Veteran defenseman John Carlson is in his 17th NHL season, all with the Capitals. He’s in the final year of his contract, making him extension-eligible but the team informed him early that they didn’t want to engage in extension talks but rather want to see how the year plays out first. Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti earlier this week, the 35-year-old acknowledged that he’d much rather prefer to have the security of a new contract in place but understands the business side of why they want to wait as well. Carlson is making $8MM per season on this contract and with the likelihood of his role starting to decrease over the next few years, his next deal should come in at least a little below that price tag. But if Washington decides not to bring him back, Carlson is already ruling out retiring and in that scenario, he’d be looking elsewhere in free agency next summer.
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