Flyers and Capitals offseason preview: Flyers to tear it down and Caps to move on from big forwards.

Offseason plans, The Flyers once again were a bottom 10 team in the NHL this year and now embracing a full on rebuild, expect them to blow this thing up, while the Caps didn’t do too badly and were more of a mediocre team, and I expect a quick retool for them that may lead to Kuznetsov being dealt. 

 

Philadelphia Flyers 

Significant Pending UFA: 

LW,RW J.V Riemsdyk 12-17-29 61GP

LW,RW B.Lemieux 2-7-9 45GP

C J.Cates 0-0-0 5GP

LW M.Willman 0-0-0 9GP 

RD J.Braun 0-2-2 51GP

Significant Pending RFA:

C,LW N.Cates 13-25-38 82GP

LW,RW K.Bellows 3-0-3 28GP 

C M.Frost 19-27-46 81GP

LD/RD C.York 2-18-20 54GP 

RD R.Attard 0-0-0 2GP

G I.Fedotov 0-0-0 REC 0.00 GAA .000 SV%

Current draft capital for Flyers in 2023: 9 

1RD PHI

3RD NYR, FLO 

4RD PHI, EDM

5RD PHI

6RD PHI, OTT

7RD PHI 

Why did the Flyers miss the playoffs: the Flyers came into the season with not too high of expectations as the team was projected by many to miss the playoffs as well as be one of the lower teams in the NHL Standings, and they did finish low in this years standings, and even though they finished higher then last year and they played better early on, there was definitely a couple of reasons as to why the Flyers finished so low in the standings this year and missed the playoffs yet again. 

So first I would say would be their offensive play this year. Now the Flyers brought in last offseason John Tortorella to be the teams new head coach, and when he was the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, his teams always had a very good defensive game and you could see the improvement this year, as they went from being 6th lowest giving up 298 goals in 21-22, to being 11th lowest last year and only giving up 277 goals, so not much of a jump and they were still in the bottom half of the league in GA this year, but you at least saw improvements, but on the forward side the team finished 4th lowest in goals for this year only tallying 222 goals this year. Now I do think having a younger more inexperienced offense might have been a strong reason as to why the Flyers didn’t do too well offensively this past season, as they did ice a rather young lineup this year and only had 5 forwards reach the 40 point mark and only 8 forwards reached the 20 point mark this season and they only had Konecny who had 31 and Tippett who had 27 break the 20 goal mark, so their offense does need a bit of work, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t players who did well last year, as Konecny and Hayes both had over 50 points, and Frost, Tippett and Cates all had career years in Philly putting up at least 35 points, so the future does look bright and if these guys can continue to produce and have good seasons next year, and their defence produce offensively just like they did this year as the Flyers had their top 5 defensemen all hit at least 20 points, then I think they will be in a good position, but the inexperience on the forward group plus the lack of depth scoring on the team really hurt them this year and while I do think they have a bright future, it really is one of the things that did them in this year. 

Another problem the team ran into this year was injuries. Now they new right from the from the get-go that they were going to be a team who had to deal with major injuries this year, as top line Center and maybe they’re best player in Sean Couturier was ruled in the offseason that he would miss a huge chunk of the NHL season and because the team was out of the playoffs this year and didn’t want to rush him, they kept him out for the entire season and Couturier didn’t play at all this year so not having their best forward all season was a big blow, and top 4 defensemen Ryan Ellis who only played 4 games with Philly the year prior due to injuries also missed the entire season last year due to those injuries suffered the year prior and now there is some speculation that his career could possibly be over. So not having their best forward and a top 4 defender before the season started was already a big blow, but during the season it got worse. The Flyers had Atkinson start out the season as a unhealthy scratch due to a injury and that injury surprisingly lasted all season as Atkinson didn’t play any games this year due to the injury, and then three of the teams top nine forwards this year including top scorer Konecny, as well as Allison and JVR all missed 20 games this season due to injuries at various points and not having that depth scoring at some points this year really sunk the team, so they missed two top 6 forwards for the entire season in Atkinson and Couturier which was already a big blow to that team, other top 9 forwards Konecny, Allison and JVR all missed 20 games this season due to injury, and top 4 defender Ryan Ellis missed the entire season for basically the 2nd consecutive year due to injury troubles and I think these injuries really played a big part as to why the Flyers weren’t overly good this year, and missing so many key forwards for huge periods of time on end also contributed to them being a bottom 5 team in goal scoring, so these injuries the team suffered was another big reason they didn’t make the playoffs this year. 

