The Washington Capitals tendered an offer to RFA Andre Burakovsky but traded him to the Colorado Avalanche. The Capitals also didn’t have the cap space to re-sign Brett Connolly. The right wing spot on the third line suddenly opened up.
The Capitals acquired Richard Panik from the Arizona Coyotes to fill this void. His new deal is the same term and salary as Carl Hagelin and carries an AAV of $2.75 million.
With the extension of Lars Eller in the middle of the 2017-18 season factored in, this Hagelin–Eller-Panik line will be a fun one to watch this upcoming season.