On the Washington Capitals …
J.J. Regan of CSN Mid Atlantic: Alex Ovechkin is one of the best goal scorers and players of all time. He’s 32 years old with a $9.5 million salary cap hit, and not a lot of playoff success.
Would the Capitals consider trading Ovechkin? Not Likely. Now if Wayne Gretzky can be traded … it is possible then that Ovechkin can be traded. Reasons why Ovechkin won’t be traded.
- He’s still a productive player.
- His cap hit makes it hard to move him
- Vegas does not make as much sense as you may think
- You can’t get equal value in return
- He has a modified no-trade clause
- He means too much to the franchise
On the Ottawa Senators …
Craig Custance of ESPN: Looking at some areas that the Ottawa Senators should focus on this offseason.
1. Convince the Vegas Golden Knights to take Bobby Ryan in the expansion draft – Ryan had a great playoff run for the Senators, which is good for the Senators. They Sens may have include a sweetener for Vegas to take him. He has five years left at a $7.25 million cap hit. The Senators only have a two picks in the first three rounds. The Sens are a budget team and can’t afford to overpay for Ryan and his production may not match his salary going into his 30s.
2. Sign Jean-Gabriel Pageau to a long-term deal – The pending RFA is a Selke Trophy-caliber defensive forward and scored some big goals for the Sens in the playoffs. He’s a key piece to the Senators future.
3. Make room for defenseman Thomas Chabot – Chabot is one of the Senators good young prospects and is ready to make the jump. He had 45 points in 34 regular season games, 23 points in 18 playoff games for Saint John of the QMJHL. He was the MVP of the World Junior Championship.