The Washington Capitals are getting the 2024 NHL offseason started with a bang. They are not content to wait for the start of the new league year to begin retrofitting their roster. Washington made a pair of trades recently, and their GM recently hinted that more trades could be on the way.
“I still think we are looking to do more, both in the free agency and the trade market,” MacLellan said in a conference call with media early Thursday afternoon, per NHL.com. “[We’re] looking into a couple of areas, and hopefully we’re going to be aggressive here, and try and improve our roster.”
This comes after a pair of trades over the last two weeks.
The first trade occurred last week when the Capitals acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings. They sent goalie Darcy Kuemper in exchange.
“I think the season he had in L.A. didn’t go as planned, so there was an opportunity there to acquire him,” MacLellan said on acquiring Dubois. “They were looking for a goalie, so the match came about after a couple conversations.”
Shortly after the trade, it appeared that both teams were interested in making more deals. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, both the Kings and Capitals reportedly wanted to add another top-six winger to their lineups. The Capitals followed through on that reporting with the trade for Andrew Mangiapane.
The Capitals sent a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, originally belonging to Colorado, to Calgary in exchange for Mangiapane. The 28-year-old winger has one year left on his contract with a $5.8 million cap hit next season.
Mangiapane had a breakout season in 2021 with 35 goals and 55 points, though he is usually in the 15-20 goal range with 40-45 points. Washington is hoping that they can get the most out of him in a contract year.
Previewing the 2024 NHL offseason for the Capitals
The Washington Capitals have a lot more work to do this offseason.
Based on MacLellan's comments, more trades are definitely coming. This makes sense when you examine the team's cap situation.
Washington is currently projected to be roughly $2.07 million over the salary cap. This is due in part to Nicklas Backstrom being on long-term injured reserve. They also have $3.9 million of dead cap on the books from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Washington will have to make some tough decisions to get cap compliant in order to fill their limited roster holes.
Thankfully, the Capitals aren't losing too many players to free agency. Much of their core is locked in on long-term contracts. However, Malenstyn and McMichael are RFAs while Aube-Kubel and Pacioretty are set to hit the open market as UFAs.
While MacLellan has certainly been aggressive lately, he made it clear that the Capitals don't plan to trade their first-round pick (17th overall) this year.
“I would doubt it,” MacLellan told NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. “It would have to be something that we really liked, but as of now I would anticipate us keeping that pick.”
We can't wait to see how the Capitals approach the offseason throughout the summer.
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