Martin Fehervary needs to be re-signed by Capitals

The Washington Capitals enter July 1 with not many free agents as a must to re sign. But one free agent the team has to re sign is Martin Fehervary. He’s a restricted free agent.

He’s been a big part of the top four and if the Caps do the right thing and re sign him, will be a big part of the top defensive pairs for the years to come. He’s embraced a key shutdown role with his physicality and his skating ability has provided offense.

Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan told the media back in March:

“We really like what he’s done. He’s a big part of our organization going forward. I think we got two young guys, [Rasmus] Sandin and him, that hopefully we can build around going forward. We’re going to have two young top-4 defensemen that’ll be a big part of our team for a lot of years to come.”

Fehervary had 217 hits and 128 blocks through 67 games this season while averaging 20 minutes of ice time per night. That was the most among Washington’s left sided defenseman.

The one weakness was his plus minus which came out to minus 11. At the same time though he dealt with two big injuries and with John Carlson out long term, the defense was banged up and not the same as the team collapsed down the stretch.

With Carlson out long term, Fehervary was moved around the lineup as then coach Peter Laviolette was trying and failing to find the right pairs. At least this was a young player Lavy actually played.

Fehervary said this about his season:

“A little bit hard… but I think obviously I felt way more comfortable and way more confident than last year. I’m always trying to focus on my game, trying to be as best as I can and trying to perform really good all the time… I always like to be that type of player, really being hard to play against.”

If the Caps can get a deal done with Fehervary over the weekend, the defense should be all set.