Grading Trevor van Riemsdyk's 2023-24 Capitals season

The Washington Capitals made an interesting move during draft weekend when they traded Trevor van Riemsdyk, a player they re-signed back in March of 2023 to a three year deal worth nine million. They did this in the wake of John Carlson taking a slapshot to the head in late December. The Caps flipped that trade to Buffalo during draft weekend. That pick turned into Andrew Mangiapane to give them some left wing depth.

TvR as we know is the younger brother of Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. He left in that playoff battle against the New York Rangers after a hit along the boards by Matt Rempe. That put the Caps down to five defenseman before getting swept in the first round.

As TvR has hit the open market as we're writing this, there's been a lot of turnover in the organization with Brian MacLellan handing the reigns over to Chris Patrick. While there was upside in TvR's game, the end goal is to get younger and faster which was why that draft day trade had to happen. The Caps also still don't know what T.J. Oshie's status is so while it was a tough deal it was necessary.

We also do not know the fate of John Carlson, who's been an anchor on the defense since 2010. But we can be rest assured that the Caps are a team of non quitters. They showed that last year when the Hershey Bears won back to back Calder Cups. They continued to show it throughout the season through resiliency and that "power of friendship".

Grade B+: TvR was briliant throughout the season and earned his stripes as a Washington Capital. While there's still some moves to be made prior to training camp, it'll be interesting to get a better read on the defense as the offseason progresses.