Friday, the Washington Capitals announced a trade that sent defenseman Matt Niskanen to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Radko Gudas. The move cleared roughly $3.3 million of cap space for Washington.
According to Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic, the Capitals want to re-sign forward Carl Hagelin this summer.
Washington acquired Hagelin in trade from the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2020.
In 20 games with the Capitals, Hagelin recorded 11 points and registered a plus-7 rating. He wasn’t nearly as effective during the playoffs with one point in seven games before the Capitals were eliminated in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes. However, the seed was planted of how he could help bolster the Capitals’ offense.
The Capitals have roughly $13.5 million of projected cap space heading into the summer, according to CapFriendly. They also have a list of free-agent players they would including Andre Burakovsky, Christian Djoos, and Jakub Vrana.
Hagelin is coming off a four-year, $16 million deal he signed initially with the Anaheim Ducks in 2015 after four seasons with the New York Rangers. However, he struggled to fit in and was traded to the Penguins later that season. He was also traded to the Kings in November of last year after three seasons in Pittsburgh before being moved to the Capitals in February.
After scoring 58 goals with the Rangers in four seasons, Hagelin has scored 35 goals through the past four seasons and been on four teams.
Considering Hagelin has struggled to equal the production that yearned him the $16 million deal in 2015, he may come at a much lesser value for the Capitals.