And although the defence did well, I do think it could still use some improvements, now don’t get me wrong I think the Flyers had a much better defensive season this year and did take strides in the right direction, but the team also was still a bottom half team in goals against and almost a bottom 10 team in the league, and I think there were two reasons for that, one was a experienced backup, as Hart did well and showed how good of a starter he can be, but unlike the previous year when Martin Jones was the teams backup, they had young guys like Sandstrom and goalie of the future Ersson spilt time playing backup this year, and I think although both of those players did good, the inexperience in net behind Hart was something that could’ve used work, and then while the defence played well it could use some work defensively, as although all 5 of their top defenders hit the 20 point mark, they were also all in the negative of the +/- stat including their top pair of Provorov and DeAngelo being a combined-44, so while the defenders can produce offensively, they could definitely tighten up their work defensively.

So in my eyes the younger and more inexperienced forward group and lack of bottom six help, the injuries they suffered including three key players missing the entire season, and still a few defensive holes are what caused this team to miss the playoffs this year, but there are a few things that I could see them do in the offseason to improve this team and for them to be more competitive next year. 

5 ways of how the Flyers can improve in the offseason. 

Eric Hartline USA Today Sports

.1) Find a goalie to tandem with Ersson, move on from Hart. 

Now the Flyers had young goalie Sam Ersson who they are really high on and view as the goalie of the future get a bit of NHL opportunity this year, and he did fantastic and looks like he will be a NHL goalie this upcoming season, but with Hart entering the final year of his deal and most likely not wanting to sign a extension with the Flyers, there is a strong possibility that if the Flyers don’t see a future with Hart that they will wind up trading him and at that point I would expect the team to go out and get a backup goalie. 

Now the Hart situation is one of the biggest priorities for the Flyers this offseason and something I think we will have to keep our eye on. Now I know a couple of years ago during the shortened season there was a lot of talk around the NHL questioning if Hart could really be a legit NHL starter in the NHL, and the Flyers trusted him enough to sign him to a 3 year deal and since the shortened season he has actually done quite well, as in 100 games in those two seasons he has a 3.05 GAA and a .906 SV% which is miles better then the shortened season and still on a bad team, but now with Philly embracing a rebuild there is a lot of talk that Hart won’t want to have to go through a 3-5 year rebuild and continuously miss the playoffs and wouldn’t want to sign a long term extension with the Flyers, and if that is the case then the Flyers should trade him and I agree, I think if Hart doesn’t want to be there for a rebuild long term then I think you would have to trade him, now Hart still has a year left at just under $4 Million dollars on his contract before becoming a RFA next offseason, but I think there would be a lot of teams interested in a young starting goalie who could help their team for multiple seasons, and the return the Flyers could get for Hart would be massive, so in my eyes they move on from Hart but then they need to figure out their goaltending situation. Now Ersson who the Flyers view as their goalie of the future actually got into 12 NHL games this year and while he didn’t do overly great he did alright and there is definitely potential there, so in my eyes I think they should have Ersson start at the backup goalie next year as I think he could learn a lot from being in the NHL next year and they could have him tandem with someone else, but I think even if they have Ersson in the NHL and they move on from Hart, I think they would have to bring in a goalie who could work with Ersson over the next couple of seasons. Now I think they are more likely to sign a UFA who can tandem in net with Ersson and maybe mentor him into the string role for Philly and I think a goalie like Varlamov, Talbot, or Hill could help the Flyers in the short term and would definitely be some of the goalies I think Philly would be targeting if they do need a goalie. So in my eyes with Hart most likely not wanting to extend with the Flyers, he should be moved at some point in the offseason for a decent package, they should then have goalie of the future Ersson be backup to a new goalie I think the Flyers will bring in to tandem with Ersson and if they do that they should be alright in Net for the next couple of seasons. 

