Now that we’ve wrapped up the players and the coach, it’s time to turn our attention to the architect of the 2024-25 Washington Capitals…Chris Patrick (with a little Brian MacLellan thrown in).
Q1: Chris Patrick took over as GM last July, and was either part of or at the helm for all of the team’s moves starting with the 2024 offseason. What do you think was his best move – or perhaps the best move he didn’t make – last season?
J.P.: Jeez. Where to go with this one? He (and I’m just going to use “he” to refer to the entire front office, regardless of whose move it actually was) turned a seemingly unplayable goalie into a Selke-caliber top-six center, completing the reload at first- and second-line center that saw Nick Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov turn into Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois without expending any assets. He swapped a couple of third-round picks for what would quickly become a franchise goalie who would finish fourth in Vezina voting. And he brought in half of a new top-four on the blueline in exchange for Nick Jensen, a third-round pick and modest free agent deal. So what was his best move? Let’s go with Dubois, but man is that some high-quality GM’ing over the last year or so.
Luke: This front office made so many great moves last summer it’s hard to pick one. In terms of results, it’s hard to ignore the addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois. He had such an underrated season while putting up a career high in points. He’s a legit 1C, but Darcy Kuemper was also a good goalie so it wasn’t a steal of a deal. In terms of best value, it might be turning Beck Malenstyn, a fourth liner at best, into a Cole Hutson, who has potential to be a legit top pairing defensemen. Nothing is certain until it happens but that move is looking crazy good already.
Rob: I had PLD as the team MVP all season and when you can move a contract that isn’t working out for a guy that turns out to be your MVP, that’s gotta be the best deal.
Andrew: I would say the Pierre Luc Dubois move is probably the best move, but what I enjoyed is having two right handed catching goalies. I think it just fits with the goofy comradery the team has.
Kalilu: I’ll go with the Logan Thompson trade. Outside of an occasional Charlie Lindgren heater, goaltending has been a series of unfortunate events for Washington throughout this decade. Getting a netminder that finished top-5 in most advanced metrics was a bit of an understated factor in the Caps’ success this season compared to some of their other acquisitions. Goaltending is quite volatile, but the subsequent extension gives Washington the stability they’ve been looking for in net that’s eluded them since his doppelganger last suited up in DC:
Q2: What do you think the biggest priority should be for Patrick this offseason?
J.P.: The biggest weakness in the playoffs was either depth at the back end of the defense or third-line center. Given that Martin Fehervary is expected to come back healthy, the latter would be the priority. Do they fill it internally (with either Hendrix Lapierre showing he can hold down the job he couldn’t a year ago or perhaps Connor McMichael moving to his natural position and providing some more balanced scoring depth) or go shopping via free agency or trade? Answering this question and filling that role will be a top priority this summer for sure.
Luke: I understand the argument that Caps need a legit elite offensive weapon, but the Caps offense looks pretty good as is with Ryan Leonard only going to get better and the addition of Andrew Cristall, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Ilya Protas not far off from joining. Not saying they don’t need that elite offensive weapon but to me, more importantly, is figuring out the 3C position. They need a legit center playing there to make them a deeper team. It could be making no moves and seeing what Hendrix Lapierre can do, but have a feeling Caps want something more certain.
Rob: Everyone can use more top end talent, and I called that out as one of the team’s biggest weaknesses in the Carbery roundtable, but adding a top line player is a luxury and they realistically are not making a big splash for Mitch Marner. They might not hit the same individual offensive numbers and shooting percentages next season, but they have a lot of young guys that are still growing or at least shouldn’t fall off a cliff; meanwhile the third line was borderline unplayable against Carolina and in the playoffs those mismatches cost you.
The third line center is not a luxury, it’s a need if they want to dream about taking another step forward. They need a line that can either defend top units or a line that is a true threat to score against depth lines. The third line in the playoffs was neither, and it put Carbery in a tough spot trying to manage his other matchups, especially on the road.
Andrew: I agree with third line center. I’ll steal from Luke here, and say that the roster will fill out a little bit when players like Ivan Miroshnichenko, Andrew Cristall, and hopefully Hendrix Lapierre become full time NHL players. The team is close to the transition away from two of its franchise legends, Nicklas Bacstrom and Alex Ovechkin. One is already done and the other will be playing his last season in the NHL, probably. The team has one more season to make a run with Ovechkin, but realistically the team needs to think about the next three seasons and not just the next one.
Kalilu: Swinging for a gamebreaking offensive weapon and solidifying the third line should be the top priority, but I’m also gonna highlight the need for defensive depth, both in the short and long term. If they don’t get one of the few star talents available or upgrade at 3C, I can at least point to Ryan Leonard’s development and a potential Andrew Cristall debut for optimism in the former, and Connor McMichael moving back to his natural position for the latter. Those hypothetical answers currently don’t exist when it comes to the blueline. All three pairs are solid when healthy, but we saw what one injury to Martin Fehervary did to them in the playoffs. John Carlson entering the last year of his deal in his age-36 season also strengthens the need for an additional contingency plan.
As for the long term, they’ve (rightfully) prioritized forward in recent drafts after the prospect pool was barren there, but I do think this would be a good year to stock up on the blueline. Cole Hutson has emerged as a high-end prospect and Ryan Chesley has looked promising as well, but they’d be well-served to hit on another player with top-4 upside this week.
Q3: How would you grade Patrick’s overall moves in his rookie season as GM?
J.P.: What the Caps did last summer was terrific, but not flawless. They hit on the big things they had to hit on – Dubois at 2C, Chychrun and Roy in the top-four D, Thompson as a #1 goalie. But Mangiapane and Raddysh were a little less successful, and I have some questions about some of their in-season work (most notably not getting a 3C and a depth defenseman at the deadline, but also the Eller acquisition and possibly the Lindgren extension). But no one bats 1.000, and you’ve gotta appreciate them taking the swings and rebuilding or reloading without bottoming out (if sneaking into the playoffs in 2023-24 was the low point, that’s pretty impressive work). I’ll go with a very solid B+ here, and look forward to what comes next, especially as some bigger contracts roll off the roster.
Luke: As mentioned above, his summer was an absolute homerun with six new additions that all helped the team in a major way, but his in season trades were very meh. Lars Eller is not the middle six center they needed, and sending assets to your rival for him wasn’t a great move. Anthony Beauvillier is a good player and was really good for the Caps, but he was not worth a second round pick, especially, again, to your rivals. He probably could have found a better player for that pick or a similar player for less. But his summer was so good to hate on him too much so I’d go with an A-.
Rob: I would say B+. The off-season work was excellent but the need for a legitimate 3C and more than six actual NHL defensemen was entirely predictable and yet remained unaddressed.
Andrew: I’ll say a solid A. I like having two right handed catching goalies. Plus what everyone else said. The vibes and culture of the team also come from the front office as well. Don’t add a locker room cancer, do add players that are stuck in purgatory or are second thoughts and want a good team to build themselves back up.
Kalilu: An A- feels about right. The offseason was a shot in the arm for a team that badly needed it, but the in-season work left a bit to be desired.