MK57
Joined: Jun. 2018
Posts: 204
Likes: 111
Slightly different take - I don't think the Caps would do this, but not out of a lack of desire, more for a lack of cap flexibility. Bertuzzi scored the same number of points as Vrana last year, within a year of the same age, and has a little more toughness in his game; while that's hard to account for in salary, it does matter. Bertuzzi is also on pace to have a better season than last year by a considerable margin, especially if he plays the full year (I think he missed a decent number of games last year). With all that said, I'm not sure the Caps would be willing to let Alexeyev go for a guy that would likely turn into a pure rental, considering what he'll likely fetch on the open market and with the Caps due contracts to Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Vrana again in the next two years.