.2) Move out veteran forwards starting with Hayes and possibly Atkinson.

Now part of growing this offseason will be to embrace the rebuild that this team has need for quite some more time now, and as new GM Daniel Briere has said after becoming GM, he is willing to listen on just about anyone on that team and while I don’t think he will trade everyone, I definitely think there could be some pretty big pieces moved and with the team looking to be younger, I think the team is almost guaranteed to move on from Kevin Hayes and it wouldn’t surprise me if they looked to move on from Cam Atkinson as well.

Now I think the Flyers will lol to have a younger team to start the rebuild this offseason, and I think they could move on from a couple of players, like JVR who I definitely think will not be back as he is a UFA, and although I see them moving some decent players, I don’t see Konecny being moved, but two guys I would watch out for would be Hayes and Atkinson. Now Hayes was a name that was brought up a lot at the trade deadline although a lot of people thought that sort of a move would wait until the offseason, which it did, now Hayes didn’t fit in too well with Tortorella in his first year but he had a very productive season, actually his 2nd best season as Hayes got 18 goals and 54 points in 81 games and hit the 50 point mark for only the 2nd time in his career, but with Philly trying to clear cap space and Hayes not fitting in well with Tortorella, it feels like Hayes is almost a guarantee to be moved this offseason. Now coming off a good year like this one I think the Flyers could get a pretty good return if they were to indeed trade Hayes, and it seems as though around the deadline the Jackets had interest in bringing him in and conversations could start up again around the draft, and I would guess they aren’t the only team with interest in the top 6 Center, and one thing I do think the Flyers may need to do is retain salary, as Hayes will have 3 years left on his contract at just above $7 Million dollars, so in my eyes I think the Flyers may have to retain some money on Hayes to move him but he should be moved at some point. 

And I also wonder about Atkinson, now Atkinson is coming off a injury that kept him out for the entire season this year so coming off a injury it would definitely be a more difficult trade to make then a possible Hayes trade, but I think there would be some teams with interest, he is a good middle six forward making a reasonable $5.88 Million on his contract for the next two years and has shown in the past that he can be a very productive forward, so while I am not sure a return on Atkinson would be great, I think he would definitely be a possible trade chip as well, and then forwards Farabee and Konecny are two other players I could see teams having interest in and the Flyers possibly listening on offers, but those two players are younger and I think could help the team now, so in my eyes Hayes will be moved, Atkinson would also be a strong candidate to be dealt as well, and I think Farabee and Konecny will at least be considered, but with the Flyers needing to go through this rebuild, I expect a handful of players to be dealt this offseason and on top of Hart, I feel Hayes and Atkinson are also very strong candidates to be shipped out in the offseason.

.3) Continue to add more youth to this team. 

Now the Flyers started to add some more youth to this team this past year and some of this younger players did well, but with the Flyers now entering a full rebuild the will have to continue to bring in some good young players to help this team become competitive again. 

Now this past season the Flyers gave some of their roster spots to younger kids as guys like Allison, Tippett, Frost and Cates all were able to carve out top 9 roles in Philly and look like good NHL forwards, as all four of the players hit new career highs and everyone except Allison hit at least 35 points and all three looked good, and then after spending the first quarter of the season in the minors the Flyers would call up top defensive prospect Cam York and he would merge into being a full time top 4 defender this year for the Flyers, as he has become one of their better defenders and put up 20 points in 54 games this year, so the youth movement started out well for the Flyers but I would expect some more young players in the lineup next year. As we discussed above goalie of the future Sam Ersson looks NHL ready and I do think will make the NHL roster and be a good tandem goalie in his first full season, then on the defensive end you have both Attard and Zamula who I think will be good 3rd pair defensemen in time and they both had some NHL time this year with other guys out due to injuries, but if the Flyers make substantial changes defensively which I will get too in a moment, then I think one or both could wind up being regular NHL defensemen next year, and then Bobby Brink who started the season injured and finished in the AHL I think should be a solid top 9 forward next year for Philly, while it wouldn’t surprise me at all if guys like Forester and Wisdom who should be good NHL forwards  in the not too distant future we’re to compete for bottom six opportunities, and then whoever they draft in the top 10 this year plus last 5th round pick forward Gauthier should both make the team not this upcoming season but the following one and I think Gauthier could even get a small NHL opportunity late next year, so with Gauthier and whoever they take this year in the top 10 having sky high potential, this team looks to be set for the future and have a new wave of young players coming, but after incorporating Allison, Frost, Tippett and Cates into consistent top 9 roles and making York a solid top 4 defender, I wouldn’t be surprised if guys like Ersson, Attard, Zamula, Brink, Forester or Wisdom made the team next year with Philly waiting for Gauthier and their top 10 pick from this years draft to enter the NHL in most likely the 24-25 season, I think Philly has a very bright future long term. 

