a household name.
In the playoffs he had seven goals and one assist for eight points. That included a goal in three straight Stanley Cup Finals games. That included the game tying goal in Game 5 which helped the Caps clinch the Cup later that night.
In the ensuing offseason, DSP got a one year contract extension and a raise of one million. Unfortunately, he had a sophomore slump of just four goals and four assists. He also was placed on waivers and after clearing reported to the Hershey Bears until the playoffs.
When T.J. Oshie got hurt against the Carolina Hurricanes, DSP came back and played in three games and after that the Caps decided to move on that offseason. But even though the breakup might’ve been bad, Devante Smith Pelly will never have to worry about buying a drink when he comes to D.C.
#1 T.J. Oshie
I’m going to break this slide into two parts. The first part about the Caps trading Pheonix Copley and Troy Brouwer for T.J. Oshie in the summer of 2015. This was a blockbuster deal and one that would help the Caps ultimately win the Cup a few years later.
Oshie even had experience on the big stage, leading Team USA to a shootout upset over Team Russia in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Although the Caps came short in the playoffs a couple of springs in a row, Oshie had his clutch moments including a hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016.
When 2017 hit, Brian MacLellan had a big decision to make. And that’s where we’ll break this part of the slide down. This was an important contract extension and the team got it right by extending Oshie to an eight year, $46 million deal.
Oshie makes $5.75 million per season. That season saw the Caps win the Cup and in that spring Oshie had eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. Oshie has since dealt with injuries but when healthy he’s still been effective on the Caps.
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Oshie is with the Caps through the 2024-25 season. He hopes for a healthier year coming up.