Capitals GM on renting Kevin Shattenkirk, managing player egos

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan didn’t enter the trade deadline looking to make a dramatic splash. His team has the best record in hockey. They’re as primed as any to challenge for a championship. “I was comfortable with where the team was, but I wanted to pursue anything that I thought could help our team be better,” he said.

“If there was one guy we were going to pursue to make our team better, it was him. I wasn’t sure what the cost was going to be.”

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The guy was St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, the most prized puck-moving back-liner on the trading block. The cost was their first-round pick in 2017, some (hilariously complicated) conditional picks, along with forwards Zach Sanford and Brad Malone. The Blues picked up enough salary to make this work, and sent the Capitals back AHL goalie Pheonix Copley.

MacLellan said the Minnesota Wild’s trade for Martin Hanzal set the market for the kinds of picks necessary to snag a high-profile rental. So he paid the price, and acquired a player coveted by division rivals like the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers.

Some saw this as the Capitals going “all-in,” but MacLellan said they’ve had their chips in the middle of the table since at least last season.

“I think we’ve had an urgency, starting with last year. All our focus, all we’ve said and done, is getting to the next level. Being a better team. Doing everything we can to have a successful playoffs,” he said.

So what defines success for the Caps?

“Winning a championship.”

Shattenkirk brings them closer to that end. MacLellan ticked off the things that make him great – his offensive prowess, puck-moving skills and special teams play. But he also mentioned that adding Shattenkirk addresses a concern he’s had since losing to the Penguins in six games last season: defensive depth, something for which Matt Niskanen’s recent injury served as a reminder.

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Niskanen plays the right side. So does Capitals lifer John Carlson. So does the new guy. MacLellan admitted he doesn’t know how this dynamic is going to play out, and if everyone’s egos can remain in check.

“There’s a degree of uncertainty. It changes roles a little bit. People get less ice time, less power-play time. I guess the hope is that players and coaches manage it. And that the overall philosophy is that everybody is doing what’s best for this team,” he said.

That, in the end, might be his best selling point: That distribution of ice time doesn’t matter as much as winning the Stanley Cup for the first time; and that the addition of the deadline’s top pending free agent should get the Capitals energized for that run.

“When you bring in a guy of this stature, there’s an excitement and an energy that goes through the room,” said MacLellan. “I’ve done as much homework as I can on the person. I’ve talked with [former Blues teammate] T.J. Oshie and [former nationa team teammate] Brooks Orpik about him. What kind of guy he is, how he’s going to fit in, are the guys going to like him?”

And, of course, whether he likes the Capitals.

The fact is that the Capitals now have eight players that are free agents after this season. Some, like defenseman Dmitry Orlov, are restricted; others, like defenseman Karl Alzner, are unrestricted. Washington will have the cap space to commit to Shattenkirk if they choose to offer him something long-term. The question is whether Shattenkirk would commit to the Capitals, which is really a question of whether Washington, D.C. is close enough to New Rochelle, New York, and whether it’s OK that they’re not the Rangers.

“Yeah, I don’t know how that’ll work,” said MacLellan. “We’re going to have three of the top UFAs in the free-agency market. I think a lot depends on what happens down the stretch. How everybody’s role pans out. Everything’s going to factor in after the season ends.”

The biggest factor may be how the season ends: With their hands on a trophy, or with their head in their hands again?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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