The Capitals' season may have just ended on Sunday, but there is no rest for the weary in professional sports. Now the team must turn the page and start to think about its offseason business, including its pending free agents.
Here's a look at the notable Caps players set to become free agents this offseason.
Unrestricted free agents
Craig Anderson
Signed late into the offseason to be on the taxi squad as the No. 3 goalie, Anderson played just four games in the regular season. Things did not get interesting until the playoffs where he came on in relief of an injured Vitek Vanecek in Game 1 and got the win and then started Game 2 making 44 saves in the overtime loss.
Despite his brief playoff appearance, however, it is hard to see a path back for the 40-year-old netminder. Given how Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov played this season, you would have to think they will be the tandem again going forward. And even if the expansion draft disrupts that plan, there will be better options available for the backup job in free agency.
Unless the taxi squad returns and the No. 3 job becomes a permanent position, it's hard to see Anderson returning.
Zdeno Chara
The first question will have to be if Chara wants to return or, if at 44 years old, he is ready to call it a career? Chara left Boston to try to earn a bigger role on another team. Will that be his mentality this offseason? Will he still look to be an everyday player?
Caps general manager Brian MacLellan clearly values veteran leadership, but how much is that worth to him? And I don't mean that in terms of cap hit -- Chara's cap hit in Washington was only $795,000 -- but in terms of taking a roster spot from another player. Among left-shot defensemen, the Caps already have Dmitry Orlov, Brenden Dillon and Michal Kempny under contract, plus prospects Martin Fehervary and Alex Alexeyev. Does it make sense to add Chara back to that mix?
Henrik Lundqvist
It was a great story when Lundqvist signed, it was really unfortunate that we never got the opportunity to see him in a Caps jersey, but signing a 39-year-old goalie to serve as the backup after open-heart surgery would be a huge gamble.
Alex Ovechkin
The big one. It may feel like it was just yesterday that Ovechkin signed his massive 13-year contract, but that contract is now up.
Somewhat surprisingly, this is not an issue that was resolved last offseason when Ovechkin was eligible to re-sign. Whenever he and MacLellan have been asked about Ovechkin's contract, however, they have both continued to kick the can down the road.
There is no reason to think Ovechkin wants to play for any team in the NHL other than Washington and no reason to think the Caps won't pay whatever they have to in order to get it done. If you are expecting a hometown discount, it is entirely Ovechkin's prerogative to consider, but that is not the expectation. Whether another early playoff exit will factor into the contract discussions and ultimate price tag remains to be seen.
Michael Raffl
Raffl has played in 514 NHL games and 504 of them came with the Philadelphia Flyers. Head coach Peter Laviolette seemed to put a lot of trust in him quickly after he was acquired by Washington at the trade deadline, but there is no reason to think he factors prominently in the team's future plans unless, internally, the Caps were just blown away by him in those 10 regular-season games and additional four games in the playoffs.
Restricted free agents
Ilya Samsonov
Whatever questions there may have been in terms of Samsonov's abilities, consistent play and maturity, his three playoff starts went a long way towards answering those. He was fantastic and I expect him to be the starter in the season opener in 2021-22.
As a restricted free agent, the Caps will retain his rights at the start of free agency, meaning there is no incentive to MacLellan sitting on a contract deal until after the Seattle expansion draft like there would be for a UFA.
Alex Ovechkin looms large amongst Capitals' pending free agents - NBC Sports
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