Dumping Orprik will not bring that kind of return.....

Orpik's 88 hits in these playoffs were 15th all time. His two point night eliminated Columbus. His only goal of the year won the first Finals game in Caps history, and with game five slipping out of reach, he set DSP up for a tying goal in the middle of the third period.

In his time with the Caps he's spent a year mentoring each of Nate Schmidt and John Carlson on how to play defense. They led the Knights and Caps in ice time this year, and those teams did okay.

Do you have anything to add, besides name-calling?

Buffalo fans want Orpik to mentor Dahlin. I think he's worth a 3rd, but I'd back down to a 4th to avoid retaining cap.

That’s certainly a fine resume but at the end of the day, he’s still going to be a 38 yr. old, $5.5M, bottom pair, defensive defenseman, with a ton of miles on him.

Oh, you want to talk resumes? Two of the fourteen guys ahead of his #15 spot on the all time list of single season playoff hit leaders are also him (http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=realtime&reportType=season&seasonFrom=19971998&seasonTo=20172018&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=hits).

A lot of newspapers and tv commentators joked about how strange it was that his first goal of the season was a game winning goal in the Stanley Cup Finals. Five years ago his first goal of the season eliminated the Islanders in overtime of game seven. Some guys just have a different gear they get going under pressure.

Can you think of any other time a 37 year old defenseman was traded because he was getting old and slowing down, even though he had won a Cup, and said he wanted to keep playing into his mid forties? I can, but again, Chelios had only won one Cup at the time: https://www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-15-worst-trades-in-chicago-blackhawks-history/ Of course Chelios played ten more years and won two more Cups with Detroit. He played a different style, but sometimes when guys have played big roles in championships and they say they want to keep playing and win more, you listen to them.

I'm not arguing that Brooks Orpik is going to fetch a lottery pick or anything. I just don't think the Caps throw in anything extra to unload him. Either a team wants him or they don't. Talking to people on here, some teams want him.

Also, because you're trying to nitpick, I'm going to nitpick back: he's 37, and only has 4.5M remaining in salary. For teams below the cap, his 5.5M cap hit based on the AAV of a contract that's over after next year is not an issue.

That’s fair. Do you believe they try to keep the roster intact? (DSP and Beagle for example)