The Washington Capitals traded from their defensive depth, as they announced they have sent Jonas Siegenthaler to the New Jersey Devils for the Arizona Coyotes’ 2021 third-round pick (acquired in the Taylor Hall trade). The move should free up some salary for the team to add a depth piece before the trade deadline.
Last year it looked as if Siegenthaler had won himself a full-time role with the organization as the 23-year-old played 64 games for the Capitals in 2019-20, posting two goals, nine points and a plus-11 rating. However, things had changed under new coach Peter Laviolette, who chose to play veterans over him as the blueliner has seven games this season with no points.
For Washington, the team which is into LTIR and had just $375K in available cap space, this move opens up some extra space as Siegenthaler carried an AAV of $800K, giving the team ample room to bring aboard a cheap veteran for their stretch run before tomorrow’s trade deadline. The team had eight defenseman on their roster, which means they don’t have to replace Siegenthaler on the roster with another defenseman.
For New Jersey, the team brings in a young defenseman to join their rebuild. The team will have to hope that he can fit in somewhere in their lineup, but with the potential of a trade of either Sami Vatanen or Dmitri Kulikov, Siegenthaler is a solid addition. The blueliner also reunites with countryman Nico Hischier as both come from Switzerland and are quite familiar with each other.
Expansion Draft motivated, I assume.
Needed cap space and picks for future trade
Seems like the kind of guy who should cost a 6th.
No, he’s young and has been incredibly solid on the PK for someone with as little experience as he has. A third is right about the range you would expect, although I would have thought a third and a fourth wouldn’t have been out of the question.