Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018 so there isn’t a real sense of panic around the team anymore. They don’t have to win one to justify all the first round picks they traded and all the building they did and all the goals that Alex Ovechkin scored.
Although, the 2020-21 season is the final year on Ovechkin’s contract. It is impossible to imagine him in another jersey, but it could happen less than a year from now. That would certainly change the direction of the fracnchise.
Until then, they are going to be in it to win it.
They don’t have a ton of money to spend as they already have most of their key players locked up for next season. They are likely to lose Braden Holtby to free agency, but they have Ilya Samsonov to take over in goal. They are also losing a couple of depth defenders with Radko Gudas and Brendan Dillon’s contracts expiring.
They might not need to add a goaltender with Pheonix Copley stepping in as the new backup, but they could use another defenceman that can play steady minutes on the third pairing.
Brett Kulak can certainly do that and might even fit comfortably on the second pairing. Heck, with the way he plays with Jeff Petry, he might be a perfect fit next to John Carlson on the top pairing at even strength. He wouldn’t cost a ton and the Habs have a plethora of left defenders with Alexander Romanov and Joel Edmundson arriving.