Galchenyuk & Eller did have a little chemistry in MTL when there. I don’t think you need to throw 4M$ at him though.

I always tend to over pay on these arm-chairs to make it more of a challenge to put together a realistic roster under the cap. He seems to have bounced around lately and would be a great add on the Caps 3rd line. He could get matchups that would benefit his game.

Montreal rejects. We don’t have the space for Panik beyond this year. And if I were the caps I wouldn’t touch Galchenyuk with a 10 foot pole.

Good luck trying to sign Ovechkin, Laine, Vrana, Samsonov with a flat cap...

Dmitry Orlov will not be a RD on the Caps next season. He will skate on his natural left side, or he will be traded to acquire a true RD/veteran goalie/young fast winger.

Galchenyuk could be a nice piece, but not at that number. I think he'd have to take a lower risk contract for the caps to be interested, and I think he'll get more money elsewhere.

Laine is a sexy add, but I'd be shocked if the team the Athletic says have the worst farm system in the NHL are moving two firsts and a decent prospect for anyone not named Gretzky.

I think this is a fun build. It's not half as good defensively as the team that just won the division, but if Samsonov keeps developing in net, and the new guys all score goals like they're supposed to, maybe it doesn't have to be?

I don't personally understand paying Soucy over about 950x2, but I like the idea of identifying an unheralded, workable stay at home option rather than paying Dillon 5M after the team got trounced with him as a rental stay at home big guy.

Howard or Crawford as backup at a number that works for the team would be a dream. So would Holtby. If those names aren't there, some other decent back-up should be there in UFA for not too much money, after the few teams willing to spend big money this year run out of cap space.

I like keep Kempny and giving him a chance to play his way back to his top spot. Carlson's two best offensive years came playing with Kempny. Kempny's best offensive and defensive year was last year, with 18 even strength points and a +19 rating. Reirden benched him for a couple weeks and then Reirden and all his assistants got fired. Advantage: Kempny.

Galchenyuk Eller and McMichael could be an offensively terrific third line, even if it doesn't check much.

Simmonds brings a more accurate shot to the fourth line, so he can score from further out than Panik.

The cost, of course, is that Hagelin, Panik, and Boyd all play great defense. Now that the Caps have a bunch of offensive stars, the TV announcers don't talk as much about the guys who can shut down opponents and kill off penalties, but they do help teams win games. They just won the division. Then they fell apart in round one of the playoffs.

This might be too much change, but I think Galchenyuk at 3M, Soucy at 1M, and maybe Namestnikov at 3M could make this team a lot of fun?