Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now: The Washington Capitals got good goaltending but not great goaltending from pending RFAs Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek according to GM Brian MacLellan. Both were inconsistent last season.
Addressing goaltending should be a top priority. Who do they re-sign? One or both? Which one do you choose? Vanecek put up better numbers this year but lost the starting role after Game 2.
Vanecek is coming off an $863,333 deal compared to Samsonov’s $2 million and could be cheaper, which could allow them to bring in another starter and possibly a top-six forward.
Samsonov does still have some upside and the talent is there.
It sounded like GM MacLellan will at least see what the trade and free agent markets hold. Darcy Kuemper and Ville Husso are pending UFAs.
Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now: The Washington Capitals will be without Tom Wilson to start the season after ACL surgery will keep him out six to eight months. The health of Nicklas Backstrom remains a big question mark.
Pending Colorado Avalanche unrestricted free agent center Nazem Kadri might be someone of interest for the Capitals. He’ll be looking for a raise from his $4.5 million cap hit. He could be looking for upwards of $8 million per.
Backstrom and Wilson could be LTIR’d, freeing up some cap space. Defenseman Justin Schultz and Michal Kempny could hit the open market.
Kadri will be 32 next season and signing him may lessen the role for some of their youngsters like Connor McMichael.
Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now: The Washington Capitals core is aging but they are still competing. There are the health concerns of Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson for next season. There are also some concerns in net with pending RFAs Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.
The Caps could gain some cap flexibility by allowing Marcus Johansson, Johan Larsson, Michal Kempny and Justin Schultz to go to free agency.
Pending free agents that the Capitals could look at if they are going all-in could be goaltender Darcy Kuemper and forward Filip Forsberg.
The Capitals could use an experienced starting goaltender, a reliable top-six forward and some depth down the middle.