Kuznetsov's second time in the player assistance program means that his $7.8 million salary comes off the Capitals' books.

The Washington Capitals have a lot of decisions to make going forward as they remain seven points out of a playoff spot with the trade deadline approaching, and the team is expected to have quite a bit of flexibility.

Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Washington can look to capitalize on some excess cap space now that Evgeny Kuznetsov's $7.8 million salary is off the books after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program for a second time. He entered the program in 2019-20 after testing positive for cocaine.

"I think they're going to take a long look about who they are and where they're going here," Friedman said on The Jeff Marek Show, adding, "Because this is (Kuznetsov's) second time, he's off the cap. I don't think the Capitals are adding, but I think they're going to have a lot of flexibility do some things with (Nicklas) Backstrom and Kuznetsov out."

The Capitals held a sell-off prior to last year's trade deadline, shipping out a number of players for draft capital while building for the future. One of the pieces brought in was top-4 blueliner Rasmus Sandin, who the team hopes can help establish the future blue-line core when the John Carlson era ends.

Those types of moves could be on the horizon if D.C. can't get back in playoff position, and the Capitals could very well sell again. Friedman also mentioned Nic Dowd as a piece that could get numerous calls and also hinted that Anthony Mantha could be on the block, too.

However, the Capitals could also add some pieces and maybe look for a higher-caliber name to add to the puzzle.

General manager Brian MacLellan has also been looking for another young, top-6 forward for the last season, and this could be the opportunity the team needs to add some much-needed scoring.

Ultimately, though, this gives D.C. the opportunity to acknowledge the state of the roster and what the road ahead looks like.

"Washington is another one of those teams that over the next few weeks, they start to look at and say where are we going here. We know they've had Mantha out there for a while, but I think they will consider some other things," Friedman added.

The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline is on March 8 at 3 p.m. ET.