The Latest Rumors Surrounding Washington And The 2023 NHL Trade Deadline – NoVa Caps

Abraham Smith

After the Washington Capitals traded defenseman Dmitry Orlov and right winger Garnet Hathaway to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, NoVa Caps offers a round-up of all the latest rumors surrounding the organization and the 2023 NHL trade deadline, which begins a week from Friday at 3 p.m.: 12:00 a.m. ET.

TSN’s Darren Dreger explained that Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who has three more seasons left on a team-friendly contract costing $4.6 million against the NHL salary cap, is an interesting player for the team.

The 24-year-old has seven goals, 28 points, a +8 rating, 50.41% five-on-five Corsi percentage, 48.36% five-on-five expectation goal percentage and 50% five -about five percent. Five percentage chances at an average of 23:16 per game (including three minutes on the power play) in 36 games this season but has not played since February 10 for “trade-related reasons”.

Chychrun, who requested a trade for a Stanley Cup contender two years ago, led NHL defensemen with 18 goals in 56 games in the 2020-21 season when he also had 41 points. Arizona is reportedly looking for the equivalent of two first-round picks in every trade Chychrun is involved in.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said in 32 Thoughts that he believes Washington won’t go on a long-term rebuild and that their approach is that this season isn’t their year, they’ll have a lot of flexibility this off-season and they’ll get more assets at the close. Washington is just poking around this season.

GM Brian MacLellan has spoken about contract extensions with pending unrestricted free-agent defenders Erik Gustafsson and Trevor Van Riemsdyk. Friedman said MacLellan is trying to see who is willing to renew their contracts, what they want in their next deals and whether it makes sense for the team before making any decisions.

Friedman added that he’s hearing center Lars Eller and Nick Jensen (who may become an unrestricted free agent after this season) call “something more lately.” He noted that teams that have been following Washington quite a bit lately include the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings. Friedman also wondered about the Edmonton Oilers when GM Ken Holland signed Jensen while he was in the Detroit Red Wings organization and traded him to Washington on February 22, 2019.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun suggested in his Trade Rumblings article on Friday that Eller will be transferred.

Lebrun also said: “The Capitals are now actively listening to a number of their upcoming UFAs, but I get the impression they don’t want a total sell-out either. There is a balance they will try to achieve between trading pending UFAs but also holding and maybe signing others. They want a competitive team next season.”

LeBrun tweeted Friday morning that Washington was still in contract negotiations last week for Gustafsson and Jensen, who can also become full free agents on July 1. They struggled to re-sign Orlov, particularly with one tenure before trading him to Boston. Friedman said Washington did not want to go beyond three to four years with Orlov, who wanted an almost eight-year extension.

LeBrun wondered if the goal is still to renew Jensen or Gustafsson, or at least trade one of them now. He could imagine Washington rolling over one of their contracts and trading the other before next Friday.

LeBrun wrote that “there is no interest in a rebuild with Alex Ovechkin around” and that there are interesting moves this offseason.

By Harrison Brown

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