Capitals reportedly looking to make significant addition before training camp

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Cooper Godin
August 13, 2023 (1:53 PM)

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The Washington Capitals missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season for the first time since 2014 and will be looking to return next year in the extremely tough Metropolitan Division.

In a recent interview with Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic, Capitals General Manager said that the team would like to add a top-six forward to their roster and has been discussions with teams since the NHL Entry Draft in June.

"We had a few discussions at the draft; it might carry forward or it might not carry forward," MacLellan said. "We'll see where it goes."

According to CapFriendly, the Capitals currently sit $700,000 over the NHL's salary cap, which makes wanting to add a significant piece to their roster difficult, whether that be via trade or free agency.

So far this summer, MacLellan has added six-time 30+ goal scorer Max Pacioretty, who's coming off a second torn Achilles in 12 months and Matthew Phillips through free agency. They also acquired Stanley Cup champion defenceman Joel Edmundson in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1st.

If the Capitals decide to go down the free agent route, there are still a handful of prominent names that can play in a top-six role including Patrick Kane, Tomas Tatar. But they make any addition, MacLellan will need to clear cap space and one way that may be possible is by moving forward Anthony Mantha, who is reportedly available.

With almost every team in the Metropolitan Division getting better this summer, it's going to be interesting to see how things play out throughout the 2023-24 season.

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Source: theScore