2018-9 Caps, $78M cap

You do it by trading Orpik or buying him out. Or trade DSP and/or let Beagle walk. There's ways to fit him and you have to because look at that bottom 4. Ugly.

Carlson led all defensemen in points through both the regular season an the playoffs. He was 5th on the Caps with 20 points. Kempny was 16th with 5.

Cut Kempny, move Johansen to the AHL, and you're up to 6.4M in cap space for Carlson. Sign Carlson for 7.9, trade Connolly for a late 1st or Buffalo's 2nd, and you're good, except that you have to let Beagle walk to afford a bit more of a raise and a long term contract with Wilson. That leaves you space to get one more heavy hitter, and build on the Caps' biggest strength through these playoffs (four of the top five guys, and two of the top fifteen all time). Can pursue Emelin, Schenn, or Komarov.... but everybody hates Rinaldo. If you signed a forward, I hope you left enough cap space to recall Ness to the press box.

Does that help? Or, of course, if you weren't impressed by the postseason with the 15th most hits all time, the first SCF GWG in Caps history, a two assist performance to eliminate Columbus, or a primary assist to DSP to get the Caps back into game five, let alone smothering defense to hold onto a one goal lead for twelve minutes.... then you could always trade Brooks Orpik for about a 2nd or a 3rd pick. He's pretty old, and even with just one year left at 4.5M, and two Cup rings, teams have to be careful where they spend their cap space.

You've heard my thoughts on Orpik.... but trading DSP won't work well because someone could just sign him to a cheap offersheet if it's clear there isn't cap space for him. He outscored Connolly. I'm fine trading Connolly for a late 1st, or so. Really good player. Will keep improving. Not even a bad cap hit. But who are you going to move, especially with all the NTCs?

Connolly gets more points in the regular season. Smith Pelly got a couple big goals in the finals, and was fifth in the league in playoff hits, behind Wilson, Orpik, McNabb, and Ovechkin. Connolly might be a little faster, and a little better at skating with the puck through traffic, but I think this team's identity is more about outworking teams than about being more skilled.

I'm not talking about fitting Carlson just this year, but also in the future. Keep taking on big, longterm contracts and there won't be any space for the mid-range guys that are needed for depth. Plus, he's 28 - do you want to sign a $7M+ deal that will go until he's in his mid-30's?

This is also looking at the low end of the expected cap, and still leaving almost $3M. When we get the cap number in about a week, I'll probably make a new roster.