Free washer | Penguins sellers, Capitals buyers

The Lars Eller trade this week is ironic. The third-ranked center from the Pittsburgh Penguins was traded to the Washington Capitals for third- and fifth-round picks. Several months before the transaction deadline, the former have therefore positioned themselves as sellers and the latter as buyers.

Pittsburgh and Washington, however, began their cycle almost at the same time. Laying their foundations on high draft picks in 2004 and 2005, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom for the Capitals, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the Penguins.

These two teams dominated hockey for a decade. But their end of cycle took a different tangent. The Capitals made the playoffs last year and entered this season with a 10-4-1 record, despite Backstrom’s retirement. The Penguins missed them and they currently sit at 25^e ranked overall with a record of 6-9-3.

We managed the decline differently. The Capitals have retained five of their seven first-round picks since 2018. They have drafted in the second round eight times in those seven vintages. The first pick of 2019, at 25^e Rank, Connor McMichael, has a big impact this year, on the left wing of the second line, with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson. McMichael has 17 points in 15 games. The first pick of 2020, Hendrix Lapierre, is not producing like the previous season, but at 22 he occupies the center position of the third line.

The Penguins have drafted just three times in the first round during the same span, and six times in the second round. They had a first-round pick in 2019, but they drafted Samuel Poulin four picks ahead of McMichael.

The big difference between these two organizations lies in the flair of their managers. Dylan Strome was released by the Chicago Blackhawks at just 25 years old in July 2022, despite having a 48-point season in 69 games. New Hawks GM Kyle Davidson had just traded Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach in a barely veiled desire to sink down the rankings and amass the most advantageous draft picks. Capitals GM Brian MacLellan hired him for one year, for 3.5 million.

Strome became the Capitals’ starting center by default. This third choice in 2015, behind Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, traded for the first time by the Arizona Coyotes after being slow to produce, had two first seasons of 65 and 67 points in Washington. Here he is already with 23 points in 15 games. At this rate, Strome, 129 points in 68 games in Erie with Connor McDavid in his year of draft eligibility, could reach 120 points.

The arrival of Strome is a gift from heaven. The Capitals have thus unearthed their first center of the present and future, aged only 27, without having to draft him in the top 5 or sacrifice an asset. He is entering the first year of a five-year contract for an annual salary of 5 million, a bargain if he maintains the current pace.

MacLellan attempted a similar move with Pierre-Luc Dubois last summer. This time, the risk was higher, since Dubois arrived with a contract valid for another seven years at an annual salary of 8.5 million. But it cost a backup goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, who went to the Los Angeles Kings in the deal.

Dubois, 26, also a third overall pick, but in 2016, doesn’t produce at Strome’s pace, but he has 9 points in 15 games at the center of the second line, including 7 points in his last 10 games.

Tom Wilson, drafted at 16^e ranked in 2012, has had a good start to the season to the right of Dubois. This player known to be dangerous for his opponents has 12 points in 15 games and is being recognized for the right reasons. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Wilson and Dubois make a tough trio to play against with McMichael.

The vintage of the 2012 draft already dates back about ten years, but that year, the Penguins drafted defenseman Derrick Pouliot at 8^e rang et Olli Maatta au 22^e. Before Wilson, Washington chose Filip Forsberg at 11^e rank. If only MacLellan’s predecessor, George McPhee, hadn’t traded Forsberg in a panic move in 2013…

Aliaksei Protas, 23, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound colossus, completes the top line with Ovechkin and Strome. He has 15 points in his first 15 games. Protas was drafted in the third round in 2019.

The successful relaunch of the Capitals is not only due to the flair of their GM, but also to the exceptional work over the decades of their chief recruiter Ross Mahoney, now assistant general manager.

The Penguins finally seem to want to begin a reconstruction. With an almost empty pool of hopes. They tried to imitate the Capitals by handing poles to Jesse Puljujarvi, 26, fourth overall pick in 2016, and Cody Glass, 25, sixth overall pick in 2017. They got nothing out of it.

The post-Crosby era will be painful in Pittsburgh. Post-Ovechkin will be less so.