À l’approche de la date limite des échanges, les capitaux tentent d’« enfiler une aiguille »
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washingtonpost
@Capitals de Washington
À l’approche de la date limite des échanges, les capitaux tentent d’« enfiler une aiguille »
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washingtonpost
11 Comments
With less than a week to go until the NHL trade deadline, the Washington Capitals are still within striking distance. After Friday’s uplifting comeback win [over the Philadelphia Flyers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/01/capitals-flyers-metropolitan-division-playoffs/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2), the Capitals enter Sunday just six points out of a playoff spot with three games in hand on the Flyers, who are third in the Metropolitan Division.
That puts Washington General Manager Brian MacLellan in a tricky position. The only thing that’s clear at this point is the Capitals are no longer in the business of chasing rental players at the deadline, leveraging their future in hopes of making a push for another Stanley Cup title.
Beyond that, MacLellan will [walk the tightrope](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/29/caps-sellers-nhl-trade-deadline/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) for as long as he can. Washington has two more games before Friday’s trade deadline — at home against Arizona on Sunday afternoon and at Pittsburgh on Thursday. The results of those games — perhaps even just Sunday’s — are likely to be the final factors in MacLellan’s decisions.
“I think we’re in the mix,” he said Saturday. “I see the math that it’s unlikely, but you could get some help from other teams, too. We have a week left to make some decisions. I think our priority would be the future of our club. All decisions will be based on [that]. It’s not, ‘Hey, we’re going to go out and rent a guy for the playoffs.’ We’re not in that game. We’re here to look for opportunities to find more young players, add more young players to our roster and compete — still compete.”
Last year, MacLellan [traded defenseman Dmitry Orlov and winger Garnet Hathaway](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/02/23/capitals-trade-orlov-hathaway/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9) to the Boston Bruins, then flipped the first-round pick the Capitals received in that deal and defenseman Erik Gustafsson [to the Toronto Maple Leafs](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/02/28/capitals-trade-rasmus-sandin-erik-gustafsson-marcus-johansson/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9) for young defender Rasmus Sandin. In a perfect world, that’s the kind of deal Washington would pull off again.
“That would be ideal,” MacLellan said. “That would be the type of thing we’re looking to do.”
**Read more:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/02/capitals-trade-deadline-brian-maclellan/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/02/capitals-trade-deadline-brian-maclellan/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook)
I still think they should sell. They can remain competitive with their blend of young and old, like they have the past month or so.
Sell and also make the playoffs! Let the Hershey kids see how they can contribute during a playoff push.
Please don’t do anything stupid.
Prefer the team to sell, best case scenario is they lose in the first round anyway. Would rather they set themselves up for the future.
Sandin has been good, but not great. Is he better than a late 1st rounder? Probably. Although I’d rather have Orlov and Hathaway still.
The reality of the matter is that Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s record is simply going to prolong the window of having a non-competitive club.
Sell. Theres no way this lineup beats BOS, FL, or CAR in a series.
If you watch the video of yesterday’ presser you know that we are 100% selling, and that the Philly game didn’t seem to be any type of ‘test’ for GMBM. Apparently all media/fan hype.
When he says ‘remaining competitive’, he’s talking about the next 2-3 years, not just this post season
This is a fringe-playoff team. They haven’t won a playoff series since they won the Cup, and have been trending downward gradually the last several seasons. Ovechkin, Carlson, and Wilson are the last (healthy) of that core from 2018. Even if we make a move with the intention of helping us get into the postseason, it’s highly unlikely it will be enough to get us through 3 rounds. Better to sell what you can and hopefully there’s a small chance whatever return you get benefits you either short or long term, but that’s no guarantee. Still I think it’s better than trying to add a piece or two, or even standing pat, and getting bounced in round 2 at best.
longtime caps fan but first year getting really into it besides just watching the games, what is meant by selling? trading players?