New York is chock full of cap space

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WASHINGTON (AP) Nine early playoff exits paved the way for the Capitals‘ unexpected Stanley Cup run and made the trip down Constitution Avenue all the more satisfying to the NHL champions and their fans.Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom rode the final bus down the mile-long parade route Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Womens , lifting the Cup to roaring cheers and waving to seas of red in the crowd.Five days after capturing the franchise’s first title and the first of any kind by a Washington team in the major four professional sports since 1992, this was their day to soak in winning following so much disappointment.”Because we waited so long, I think it feels even better,” Backstrom said.Hundreds of thousands of fans lined Constitution and filled the National Mall on Tuesday to celebrate a long journey fulfilled. One fan held up a sign reading, ”Worth the Wait,” but before the end of the rally, T.J. Oshie already had the crowd thinking about next season.”There’s been a lot of chants,” Oshie said. ”There’s been, ”Let’s Go Caps,” there’s been, ”We Want the Cup.” We’ve heard in the streets, ”We’ve got the Cup.” We’ve got a new one for you today – ”Back-to-back.”The serious work of getting geared up for the 2018-19 season begins in the coming days and weeks with decisions on coach Barry Trotz, defenseman John Carlson and other free agents. But for players such as Ovechkin and Backstrom who have been through eliminations at the hands of the Penguins, Rangers, Lightning, Canadiens and Flyers dating to 2008, the partying leading up to the parade isn’t close to ending.”It just started,” Backstrom said.Much like the Capitals did over the weekend by taking the Cup to local bars and restaurants, the parade was a chance to celebrate with a fan base that had to endure 42 seasons without a Cup.Fans congregated on the National Mall hours before the parade began, filled the steps of the National Archives and lined up 20 deep in some areas to catch a glimpse of players riding more than three dozen buses from 23rd Street to 7th.”Look at this – look at the people that’s here” Ovechkin said. ”We thought it was going to be crazy, but it’s basically nuts. You guys are killing it.”Ovechkin, Backstrom Minnesota Wild Hoodies Womens , veteran Brooks Orpik, owner Ted Leonsis and team president Dick Patrick took up the most prominent place in the parade on the last bus with the Stanley Cup. Chants of ”Ovi! Ovi!” alternated with pleas of ”Raise the Cup!” which Ovechkin, Backstrom and Orpik did off and on while sipping from beer bottles.Trotz threw beads from his double-decker bus, but the pending free agent coach saved potentially his most meaningful impact of the day for his speech at the rally.”I know our years of adversity has sort of came to an end,” Trotz said. ”We did this together and it feels so special. Love this, love the community. We’re going to do it again.”There’s no certainty about Trotz unless he signs a new contract, but the Capitals should have much of their core intact as they try to complete the difficult task of repeating. Before rival Pittsburgh went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, no team had done it since Detroit in 1997 and 1998.Of course, that didn’t stop players from bringing it up to the delight of the crowd that stretched down the Mall almost to the Washington Monument.”I couldn’t see the end of people from the stage,” winger Tom Wilson said. ”It’s unbelievable to give back the least we could and just celebrate with them.”Beyond the scripted – two high school marching bands, an F-16 flyover, Budweiser Clydesdales and past greats such as Olie Kolzig and Peter Bondra – backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer sprinted around with the D.C. flag, Oshie chugged a beer through his jersey and Ovechkin and fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov dropped F-bombs on stage.Trotz invoked Martin Luther King Jr. by saying, ”We had a dream, and we did it.” Leonsis quoted John F. Kennedy’s ”Ask Not” speech. Wilson brought it back to the title by shouting, ”Everybody says what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but we brought the Cup home!”By the end of the sun-soaked rally, Capitals players swayed together and sang Queen’s ”We Are the Champions,” a song they’ve been belting out renditions of with varying sobriety over the past few days.”It’s been a long time since we had a championship here in this city,” Backstrom said. ”To be able to after all these years to bring it, it’s great. It’s a sports city. There’s not another city that deserves a championship more than D.C.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— Several signings and one big trade drastically shifted the balance of power across the NHL in a matter of days.With John Tavares going home to Toronto, Paul Stastny leaving Winnipeg for Vegas Minnesota Wild Hats Womens , St. Louis signing three free agents and trading for Ryan O’Reilly, the landscape of the league has changed. The Washington Capitals are bringing back a vast majority of their team, the Western Conference is loaded and yet the Maple Leafs now appear to be Stanley Cup favorites after adding Tavares.”He’s one of the best players in the league,” Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman said. ”And I think it’s obvious to say that Toronto is a better team today with that acquisition.”Tavares’ decision to leave the New York Islanders knocks them out of contender status