On the Washington Capitals …
Stephen Whyno: Capitals GM Brian MacLellan on people saying to trade Alex Ovechkin:
“People are looking for a major solution to what we have going on. I think part of it is they watch certain things in his game and then it shows up and they, ‘That’s not acceptable.’ But he’s a big part of our franchise, a big part of our history. He’s been a big part of where we’re at as an organization and just to casually say, ‘Let’s trade him for what for who?’ I don’t think it makes sense from an organizational point of view. Maybe at some point if there’s a legitimate hockey deal that came available, but I don’t know that that’s where we’re at right now. I just think he’s got a history here, he’s a bit part of this franchise and he’ll continue to be going forward.”
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan said that the Capitals won’t strip Ovechkin of his captaincy.
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan said that there won’t be any coaching changes.
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan said there have just been some general talks with unrestricted free agent T.J. Oshie. If they are able to re-sign him depends on what the salary cap for next year might be. If the cap is around $77 million, there might be a good chance that they can re-sign him.
Tom Gulitti: Contract talks with Oshie have only been general discussions and they have not talked about numbers yet.
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan said he’s open to signing RFAs Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov to long-term deals.
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan said that they won’t be buying anyone out this offseason.
Isabelle Khurshudyan: MacLellan referred to his top four defenseman multiple times as Matt Niskanen, John Carlson, Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov. So not sounding like Karl Alzner is coming back.