What’s next for the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues?
The 2018 and 2019 Stanley Cup Champions have been eliminated from the playoffs.
The St. Louis Blues got taken down in a quick four-game sweep by the Colorado Avalanche while the Washington Capitals were ousted in five games by the Boston Bruins. What’s next for these teams?
The Capitals…
There isn’t much room for change for the Capitals this summer. The team has roughly $72 million invested in 18 players for the 2021-22 season with just one key player in need of a new contract — @Alex Ovechkin.
The colossal 13-year, $124 million deal that Ovechkin signed back in 2008 has expired and the Capitals need to figure out a new contract for their captain. The 35-year-old Ovechkin has shown no signs of slowing down as he buried 24 goals over 45 games in 2021, pushing his career total to 730.
According to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, Ovechkin was seeking $12.5 million annually on his next contract, but that was before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the salary cap remaining stagnant for multiple years. Given the economic situation, Ovechkin will likely have to settle for less.
Regardless, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has made it clear that keeping Ovechkin in Washington is a top priority.
“Alex knows that if he plays five more years, 10 more years, whatever it is, we’ve got his back,” Leonsis said last month.
Circling back, if the Capitals do want to shake things up this off-season, dealing @Evgeny Kuznetsov might be the play.
Back on May 4, days after Kuznetsov was scratched for disciplinary reasons, Pierre LeBrun reported that the Capitals might be ready to move on from the veteran pivot. Kuznetsov is coming off of his worst season in years, as he scored just nine goals and 29 points in 41 games. A change-of-scenery deal akin to the one that sent Jakub Vrana to Detroit and Anthony Mantha to Washington could be in the cards.
The Capitals have now lost in the first round in back-to-back-to-back years since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. A shake-up feels inevitable here.
The Blues…
The first season of the post-Pietrangelo era in St. Louis was forgettable. The Blues went 27-20-9 and got swept by the Avalanche.
Though a wealth of injuries played a role in the Blues’ season, it was clear the team missed @Alex Pietrangelo, who left to join the Vegas Golden Knights last off-season. The Blues saw their goals-against average jump from 2.68 last season to 2.98 this season, indicating the gaping hole on their blueline.
St. Louis will have a decent amount of room to work this summer as @Tyler Bozak, @Jaden Schwartz, @Mike Hoffman, and @Carl Gunnarsson are all coming off the books. That said, they also need to figure out new deals for restricted free agents @Zachary Stanford, @Robert Thomas, and @Jordan Kyrou.
Over at ESPN, Greg Wyshynski wonders if the Blues might leave @Vladimir Tarasenko exposed in the expansion draft. Tarasenko has struggled with injuries over the past couple of seasons. He played just 10 games in 2019-20 and 24 games in 2021. He carries a $7,500,000 cap hit for two more seasons and letting Seattle take a gamble would free up a significant amount of space for the Blues.
That would certainly be a bold decision for St. Louis. While we’re likely to see a shake-up after a disappointing season, cutting loose a talent such as Tarasenko might be a stretch.