Could the Capitals trade for Andrei Kuzmenko, and other news
The Washington Capitals apparently are looking to make some tweaks to their roster. Lucas Johansen cleared waivers and headed to the Hershey Bears, opening a spot up for the Capitals to sign Ethan Bear, who reportedly was in the building as the Caps practiced at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
Earlier in the day the Capitals called up Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko from the Bears. Apparently the might not be done yet. They are reportedly looking at Vancouver Canucks winger Andrei Kuzmenko to beef up their top six.
This news came via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and he noted the Caps are a potential suitor who has been on trade boards after a dip in his ice time this season as well as some healthy scratches to start the season.
He’s 27 years old and last season had 39 goals and 35 assists for 74 points in 81 games. He has a cap hit of $5.5 million. This season he has six goals and 11 assists in 29 games.
Friedman spoke on The Jeff Marek Show, “I think Washington is a team that has looked around at Kuzmenko. I just don’t see a trade match there. It’s not like the Canucks are going to take Anthony Mantha. I just don’t know where this is gonna sort itself out.”
Our contributor CJ Witt noted in an article earlier today about Mantha that the Caps might be in a good spot trading the winger as he’s played better this season and increased his trade value.
At the same time, if the Caps were to trade a player that has finally found his stride, they’d be losing some goals and who knows if Kuzmenko would actually work out in Washington?
More. Capitals recall Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre from Bears. light
But at the same time you don’t want to ride out the season with a player on their final year of their contract then lose them to free agency for nothing over the summer.