Eric Hartline USA Today Sports

.4) Shakeup the D-Corp again, possibly move Provorov and/or DeAngelo.

Now for the Flyers defence, they went through a couple of changes last off-season. It really did help them a lot as they were much better defence of team then they were in the 21-22 season, but I still think they need to do some working as with them entering the rebuild now they could be looking to move some players off of their defence and a couple of them are really significant names.

Now for the past couple of seasons the Flyers have been trying to fix their defence and it never really went well, as a couple of off-seasons ago they brought in Ryan Ellis from Nashville to be a top 4 defender with Provorov on the top pair, but it never went to plain as he only played 4 games in his first year and didn’t play at all last year due to the same injury band is still on LTIR with his career in jeopardy, and then last year they acquired and extended on a two year deal Tony DeAngelo to be the D partner that Provorov desperately needed, and it worked to some degree as both were the teams best offensive defensemen but they also had the worst +/- of any of their defenders, and with the team being open to moving anyone right now, it seems extremely likely that at least one if not both of their top pair defensemen are gone next year. 

Now both DeAngelo and Provorov are the best trade candidates on the defensive end for Philly. DeAngelo had yet another good offensive season last year in his first with Philly and looks like a solid offensive defensemen, but even though he has said that he would like to remain with the Flyers beyond this past year, I think DeAngelo stands a good chance to be moved, as with the Flyers entering a rebuild I don’t think they would resign him and with DeAngelo entering the final year of his contract at a reasonable $5 Million dollars and having a couple of fantastic offensive seasons the past couple of years, I think there would be a list of teams who could use DeAngelo in their top 4, and although he has stated before he would like to remain with the Flyers, I do think he will be dealt at some point in the offseason by Philly. 

As for Provorov he has been with the Flyers his entire career and a few seasons back he looked like he would be a long term fit on the teams blueline when he was playing with Matt Niskanen, but then Niskanen retired and that left Provorov without a solid top pair option, and since then the Flyer have been trying to get a replacement to play with him, including guys like Ellis, DeAngelo and Ristolainen but none have really been great and effective partners for him, and over the past few years the relationship between Provorov and the Flyers has sort of soured, and it seems like both teams would most likely want to go their separate ways and maybe a fresh start is just what Provorov needs to jumpstart his career, and he does have a couple of seasons left at $6.75 Million dollars and is still vied as a decent top 4 defender, so even though he hasn’t worked with Philly the past few years, I think if he gets moved he could still work out so I think there would be teams interested and I also think the Flyers could get a decent package for him, so I would not be in the least bit surprised if Provorov was one of the Flyers dealt.

So in my eyes the Flyers will try to retool the defence and possibly bring in young players like Zamula and Attard to help that D-Corp, and I know that Sanheim’s name has also come up in trade rumours recently as well, but in my eye the Flyers will need some veterans to stick around and Sanheim has worked well on the pair with Ristolainen and with his new 8 year extension kicking in this offseason I don’t expect him to be one of the Flyers trade candidates and at least for the next couple of years, help the Flyers through their rebuild, but beside him I definitely think both Provorov and DeAngelo’s time in Philly is coming to a end and they will be in new places at the start of the new season.

.5) Add 1 or 2 veteran top 9 forwards to help mentor the younger players. 

