Capitals’ Carlson wants to stay in Washington 

Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson had the type of season that every player dreams of. 

Carlson, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, won a Stanley Cup and had the best season of his career in a contract year. Carlson led all NHL defensemen in points (68) and was tied for eighth in goals (15) this season. He went on to have a great postseason as well. Carlson picked up 20 points (5G / 15A) in 24 playoff games—the fourth most points by a defenseman in the postseason over the last 20 years. 

Carlson, who ranks ninth among defensemen in points (199) over the last four seasons, is set for a huge pay-day in the next three weeks and he would like to stay in Washington. 

The 28-year-old is the best defenseman on the free agent market, so it seems likely that he will get a similar contract to the one that Oliver Ekman-Larsson reportedly agreed with the Arizona Coyotes on. Matt Cane of HockeyGraphs projects that Carlson will sign an eight-year contract worth $8.635 million per season—roughly $69 million total. That would make Carlson the second-highest paid defenseman in the NHL, behind only P.K. Subban, who has a $9.0M AAV cap-hit and the ninth highest paid player in the entire NHL.