Team Update: 12/27/22

The Capitals have acquired Sam Reinhart in exchange for Patrik Laine and 5M DCHL Cash

Today, the Capitals have traded longtime Capital Patrik Laine to the New Jersey Devils. Laine has been a key piece of the team and will surely be missed. However, there were certainly reasons to trade him. Laine has been somewhat cursed when it comes to injuries, which has raised questions to management about his long-term capabilities and this makes him somewhat unreliable compared to the level we expected him to play at. On top of that, and arguably even worse, he enjoys playing Fortnite. We would like to thank Laine for everything and wish him the best of luck with his new team (but not so much luck that the Devils knock us out of the playoffs).

In return, the Capitals have acquired Sam Reinhart. Though he may not have hit all the highs that Laine has, nor does he have Laine's potential, we believe him to be the more reliable and consistent player, and in the Capitals organization, these are qualities that we value very highly. Reinhart will slot into the same line that Laine played on, however, he will take over the center role from Zegras and Zegras will be moved to the wing. 

Overall, we've been very happy with the team as of late. Our 1st and 3rd lines have been firing on all cylinders and we've been winning a majority of our games. We currently rank 5th overall in the league, and yet 3rd in the Metro division. Reinhart has struggled on the devils this year, but we believe he can get back to the level he's been known to play at. If our 2nd line can start to heat up and match the level of scoring that our 1st and 3rd lines have, we have high hopes that we can re-take 2nd play from Philadelphia and even surpass the Islanders for the first time since week 1. Here's a look at the new lineup:

Forwards (LW-C-RW)

Tatar - Tavares - Kreider

Verhaeghe - Reinhart - Zegras

Kerfoot - Stastny - Cirelli

Formenton - Dowd - Helm

Defense

Spurgeon - Pesce

McDonagh - Leddy

Zub - DeMelo

Goaltenders

Swayman

Forsberg