The Washington Capitals may be bringing the majority of their team back to get another crack at what was a successful regular season and while the playoff berth was shortlived it was still longer than previous ones.
That being said let's look at two Caps players who won't be back with the team next season. We already know Nicklas Backstrom will not be back. Neither will T.J. Oshie most likely.
Lars Eller
A player that I think will not be back next season is Lars Eller. He was brought on early in the season as that third line center. At age 36 it is likely the team will go in another direction as he enters the summer as an unrestricted free agent.
Eller finished the season with a total of 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. He was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins where he had seven points in 17 games with four goals and three assists.
With the Caps the remainder of the season in 63 games he recorded six goals and nine assists for 15 points. It wasn't bad but by playoff time Eller was hardly noticeable.
Again he's an aging veteran and the Caps will likely utilize the youth to go with the center depth.
Andrew Mangiapane
I hate these exercises because I have to sometimes part ways with a player that I liked much of the year. I thought Andrew Mangiapane was a solid pickup for the bottom six.
The problem with him is he's going to be a UFA as well. Then you have names like Anthony Beauvillier who I definitely want back. Then there's Taylor Raddysh who's on the better side of the 20s as well.
That leaves Mangiapane the odd man out. He had a solid season where he scored 14 goals and added 14 assists for 28 points. That was some depth scoring the Capitals needed.
