The Washington Capitals have had a bad summer.
Despite that, their team remains strong. Even though they've lost half their defense and two-thirds of their second line, they had a really deep team to start with. If they can identify the good remaining free-agents and get them cheaply, they could still be one of the better teams in hockey next year.
Jakob Vrana had four points in 16 games last year, which isn't that impressive. He had a 54.5% Corsi Rating however, which is. He's fast, skilled and NHL ready.
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Oshie Vrans - Kuznetsov - Connolly - Eller - Burakovsky Beagle - - Wilson
You can see that despite losing Williams, Winnik and Johansson, that they are still in pretty good shape roster wise, on forward.
They recently signed Devente Smith-Pelly to a 2-way contract. He went berserk a couple years ago when the Devils grabbed him at the deadline, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 18 games. Otherwise though, he appears to not be very good.
I guess there is some untapped potential, but he doesn't appear to be good at defense or possession - on the Devils last season he had a 40% CF. I don't think he should make the team.
The Capitals only have $4 million to spend and they need two or three forwards, and two or three defenseman. Obviously they're going to have to do something about Orpik - buy him out of pay to get rid of him.
That leaves $2 million, and for that you can get yourself Viktor Stalberg - who is surprisingly great for a depth player.
Assuming they get rid of Orpik, they could then sign Brian Campbell and Cody Franson and promote AHL defenseman Madison Bowey.
Icing a lineup that looks like this:
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Oshie Vrana - Kuznetsov - Paranteau Connolly - Eller - Burakovsky Beagle - Stalberg - Wilson
Orlov - Niskanen Campbell - Carlson Bowey - Franson
It's still a really good lineup. The Capitals have a lot of money invested in a few players, and it's therefore a top heavy lineup. If they can score the remaining good bargain basement free-agents, (dependent on their dubious ability to get out of the Orpik contract) they can still enter the season next year as the favorite in the East.
On defense, you can't make up for losing Shattenkirk, and half your guys overall, but Campbell and Franson would be awesome additions to any team. Bowey is a question mark, but the Caps are hurting for NHL ready defenseman.
Anyways, it's not all doom and gloom for the Captials. They should be able to ice a team relatively close to what they did last year, however, it's entirely dependent on the GM who has so far done the worst job of any GM this summer, suddenly identifying the four best remaining UFAs and being able to move one of the worst contracts in the league.
So I wouldn't count on it.