Capitals & Jets reportedly discussed trade involving former first round pick

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Cooper Godin
July 29, 2024 (8:01)

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The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets reportedly discussed trade at the draft that involved a former first round pick.

This summer, the Washington Capitals did quite a bit of work on both the free agent and trade markets to improve their roster for the 2024-25 season. The Capitals are wanting to remain competitive during Alexander Ovechkin's time with the organization and the moves General Manager Brian MacLellan made this summer certainly showed that.

On the trade market, Washington added Logan Thompson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun, while also adding free agent defenceman Matt Roy on a six-year contract.

With the moves MacLellan made, there will be some tough decisions to make in training camp this fall and one player that could be shifted down in the depth chart is former first round pick Connor McMichael. The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois would likely see McMichael be in the third line center role to start the year, unless he's moved to the wing, which is a possibility for Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.

In a recent mailbag article, Ken Wiebe of Winnipeg Free Press revealed that the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets discussed a trade at the NHL Entry Draft last month that involved Connor McMichael.

"There was some chatter around the 2024 NHL Draft that the Jets and Capitals were considering a deal that involved centre Connor McMichael. McMichael is under contract for two more seasons at $2.1M and then will be a restricted free agent. McMichael was bumped down the depth chart with the arrival of former Jets centre PL Dubois." Wiebe said.

Wiebe went on to add that there would be some familiarity from the Winnipeg Jets and Connor McMichael as head coach Scott Arniel was with the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach from the 2018-19 season until the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

"Jets head coach Scott Arniel would be familiar with McMichael from his time with the Capitals and he would immediately find himself in the battle for the 2C job that is vacant after the departure of Sean Monahan in free agency." Wiebe said.

Last season, McMichael appeared in 80 games where he set new career highs in goals, assists and points. The Ajax, Ontario native recorded 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists), 34 penalty minutes and was a minus-20.

We'll have to wait and see how this shakes out over the coming months as we head into training camp, but it'll be interesting to see if Connor McMichael is still with the Washington Capitals by the time opening night rolls around in October.

Source: Winnipeg Free Press
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