Who adds what?
Joined: Jul. 2017
Posts: 13,677
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I'm a lifelong Caps fan, and I think Carlson is absolutely a #1 defenseman, and a fantastc power play asset. He's the reason the Caps were comfortable losing Mike Green for nothing. I could see this trade happening at the trade deadlne, if it's good for the Leafs. The Caps want to spend this season auditioning their AHL guys in bottom six roles, auditioning their bottom six wings in 2nd line roles, and trying out a couple of defensemen, one of whom (Madson Bowey) is supposed to be the next Niskannen/Carlson. If Bowey and one of the Caps' several LHD prospects are coming along, I could totally see the Caps moving Carlson for a guy they know in Carrick, and three middle six wingers to keep them from having to play all their forward prospects in the playoffs. If the Caps can't re-sign either Carlson or JVR, they'll be pretty happy to get back a good young player like Kapanen, and a defenseman who already knows most of the team from his time in Hershey. Of course, Washington will then, at the same time, make a couple trades for defensemen, because there is no way Barry Trotz is going into the playoffs with just Orlov, Niskannen, Carrick, and rookies. But they were going to end up picking up one or two depth defensemen for insurance, anyway. This just makes them want another 2nd pair guy to hold things together.