With the offseason quickly approaching, the Dallas Stars have a few holes in their lineup that need filling. The Washington Capitals have a little bit of everything that the Stars need and could help them out in more ways than one.
The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs rose to yet another new level of excitement last night.
The Washington Capitals, once down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, went into Pittsburgh and routed the Pens 5-2 to tie the series at 3-3 and force a game seven on Wednesday night.
This game was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to thrilling finishes so far in this year’s playoffs. There have been 65 postseason games played this year, and not one has failed to entice and excite fans. Whether it’s been one of the 23 overtime games, one of the few uproarious blowouts, or the surprising upsets, they’ve been fun to say the least.
This year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have been the most exciting in recent memory, and there’s still two more rounds to enjoy before a champion is crowned.
The Capitals might be that champion. They’ve shown some impressive resilience over the past two games, avoiding elimination with dominating wins. They now have a chance to knock out the defending champs on home ice and successfully complete the 3-1 comeback. And if they can knock off Pittsburgh, they would have a pretty good shot at winning it all.
That would be a beneficial and redeeming end for a franchise that has been toying with a championship for the past decade. The Capitals have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in nine of the past ten years, finishing first in their division in seven of those. They have won the President’s Trophy in each of the past two seasons and have been the most dominant regular season team.
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But once they get to the playoffs, they struggle. The Caps always seem to get close, but never close enough. They are still searching for their first Stanley Cup championship, and winning it this year would bring some serious redemption and relief to a franchise in desperate need of its first banner.
This also might be the Caps’ best chance before an offseason of change comes along.
That’s because Washington is currently about $58,661 over the limit on their cap spending. With that being said and 12 Caps players set to enter free agency this summer, Washington will have to cut ties with a few players.
This is where the Dallas Stars need to jump in and get to work.
After an abysmal season, the Stars are in need of a good re-racking. They are still in a good position to win now, but they need one or two more players to round out their roster. That’s where Washington can help.
Here are four Capitals players that might be too pricy for Washington to re-sign that Dallas could potentially trade for the rights to, making it a win-win for both teams.