Carl Hagelin trade gives Capitals what they need for another Stanley Cup run

After plenty of rumors over the last 24 hours, The Washington Capitals have acquired Carl Hagelin from the Los Angeles in a trade that works out for both sides.

The NHL trade deadline is reaching the home stretch as the Feb.25 deadline gets closer and closer by the minute. This time it’s Carl Hagelin on the move for the second time this season.

Hagelin is departing from the lowly Los Angeles Kings and heading to the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, who were hinting heavily that a move was imminent after waiving Devante Smith-Pelly Wednesday to clear a roster spot.

The condition on the trade, via Capfriendly, states that the Capitals have to advance past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs AND Hagelin has to play in 50 percent or more of Capitals’ playoffs games in those first two rounds.

If one of those conditions is not met, the Kings will not receive the sixth-round pick in 2020.

Not a blockbuster trade, but rather a typical deadline move. The moves that help true contenders win Stanley Cups don’t have to be huge roster-shaking trades and the Capitals proved just that last season. How did each team do in the trade? Let’s take a look.

Capitals improve forward depth, find potential solution to penalty woes

Last trade deadline, Brian MacLellan made what was in hindsight the best trade of the deadline in acquiring defenseman Michal Kempny for a third round pick, giving the Capitals the last piece they needed to go and make a run at the Stanley Cup.

The Hagelin trade could possibly be the offensive version of that, obviously dependent on how well Hagelin performs, but on paper he solves several of their key issues.

On the surface, Hagelin hasn’t been anything special this season. His point totals come out to two goals and six assists in 38 games this season, but scoring is not what the Capitals are acquiring him for. Hagelin is known for his speed and his defensive abilities, especially on the penalty kill.

Where the Capitals have struggled most over the past few months has been with penalties, taking them and killing them off. They lead the league in minor penalties taken, and their penalty kill ranks 22nd in the NHL at 78.4 percent.

Hagelin can step right in and help the Capitals right where they are weakest. Even if the Capitals can’t stop themselves from taking four to five penalties a game, it doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore.

As for Hagelin’s playoff experience, the Capitals are all to familiar with him, considering they have faced him six times in the playoffs when he was a member of the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Every single Capitals playoff run since 2012 has been met with Carl Hagelin at some point. Head-to-head against the Capitals in the postseason, Hagelin is 1-5 in series against his now-current team, even assisting on Nick Bonino’s Game 6 overtime winner in 2016, eliminating the Capitals.

Hagelin’s only loss to them came last postseason when the Capitals eliminated the Penguins on the way to the Stanley Cup.

This trade is a peak Brian MacLellan move for the Capitals. Diagnosing a weakness in the team, and finding a direct cure with an relatively cheap, yet effective player, just like the Kempny trade from last season.

With the Kings retaining salary, Carl Hagelin should be a great fit on this Capitals team, and can be a direct solvent to several of the issues that have plagued them recently.

"“We are pleased to welcome Carl to our organization,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “We felt this trade enables us to add depth up front and provides us with a veteran player with a tremendous amount of speed to help us on the penalty kill.”“A player we are really excited about having join our team,” Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said. “Carl’s had a lot of success in the League and a number of playoff experiences. A huge, huge gain for us in terms of speed, experience and the championship experience as well. We see him being a big part of our penalty kill and continuing to try to make that better."

The trade itself is fair price. For a situation like the Capitals, their first round picks and higher end prospects should be untouchables, but later round picks for them are best used in trades like this to improve the roster.

They already have the talent to make another run at the Stanley Cup, they just needed a little help, and Carl Hagelin is almost exactly what they were asking for.

As for any more moves that the Capitals can make before the trade deadline, with a mere $25,093 in cap space, it would be impossible without moving out a player first. They can still make a move, likely for a defenseman, but not without having to get creative with their roster.

Capitals Trade Grade: A-

Kings get decent value for a player they were never going to keep

The Kings ever so briefly looked they might have a slight chance to sneak back into the Western Conference wild card conversation, but recently they’ve taken yet another step back all the way back into the last spot in the Western Conference.

Hagelin was a player they had no intention of keeping and would’ve been ill-advised to hold on to.

The Kings first acquired Carl Hagelin back in November from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Tanner Pearson with the expectation that his speed could help jumpstart the Kings after their horrendous start, but he wasn’t nearly enough to save them.

With the third round pick from Washington coming in return for Hagelin, the Kings now have ten picks in the upcoming 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Los Angeles still has their work cut out for them before the trade deadline, and can really load up on draft picks in what should be a relatively deep draft.

Hagelin was the last of their upcoming UFAs they absolutely had to trade, but there’s no point in just standing pat and holding onto these guys for another year.

Players like Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis and Alec Martinez can fetch assets, and they need to get younger and faster as they attempt to rebuild.

The only thing that could be better about this trade for the Kings is the initial trade they made for Hagelin, where they gave up Tanner Pearson.

Pearson could’ve fetched more in a trade for the Kings then a straight up one for one for a player on an expiring deal, and they might’ve sacrificed a few assets in doing so. Nevertheless, when you look at this trade alone, the Kings got the exact value for Hagelin, nothing more and nothing less.

Kings Trade Grade: B+