The Washington Capitals have acquired centreman Johan Larsson in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a third-round pick in 2023. The Yotes have agreed to retain 50 percent of what remains of Larsson’s $1.4 million dollar cap hit as part of the deal.
Arizona gets a 2023 third-round pick from Washington for Johan Larsson. The #coyotes retain 50% on Larsson.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 21, 2022
Centre Johan Larsson Joins Washington Capitals Via Trade
Johan Larsson joins the Washington Capitals in his tenth season in the NHL. Drafted in the second round in 2010 by the Minnesota Wild, Larsson has since recorded 38 goals, 97 points and 571 hits in 392 career games. In 2021-22, the 29-year-old has notched six goals and 15 points in 29 games.
Although, Larsson hasn’t played an NHL game since Arizona’s 6-3 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on the 25th of January. Since then, he has been out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. José M. Romero of AZ Central Sports tweeted on March 18th that Yotes head coach André Tourigny had no update on Larsson’s recovery timeline.
Jay Beagle, Johan Larsson, Andrew Ladd injury status updates: they’re all still a ways from returning. Not talking days, Tourigny said. https://t.co/KO4Qxu2uWn
— José M. Romero (@RomeroJoseM) March 18, 2022
What This Means Going Forward
In keeping with Washington’s turgid style of play, Caps general manager Brian MacLellan has added a highly-dependable shutdown forward at the deadline. Larsson will suit the fourth line centre position beautifully on a team that is set to face a tough proposition in the First Round this year. Of course, Larsson currently being on IR is concerning. But, given that the bottom-six forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, the Capitals obviously expect he’ll be ready for the playoffs. The Swedish centre has actually never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game before. It will be interesting to see how he responds to playing for a contending team for the first time in his career.
On the other side of this trade, the Coyotes continue to compile assets. They now have a whopping 23 picks over the next two drafts, ten of which are in the first two rounds.
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