I don't want to talk about it. I'm still upset.

Moving on from the obvious, the Washington Capitals are going into the summer of 2016 with some tough decisions to make.

UFA's include:

LW Jason Chimera
80 -20-20-40

C Mike Richards
39-2-3-5

D Mike Weber
10-0-0-0

RFA's:

C Marcus Johansson
74-17-29-46

RW Tom Wilson
82-7-16-23

C Michael Latta
43-3-4-7

D Dmitry Orlov
82-8-21-29

The Caps expectations this season were beyond reasonable, and their offseason moves put them within two games of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in the Ovechkin era.

This offseason, however, Washington will have to be a little more crafty in their undertakings. They must find support for their 3rd and 4th lines. What looked like a deep team in the regular season, quickly became a two-line team with producing players scattered throughout line combinations trying to spark their teammates.

Tom Wilson and Marcus Johansson will be back on forward. Wilson will be expected to play a bigger role a'la Milan Lucic and be the big body that can tuck in the hard-to-get goals. Johansson's role will upped as well. While he didn't play terribly this season, he did make some key mistakes. It makes you wonder if his development has peaked and if the Capitals should look to deal his rights.

Dmitry Orlov is another one that will be back. If Caps fans had their way, Orlov would stay in Russia and play in the KHL, but Trotz has faith in his developing d-man and Orlov could become the next Mike Green, but perhaps with a little better defensive side.

Jason Chimera would be the only Capital whose presence would be greatly missed. His speed, energy and apparent scoring touch seems to get better with age. He is also a great locker room guy, but is that enough to keep him around?

Richards and Weber will have to look elsewhere this offseason. Weber was a bust, and his OT blunder will not be forgotten. Richards played well despite not breaking 5 points. His defensive presence was felt and he actually seemed to enjoy playing hockey again.

Look for the Caps to shop around free agency and put their feelers out there in the trade market. They will make the necessary moves this summer. It just depends on who is on their watch list.

More to come...

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