Team: 2018-19 Washington Capitals

Initial Creation Date: Aug. 31, 2017

Published: Aug. 31, 2017

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This is a follow up from by look at their roster this season from the other day.

I projected a $3M cap increase for next season, which it could end up slightly higher, but I feel this is a safe estimate.

So without trades here's the logic on their re-signings (no real room for any FA signings):

Carlson- 6 years $6.25M a year. I think the floor for Carlson will be 6M a year, but he definitely could approach $7M+ if he has a big year this year. So this number could rise and it's possible he holds out for the full 8 years as well.

Re-sign Beagle: Simply put Jay Beagle is a good 4C and if they are letting Eller walk (as I assume here), I can't see them letting Beagle go as well. He does so much for the Caps defensively and on the PK, as well as offering solid 4th line production. He's going to get a raise from his $1.75M current average and I think this is fair over a short time period. He will be limited in his upper range since he is a 4C (albeit one of the better ones in the league), but I think he gets over $2M a year.

RFA Grubauer- It's Grubauer's final RFA year so he's only going to sign a 1 year deal, as there is zero reason for him to give-up his UFA years. The $2.5M is a fair jump, and honestly with another strong season he could probably get move via Arbitration.

RFA Tom Wilson: Wilson is a solid-to-good bottom 6 defensive forward, who is a valued contributor on the PK. He's not been a scorer thus far in his career (unlikely to change that much), but as an RFA (with arb.) he's going to be due for a raise. Maybe he comes in more like $2.5M, but if they go multiple years $2.75M is possible.

RFA Devante Smith-Pelly: It's tough to know what happens here as it's all based on his production this season, but assuming with regular work on the bottom 6, he's going to get over $1M next year. It could end up being $1.5M-1.75M if he does even better, but $1.25M seems like a fair number.

RFAs Bowery, Barber, Boyd: These numbers are tougher to predict, esp. since Bowery and Barber won't even have Arb. rights. Assuming though that Barber finds a fairly regular bottom 6 role and Bowery ends up the 3rd pairing defender, both will see raises and this could end up being on the low end. Boyd could come back at min salary, but I could see a slight raise if he gets some fill in playing time.

Overall I think these numbers are generally conservative for what they could cost next year. Even with the lower end or average projections the Capitals will feel a cap crunch next off season and one that will cost them at least Lars Eller. Can this team maintain competitive in this type of situation?