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Washington Capitals GM Chris Patrick shocks fans with offseason comments
Photo credit: Post media
The Washington Capitals season is officially underway after a crushing second round playoff defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes. That said, general manager Chris Patrick made himself available to the media yesterday and made some bold comments regarding the team's direction this offseason.
When analyzing what went wrong during the Washington Capitals series against the Carolina Hurricanes, one thing in particular stood out: speed.
While the Caps' were decisively outmatched during the series, their slow foot speed was ultimately the deciding factor as they struggled to keep pace with the Canes' high-tempo offence.
Yesterday, GM Chris Patrick met with the media to discuss his offseason plans to address these glaring issues.
Chris Patrick makes postseason comments
According to RMNB, The Capitals are projected to have $8.6 million worth of cap space to work with this summer. But with the league's salary cap jumping by $7.5 million, Washington will have plenty of competition on the open market, and general manager Chris Patrick noted that free agents could become particularly pricey this offseason. Still, he didn't rule out the possibility that the Capitals could take a bigger swing in free agency.
«We will definitely evaluate everything,» Patrick said. «I think a big hack this summer could potentially be like a really big hack. With a rising cap environment, a lot of teams that are looking to spend - the prices, I think we saw it at the trade deadline with the prices going up, I think it could follow the same path here in free agency. We'll see what we have available to spend, and hopefully we can be competitive in some of that stuff if we think it's the right fit.»
«I think we're willing to be aggressive, but I think our goal, as within the last two years, is to get younger,» MacLellan said. «We're transitioning from a mature, older team into a younger team and it continues to be that goal going forward for us. We're going to inject a bunch of prospects into Hershey next year that we're pretty excited about. Not sure where they are in their development path. But over the next two years we're going to be adding young guys, and hopefully we can complement it with a good transaction or two in free agency or the trade market.»
While the Capitals have an exciting pool of prospects ready to make the jump to the big leagues, Chris Patrick is showing no fear when discussing adding elite talent to the roster.
If it's one thing the Caps' showed this season - the boys are Stanley Cup contenders, and the right addition could help them get over the hump.
More details to follow.
| POLL | ||
MAI 20 | 83 ANSWERS Washington Capitals GM Chris Patrick shocks fans with offseason comments Do you think the Washington Capitals will make a big trade this offseason? | ||
| Yes | 65 | 78.3 % |
| No | 18 | 21.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
