DALLAS - The Washington Capitals traded goaltender Philipp Grubauer and veteran defenseman Brooks Orpik to the Colorado Avalanche for a second-round pick (No. 47 overall) on Friday night at the NHL draft, a move that clears Orpik's $5.5 million salary cap hit for next season and gives Grubauer an opportunity to be a starter. The defending Stanley Cup champions now have more than $21 million in cap room to potentially re-sign top defenseman John Carlson and other key pending free agents.
There were other deals made Friday, but only for picks. No other players changed teams.
Orpik, 37, is entering the final season of a five-year contract, and though the alternate captain was one of the most respected players in Washington's dressing room, he had been reduced to a third-pairing role as a stay-at-home, physical defenseman in a league that has trended toward puck-moving, mobile blue-liners. Trading Orpik could clear enough cap space for the Capitals to retain Carlson and fellow defenseman Michal Kempny, the top pairing during the team's run to its first Stanley Cup.
The salary cap for next season will jump to $79.5 million, a $4.5 million increase, but when Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan was asked Thursday night whether that was enough space to re-sign players such as Carlson and Kempny, he replied: "I never said that. . . . We'll see how it goes here in negotiations."
MacLellan met with Carlson's agent Thursday night, and after the 28-year-old had a career season with 15 goals and 53 assists while averaging more than 25 minutes, he's expected to get a contract in the neighborhood of $64 million over eight years.
Orpik, now a two-time Stanley Cup champion, played an average of 19:22 for the Capitals this season. There was speculation Friday night that the Avalanche might trade him or buy out the final year of his contract. He was one of the first players MacLellan signed when he got the GM post four years ago, and in Barry Trotz's first year as coach during the 2014-15 season, Orpik's veteran leadership helped usher in a culture change after Washington missed the playoffs and dealt with toxicity in its dressing room the year before. Orpik was considered a mentor to several players and was called "Batya" by the team's Russians, a term of endearment that translates to "Dad." Now, he and Trotz have departed the organization after Trotz resigned earlier this week before joining the New York Islanders, ushering in a new chapter for the Capitals even as they're coming off a Stanley Cup win.
Grubauer was the incentive for the Avalanche to take Orpik's contract without Washington retaining any salary.
After the Capitals' championship run reinforced Braden Holtby as the team's undisputed No. 1 netminder, Grubauer told the organization he wants to be a starter somewhere, and MacLellan said he would try to accommodate those wishes. This is not the first time the organizations have made a deal involving a goaltender: The Capitals in 2011 dealt Semyon Varlamov to Colorado for a first-round pick and a second-round pick, and Grubauer will share the net with Varlamov next season.
