With the Washington Capitals’ 2023-24 season in the books, some moves were made after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nine years last campaign. While none of them made headlines, GM Brian MacLellan executed a couple of subtle moves that boosted Washington back into a postseason spot.
NoVa Caps reviews and assesses MacLellan’s moves from this past season, in addition to a couple of contract extensions he signed players to late in 2022-23 that were too early to evaluate after last season.
2023-24 Season
- April 27, 2023: Signed D Hardy Haman Aktell (one-year, $950,000 contract)
The 25-year-old appeared in six NHL games, notching an assist and .5271 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, before getting sent to the AHL’s Hershey Bears for the remainder of the year, where he tallied two goals, 11 points, and a +3 rating in 55 contests.
Grade: C
- May 2, 2023: Re-signed D Alexander Alexeyev (two-year contract — $825,000 cap hit)
The 24-year-old played a career-high 39 games this season, posting a goal, three points, -8 rating, .4674 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4996 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .514 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 13:42 per game (ninth), including 28 seconds on the penalty kill (sixth). The 31st overall pick from 2018 took a big step, especially late in the season.
Grade: C+
- May 5, 2023: Re-signed C Michael Sgarbossa (two-year, two-way contract — $775,000 cap hit)
The 31-year-old was not asked an awful lot of this past season but delivered when looked upon, posting four goals, seven points, a .511 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .46 faceoff-winning percentage in 25 NHL games. Sgarbossa also notched 36 assists and 43 points in 44 AHL games.
Grade: B
- May 30, 2023: Hired Spencer Carbery To Be Head Coach
After Peter Laviolette told Washington that he was not returning after last season, the team hired the youngest head coach in the NHL for this year. Carbery was an assistant on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ coaching staff for the past two seasons and the head coach of Hershey over the previous three.
Under Carbery, Washington gave up nine fewer goals than they did in 2022-23, had a .5 worse power play, saw their penalty kill go down by .029, and scored 37 fewer goals. However, the team sold Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Lars Eller, and Marcus Johansson at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline and integrated more youth into their lineup this season so a decline in production was expected.
Carbery led the Capitals to an 18-11-4 finish (13th league-wide) from February 9 to the end of the regular season and gave prospects Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, Alexander Alexeyev, Ivan Miroschnichenko, and others the NHL experience they needed, unlike Laviolette did last season, and those players all stepped up for the NHL club. Washington ultimately returned to the postseason in a rebuilding year.
While Laviolette led the New York Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy and saw his team sweep Carbery’s Capitals in the first round, it was clear that he had to go after refusing to play McMichael and others last season. New York (all in for the Stanley Cup) and Washington (retooling-rebuilding) are also currently in different windows and Carbery’s philosophy suits the Capitals more than Laviolette’s does right now.
Grade: A+
- July 1, 2023: Signed LW Max Pacioretty (one year, $2 million + $2 million in bonuses)
With Washington struggling to find a dance partner on the trade market in their efforts to find a top-six winger, they settled with signing the 35-year-old, who was recovering from his second Achilles tear in five months.
Pacioretty did not make his season debut until January 3 but finished with four goals and 23 points in 47 games. He added an assist in the postseason.
While MacLellan meant well in signing a winger with six 30-goal and 60-point campaigns, respectively, in his 15-season NHL career, adding a player who was limited to just five outings in 2022-23 and was guaranteed to miss substantial time this season with the possibility of it counting an extra $2 million against the 2024-25 salary cap was risky.
Though Washington could afford to do it with the team trying to fill holes from within, every penny helps for a team still trying to make the most of Alex Ovechkin’s twilight seasons.
Grade: C
- July 1, 2023: Acquired D Joel Edmundson (.5 retained salary) from Montreal Canadiens for 2024 78th, 210th overall picks
With a need for a veteran presence on the bottom pairing, Washington attempted to go for value in paying an inexpensive price for Edmundson.
