Attempt at Realistic Caps Offseason

Team: 2023-24 Washington Capitals

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 28, 2023

Published: Mar. 28, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I find the Caps' situation so interesting because they need to inject some youth/energy, but they would probably want to see if they can squeeze out one more run with Ovi. I am going to try to see what additions they can make that could work for them to achieve this goal while not getting significantly older (i.e not bringing in 32+ year old rentals).

One decision I've made is to let pretty much all the UFAs walk. Sheary would be tempting to bring back, and maybe Brown, but I think the Capitals should try to aim for more sure bets and maybe get a little younger.

I think the Kuzy deal is pretty fair for everyone involved, but curious to hear others' thoughts.

The Ehlers deal is definitely hefty in some ways, but I think making it protected would help ease that pain a bit. The money should line up nicely to bring him back when his deal is up too. Now, I do think that Wilson would be on the outs here but I think that may just be the reality of the situation.

Garland is a tough one both because I have no idea what the Canucks would really want for him/value him as (their direction is very confusing to me) and what sort of value it'd be at with the retention. They don't have a lot of leverage themselves if they want to get out of it, but its not like Garland sucks either. Let me know what you think of it. I thought Garland fit the timeline of Ovi's years better than other options, and he's known for being no slouch in his own end either.

I know he's a bit older, but I think O'Reilly could be really good value if he would sign here. His underlying stats are still good, and it reminds me a bit of E. Staal when he signed in Minnesota. Maybe he gets a little more money for the years I gave, or a little less for 1 more year. But I think he could be a great bounceback candidate, rather than giving up more draft picks for another center (I looked at guys like Dvorak, Schiefele, Hayes, Lindholm, Miller for example). It also takes less pressure off of Backstrom to be a top 6 guy which he just may not be anymore.

Hanley and Nieto are just depth, and could certainly be other players/prospects who break camp. But I generally like this team. LHD is a bit young, but mostly proven they can play.

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