The Washington Capitals trade deadline was on February 22 apparently.
General Manager Brian McLellan, much like last year acquiring Michal Kempny from Chicago, made his moves before the trade deadline. The move paid off last year as the addition of Kempny, while not losing anything off the current roster at the time, helped solidify the defense as they went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Admittedly, the price was a bit higher this year with the loss of defense prospect Madison Bowey to Detroit in the Nick Jensen acquisition. Carl Hagelin was picked up in a deal with Los Angeles the day before on the 21st in an additional move made just days prior to the deadline.
Both these moves were made with the Capitals defensive game in mind and in particular their penalty kill. Currently sitting 23rd in the NHL, the penalty killing units under new assistant coach Scott Arniel have been lackluster, to say the least. It hasn’t been a case of being better on the road (22nd) or home (20) either and to add to that issue the Capitals are second in the NHL in times shorthanded with 214. Only Colorado is worse going shorthanded 224 times.
While the Caps would bode themselves well to mitigate their penalties taken, they will have to kill them inevitably. These two additions will help the Capitals in two aspects. Firstly, the addition of Hagelin gives coach Todd Reirden a player he can expect to get on the forecheck in the opposition zone and put pressure on the defense to move the puck quickly, thereby creating possible turnovers and not allowing a team their preferred breakout. Hagelin has done this to the Caps in the past himself and so this will be beneficial.
With Hagelin’s speed, you’d like to see more offense out of him scoring only 2 goals and 6 assists this season in time with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. In two games with Washington so far, he has not registered a point with 4 shots on net. However, he’s come as advertised on the penalty kill, though ironically, he’s taken two penalties in the games.
Nick Jensen looked great in his first game with three shots, 2 hits and a blocked shot playing just over 14 minutes. He is a steady hard-nosed defenseman in his own end and his possession looked to help the Caps. Moves the puck well and I think there is more offense coming from him than we saw in Detroit. I actually expect Jensen to elevate to the top-4 on the Caps D by playoff time as both Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen have struggled at times and may be better off with less ice time. At only 28, Jensen is just entering his prime as the club immediately signed him to a 4 year $10M deal.
NEWS | Capitals have re-signed defenseman Nick Jensen to a four-year, $10 million contract extension. #ALLCAPS https://t.co/B3zwjn4EoG
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 22, 2019
This move likely means a shift in direction on the Caps backend over the summer with Matt Niskanen likely gone and Brooks Orpik certainly gone.
Coach Reirden sat Christian Djoos in the last game as he now options on the backend with the Jensen acquisition. I could see Brooks Orpik getting some rest as well now.
The Capitals next game is tomorrow night at 7PM EST vs the Ottawa Senators in the second game since acquiring the new assets.
Capital Gain:
Ciao @CarlHagelin!
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 24, 2019
Great to have you on the squad#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/aWGeU1OLg3
Head Coach Todd Reirden talks with the media about new acquisition Nick Jensen #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/e62jBhZ2PK
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 22, 2019