The Washington Capitals signed Matt Roy to a six-year, $40.25 million contract on the first day of free agency. It's easy for Los Angeles Kings players to fly under the radar with everything going on in the city, so some hockey fans may have been surprised when Roy was on the list of the top free agents. Roy doesn't care about his anonymity, as he's quietly been putting up monster defensive seasons with the Kings. He was a -1 in his first 25-game season in the NHL in 2018-19, but he has never been a minus player since that season.
Roy's career-high in points came in 2022-23 when he recorded 26 points, but he backed it up with 25 last season. The most impressive stat is his plus/minus, as he's a +66 in 344 games since his rookie year. Roy has been flying under the radar in Los Angeles and will likely do the same in Washington, but there's no question that he will make the Capitals a better team.
There were plenty of teams in the running to sign Roy, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs eventually signed Chris Tanev instead, but Roy is the better option, considering his age and contract term. You may have questions about the Capitals' strategy this offseason. It's clear they are trying to capitalize on Alex Ovechkin's final years, but there may not be much more juice to squeeze out of it.
The Capitals made an improbable run to the playoffs last season, but the New York Rangers swept them in the first round. Did their moves this offseason put them in a position to have a better result than that?
What are the Capitals doing?
No offense to the players on the 2023-24 roster, but simply put, the Capitals were lucky to make the playoffs. They had one of the worst goal differential marks for a playoff team in regular season history. They rode some spectacular goaltending from Charlie Lindgren, who crashed and burned in the playoffs with a 3.58 goals-against average and a .864 save percentage.
Regardless, they put their faith in Lindgren when they traded their other goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, to the Los Angeles Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois. If you aren't familiar with Dubois, the Columbus Blue Jackets traded him to the Winnipeg Jets after a complete lack of effort for the team.
Dubois fell victim to John Tortorella's extreme way of coaching, and the head coach lost the relationship between the two. Dubois wanted a fresh start in Winnipeg and had two good seasons with them. However, he wore out his welcome and requested a trade like his Columbus tenure. Many expected Dubois to go to his home province of Quebec and play for the Canadiens, but instead, the Jets traded him to the Kings.
Dubois didn't fit in there either, which brings Roy and his former teammate to Washington to try and get things right and help the Capitals reach the next level. Understandably, the Capitals want to keep Ovechkin and surround him with the players to help him break the goal record. The problem is that Roy may have signed away seven seasons of his career to a team that will be rebuilding once Ovechkin retires and may not do well next year if they're relying on Dubois to be one of their stars.
Matt Roy's contract is a steal for Capitals
Plenty of contending teams were likely willing to pay Roy this amount of money to make an impact. It's encouraging for the Capitals that he picked them, but the move by Roy is interesting. As outlined above, the Capitals may not be ready to contend. They could be a better team, but there are too many opportunities for regression.
They'll need to get the most out of their new goaltender pairing of Lindgren and Logan Thompson, and their offense will need to find some offense somewhere. One problem the Capitals don't have to worry about is their defense, as the additions of Roy and Jacob Chychrun will give them a solid pairing.
The two players complement each other well. Roy focuses more on the defensive side, while Chychrun will add some offense from the backend. Roy played against the Edmonton Oilers three straight years in the postseason, with the Kings losing all three. However, Roy had six points and was a +5 while matching up against Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.
The Capitals have a steal on the blue line with this contract to Matt Roy, regardless of how you feel about Roy's decision to sign with them.
Final Grade: B+
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