Why time might be right for Capitals to make big swing

If you’re in the mood to take a big cut, there might not be a more interesting time in NHL history to lift the bat off the shoulder.

At this point, we’ve basically got trade talk around stars — and in a couple cases, genuine superstars — at every position on the ice, and it’s easy to wonder if the Washington Capitals are a good candidate to unleash a huge swing.

The Caps had a three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday when they were downed 5-1 by Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild. Hughes, of course, is one name — along with that of Dylan Larkin and, as of Friday evening, Nikita Kucherov — smoking with speculation in terms of what might come next for the all-world defenceman.

While the circumstances surrounding each player are different, you could potentially see the Caps having interest in all three guys. 

Hughes, though, is particularly appealing when you consider how he’d transform the weakest area of Washington’s roster.

The longer Hughes remains without a contract extension in Minnesota, the easier it is to believe the 27-year-old’s destiny is to find his way to New Jersey — where his two brothers play — with unrestricted free agency beckoning in July.

If, in fact, Jersey is the only club Hughes would sign a contract extension with, would it make sense for Minnesota to recoup some assets and Washington to nab him as a pure rental?

The Wild, perhaps even more than the Caps, are viewed as Cup contenders and could take the approach of seeing this through to the end and hoping Hughes helps them make a huge playoff splash.

That said, Minny gave up a whole lot to get Hughes from Vancouver about 11 months ago, and the Wild could recover at least a chunk of that outlay by moving him to another team, perhaps only to flip some of those assets for a different form of immediate help. 

From the Washington side, you’d be going into this with eyes wide open, understanding you’d only have the player for a limited time. Every year teams dole out first-round picks and quality prospects for players they know — or heavily suspect — will only be with them for a short time. The Caps have all their own first- and second-round picks for the next three years and even hold an extra second in 2029. Washington also has some very intriguing young players on the roster and in the system, and while it would obviously be hands-off the likes of Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson, might a couple of good draft picks and a young creator like AHLer Andrew Cristall intrigue the Wild?

Washington has depth and size up front and a Vezina-worthy goalie in Logan Thompson. Add Hughes to a blueline corps that’s fine — but not great — and you’d really have something cooking.

If you’re the Caps, you know it’s going to take something special to get past the defending Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes to get out of your division. And, who knows, after this spring you may also have to deal with a Devils squad that has both Connor Hellebuyck and Quinn Hughes on it. 

With so many spectacular balls in the NHL air just now, perhaps this is the time for the Caps to pounce.

Weekend Takeaways

• You love seeing two GMs put it on the line by swapping talented, young players who still have more to give. The Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken hooked up for a good old-fashioned one-for-one on Sunday, when Nashville acquired centre Shane Wright (the fourth-overall pick in 2022) for Matthew Wood, a big winger taken 15^th one year later in 2023. First-year Preds GM Chris MacFarland continues to remake the team on the fly, as he’d previously acquired young centre Mavrik Bourque from Dallas in the summer. Wright should get a good run in Nashville, where he can show he’s at least a middle-six C and possibly more of a 25-goal, 2C type who shoots right. Seattle, meanwhile, is always in search of pure talent, and Wood brings scoring upside in a big package. You have to think the emergence of 20-year-old Berkly Catton (11 points in 14 games) helped convince Kraken GM Jason Botterill that Wright was finally expendable. 

• Seth Jones was a dream fit with the Florida Panthers from the moment Cats GM Bill Zito lifted him out of Chicago at the 2025 trade deadline. Still, Jones’ game in Florida was more about steady play than sparkling numbers — until now. 

With his second consecutive three-point night during Saturday’s 5-2 win over Winnipeg, Jones is up to 18 points in 14 games. The only D-men in the league with more points than the veteran Panther are Evan Bouchard (more on him in a minute) and Quinn Hughes. For his part, Jones has never been a monster point-producer, with his best total being the 57 points he posted nearly 10 years ago in 2017-18 while skating for Columbus. Having just turned 32, Jones has obviously found a fantastic hockey home in South Florida and — at least for now — the stats are following.

Red and White Power Rankings

1. Edmonton Oilers (11-2-2) With three more points (1-2-3) in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the New York Rangers, Evan Bouchard has a points-per-game number of 1.73. As you’d expect, that’s the best mark among all NHL defencemen and better than every single player in the league except his two otherworldly teammates, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The best output ever for a defenceman not named Bobby Orr or Paul Coffey is 103 points by Al MacInnis in 1990-91 and it sure feels like Bouchard is going to bump that. (Orr holds the record with 139). 

2. Montreal Canadiens (9-3-2): The Canadiens since top centre Nick Suzuki went down with a hand injury: 5-0-0 with four road wins and a 1.60 goals-against per game mark that’s tied with Carolina for the best mark in that stretch. Good on the Habs for stepping up in the captain’s absence. 

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (8-6-2): The Leafs begin a tough six-game homestand on Tuesday with a match against the Mammoth. The other five teams Toronto will see are the Habs, Devils, Avalanche, Wild and Oilers. It’s a nice litmus test for the Buds. 

4. Ottawa Senators (9-6-1): The Sens have surrendered four or more goals in five of their six outings since goalie Linus Ullmark went out with a lower-body strain. Ottawa has actually allowed six goals in three of those games, including Sunday’s 6-3 defeat in Anaheim. The big guy can’t return to the crease soon enough. 

5. Calgary Flames (6-8-0): Joel Farabee and Matt Coronato have taken the offensive lead on the Flames, as both players had four-point weekends while Calgary whacked the Kraken 6-2 at home on Friday and lost 5-2 24 hours later in Colorado. The 26-year-old Farabee (14^th-overall pick in 2018) has a team-best 15 points in 14 games this year, while Coronato (13^th in 2021) is right behind with 14. 

6. Winnipeg Jets (4-8-3): As the team crumbles — Winnipeg was pasted 7-0 by the Hurricanes in Carolina on Sunday for its ninth straight loss — will the Jets consider sending 2026 eighth-overall pick Viggo Bjorck to the AHL? The 18-year-old Swede has a 0-0-0, minus-8 line on a club that’s positively miserable right now. 

7. Vancouver Canucks (3-12-1): The Canucks host the Ducks on Tuesday, which is Nov. 3. Anaheim is the only team Vancouver has beaten since Oct. 3. 

The Week Ahead

• Monday sees a superstar matchup in Chicago, where Connor Bedard and the Hawks will host Nathan MacKinnon and Colorado. Bedard has nine points in eight outings since beginning his season a few weeks after his teammates. 

• It’s the “Trade Me!” Bowl Tuesday in Tampa Bay, as the Wings visit the Bolts. We may not be getting a Nikita Kucherov deal any time soon, but could this be the week Dylan Larkin finally moves?

• In a bit of a scheduling anomaly, the Flames and Kraken will meet for the fourth and final time of the season on Wednesday. The three previous games have featured one of the clubs scoring six goals, so we’ll see if we get more fireworks when they hook up one more time in Seattle. 

• It’s Hall of Fame Weekend in Toronto, where Carey Price, Patrice Bergeron, Keith Tkachuk, Pekka Rinne, Brian Burke and Cindy Curley will all be celebrated. The Leafs play both Saturday and Sunday night as part of the fun, hosting the Habs and Devils.