Capitals look to get younger around Ovechkin, Carlson

ARLINGTON, Va. -- With Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson headed toward potentially their final seasons and the contracts of Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie expiring, the Washington Capitals are approaching their offseason with a focus on getting younger while continuing to retool their roster on the fly.

Don’t expect anything close, though, to their whirlwind of activity last offseason when they added seven players, including center Pierre-Luc Dubois, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Logan Thompson.

“We had some big spots to fill last year, our goals for roster spots,” Capitals president Brian MacLellan said Monday. “This year, there’s fewer holes; we’ve had some growth in young players. We have some players that are young and are coming up to make the next jump, so you’ve got to be cognizant of leaving room for improvement, leaving room for guys to come in and, hopefully, still add a piece or two.

“It’s not going to be the same as last year.”

The additions of Dubois, Chychrun and Thompson, along with forwards Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh and defenseman Matt Roy last offseason paid big dividends for Washington. After slipping into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the second wild card from the Eastern Conference last season, the Capitals (51-22-9) finished first in the conference this season and defeated the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the first round before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in five.

General manager Chris Patrick said Washington will spend the coming weeks assessing what went wrong and its needs to formulate a plan for the opening of free agency on July 1. The NHL salary cap will increase $7.5 million from $88 million this to $95.5 million next season, so the Capitals, like most teams, will have room to make moves.

There will be some natural roster turnover with Backstrom (hip) and Oshie (back) coming off the books after spending this season on long-term injured reserve. Backstrom, 37, and Oshie, 38, are expected to retire, but they will be allowed time to decide their futures.

Backstrom, the Capitals’ all-time leader with 762 assists and second with 1,033 points, and Oshie were key members of the core of Washington’s Stanley Cup championship team in 2018, along with Ovechkin, Carlson and forward Tom Wilson.

Wilson is the only one of that core signed beyond next season.

“From our perspective, their contracts are expired now, and I think we're definitely going to continue to move on without them as part of our group,” Patrick said of Backstrom and Oshie. “I don't have a lot of clarity on where their heads are at. For every athlete, it's a very personal decision and they have to take their time to do it.”

Ovechkin, who broke the NHL record by scoring his 895th goal on April 6 at the New York Islanders, is set to turn 40 on Sept. 17 before beginning the final season of the five-year, $47.5 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value) he signed with Washington on July 27, 2021. After finishing tied for third in the NHL with 44 goals during the regular season and scoring five in 10 playoff games, the left wing said Saturday he hadn’t decided yet if he’ll play beyond next season, which will be his 21st in the NHL.

The Capitals aren’t ruling it out, though.

“I think we’ve learned with him to leave possibilities open all the time,” MacLellan said. “I think he had a fun year this year. He really enjoyed himself. The team had a lot of fun together and was successful and I think he’ll come back, and we’ll see where it goes from there. Hopefully, he has another good year.”

Carlson is heading into the final season of the eight-year, $64 million contract ($8 million AAV) he signed June 24, 2018. The 35-year-old had 51 points (five goals, 46 assists) and was plus-17 in 79 regular-season games. He had three points (one goal, two assists) in 10 playoff games.

Washington’s all-time leader among defensemen in regular-season games (1,088), goals (156), assists (569) and points (725) in 16 NHL seasons, Carlson is eligible to sign another contract with the Capitals on July 1, but Patrick said they will hold off on talks at least until next season.

“He's obviously a huge part of our team and had a great season, and all expectations are he's going to have another great season next year,” Patrick said. “It probably makes sense just to see how things play out a little bit. We're a mature team and transitioning to a younger team, and we just want to make sure that we're putting guys in the right position to have success and that expectations line up. So, nothing imminent this summer.”

Patrick said the Capitals will consider re-signing potential unrestricted free agents such as Mangiapane and Raddysh, and fellow forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Lars Eller, but he’s not ready to commit to anything.

Beauvillier, who was acquired in a March 7 trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, seems the most likely candidate to be re-signed after he had five points (two goals, three assists) in 18 regular-season games with Washington and six points (two goals, four assists) in 10 playoff games.

“I think when we’re weighing these decisions, we’ll look at all our internal UFAs and other options that might be out there,” Patrick said. “(Beauvillier) certainly made a very good case for himself and he showed that he’s a good fit in our room.”