Midsummer Hump Day

Three months from today, the Caps will open the 2023-24 season with a Friday night home date against the Pittsburgh Penguins, marking the NHL head coaching debut of Washington bench boss Spencer Carbery. Three months ago today, the Caps finished up the 2022-23 season with a 5-4 overtime loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, also at Capital One Arena.

Even though today isn't Wednesday, it's a hump day of sorts, the midpoint between the Caps' last game and their next game. And we're also clear of the 2023 NHL Draft and the crazy days of free agency, so with most of the dust settled, it's time to take a summertime look at how things stand.

At noon on July 1, the NHL threw open the doors of its spottily and haphazardly stocked free agent emporium, as it does every year at this time. In the last several weeks and months leading up to that date, we heard that the 2023 class of unrestricted free agents was rather thin and uninspiring, but even in fallow years, the shelves tend to clear quickly as the League's general managers storm their way into the store and fill their shopping carts with as much free agent talent as their wallets will allow.

Such was the case again this summer, as the 32 NHL general managers combined to get 166 players sign on the line which is dotted, doling out a total of just over $650 million and 292 years in term in the first dozen hours of free agency.

Additionally, a few trades were made around the League, a handful of contract buyouts were exercised, and a slew of recently drafted players were non-tendered, swelling the free agency ranks with a bit of younger talent.

"I'm probably a little surprised on how aggressive the buyouts and dumping of players was," Caps' GM Brian MacLellan told us. "I didn't expect that much of it; there was quite a bit of it. But I think everybody wants to make changes, and there's no [salary cap] room to add. So you create more money in the system that way."

Earlier in the offseason, MacLellan expressed his desire to alter/improve/shake up his team's group of top six forwards. As constituted last season, the Caps' top six was - at various times - ailing and inconsistent. It was also - at all times, like all of us - aging.

Alex Ovechkin, T. J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom are all north of 35 years of age, and among the nominal top six, only Tom Wilson (29) and Anthony Mantha (28) are still on the good side of 30. Wilson missed half of last season while rehabbing a surgically repaired torn ACL while Mantha endured the worst season (11 goals, 16 assists in 67 games) of his eight full years in the League, his points-per-game rate cratering to the lowest level (.40) of his career. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov followed one of his best NHL seasons in 2021-22 with one of his worst in '22-23, and he requested a trade as well.

Over the years, the Caps have typically tried to accommodate players who ask to be moved. But trying to make a hockey trade to improve the top six has proven to be difficult, given the current trade market combined with yet another year of a flat salary cap, a condition that has led to the aggressive buyouts and dumping of players MacLellan mentioned. Many trades made this summer involved teams retaining salary on players they needed to move, and the Caps are reluctant to do so in any deals they might make.

Mantha is headed into a contract year, and Kuznetsov could hasten his exit with a strong start if he still desires a departure from the District. Both players could respond in positive fashion to the new coaching staff, too.

MacLellan's hope was to find a trade partner with whom he could swing a deal, ideally one that would turn back the clock on his top six. Over the last calendar year, he engineered moves to bring in the likes of forwards Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano and defenseman Rasmus Sandin, all of whom are in their twenties and approaching what should be the prime years of their respective careers.

In trying to find a fit on the trade market, MacLellan termed his approach as "aggressive." But even though he pitched a few deals to various peers around the League, he was unable to consummate a swap that would achieve his goals.

"I'd still like to make a trade," MacLellan says. "We were aggressive at the draft with our offers, but nothing ever materialized.

"I feel we have some pretty good offers out there, and the guys [we're pursuing] haven't moved yet. I don't know if they move them now or when they move them. Maybe at the deadline? I'm not sure what happens. Some guys need to be signed. So we'll stay involved in all of that stuff."

In the meantime, MacLellan was able to attend to some roster-building business in the first week of July, making a low key, low cost and low risk move that could pay dividends within the top six with the July 1 signing of free agent left wing Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty, who turns 35 in November, is still capable of filling nets with pucks, but he has rarely been healthy enough to do so over the last two seasons, and he is not currently healthy, either.

Limited to just five games last season because of an Achilles' tear suffered in January, Pacioretty is still in the midst of rehabbing that injury and won't be ready for the start of the 2023-24 season. The Caps are betting he'll be ready at some point in the season's first half, and that he'll be capable of lighting the red lamp with regularity when healthy.

In his last 92 regular season games, Pacioretty has scored 46 goals. He has reached the 30-goal plateau six times in his NHL career, and his total of 236 goals from 2013-14 through 2020-21 is seventh-most among all NHLers over that span.

"Goal scoring would be the primary [reason for the signing]," says MacLellan. "We've got to find a way to score more goals, and that's what he does. We really like the player; obviously he is one of the top goal scorers over the past number of years. Good player. Beyond the injury, I think he is still probably better than what he was in his later years. So we're excited to get him healthy and into our lineup."

Also on July 1, MacLellan did finally swing a trade, but it was smaller in scope than what he had envisioned, and it was targeted at shoring up his team's blueline group rather than its top six.

The trade brings defenseman Joel Edmundson to D.C. Edmundson just celebrated his 30th birthday at the end of last month, and he brings eight seasons and 477 games worth of NHL experience with him to Washington. Heading into the final season of a four-year contract that carries an annual salary cap hit of $3.5 million, the Caps will be on the hook for only half of that figure, as Montreal will pick up the other half. Washington sent Minnesota's third-round pick (obtained in March in a deal for Marcus Johansson) in 2024 and its own 2024 seventh-rounder to the Canadiens for Edmundson.