Now the Flyers will be looking to move on from multiple players and have a more younger roster next season as they begin their rebuild, but they will still need a couple of veterans to help the younger players and I think the team could go out and acquire a couple of top 9 forwards to help with their young guys. 

Now as we said earlier I expect Hayes to be dealt by the Flyers at some point with Atkinson also possibly being moved in the offseason, and maybe they also consider moving one of Konecny or Farabee also, but that would leave them with 1 or 2 holes in the top 9 for this year especially if the team does decide to move Konecny or Farabee, so the question then becomes who do they bring in to help their younger players.

Now I wouldn’t expect them to go big game hunting for top end talent because they are in a rebuild and want to gain draft capital and prospects, not give them away, so I wouldn’t expect them to trade for anyone or sign anyone who is a top end player, but I could see them sign a couple of veterans to 1 or 2 year deals at a reasonable price to help round out their roster, and I think guys like Tatar from Jersey, Johnsson from San Jose, Athanasiou from Chicago or Donskoi from Seattle maybe be some of the guys the Flyers target as none of them had overly productive seasons last year and they may be willing to sign with a lower team like Philly on a 1 to 2 year deal to try and reestablish their value and maybe be moved at a deadline to a contender and I think that would work for Philly as it would help round their roster for this year, get some more experienced players to help out the younger guys, and if they did well they could then move them for picks and prospects, so in my opinion although they will definitely be moving some players out of here in the offseason, I think bringing in a couple of veterans via free agency might be very beneficial to the team. 

So in my eyes the Flyers will move on from Hart and have Ersson tandem with a different goalie they bring in, both Hayes and Atkinson should be moved with Konecny and Farabee also possibilities, then the team will move on from DeAngelo and Provorov but keep Sanheim around, let younger players like Brink and Zamula make the team next year with Gauthier making the team the following year, and sign a couple of top 9 forwards to help round out the team and I think if they can do all of this they should be a much more competitive team next year, and while I would say they still probably wouldn’t make the playoffs, missing next year but still playing well would be a step in the right direction. 

If you liked this blog post, then check out my YouTube video on the Flyers offseason here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q3lTq5sdRE8

Washington Capitals 

Significant Pending UFA: 

RW,LW C.Brown 0-0-0 4GP

RW,C C.Smith 9-7-16 64GP

LW C.Hagelin 0-0-0 0GP

LW,RW C.Sheary 15-22-37 82GP 

LD/RD M.Irwin 2-3-5 61GP

RD D.McIlrath 0-1-1 6GP

G Z.Fucale 0-0-0 REC 0.00 GAA .000 SV%

Significant Pending RFA:

C H.Borgstrom 0-0-0 1GP

LD G.Carlsson 0-2-2 6GP

LD/RD M.Fehervary 6-10-16 67GP 

Current draft capital for Capitals in 2023: 5

1RD WAS

2RD WAS 

4RD WAS

5RD WAS

7RD WAS

Why did the Caps miss the playoffs: Now unlike most of the teams I talked about so far, the Capitals were not coming into the season going through a rebuild or with a lot of people guaranteeing that they would miss the playoffs, and for the most part they did alright and were a pretty average team on the season but t while they did just a mere 2 points below .500, they were in the playoff race until about 2 weeks before the season ended, so a disappointing season for sure but not a awful one, so what really went wrong for Washington that made them finish below .500 and miss the playoffs. 

