With the trade deadline now two months away and a soft deadline coming in the form of a trade freeze before the Olympics, teams are starting to make calls to see who could be out there to fill their needs. The Capitals are no exception and speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Chris Patrick indicated what he’d like to add to his roster.
Specifically, that would be a skilled winger to play at the top of their lineup, something that Patrick said they are “actively pursuing”. It’s an area of need that has been around going back to last season but they weren’t able to fill it either via trade or free agency over the summer.
Patrick and the Caps will be hard-pressed to do so as things stand with the market largely bereft of sellers at this point of the season due to the standings being quite jumbled. As a result, they may have to wait until closer to the March 6th deadline for more options to potentially become available.
At first glance, Rangers winger Artemi Panarin could be a logical fit. With the Rangers moving into a retool that will involve not re-signing him, he’s likely to be moved over the next six weeks. Washington has ample regular season cap space to acquire him at his full price tag ($11.643MM). They don’t have enough playoff cap room to fit him in with a fully healthy roster but if New York retained on his contract, that could be workable. That said, plenty of contending teams will be going after Panarin, who stands to be one of the top players moved (if not the top player dealt) before the deadline.
Despite not having their full lineup available to them for the bulk of the season with Pierre-Luc Dubois out since mid-October and several other key pieces missing time, Washington is eighth in the league in goals heading into tonight’s action. That should allow Patrick ample time to be patient and let the market develop in the hopes of some options becoming available over the coming weeks.