The Washington Capitals have made some more moves this trade deadline for their push for the Stanley Cup playoffs as they have acquired forwards Ilya Kovalchuk and Daniel Sprong. Kovalchuk will be coming over from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2020 third round pick. Sprong will be coming over from the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Christian Djoos.
Kovalchuk is a proven goalscorer that should help build depth and more dynamism. He will likely play on the third line for the majority of his time with the Capitals. Who he will partner up with remains to be seen, but it seems likely Hagelin will play on the other wing. The Capitals will be his third team this season as he had played with the Los Angeles Kings earlier and was let go before signing on with Montreal. This season, in 39 games played, he has scored 9 goals with 13 assists (22 points). Kovalchuk is going to be a solid weapon for the Capitals, but he also brings experience which should help and is friends with Alex Ovechkin.
The Sprong acquisition was seen as "minor league" trade as Sprong will becoming over for depth and will play at Hershey. Djoos was a key player in their Stanley Cup championship run, but had seemingly had fallen out of favor with the team especially with the rise of Jonas Siegenthaler and had become expendable. This is a very low key move. There is some head scratching with this transaction as some thought the need for help on the blue line should have been targeted, but it seems like the Capitals were satisfied with the Brenden Dillon acquisition to help make their defense better.
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