With the 4 Nations break underway, what will the Washington Capitals do before the March 7 deadline?
The NHL Trade Deadline is under a month away and the Washington Capitals should certainly be buyers for the chance at lifting Lord Stanley's Cup come June. That's the obvious move but the asking price among other teams could be high.
The Caps are sitting at a good spot in the NHL standings which shocked many in the early going. But if you've been following this team since day one of the season, you certainly aren't surprised. If you had high hopes with the offseason additions, you're not surprised either.
Add a center in the bottom six
But what the Caps need at the trade deadline is bottom six center depth. We've mentioned it before and we couldn't stress it enough. The defense and the goaltending is fine but what the Caps need is a bottom six.
The Caps thought they had that in the early going of the season when they traded for Lars Eller and it made perfect sense at the time. But the move hasn't worked out the way the Capitals have envisioned. For one, he's older than he was in 2018. Another, the performance wasn't the same. Probabaly because of aging and what not.
They don't neccessarily have to trade for a young center but adding a long term option would make the most sense. At the same time, you got to swing for the fences at this opportunity. Tristen McKinstry of NHL on ClutchPoints as part of Yardbreaker mentions a good name in Trevor Zegras but the price might be too high. In an article we wrote earlier today we put money in the bank on Trent Frederic.
Other players that have been linked to the Caps include Brock Nelson, Jake Evans, Casey Mittlestat, and Brandon Tanev. McKinstry points out if the Caps were to acquire a player like Tanev, he could be alternating with a player like Brandon Duhaime, Taylor Raddysh, or Ethen Frank. Wouldn't be a bad idea about Tanev.
Then there are guys like Jakub Vrana who was a healthy scratch for much of the season. Do the Capitals send him down to the Hershey Bears or send him to another team?
I can't say the goaltending is perfect but Logan Thompson is close to it and the team did the right thing when it came to extending him. Don't be surprised to see Charlie Lindgren get an extension either.
As far as the defense goes, there isn't a weakness there. So now it's just a matter of putting the playoff puzzle together. That's what the trade deadline is for and all eyes will be on new general manager Chris Patrick to see what type of move the Caps make to remain in the hunt and the conversation for the Stanley Cup.
