The NHL Trade Deadline is fast approaching and the hottest question around here is whom the Washington Capitals should add? It's a complicated equation especially when you're a candidate for the Presidents' Trophy. But here are three contracts the Caps might consider shopping
Lars Eller
In November the Capitals traded for Lars Eller in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins but the reunion hasn't quite gone as planned. Eller has a cap hit of $2,450,000 per PuckPedia and so far this season he's got 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points. With the Caps that's six goals and six assists for 12 points in 36 games since the trade.
The Caps are stocked on centers. Connor McMichael could always slide there if Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery chose to do so. But the hot question is should the Capitals add a bottom six center or should they really swing for the fence and go for a top six winger. A lot of us want the latter.
Eller can still win face offs at the dot. With the Penguins this season he won 56 percent of his draws in 17 games while that percentage is at 52.3 percent in face off wins so far with the Caps. Eller has been a journeyman since the Caps traded him a few short years ago. From Colorado to Pittsburgh and then back to D.C.
But even if the Caps were to part ways with Eller, he will always be loved around here thanks in large part to the video above and other clutch moments from the 2018 Cup run.
Andrew Mangiapane
We wrote about Andrew Mangiapane yesterday in two Caps players the team could potentially trade. It was just speculation and fun. But this is a numbers article and the cap hit isn't cheap at $5,800,000. So far this season he has 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points which would be a bargain for any bottom tier contending team if they were to make a deal with the Caps.
Mangiapane additionally has a plus/minus of +6 and his top skating speed clocks out to 22.54 miles per hour and has 75 speed bursts of over 20 miles per hour per NHL Edge which puts him in the 69th percentile above the League average.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
We aren't a hater of Trevor van Riemsdyk or Mangiapane we swear but his contract on the defensive end is also at a high price of $3,000,000 on a contract that runs for one more season after this one. So far this season TvR has 15 assists along with a plus/minus of +19 while averaging 17:31 minutes of ice time each night.
TvR's corsi for percentage is at 47.37 percent, his expected goals for percentage is at 47.46 percent while his high danger chances for percentage is at 49.32 percent per Natural Stat Trick. His top skating speed per NHL Edge clocks out to 22.47 miles per hour which puts him at the 86 percentile above the League average.