Fansided

3 moves the Washington Capitals need to make during the offseason

By Griffin Youngs

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 16: The Washington Capitals react after losing 2-1 to the New York Islanders during the first overtime period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 16, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 16: The Washington Capitals react after losing 2-1 to the New York Islanders during the first overtime period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 16, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 10: Michal Kempny #6 of the Washington Capitals skates against the New York Islanders during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 10: Michal Kempny #6 of the Washington Capitals skates against the New York Islanders during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Overhaul the defense

Even if the Capitals figure out their coaching issues, they still have a glaring problem on the blue line. Their defense just is not good enough to win a Stanley Cup, and it’s unclear how much of that falls on the coaching or the players. Regardless, both need to change.

As much of a nightmare as John Carlson is defensively, he’s obviously not going anywhere. Dmitry Orlov isn’t perfect, but he’s consistent enough to hold on to, especially if he can get a good system. Everybody else? There’s really no reason to hold onto them. Brendan Dillon and Radko Gudas are UFAs, and everybody else still under contract has not done enough to justify keeping them when upgrades are available.

Michal Kempny has to be the most likely candidate to get traded. After suffering a devastating hamstring injury before last season’s playoffs, Kempny just wasn’t the same upon recovering and struggled for most of the season. During the return, Kempny was brutal enough to go from top pairing to healthy scratch after Game 2. He still has value as an NHL defenseman, and isn’t a rental, so there should be some trade value still there.

As for potential upgrades, there are plenty of options on both the trade market and in free agency. With the flat salary cap taking hold of the league, the Capitals have the opportunity to to find defensemen that wouldn’t normally be available, and find upgrades that way. For example, somebody like Colton Parayko might have to be forced out of St. Louis, and the Capitals can put together a package to upgrade their right side on defense.

While the Capitals can’t afford to big names on the free agent market, there are still defenseman they should look to pursue. A player like Joel Edmundson could plug into the top four, while some depth player like Dylan Demelo and Ben Hutton are solid choices to round out the bottom pairings.

With how much of a mess the Capitals defense has been, the specifics of the move don’t really matter as long as upgrades are made. You can’t run this group back, and they have the assets and cap space to improve it. If they get this wrong this offseason, it could mean the end of the championship window.

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