Edmundson adds some size and physicality to Washington's blueline, and he also brings some experience to a rather green left side in which his 477 games worth of NHL experience is more than the other three lefties (Fehervary, Sandin and Alex Alexeyev) have combined to play in their own NHL careers.

"When we were going through the free agent market, the trade market, it's an element that we wanted to add to our lineup," states MacLellan. "We got a sense for what free agency [would yield] for that type of player; a physical, net front presence, a good leader, has some good size.

"We looked at the free agent market and what the cost was, and we decided to go that way and decided to spend a pick on it. And plus the salary retention was appealing to us, too, because we could afford that. So we're adding two players with a limited amount of cap space, and that was appealing."

The Caps get Pacioretty for a salary cap hit of just $2 million for the upcoming season, though Pacioretty has the opportunity to double his 2023-24 earnings via incentive bonuses. With the additions of Edmundson and Pacioretty, MacLellan essentially added $8 million worth of talent for a shade less than half of that figure, and without committing to either player beyond this season.

As July wore on, the Caps attended to other business. Washington re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Martin Fehervary to a three-year contract extension at an annual cap hit of $2.675 million, and it retained restricted free agent defenseman Dylan McIlrath, goaltender Hunter Shepard and center Riley Sutter to contract extensions as well. McIlrath, Shepard and Sutter were all instrumental in the AHL Hershey Bears winning their 12th Calder Cup championship last month.

Finally, the Caps added some intriguing low budget free agents earlier this month as well. Washington signed free agent forwards Pierrick Dube, Alex Limoges and Matthew Phillips, thickening up the team's depth up front after the departures (via free agency) of Sam Anas, Henrik Borgstrom, Shane Gersich and Garrett Pilon.

Dube and Phillips are smaller players, but both are also highly skilled. The 22-year-old Dube played with Caps prospect Hendrix Lapierre with QMJHL Chicoutimi during the pandemic-abbreviated 2020-21 season. He signed an AHL deal with Laval last season, putting up 16 goals and 32 points in 44 games there after torching the ECHL (nine goals and 14 points in nine games with Trois-Rivieres).

"There is some potential upside in Dube," says MacLellan. "I would look at him as say, signing a college free agent. Our guys think he has a chance - with development and with time - and I don't know what level he can get to, but he has a lot of qualities that could translate to the NHL. So it's worth a chance to see what he can do, and because of his age, you're adding a prospect to your group."

Limoges is a Winchester, Va. native who played his collegiate hockey at Penn State. Since graduating, the 25-year-old Limoges - who was undrafted - has stacked up three excellent seasons in the AHL, two in San Diego and one in Manitoba.

The 25-year-old Phillips was Calgary's sixth-round pick (166th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft. Following three decent AHL seasons to start his pro career, Phillips erupted with consecutive seasons of 30 or more goals in each of his last two seasons. He did so while playing for head coach Mitch Love, who left the Calgary organization to become an assistant coach with Washington. Love's reports on Phillips helped seal the deal.

"He is an undersized player, but he's a good player," says MacLellan of Phillips. "So we'll give him a chance to figure it out and see where he goes. And Mitch knows him and has a lot of good information on him. He's a really competitive player, and the question is, can he produce at the NHL level at that size?"

Phillips got only three games worth of NHL experience over his five seasons as a pro with the Flames. Along with Dube and Limoges, he will now benefit from being seen with fresh eyes in a new organization.

"Guys develop at different rates every year," says MacLellan. "That's what your pro scouts are there for. Every year, they're seeing those players, and they're like, 'Oh, this guy made a jump this year,' or 'This guy went this way this year.' That's their job, to monitor guys and how they're progressing."

Even if MacLellan is unable to manage a trade between now and the start of the season, the Caps should be a slightly younger group overall this season. After a successful run to the Calder Cup title with Hershey, drafted prospects Beck Malenstyn, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas are expected to carve out regular roles within the varsity forward group this season.

"I think they all had a good playoff," says MacLellan. "They're all getting better and they're all going to add different elements to our lineup. I would more than likely pencil them in for next year."

It's been a busy offseason so far, but there's more work still to be done. With the draft and free agency now in the rear view, MacLellan is expected to start talking with Wilson about a contract extension. The big winger is heading into the final year of his deal this season. And MacLellan and Carbery are still seeking one more assistant coach to fill out the staff, another detail that will get more attention now that the draft, free agency and development camp have come and gone.

MacLellan will also keep working the phones, seeking creative ways of improving his roster between now and the start of training camp in September.

"I think our strategy going into the draft time period was to make a trade," he reiterates, "to identify the age group we're kind of targeting and try to make a trade to bring in a top six forward, to trade one or two guys, or whatever. We were open to possibilities.

"We pursued a number of things, but unfortunately it didn't come through for us. So we were looking to add a top six guy through free agency, which we did with Pacioretty. And then we'll continue to monitor the trade market. Ideally, we have a target age we're looking for, and we'll make a trade for that kind of guy."

Chin up. We're halfway through the longest offseason in nine years in these parts, and the second half of the offseason includes training camp and the preseason. Enjoy what's left of the long, hot summer, and stay hydrated and cool.