Dream trades for Capitals this offseason

The Washington Capitals along with the rest of the NHL are on the eve of Free Agency as we write this. But even so as we write this, trade are happening across the league. More trades will happen as you read this.

But right now the Caps are silent. What’s going on?

Well for starters the Caps aren’t trading Tom Wilson so you can put that rumor to bed.

According to Tarik El Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required), Washington would like to shake up or upgrade their top heavy forward group via trade. The big issue of course is big contracts. It’s a major “stumbling block” in discussions.

The dream trade would be some kind of deal to send Anthony Mantha away without losing Evgeny Kuznetsov. The tricky part is Mantha has a cap hit of $5.7 million. Plus his trade value isn’t high which is making teams unwilling to take him on.

Kuznetsov has a $7.8 million cap hit where if he produces it’s well worth the money. It was certainly worth it in 2018 when he helped the Caps to the Cup. Other than that? Not so much.

Kuznetsov’s big problem is his inconsistency and invisibility on the ice. If he’s like Harry Potter when he’s good, he’s in the invisibility cloak when he’s bad or unnoticeable.

But having Spencer Carbery as head coach could benefit both players. Mantha has hired a mental health coach to tune out the noise and focus on his game. Congrats on him getting married too.

If Kuzy and Carbery gel well then I think Kuznetsov has a breakout year coming up. Maybe 25 to 30 goal range. He’ll be more consistent which is pretty much all you can ask from your top six center.

But other than Mantha I don’t really want to trade anybody. Not even Kuznetsov. I just liked to look at it from both angles.