Will the LA Kings trade Jonathan Quick?
NBC Sports: James O’Brien believes that Jonathan Quick’s most realistic window to be traded would be after this season.
O’Brien advises the LA Kings to trade the Quick, 33, as soon as possible, another team would find him far more palatable in 2020-21 and beyond. Consider that 2019-20 is the final season where Quick costs more in actual salary ($7M) than his $5.8M cap hit. From 2020-21, his actual salary sinks to $3.5M, then $3M in 2021-22, and finally $2.5M in 2022-23.
A two-time champion goalie whose salary is lower than his cap hit? Now that’s a decent elevator pitch for a trade.
What will the Capitals do with Braden Holtby?
NBC Sports: Braden Holtby is entering the final year of his current deal and should be due a substantial raise…one the Caps will likely be unable to afford.
Holtby has made it clear that he would like to stay in Washington and he certainly could choose to take less than he is worth to help the team…slightly less. That is his prerogative, but there’s a limit. To think he is going to take a massive discount and leave several million dollars per year on the table seems unrealistic.
Holtby’s numbers are very comparable to Sergei Bobrovsky’s, if not better. Holtby will likely be seeking a $10 million/year contract and the big question is, what will the Capitals do? They cannot fit that type of contract going forward in the teams salary cap. Do they trade him and get a good return now or wait till the 2020 off-season and risk losing him for nothing like the Blue Jackets did with Bobrovsky.
