The Capitals have some questions to answer going into the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals have quite a few important spectators in the building for Monday's tilt with the Ottawa Senators, as over 20 teams have scouts taking in Monday's action ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
Twenty-one teams sent representatives to Monday's game, which is the only Eastern Conference game on the schedule. Both Ottawa and Washington have some heavy decision-making to do in the next two weeks leading up to the deadline.
Those teams include the Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders.
The Capitals currently sit six points out of third in the Metropolitan Division, and if they remain out of contention going into the deadline, they could look to offload some contracts and sell. The same can be said for Ottawa, who is third-to-last in the Eastern Conference.
There are a few names that are reportedly generating league-wide interest, including Nic Dowd and Joel Edmundson. Pending unrestricted free agents Max Pacioretty, Anthony Mantha and Nicolas Aube-Kubel have also heard their names come up in trade chatter.
Washington sold at last year's deadline as they missed out on the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. The Capitals used several players to acquire draft picks and also brought in Rasmus Sandin, who has since become a key part of the team's blue line.
The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline is on Friday, March 8 at 3 p.m. ET. Washington still has key questions to answer before deciding on whether to add or sell with the playoffs not far out of reach and several players dealing with injuries up front.