At the NHL draft over the weekend, GM Brian MacLellan mentioned that he’d like to shake up the defensive core if possible. Just a couple of days later, he did just that, signing arguably the top defensemen in free agency in 29-year-old right-hander Matt Roy to a six-year, $5.75M deal. Oh, and also traded Nick Jensen and a third-round pick to Ottawa for Jacob Chychrun.
This signing is very reminiscent of when the Caps signed Matt Niskanen in free agency exactly 10 years ago today, one of MacLellan’s first and maybe best free agency signings ever.