Adam Proteau discusses the Washington Capitals' Evgeny Kuznetsov possibly wanting out, the Philadelphia Flyers buying out Tony DeAngelo, and options for two top free agents.
Adam Proteau discusses the Washington Capitals' Evgeny Kuznetsov possibly wanting out, the Philadelphia Flyers buying out Tony DeAngelo, and options for two top free agents.
Welcome back to Screen Shots, an ongoing THN.com feature in which we take a look at a few disparate hockey topics, and cover them with a few brief(ish) paragraphs. You know the routine. Onward we go:
NHL.com recently hinted that Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has asked for a trade – and that isn’t a good harbinger of what’s to come for the Caps this coming season.
When your team is winning, players who may not be overjoyed with their role can rationalize sticking around, but when your team is struggling, the parachutes come out much faster.
The 31-year-old Kuznetsov is in the second-to-last season of his current contract that carries a salary cap hit of $7.8 million, according to PuckPedia. He also has a 15-team no-trade clause, so there’s a limited market for his services. Also hurting his trade chances is his struggles on offense; in 2022-23, he managed only 12 goals, his worst full-season total since his NHL rookie year of 2014-15.
This almost guarantees Capitals GM Brian MacLellan won’t get equal value for Kuznetsov, but the alternative – bringing him back to be an unhappy camper in Washington’s dressing room – could be tough for the Caps’ playoff hopes. There needs to be a resolution sooner than later, and with some teams still angling for help at forward, MacLellan must find a taker for Kuznetsov and close the chapter on his Capitals career.
The Philadelphia Flyers announced Friday they were buying out the contract of defenseman Tony DeAngelo, making the controversial defenseman the first player in the NHL’s Salary Cap Era to be bought out twice. This development ought to humble DeAngelo, who, at age 27, has changed teams three times in his seven-year NHL career.
Sometimes, a player needs a fresh start with a new organization, but if you’re on your fifth different franchise, doesn’t that tell you something at your core needs to change? If DeAngelo goes back to Carolina for a second stint as is rumored, he'll be on their third defense pairing (or the second, if they move veteran Brett Pesce). He needs to figure out a way to be a crucial part of a Stanley Cup contender soon before he becomes cap ballast on a bad team that wants to get to the cap floor. When one of the projected worst teams in the league doesn’t want you, that should be a massive wake-up call.
Finally, veterans Tomas Tatar and Vladimir Tarasenko are two of the best remaining UFA forwards, but they could be headed to drastically different competitive situations. Tatar's coming off his sixth 20-goal season, and at age 32, he likely wants to join a legitimate Cup contender like he was last season with the New Jersey Devils.
That said, there aren’t many teams with the cap space to spend $4 million to $5 million per year for Tatar on a multi-year contract, and that could push Tatar to a rebuilding team, at least for the short term.
With the Anaheim Ducks having the most cap space in the league at the moment, albeit with key players still to sign, would Tatar agree to a one-year contract with them? Perhaps there's some degree of trade protection that allows him to focus on playing well enough to be moved to a genuine Cup threat by the trade deadline.
The Ducks made one of those deals last summer when they signed veteran defenseman John Klingberg to a one-year deal, then moved him to Minnesota at the deadline. Tatar could be a fit on Anaheim’s third line, with the potential to move to the second line if injuries arrive. The Ducks need all the help they can get, so Tatar would have decent value for them and then be converted into draft picks or prospects in a trade.
As far as Tarasenko goes, he could join the Hurricanes or perhaps the Ottawa Senators, but the flat-cap reality teams are dealing with may limit the 31-year-old to a one- or two-year deal that sets him up for one last huge payday once the cap ceiling goes up at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
It will be intriguing to see which teams step up and either clear cap space for Tarasenko or convince him to take less right now in anticipation of earning a bigger payday a year or two from now. Tarasenko is too talented to stay on the open market for much longer, but he’s in a situation that might not be ideal for him as a businessman.