Now first would be that the injury bug was not nice to the Capitals this year, as their were a ton of injuries especially at inopportun times that really hurt their playoff chances this year. Now first we’re the bad offseason injuries to two key top 6 forwards in Backstrom and Wilson as both had surgery in the offseason, and Wilson wasn’t going to be back until sometime around the new year, while there were questions about Backstrom being able to play this past year due to having hip surgery, but both were able to recover and did wind up playing, but they would only get back a couple weeks into January, so they both missed the first half of the season and missing two key top 6 forwards to starts the season was not good for them, but it wouldn’t stop at just those two. Now most of the regular NHL forwards for the Caps missed time this year, Ovechkin missed two weeks and 9 games due to personal reasons in the middle of the year, then Mantha (15), Oshie (24), and Dowd (17) all missed between 15-25 games of the season and both Mantha and Oshie are good middle six forwards while Dowd and amazing 4th line Center, and on top of that, Connor Brown who was brought in to help replace the hole of Tom Wilson played 4 games with the team and suffered a season ending injury that kept him out for the rest of the season, and even on the defensive side, Fehervary missed 15 games towards the end of the season and probably the biggest blow to the team, top defender John Carlson only got into 40 games this year due to injuries and was a awful loss for the Caps. So with Brown basically not playing at all this year, Wilson and Backstrom not starting to play until January, Carlson playing in less then half of the season, and Oshie, Mantha, Dowd and Fehervary all missing substantial time due to injuries, this Caps team was banged up more then once this year and with the significant injuries just coming game after game for this team, it really did slow them down and if I have to be honest, although they did alright this year, I think the injuries played a big role as to why they had a losing record and missed the playoffs.

Another reason why I think the Capitals missed the playoffs was do to the fact they were sellers. Now approaching the deadline the Caps found themselves a mere 3 points back of the Islanders for the final playoff spot in the east but they didn’t think they would make the playoffs so they sold off a lot of pending UFA’s, including Johansson, Hathaway, Eller, Gustafson and Orlov before the deadline passed and with guys like Brown and Carlson still suffering from injuries, the team then loses a good 3rd line Center, bottom six forward, middle six forward, offensive defensemen and veteran top 4 defender at the trade deadline which really stretched out their entire depth of the team, and they had to use some of their younger players towards the end of the season and after being 30-27-6 at the deadline, with the depleted depth and lack of good depth players on the team, they would go 5-10-4 in their final 19 games of the season and go from only 3 points out of a playoff spot to 12 by the end of the season. So in my eyes the fact that they decided to be sellers this offseason and move their pending UFA’s was i think a smart move and I do think should help them for the future, but it did do them in for this season and was another reason the team missed the playoffs this year. 

And finally I think the core of the Capitals is starting to get older and I don’t know how much more this current core can compete for. Now the Capitals are one of the older teams in the NHL and they have a aging Group right now and I think the lack of young players on this team was another reason that the team wound up missing the playoffs, because if you look at their forward group for players who played more then 20 games for them this season, only Strome, Mantha, Wilson, Milano, Protas and Aube-Kubel are under 30, and on the defensive side of players who played more then 20 games for the Caps, only Fehervary, Alexeyev and deadline acquisition Sandin are under 30 years old, so with having a more older team they didn’t have that jump that some younger teams do and I do think while it isn’t a very big reason, it also contributed to the Capitals missing the playoffs, as I think if they had a few more young and maybe more quicker players I think the Capitals could’ve had that level of speed they needed to compete with some of the younger teams down the stretch, so I do think having a more older team with a aging core was another reason the Capitals missed the playoffs. 

So in my eyes the injuries suffered by key players, they bad play they had lost trade deadline after they dealt their UFA’s and the older core of the team were the downfall of the Capitals this year, and I do think they didn’t have to bad of a season this year but more of a mediocre season and they just didn’t have that next level they needed to get into the playoffs, but I don’t think they are too far off from competing and possibly making the playoffs as early as next year, so if they can do a couple of things in the offseason I think they will be in a good position to compete for playoffs next year. 

How the Capitals can improve in the offseason.

Winslow Townson USA Today Sports 

.1) Move on from Mantha and possibly Kuznetsov. 

Now to start with, as I said the Capitals did not do bad last year and were just mediocre, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make any changes this offseason, as I think they need to get younger and faster this offseason, and should start by moving two players off of their roster who didn’t have good seasons last year.

Now first with Mantha, he was acquired at the shortened seasons deadline by Washington from Detroit for a decent package and was brought in to be a good top 6 power forward for the Caps, and finished that season strong putting up 8 points in 14 games, but then last year only got into 37 games due to injuries but still was productive putting up 23 points, and this year with other guys injured he was supposed to step up and be a good top 6 forward but never did. Now he started out well this year but as the Caps started to get healthier he fell down the depth charts and at some points just after the new year he was even a healthy scratch, and was someone who seemed to be out their at deadline, but the Caps didn’t trade him in season and he finished with 27 points in 67 games, just 4 more points then the previous season playing 30 more games, and with his down year a lot of people think he will be dealt in the off-season, and I think that does make sense, as Mantha will be entering the final year of his deal as a $5.7 Million dollar cap hit, and is still a decent middle six power forward who I think could benefit from a change, so in my eyes moving on from Mantha who hasn’t really worked out in Washington might be the smart move. 

