WASHINGTON — John Carlson leaned against the wall at the Capitals’ final media day to officially close out the 2017-18 season. He’s more relaxed than usual, though completely aware of the elephant in the room: where will he be in a matter of weeks?
And when asked, he took a deep breath, not fazed. His composure didn’t falter one bit.
“I haven’t had any talks with anyone, and I don’t know what you’d like me to say,” Carlson said of his future with the team. “I wish I had all the answers, and it’ll be a process to get those answers.”
Carlson has been with the organization for the duration of his career, having been drafted 27th overall nearly a decade ago. He raised a Calder Cup with Hershey back when he was still an up-and-coming prospect, and has since grown into a top-pairing defenseman and finally, a Stanley Cup champion.
However, the most important thing to Carlson is the fact that “this has been my home.” It’s where his two sons were born, and he’s spent his career playing with the same group, including players he developed in Hershey with.
“I’ve lived here every summer since I’ve been here and this is my home base,” Carlson said. “Obviously, the guys I’ve been around and the experiences we’ve had, and I love the area. This is all I know.”
It’s no secret that general manager Brian MacLellan also wants to see his top blueliner return next year; however, it’s not going to come easy.
“We’re going to be limited to a certain extent to what we can offer, but hopefully, we can find a spot that satisfies both parties.”
That may be a bit hard to pull off. Washington only has $11 million left in cap space for next season and have 10 total free agents to take care of, including Carlson as well as the likes of Tom Wilson, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jay Beagle and Michal Kempny.
Right now, it appears that Philipp Grubauer will be headed somewhere else; MacLellan touched on his future Wednesday and admitted that he can be a starter for another team – and deserves to be. Players like Alex Chiasson and Jakub Jerabek aren’t shoe-ins for an extension with Washington, and on-the-rise players in Madison Bowey and Travis Boyd won’t be requiring a big pay raise.
But Carlson will.
The 28-year-old put up a career-high 15 goals and 68 points this season, and his 24:51 average TOI ranked 11th among all NHL skaters. Not to mention, seeing that Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson just earned an eight-year, $64 million extension, Carlson will likely be seeking a similar deal.
“I love it here and all that,” Carlson said. “I want to stay here, but there’s more to it than that.”
With only so much left in cap space and a handful of players looking for a deal, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Capitals to give Carlson a deal that pays that much. It’s going to be a stretch, especially if Washington plans to hold onto as many players as possible; not only that, all of their free agents played big parts in their championship season.
MacLellan said he and Carlson didn’t get to meet too much during the regular season, and decided in the middle of the campaign to push discussions off until the season ends. He anticipates the two will start discussions next week.
“We’d really like to have him back,” MacLellan said.