While averaging 16:26 per game (sixth among Washington defensemen), including 1:31 shorthanded (fifth), Edmundson recorded a goal, six points, a -5 rating, .4765 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4647 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4838 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 44 games for the Capitals. He missed the first 14 this season due to a fractured hand.
Edmundson gave Washington some grit and snarl (4.89 hits-per-60) on the backend before the team flipped the pending unrestricted free agent at the trade deadline.
Grade: C
- July 2, 2023: Signed LW Matthew Philipps (one-year, two-way contract — $775,000)
With the team aiming to get younger, MacLellan went out and signed the 26-year-old after Philipps notched 36 goals and 76 points in 66 AHL games with the Calgary Wrangler’s last season under first-year Washington assistant coach Mitch Love.
Philipps finished with a goal and five points in 28 games with Washington and was mostly in the press box.
This move may not have worked out as well as Washington would have hoped for but it came with zero risk.
Grade: C+
- July 2, 2023: Signed RW Pierrick Dube (two-year, two-way contract — $775,000 cap hit)
The 23-year-old notched 28 goals and 48 points in 66 AHL games and also appeared in three NHL games.
Grade: B+
- July 2, 2023: Re-signed D Dylan McIlrath (one-year, two-way contract — $775,000)
The 32-year-old skated in three NHL regular-season games, recording a helper, and all four Stanley Cup Playoff games due to injuries on Washington’s blueline, tallying a .6524 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage while averaging 11:33 per game (50 seconds of which came on the penalty kill). McIlrath earned three goals, nine points, and a +6 rating in 68 AHL games.
Grade: B-
- July 2, 2023: Re-signed G Hunter Shepard (two-year, two-way contract — $775,000 cap hit)
The 28-year-old went 27-4-3 with a .929 save percentage, 1.76 goals-against average, and five shutouts in 34 AHL games in addition to 2-1-1 with an .894 save percentage and 3.19 goals-against average in four NHL outings during the regular season. Shepard backstopped Hershey to the Calder Cup in 2022-23.
Grade: B+
- July 4, 2023: Re-signed D Martin Fehervary (three-year contract, $2.675 million cap hit)
The 24-year-old finished this past season with three goals, 16 points, a -7 rating, .4727 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4809 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4927 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 19:38 per game (third among Capitals defensemen), including 1:42 on the penalty kill (third). Fehervary was one of the best Capitals in the postseason with a team-leading two goals, co-leading three points, and earning a .4062 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, cementing his role as one of the team’s best shutdown blueliners.
Grade: A-
- August 4, 2023: Re-signed RW Tom Wilson (seven-year contract extension, $6.5 million cap hit)
In his first full season after tearing his ACL, the 30-year-old saw his production decrease from the past few seasons as he finished with 18 goals and 35 points in 74 games. Wilson, who is expected to succeed Ovechkin as the next captain, also got suspended for six games in late March.
While Wilson provides intangibles such as leadership, physicality, and dictating other teams’ roster transactions from time to time, paying him the big bucks came with some risk as he has been suspended six times, was coming off of a brutal injury, and had already played 680 career NHL games (lot of mileage) entering this past season.
There may have been some uncertainty in signing Wilson to a huge contract but he is a major part of the Capitals and perhaps the fact that they are closing in on a rebuild made them more comfortable with giving him a big paycheck. While we could say how this contract extension looks today, it is still too early to make a final verdict on this move.
Grade: B+
- December 28: Signed D Ethan Bear (two-year contract, $2.0625 million cap hit)
After missing six months due to offseason shoulder surgery, the 26-year-old tallied a goal, four points, -5 rating, .4537 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4089 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4181 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 24 games over his first season in Washington. Bear, who averaged 14:54 per game (22 seconds on the power play and five on the penalty kill), did not play from March 14 onwards after entering the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program.
While Bear’s performance was disappointing, it would make sense to give him a full offseason of training and rest before fairly assessing this signing.