And secondly I could see the team look to move on from Kuznetsov in the offseason too. Now Kuznetsov has been a great top 6 Center his entire career with the Washington Capitals but there seems to be tension between the two now, as Kuznetsov was coming off a stellar 78 points season at just under a point per game pace, and had high expectations for this season with Backstrom being out to start the season, but didn’t do too well as he didn’t have as good of a season as least year and when Backstrom got back and with Strome still playing well, Kuznetsov was demoted to 3rd line duties for most of the year, and after only hitting 55 points in 81 games, there were some rumblings that Kuznetsov wanted out of Washington and I think they may try and find a trade for him this offseason as he is still a good 2nd line Center, but with Strome and Backstrom in front of him I think going somewhere else could help him, and he will have 2 year left on his contract at a reasonable $7.8 Million dollars for what he brings and I think moving on from him and getting a decent package in return would make the most sense for Washington.

So in my eyes the Caps need to go through a bit of a retool, and I think that should include moving guys like Kuznetsov and Mantha who had down years this year at some point in the off-season.

.2) Try and add one more top 4 defensemen. 

Now the Capitals had a lot of questions surrounding their defence coming into this year that they needed answered, and were able to answer some of those questions at the deadline, but I do think they could benefit from adding another top 4 defensemen. 

Now the team went into the season with only John Carlson signed past last season, but the Caps were able to address that before the season ended as they moved on from pending UFA’s Gustafsson and Orlov after they couldn’t come to terms on extensions, but after good seasons they did extend both Nick Jensen and TVR to keep them in the fold beyond this year and we’re able to bring in Rasmus Sandin from Toronto who is still signed beyond this year and extended young defender Alexeyev which has given the Capitals a pretty decent defensive group and they also have Fehervary who is a RFA and should resign as well, but even though the defence is in a much more stable spot then they were at this point last year, they are looking to retool and compete for a playoff spot in short order and I think this team could benefit tremendously from adding another top 4 defensemen.

Now the teams right side is stacked right now with Carlson, TVR and Jensen all signed, and the team does have some good young left side defensemen in Sandin and Fehervary but i think adding a top 4 defender to round out their top 4 or maybe play on the 3rd pair could help them. Now they do have 3 2nd round picks in the 2026 draft so if they were to trade for someone they could easily move one of those picks to help them acquire a defensemen and there are some decent defenders who could be on the market such as Provorov in Philly, Girard in Colorado and Krug in St.Louis, but I could also see them look to the free agent market to bring in a new defender, as I think guys like Graves, Dumoulin or Gavrikov could be of much interest to the Capitals, so if the team is still looking for someone to replace the hole they have in their top 4 after moving on from Orlov at the deadline, I think they could definitely accomplish something whether it is via trade or free agency and I think adding another significant top 4 defensemen to this team would really help push Washington to have a solid defensive team next year.

.3) Add 1 or 2 younger top six forwards. 

Now if the Caps do move on from Kuznetsov and Mantha, don’t bring back a guy like Sheary and still don’t have the spots they lost when they moved Johansson and Eller at the deadline, then I think they could have 3 or 4 holes in the top 9 and although I could see a few of them get replaced internally as I will discuss in a second, I also think the team could benefit from adding one or two top 6 forwards maybe in free agency. 

