In a summer that’s seen the Capitals trade everything they possibly could for draft picks they made a surprise acquisition by grabbing Oliver Ekman-Larsson and adding him to their blueline for a 4th this year and a 5th next year. People might be wondering “why did they grab him? Aren’t they tanking?” and the answer would be year they are tanking. But that doesn’t mean OEL doesn’t have a place on the Capitals in the future.

When asked about the trade GM MacPherson had this to say, “OEL is a guy I believe can still be a top pairing guy in this league even after an off year, he’s only signed for this season but as of right now we plan on bringing him back next year. Things can change over the course of the season but even if he doesn’t return the cost of potentially bringing him back was minimal and we can easily acquire more 4th’s and 5th’s later on. As of right now though my job is to make the Capital’s a legit contender in the future and we believe having a vet like OEL will help our young guys out a lot”.

The Capital’s even with OEL still look like one if the worst squads in the league and will likely be a doormat but OEL brings hope to the team they may have a guy who can lead their blueline in the future and help all of the younger d-men in the system.