Rumor: Washington Capitals Have Eyes On Artturi Lehkonen

The Montreal Canadiens might be on a three game winning streak, but it doesn’t mean that the rumors are calming down. Quite the opposite.

The latest on the rumor mill involves winger Artturi Lehkonen, who is on the last year of his contract with a $2.3 million cap hit and will be a restricted free agent at year’s end. Many teams have reportedly showed interest or directly reached out to Kent Hughes but the most aggressive team is apparently the Washington Capitals in a deal that might shape up the future of the Canadiens. Many scouts from Washington have been spotted at the Bell Center as of late, only to put more fuel to the rumor fire.

Word around the water cooler, or more specifically on the show Hockey 360 on RDS, is that Hughes has picked up Washington General Manager Brian MacLellan’s call and a deal involving potentially Lehkonen and more specifically goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

The injury to Vitek Vanacek, apparently the favorite to take on the starting goaltender gig, might either derail the talks or simply amplify them. There’s been some rumbles that Jake Allen might be thrown into the deal if a prospect or draft pick is sent back.

The Capitals are in a tight spot cap wise with just under a little $2 million left at the time of this writing. If they do swing a deal, it would logically be at the deadline, but the impending return of TJ Oshie and his $5.75 million cap hit from the injured reserve would complicate things. Not to mention Anthony Mantha is also on long term injured reserve after falling to shoulder surgery last November and would count for $5.7 million in cap space as well. In Mantha’s case however, the Caps will likely wait until the playoffs before activating him.

For everything to work out, Montreal would likely have to take on some salary. The logical name coming up is that of veteran Carl Hagelin who has another year left to his contract after this season with a $2.75 million cap hit. The addition of Lehkonen and this year’s emergence of Connor McMichael and Joe Snively, not counting of course Conor Sheary and Alexander Ovechkin firmly put on the left side, would make Hagelin the odd man out.

As for Ilya Samsonov, having him on board would bring a similar story to Carter Hart in Philadelphia. The 25 year old came with great fanfare after being drafted 22nd overall in 2015 after dominating the KHL. He has been an effective backup at the NHL level but struggles on taking on a larger role. His potential however, is too high to pass up on especially at his age and contract status. Samsonov is on the last year of a deal worth $2 million of cap hit and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

There is absolutely no rush in trading someone like Lehkonen. He’s a very effective bottom six winger that understands any role you give him. That being said, his value might be at the highest this moment so the time might be now to capitalize on an investment that might bear fruit during the upcoming rebuild.