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Brooks Orpik

Washington Capitals Didn’t “Really Consider” Brooks Orpik Buyout

at CDT | by 7 Comments

The Washington Capitals have had an interesting offseason to say the least. Since being knocked out the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins once again, they’ve lost Nate Schmidt to Vegas, Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Williams to free agency, re-signed T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov to monstrous eight-year deals, and traded Marcus Johansson for a couple of draft picks.

Even now they remain in a tough spot cap-wise, with just $8.6MM in room and two key RFAs still to sign. Through all of this, fans have been thinking, writing and even shouting about a move that seemed clear to them: buy out Brooks Orpik. Brooks Orpik

The 36-year old Orpik has two years remaining on his current contract with a $5.5MM cap hit, though the actual salary does go down a bit in year two. That deal looked bad from the start when he signed it in 2014, and even worse last year as he dropped to the third pairing and had little impact in the playoffs. His ice time was the lowest it had been in nearly a decade, and it was clear he wasn’t able to contribute the same way anymore.

So why not buy him out? Well, thanks to Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy who asked the question and transcribed the answer during a conference call with GM Brian MacLellan earlier today we have the answer:

I don’t know what we really considered that. I thought Orpik had a good year last year. I thought him and [Nate] Schmidt played well together on our third pair. We value what he brings to young defensemen. He was very good for Schmidt, and Schmidt was good for Orpik. We have a bunch of young defensemen that are coming up: 10 or 12 guys that are under 22. They’re all pretty good players. We’re going to value the ability of Orpik to mentor those guys. 

So I didn’t want a buy out on our salary cap going out four years. I didn’t think it made sense for us.

The four years he is referencing is how long the Capitals would’ve been paying out a potential buyout for Orpik. Instead of his $5.5MM hit the next two seasons, a buyout would have cause a $2.5MM cap hit the next two seasons, and a $1.5MM hit the two after that. That does give them savings now, but perhaps not enough to keep Johansson anyway. The now-Devils forward earns $4.6MM the next two seasons.

So it doesn’t look like Orpik is going anywhere, even if the Capitals do get another buyout window later in the summer after finishing their potential arbitration cases. His role on the team will continue to be shepherding in the young defensemen, and teaching them how to work hard enough to stay in the NHL. After all, who wouldn’t look up to a 36-year old defenseman who earned himself a huge contract without much offensive upside. He’s proof that a solid defensive game can keep you around in the NHL, something that every young defenseman needs to learn.

Metropolitan Snapshots: Grubauer, Kovalchuk, Ryan

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Not that there are a lot of starting goaltending options available, but the Washington Capitals may have to move their backup Philipp Grubauer after all. With the impending defensive losses of free agents Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner, who the team likely cannot afford after the team locked up T.J. Oshie to an eight-year deal, and the loss of 25-year-old top-four defender Nate Schmidt to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, the team must find a way to replace their blueliners.

With cap room almost entirely used up and with several restricted free agents still to lock up, the Capitals have only two places to look to fill those holes – either from within or via trade, according to J.J. Regan of CSN Mid-Atlantic. The team still retains several key defensemen, including restricted free agent Dmitry Orlov, veterans Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen as well as John Carlson. From within, the team has 22-year-old Madison Bowey on hand, who might be ready to make the jump to the NHL. He was out with an ankle injury and missed a lot of the AHL season a year ago, but still had 14 points in 34 games. Still, he may not be the player you count on to jump onto a playoff team’s defensive line.

Therefore, the lack of depth on defense could easily force the team to move Grubauer, who was often talked about as an expansion candidate for the Golden Knights. However, since Grubauer has little chance to grab a starting gig in Washington and isn’t even the future of the franchise as that role likely belongs to 2015 first-round pick Ilya Samsonov. There are still several teams who need a quality, young goaltender and they may be able to offer an inexpensive blueliner to fill Washington’s needs.

  • While there have been dozens of teams linked to Ilya Kovalchuk over the past two months since he announced he’d like to return to the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets are one team that have shown interest in the 34-year-old Russian winger. However, while that interest still exists, Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline tweets that the team, as of today, are not in full pursuit of Kovalchuk, and are currently searching for a Top-6 center to fill in the gap.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes are closing in to signing Derek Ryan to one-year deal, tweets Edmonton Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer. Ryan, was a Masterson Trophy finalist this past year, which goes to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey. At age 30, the center finally broke through into the NHL after years of playing in Europe and the AHL, finishing the season with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points and being credited for helping change the culture of the Hurricanes locker room. He is coming off a one-year, $600,000 contract and looks to be getting a solid raise.

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