The Capitals made five re-signings of late as they brought back defenseman Christian Djoos, left wing Jakub Vrana, and center Chandler Stephenson on contract extensions and they also re-signed left wing Carl Hagelin who was an unrestricted free agent and Michael Sgarbossa to a two-way contract providing them some depth. Djoos and Vrana played some critical roles for the team last season and have shown how talented they are warranting them contract extensions and Hagelin impressed a lot down the stretch.
Djoos played in 45 games last season scoring a goal and recording nine assists for 10 points in 2018-19, but missed some time because of injuries. He was also a key member for the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18. It was an arbitration hearing that favored Djoos and the Capitals signed him to a one year, $1.25 million contract. Djoos had been a restricted free agent this offseason.
Vrana put up solid numbers in 2018-19 as he played in all 82 games scoring 24 goals and recorded 23 assists for 47 points and he was rewarded a two-year, $6.7 million giving a $3.35 million cap hit. He was a restricted free agent, but did not have arbitration rights. Vrana was another solid player for the Capitals during their Stanley Cup run last year and after coming off his best season to date, where he has established himself as a top-six forward, some thought he would get a long term contract. That being said, he will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract and will have arbitration rights meaning he has a chance to re-sign again like Djoos did.
Stephenson was a solid contributor to the team during their run to a Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18, but struggled last season as he scored five goals, recorded six assists and netted 11 points. Stephenson was a restricted free agent this offseason and was arbitration eligible, but the team and him avoided it as they agreed to a one-year, $1.05 million dollar contract.
Hagelin was traded to the Capitals from the Los Angeles Kings last season for a couple of draft picks and the Kings were allowed to keep 50% of his remaining contract, but Hagelin was a solid player after his trade and it made Capitals’ general manager Brian MacLellan press hard to keep him this offseason. In 20 games for the Capitals, he scored three goals and recorded eight assists for 11 points. Hagelin has seemingly played in the playoffs every year in his career with the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, especially the two seasons where the Penguins went back-to-back, so he has a lot of playoff experience. All that culminated to is a four-year, $11 million contract to stay in the Nation’s Capital, with a $2.75 salary cap hit. He will have to take on a very prominent role this year with the departures of Brett Connolly and Andre Burakovsky. Known for his versatility, his forechecking, and penalty killing, he should be heavily relied on in 2019-20.
Sgarbossa was a relatively low risk signing as he signed a two-way contract. He will provide some depth as he put up some gaudy numbers in the AHL for Hershey last season scoring 30 goals and recording 35 assists for 65 points in 75 games played. He’s young as he’s 26 and does have some NHL experience (48 games, two goals, eight assists, and 10 points). His salary cap hit is $700,000.
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