What should the Caps do before the trade deadline?

[Beaglefan2]

Get ready for $9M plus on a 6 to 8 year deal for him.  He is the kind of player that some GMs will fall in love with and become convinced that he will be a great offensive defenseman for a long time. Heck - it might be over $10M.  Look at the contract that San Jose signed Erik Karlsson to back in 2019 - it was $11.5M/year for 8 years.  Turned out to be a terrible contract but it shows you what some teams will do when they are chasing the shiny new toy.


The Caps are actually pretty well positioned to do a long-term deal with Chychrun as they have a bunch of money freeing up after next year with both Carlson and Ovi's contracts finishing up. I love the guy, but I'm not sure how high I would want to go if it gets stupid.

[Mickstix]

Problem is, what is good news regarding the salary cap for the Caps is equally good news for the other 31 teams in the league.

Yea, if he makes it to UFA day, he's gone.

Get ready for $9M plus on a 6 to 8 year deal for him.

If I was GM, 9+x6 would be hard to swallow. I wouldn't want to extend past 6 years though. I'd shoot for 8 or 8.5x6 and hope he really likes it here.

[GRob83]

I think re-signing Chychrun who has spent his career on bad teams should be the top priority.  He hasn't been on a Playoff team in 5 years.  He'll only be 27 at the start of next season so even an 8 year deal would only take him to age 34.  He's tied in Points with Carlson who may be gone in the next couple years.  Chychrun has 17 Goals, the rest of the defense has combined for only 12. 


The Backstrom and Oshie contracts are off the books completely after this season.  Mangiapane, Eller, Raddysh, Vrana, Dowd and Lindgren are all UFA.  Dowd and Lindgren are the only 2 of that bunch I'd look to bring back as the rest could be replaced with cheaper in-house options like Leonard, Miroschnichenko, Lapierre and Trineyev.


If they make deadline moves, I don't expect anything big.  The chemistry of the team is the ultimate strength.  Even on a 3 game losing streak (for the 1st time all season) I think they should stand pat unless they can upgrade 3C without giving up too much.

[alta]

The Oshie and Backstrom contracts may be off the books after this season, but the cap space provided by them being on LTIR has been used up. Next season won’t matter as far as that goes.

[Beaglefan2]

Their cap relief will come after next season (25/26) when Carlson ($8M) and Ovi ($9.5M) drop off.  They can probably bet the farm on Chychrun and give him what he wants on an 8 year deal, but obviously it will restrict them in other areas. i'm becoming more convinced that the price is going to be at least $10M/year. Every goal he scores just raises the price.

[Beaglefan2]

Looks like they resigned Chucky Lindgren to a 3 year deal at $3M per year. Seems a little steep but not too bad.  Combined with Thomas, I guess we are at the same level that other teams are that have top goaltending.

[alta]

The goaltending seems good. I think they could use a boost on D. If not this season, definitely next.

[richkrt99]

I'd love to get Chicklets signed.  Not sure we can swing it.  I think a big factor is just how well does he like it here.  The Caps seem like a really good group adn the Coach seems legit. He's been on bad (well non playoff teams) basically his whole career.  This team is certainly a regular contender for at least making the playoffs.  But you could say the same of Florida or Tampa and he's a FLA native (you can tell by the redneck mullet and missing tooth like all them other redneck Floridians) 
I mean the dude is gonna get paid, but IF he likes it hear, does he take 8.5 per to stay in a good spot he likes, or go for the 10+ mil in FA and risk going to an unknown.  These are things we just don't know about him. With FA deal he certainly get to approve where he's going, but lets hope he WANTS to stay with this team.

[Beaglefan2]

Even with the cap going up, its going to be hard for top contending teams to take on a $9M+ contract.  I think the Caps can do that with Carlson and Ovi coming off after next year. Ovi will likely retire, but Carlson may want another couple of years and my fear is that the Caps will want to stay flexible to keep their guy.


Your point about Florida is good though and TB always seems to find a way to work around the cap. They have Hedman for 4 more years at $8M and Kucherov for 2 more at $9.5M - but it never seems to matter to them how tight they are against the cap.