Who adds what?
Joined: Jul. 2017
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Whether they lose in five or win the Cup, the first three trades are good long-term because they trade guys at the top of the game for a lot of young talent and draft picks. Signing UFAs to round out the team and give up nothing seems to work okay half the time.
Could sign Carlson, pick up Karlsson at the deadline for less, and hit the '19 playoffs with Carlson, Karlsson, Weber on the right hand side, while Bouchard develops properly in juniors.
I am okay trading Niskanen at the deadline if Weber seems fully recovered and healthy. He's certainly as good as Nisk this year, but only in the quarter of the season he played.
Lucas Johansen was above average but by no means a dominant offensive force in the AHL. He still can learn a lot more at the minor pro level, so he should play another year on Hershey's top pair and both special teams, if the Caps want to get their draft pick's worth out of him. Djoos is better right now. Johansen has a higher ceiling. Let them both keep improving where they are. Kemny's cap hit will be lower than Johansen's anyway, and he can sit in the press box as good as anybody.