On Tuesday night on TSN 690 Radio, ESPN's Pierre Lebrun chimed in on Patrick Sharp's role with the Chicago Blackhawks and how it would benefit a team looking for experience:
“Patrick Sharp is a guy that I think still has some good hockey left in him. He’s a clutch player. He’s got three Cups under him. And he’s also lived the experience of going from the worst team in the league, basically, to building a dynasty. That’s a pretty valuable process to have under your belt. It’s not just dropping in on a team and winning a bunch of Cups. He went from the bottom to the top and I think there’s some valuable experience there."
Lebrun went on to say that Sharp's presence in Washington could be a great addition to help get the Caps over the hump:
“I think the Washington Capitals are a team that I see as a fit for him – among the many – but I think they would like to add a top-6 player there and a guy that’s won. We know what the Caps’ issues are, right? So that would be an interesting fit for me. But who knows?"
It's not the first time Patrick Sharp's name has been directed to the Washington Capitals. He was all but traded, according to the rumor mill, this past trade deadline and DC fans were drooling at the idea of #10 playing alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom.
After helping Chicago to their third Cup in six years, Sharp's time with the Blackhawks is just about over. Cap issues will force the Blackhawks to part ways with the right winger who has 2 years left and a $5.9M cap hit.
Wherever he does end up, Sharp is sure to give that team a good chance of winning. He can still score and he knows how to win. His locker room presence will not go unnoticed.
If the Caps are looking to bring Sharp in, they may have to get a little creative to ensure he fits into the lineup, depending of course which direction the team wants to go with certain players.
Braden Holtby is the number one priority at the moment, and Washington will be sure to lock him up for at least 5 years. Assuming Holtby will have a cap hit of about $5M, that leaves the Caps around $14M to re-sign Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson with Eric Fehr, Joel Ward, Nate Schmidt, Jay Beagle, and Stanislav Galiev (to name a few) all looking for new deals.
It's possible that Sharp could come to DC and there is no doubt he would be a great fit for the Caps. Could he help them get over the elusive 2nd round hump? Perhaps. That's a hard question to answer in June.
Whatever the case may be, the rumors are starting to pick up leading up to the draft next week, and the Capitals should be in line to do something to help this team.
Mike Green and Joel Ward are two names that are drawing interest in Free Agent Land, and I'd love to see the Caps at least trade their rights and try to get some value back.
With Sharp, he could go anywhere and Chicago will want the best return they can get to ensure their team stays on top. They have a ton of talent however, and you never know what can happen this time of year.
“...it’ll be interesting to sort of find out where he lands, unless Stan Bowman has a couple of tricks up his sleeve where it’s not Patrick Sharp and we’re not seeing it in front of our eyes, that would be a bet for me.… (LeBrun)
More to come...