Now they could try and acquire a top 6 forward via trade as there could be a couple available such as Nylander in Toronto, Bratt in New Jersey or Boeser in Vancouver and I think for the right price the Caps would definitely consider adding another forward via trade, but I think some of those players they may have interest in may mortgage too much of their future, so instread of adding a top 6 forward via trade, I could see them adding a guy in free agency, now there would be a couple of guys who I think could intrigue the Capitals but a couple of guys I could see the team targeting would be, Zucker who was a really underrated forward in Pittsburgh and I think would work perfectly on line two, I also think they could try and go after Bertuzzi as he is a really good middle six power forward who I think could be a really good upgrade on Mantha, and another player I think they could target who would actually be cool to see on Washington would be JVR, as he would be a great 3rd line winger in Washington and his brother Trevor already plays there, so they could actually play together, but I think whether they do look via trade or they wind up looking via free agency, they could use a few new top 6 wingers on the team and I think some of the guys I mentioned above could be the guys they try and target. 

Geoff Burke USA Today Sports

.4) Get younger, starting by adding Lapierre and McMichael. 

Now the Caps as I have said are a older team and could definitely benefit from a injection of youth to the team, and there are a couple of players that could help the Capitals right away as early as next year in their top nine to get some more speed on this team. 

Now both Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre are the Capitals top end Prospects and I feel that both could make the NHL roster next year and be impactful top 9 forwards for the Caps, as McMichael did play the entire 21-22 season at the NHL level putting up 18 points in 68 games, but only got into 6 games last year having now points at the NHL level and was moved to the minors where he had 39 points in 57 games. Now he is a former 1RD pick and even though he was drafted as a Center, he has played wing at the NHL level and I think he could fit in well in the Caps top 6 if they don’t replace all of their holes in free agency, and I think McMichael should be NHL ready enough next year to have consistent top 9 minutes in the NHL and he has already showed he can be a NHL forward, so adding him would help this team be a little bit faster, as would adding Lapierre. Lapierre was a 2020 1RD draft pick who got a short 6 game stint at the NHL level 2 years ago, and played this past year in his first pro season in the AHL, doing alright getting 30 points in 60 games, and although I could see him go back or at least start next year in the AHL to continue his development, now that Eller is gone and Kuznetsov could also be gone, I think it might be smart to have Lapierre who is a natural Center, Center the 3rd line for the team as I think he could learn and grow well being the 3rd line Center for the Caps behind Strome and Backstrom, and while I could see other guys like Iorio, Aktell and Suzdalev maybe challenge for roster spots as well, I think Lapierre and McMichael are the two main guys I would be watching to make the roster this year and I think if the team can get those two young players in the roster, they could be a bit younger and after next year.

.5) Sign a new Head Coach. 

Now the last thing I think the Caps need to improve for next year is a bit of an obvious one, and that is being in a new coach as the team let go of Laviolette after last season and is looking to bring in a new guy.

Now Laviolette was a pretty good coach for the Capitals as in 3 seasons with the team the Capitals had a 115-78-27 record and he did lead them to the playoffs twice, but they were never able to make it out of round 1 and this year they missed the playoffs for the first time in 9 seasons, so both him and the team decided that it was best if they spilt ways, so laviolette is now looking for other opportunities while the Caps are in search of a new bench boss, so some options that have been mentioned to be the Capitals new coach have been guys like Maple Leafs assistant head coach Spencer Carbery who did coach the teams AHL affiliate at one point, Tampa Bay assistant head coach Jeff Halpern who knows what it takes to win and also has some ties to Washington, Flyers associate head coach Brad shaw who did play for the Capitals before and is not only a candidate for Washington but also other teams just like Carbery, and Todd Nelson who is the teams current AHL affiliates coach and could also consider promoting him to NHL head coach and there are probably other candidates out there as well but after not being able to win a round in quite some time and missing the playoffs this past year, the team will need to find a head coach who can help this team get back to the playoffs and maybe win a round and maybe that is one of the guys that are mentioned above, but no doubt about it getting their new coach is their first priority for this offseason and should happen soon. 

So if the Caps move on from Kuznetsov and Mantha, add a top 4 defender and a top 6 forward as well as give McMichael and Lapierre consistent NHL minutes and find a new head coach who can help them win a round in the playoffs if they can get back there, I think the Capitals should be a bit better next year and I think with them not having too many injuries to begin the year and a new change to the roster, the team should be able to at least compete if not make the playoffs next year. 

And if you like this blog post, then check out my YouTube video about Washington’s offseason right here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evuQimRkO-g