I’m sold on the fact that the Caps are really good but they’re older and have broken down and run out of steam the last few years. They also have a few really important players either hurt or coming back from injury and it’s unclear how effective they’ll be this season. Banking on Mantha, Backstrom, or Oshie to be the best version of themselves this year is a risky proposition.
If they have a bunch of good young players coming up I don’t see how trading one of them and a first means they’re selling off years of the future. And if they can acquire and extend a guy like Hertl I think that actually keeps their window open even longer as he is another one of those bridge players like Wilson and Mantha who aren’t rookies but aren’t on the back nine of their careers either.
I think they need a higher end forward who can play wing or center and a depth RHD defenseman and they’re set. Maybe a goaltender as well but I don’t know if they rock the boat that much.