and puts a whole lot of pressure on coach Mike Babcock’s Maple Leafs to make a deep playoff run. Losing out on Tavares despite reportedly offering more money than the Maple Leafs’ $77 million over 11 years kept the Sharks from moving into front-runner status in the West – but they may not be done yet.”We pride ourselves on being able to take a swing on difference makers like this,” San Jose GM Doug Wilson said. ”John was the one that we wanted to swing at.”The Sharks, who extended Logan Couture and re-signed Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl to keep their core together, have plenty of tradable assets and will keep swinging for a difference-maker. One is off the market following the Blues‘ trade for O’Reilly that now gives them a potent 1-2-3 punch down the middle with Brayden Schenn and free agent signing Tyler Bozak.O’Reilly saw the Blues sign Bozak to a $15 million, three-year contract and wondered if there wasn’t room for him anymore. Now they have centers to match up with just about any opponent in the league.”You look at all the teams that have success, they definitely have guys down the middle that compete,” O’Reilly said Monday. ”And I’m thrilled to be a part of that.”The Capitals boasted depth with Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller during their Cup run, and Babcock can now roll out Tavares, Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri. Vegas lost talent on the wing with David Perron going to St. Louis and James Neal signing with Calgary but now has a very competitive center corps led by Stastny, William Karlsson and Erik Haula.”We do like having centers,” Golden Knights GM George McPhee said. ”You can move centers around the lineup, you can have centers on the wing. You can’t get wingers to play center.”Here’s a look at where a few more teams stand early in the preparations for the 2018-19 season:GOT WHAT THEY NEEDLIGHTNING: Signing Tavares would’ve been a luxury and might’ve necessitated a roster makeover just to fit him under the salary cap. Tampa Bay signed restricted free agent forward J.T. Miller to a long term deal, extended defenseman Ryan McDonagh, got a deal done with Slater Koekkoek and should have much of the same team that won the Atlantic Division last season.”We try to improve our team,” Yzerman said. ”I don’t sense that we have a need to change just to change.”FLAMES: Inking Neal to a $28.75 million, five-year contract would be a nice capper to the Flames‘ offseason that began with acquiring center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin from Carolina. New coach Bill Peters could put Neal or Lindholm on right wing with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.GM Brad Treliving’s final tasks this offseason are to find a backup goaltender to Mike Smith and sign restricted free agents Lindholm and Hanifin to new contracts.KINGS: Long-term , signing franchise defenseman Drew Doughty to an $88 million, eight-year extension is the most important thing Los Angeles did. In the shorter term Custom Minnesota Wild Jerseys , it also won the competition for returning Russian winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who GM Rob Blake believes can play with either top-six center, Anze Kopitar or Jeff Carter, and produce at age 35.”That scoring-type winger was something that we needed to add,” Blake said. ”Where he plays on the power play and the way he scores goals with his shot I think is something we’ve coveted or looked for.”WORK LEFT TO DOSENATORS: They traded Mike Hoffman, bought out Alexandre Burrows but still have at least one big problem with the future of Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson. The Senators have reportedly given Karlsson’s camp permission to speak with other teams about a contract – which is expected to look a whole lot like Doughty’s deal – which would open to door to Ottawa trading its captain rather than losing him for nothing like the Islanders did when Tavares wouldn’t sign early.”We start Oct. 4,” GM Pierre Dorion said Sunday in Ottawa. ”We’ve got lots of time.”OILERS: Connor McDavid won the scoring title and the Ted Lindsay award as the players’ choice for most outstanding player, and yet Edmonton missed the playoffs by 17 points. GM Peter Chiarelli publicly dangled the 10th pick in the draft to try to get an offensive defenseman and hasn’t been able to acquire one yet.Meanwhile, left wing Milan Lucic is 30, coming off a 34-point dud of a season and still has five years left on his contract at a $6 million annual cap hit. Lucic’s name has come up in trade talks, but moving him now won’t be easy, so the Oilers have to prepare for life with him next season.”He’s a proud guy and we expect to have him back and at a better level than he was last year,” Chiarelli said. ”My confidence level is pretty high. I think Milan’s a high-character individual.”ISLANDERS: Without Tavares, New York is chock full of cap space with nothing to do with it. Ownership signaled the need for change by hiring Lou Lamoriello as president of hockey operations, and he in turn fired Garth Snow and Doug Weight, hired Barry Trotz and put on a full neutral-zone trap to keep Tavares.After striking out, Lamoriello took what could be perceived as a shot at Tavares and the previous regime by saying, ”John has achieved great individual success on the ice” with the Islanders, who missed the playoffs in six of Tavares’ nine seasons. Without a Lamoriello miracle this offseason , they’ll miss the playoffs for the 12th time in 15 years.—
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dan yu