My gosh people, stop trading Bura away for absolutely no reason!!!!!! He's a young top 6 forward and there's plenty of space for him! Removing him from this roster makes them much worse. I don't understand you people. I could MAYBE see it if you had a replacement or desperately needed cap space but you do neither here. You just throw him off the roster for nothing. Terrible.

Also it would be useless to have Johansen up here when he won't get time. He needs to be in AHL getting minutes.

Welcome to the conversation. It's great to have so many Caps fans here now that they've won the Cup!

If you click on "long term outlook" above your roster, you'll see that you're both totally correct on who can and can't be sent down on waivers. The ELCs are entry level contracts and they are waiver exempt. Some of the guys in Hershey have two way deals that are also waiver exempt because they are paid below certain amounts depending where they paly, and they get a green down arrow next to their names.

What I like about this post is that most first posters aren't asking the right questions. You really are. You're looking at long term cap stability, and how the team can stay competitive over more than just one season. That is just awesome. Well done.

If you can get a first round pick from a team that finished bottom ten last year like Dallas, yeah, maybe you think about trading Burakovsky, but you'll get more in trade for him if he plays with Backstrom for a year, does well, and then doesn't fit under the cap next year.

Since Vrana can be sent to Hershey with Gersich to form a great top line and top power play in the AHL without keeping the big club out of the playoffs and without raising the prices on their next contracts, the cynical part of me says that's what's gotta happen. It is fun to cheer for successful young guys, and those two can skate so fast, and they're a lot of fun to watch. And if you give Vrana a whole year with Backstrom next year he'll get twenty goals and you will have to trade Burakovsky. So why do that? Why not let him score 30 goals in the AHL, develop chemistry on a power play with Gersich and Johansen, and then bring all three up the next year, when you have to, at relatively low prices, like below 2M apiece, and put them on the Caps' second power play unit, together? Or just have them kill penalties if that's what the team needs. Plenty of room for speed on penalty kills. Who knows?

I'd be happy to just sign a one year UFA to play with Backstrom and Oshie, and then let them walk, and not get stuck paying a long term deal for performance based on how good those two are together. Anybody in that spot will succeed. Rick Nash? Might get thirty goals. Matt Calvert? Might get twenty. It doesn't take tons of skill to be the third guy on a line with two elite players. I mean, just look at Tom Wilson, whom you're overpaying a fair bit for his toughness and size. Most guys with one season above ten goals don't actually get three million dollars.

Not looking to trade Burky; my first choice is to keep him and let things work themselves out after the season. That gives us 3 strong lines while things work themselves out on the 4th line. Just saying if the "deal you can't refuse" comes along, you have to consider it. Vrana and Burky should push each other this year to really good seasons. If so, keeping both in 2019 could be tricky.

As for Wilson, he currently gets $2M; he's going to get at least $3M for 2-4 years whether he's worth it or not. I'm in the camp that thinks his value goes beyond the stat sheet. He frees up Ovi and Kuzy to do their thing like no one else can (DSP couldn't do it). I heard a quote earlier this week that says it best; when you have Ovi and Kuzy on the ice and the question the other team is asking is "where is Wilson?" that tells you something. One great thing about him is that he works hard at improving his game. This year I think we'll see continued improvement in offensive production and good physical play without crossing the line. With that said, in an alternate universe without Wilson, I think an Ovi-Kuzy-Vrana line would be deadly; after all, speed kills!