The Washington Capitals approach the trade deadline in rather unique position:
Their record is good, their team is bad, they have next to no cap-space, but the clock is ticking on the Ovechkin era (he can stay around forever, don't get me wrong, but how many years like this does he have left, and it's no exaggeration to say that the Capitals are more desperate for a championship than basically any team in hockey, especially considering that old Sid and the gang have three)....
What do you do?
Shoot the hostage!
If the Capitals make the playoffs, and they probably will, then they've got just as much of a chance as anyone. Ergo, they should be buyers regardless of the mirage-like thing they have currently going on with the standings. That is to say, that they would be well served to attempt to improve their team.
How this doesn't involve paying someone to take Brooks Orpik is beyond me, but we all know that needs to happen so there's no point in reiterating how badly the team needs to get rid of him.
It's too bad the Caps didn't have cap space, because both Marcus Kruger and Cody Franson were available for free and they'd help immensely.
If the Capitals can pay someone to take Orpik, and possibly and Beagle, they could look to add people to replace Stephenson, Pelly-Smith, Chaisson and Chorny + obviously Orpik.
That said, I'm not expecting much from the GM who lost Schmidt for nothing and, despite being broke, pays $3 million for his back-up goalie and fourth line right winger.