I wouldn't like Johansen in the NHL at the moment. He is close to being NHL ready yes, but I think that he needs 1 full year in the AHL to develop. I would much rather have him on the 1st pairing in the AHL than on the 3rd in the NHL.

You know a player is terrible when CAR need more center depth and they decide waive a center making $3mil aav.

Carolina need offense, and may be looking at creating cap space for a big rental. Kruger had the assist on the winning goal in 2013. https://www.nhl.com/player/marcus-kruger-8475323 The Caps are always looking to add guys who contribute in notable ways in the playoffs. Bolland scored the goal, but Kruger has half the cap hit, and is on waivers.

He's a solid shutdown center, and he's only 27. With a little time on a scoring line (since the Caps have Beagle and Graovac in shutdown roles) Kruger's 3M contract might just look like a steal. If the Caps' centers can make Tom Wilson look like an offensive phenom some nights, imagine what they could do with someone who has already shown some clutch offensive ability. Even if he, again, only has 31 career goals.

Also, Swedish guys who play with Backstrom seem to do better in Washington than they do in other cities. Couldn't an Olympic teammate replace Johansson? I think this is someone they pick up, if they can make cap space for him, in a way that also benefits the team, long term.

With Minnesota in playoff position, but down a top four defenseman, there's got to be some sort of mutually beneficial deal available. I mean, I doubt Minnesota would swap for Orpik straight up, or throw in enough to make the Caps consider moving Orlov.... which wouldn't be a long term improvement, but would help open cap space.

Okay, so they call up Ness instead, and put off developing their top prospect. Done.

Absolutely not trading djoos

He plays fourteen minutes a night, and dollars to doughnuts Trotz gives him less than three games in the playoffs this year. He'll be a monster in two to five years, but Ovechkin could be playing for Dynamo by then, so who cares.

But they could also keep him, trade Chorney, and Connolly to Minnesota for immediate help making the playoffs, throw in Johansen for "knock your socks off overpayment" and get Brodin with cap space to pick up Kruger off waivers. If that's any better?