Capitals celebrate Trade Deadline bug

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals are already in a good position to make a run at winning the Stanley Cup this season, and general manager Chris Patrick says “anything is on the table” to try to further strengthen their roster before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.

At the same time, the Capitals want to be careful not to disrupt a winning formula. Washington (38-13-8) has a 12-point lead on the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan Division and a nine-point lead on the Florida Panthers for first in the Eastern Conference.

“Obviously, the team's had a really good year so far,” Patrick said. “We got a couple months here to go where we need to continue improving our game and getting to the next level. Obviously, when the playoffs start, everything ramps up, and we got to make sure we're ready to do that.

“I think it's going to be a balance of, are there ways to improve our team versus risking over-tinkering with what's been a pretty good group so far this year.”

This will be Patrick’s first trade deadline as GM after succeeding Brian MacLellan, who remains president of hockey operations, on July 8, 2024. Patrick learned from watching MacLellan and his predecessor George McPhee, though, and knows that making big moves before the deadline doesn’t always translate into success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For example, Washington went all in at the 2017 trade deadline and acquired rental defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk from the Blues for forwards Zach Sanford and Brad Malone, a first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and conditional draft picks before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the playoffs. The Capitals were comparatively conservative before the 2018 deadline, adding rental depth defensemen Michal Kempny and Jakub Jerabek, and won the Stanley Cup that season.

The Capitals are cognizant that they have a limited window to try to win the Stanley Cup again with Alex Ovechkin, who has 30 goals this season to climb within 12 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 but is 39 years old with one more season remaining on his contract after this one. Patrick said that doesn’t add extra urgency to try to make a big trade before the deadline, though.

“I think you look at trade deadline deals -- not just our team, any team in the League -- when they make a big splash or a small addition and do they end up moving the needle a lot on a team's chances to win the Stanley Cup,” Patrick said. “It's debatable, so I think you need to make smart moves for your hockey club. I want Alex to win a Stanley Cup. I want everybody on this team to win a Stanley Cup. … I think all our decisions are dictated on trying to get this team into a point to win the Stanley Cup.

“No, I don't think it adds urgency. I think that urgency's always been there, and you just have to make smart moves to get your team in a good spot.”

Patrick acknowledged the Capitals might try to add a depth defenseman. Getting Sonny Milano back from an upper-body injury that has sidelined him Nov. 6 -- he was cleared for contact earlier this week -- might impact the need to upgrade at forward. Washington could also add their top prospect Ryan Leonard, the No. 8 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, to their forward group after he completes his sophomore season at Boston College.

So, though Patrick didn’t rule out trading a first- or second-round draft pick, he stressed caution.

“We're open to do whatever if it's going to improve the team, but we're not going to do deals for the sake of making deals,” he said.

Patrick said the impact on chemistry will be a consideration in any potential trade the Capitals contemplate.

“We spend probably more time talking when we're talking about signing a guy or trading for a guy about, ‘Where do they fit? Who do they play with? What kind of special teams role do they have? What are they like in the room? What are they like off the ice?’” Patrick said. “That's kind of always a thing we're always concerned with. Just like at any point in the year, it's an important factor now."

Patrick declined to discuss progress in contract talks with defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Charlie Lindgren, who each can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason but sounded comfortable with keeping both beyond the deadline if they remain unsigned.

“I’m not going to really get into it other than we’ve been really happy with all our guys on expiring deals this year and we’ve talked to all their representatives and we’re kind of in various stages with all of them and we’ll keep working here,” he said. “But no real immediate deadline on any of them, so we can take our time and do it right.”

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