Grade: C
- March 5: Reclaimed Philipps Off Of Waivers
Philipps appeared in just one game with the team following February 9 while Wilson was suspended after getting claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 16 and was placed through them again the day before Washington reclaimed him.
Philipps also tallied three goals and six points in nine contests in Hershey and has no points in three postseason games. He has been a healthy scratch in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Grade: C+
- March 5: Traded LW Anthony Mantha (.5 retained) To Vegas Golden Knights For 2024 52nd overall pick, 2026 fourth-round pick
With the 28-year-old in the midst of a big bounce back season as he posted 20 goals (just two behind center Dylan Strome’s for the team lead) and 34 points (fourth) in 56 games, Washington sent the pending unrestricted free agent to the desert as they were seven points out of a postseason spot at the time of the trade.
While Mantha was one of the best Capitals this season, it was a contract year and he had an underwhelming 2022-23 season where he tallied 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games and was often a healthy scratch. Washington reportedly tried to offload Mantha’s $5.7 million cap hit last summer but struck out. If the team got this return for Mantha a year ago, it would be a huge win.
Mantha posted three goals and 10 points in 18 regular-season games with Vegas before getting held scoreless in the postseason, where he was a healthy scratch for the Golden Knights’ final four contests of their seven-game series. Getting second- and fourth-round picks for a player who sat in the press box in the Stanley Cup Playoffs should be considered a victory.
While Washington was held to only seven goals in their first-round series, would Mantha have made a huge difference? Most likely not. The Capitals are now better off for the future thanks to this trade and Vegas is expected to let Mantha walk to free agency, as hinted by sitting him against the Dallas Stars.
Grade: B+
- March 7: Traded Edmundson (.5 retained) To Toronto Maple Leafs For 2024 83rd overall pick, Chicago Blackhawks’ 2025 fifth-round pick
Washington traded another pending unrestricted free agent for a better return than what they paid to acquire Edmundson, who tallied a +3 rating, .4735 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4809 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 17:48 per game (sixth among Toronto defensemen), including 2:41 while shorthanded (second), in nine games, just eight months prior. Edmundson also notched an assist and -1 rating in Toronto’s seven-game first-round exit.
While MacLellan gets props for getting more value out of Edmundson than he gave up and putting Washington in a better position now, he traded a defensive depth player whom the team could have used with three defensemen missing time in the postseason. Though there is no way he could have foreseen it, defensive depth is a must-have piece in the spring. Edmundson also provides grit and snarl on the backend that is also a critical part for a deep postseason run.
Grade: B
- March 8: Traded C Evgeny Kuznetsov (.5 retained) to Carolina Hurricanes for 2025 third-round pick
Just five days after the 31-year-old cleared waivers, Washington traded Kuznetsov, who had just returned from the NHLPA Players’ Assistance Program and was in the midst of the worst season of his NHL career (six goals, 17 points in 43 games with the Capitals), to Carolina.
Kuznetsov finished the season with two goals and seven points in 20 regular-season games following the trade but stepped up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring four goals and six points in 10 contests. Though, Kuznetsov was a healthy scratch in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Rangers.
While there is no way Washington won this trade, Kuznetsov had requested a change of scenery at least twice before, had an underwhelming performance for the better part of the past five seasons, and his cap hit of $7.8 million was a salary cap killer. Kuznetsov also had moments that frustrated Washington, on the ice and off (including getting placed on COVD-19 protocol three times, suspended for substance abuse over the past five years). It was time for the Capitals to move on and they are lucky that they got a reasonable asset in return, let alone avoided giving up draft capital and/or a prospect to offload Kuznetsov’s contract.
Trading Kuznetsov within the Metropolitan Division may not have been ideal but Carolina was the only team willing to do it, according to MacLellan, who pointed out that Carolina (all in for the Stanley Cup) and Washington are currently in different windows after executing this deal.
