Capitals make two trades and re-sign Jensen to a big money deal

In case you missed it earlier today, Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan pulled off a couple trades, which we'll get to in a moment but first let's get to the breaking news concerning defenseman Nick Jensen.

After basically clearing the decks on their blueline, the Capitals elected to lock up pending UFA Nick Jensen today, signing him to a three year contract extension worth $4.05 million per season.

The 32 year old blueliner has recorded a career-high 24 points (2g, 22a) in 62 games this season. The 6'1", 199-pound defenseman established a career high in points for the second-consecutive season, surpassing his 21 points (5g, 16a) in 76 games played in 2021-22. He's a solid defender and this is a fair deal, if not a little long considering his age.

Interestingly enough though, Capitals GM actually managed to reduce the age of his blueline corps with another deal, acquiring 22 year old defenseman and former 1st round pick Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal for Erik Gustafsson and a 1st round pick.

Sandin is just 22 years old and has been solid for the Leafs this season with four goals and 20 points in 52 games. He was selected in the 1st round (29th overall) by the Leafs back in 2018. After years of patience in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, Sandin finally looked to be rounding into form and, frankly, he looks like he's on the verge of hitting a new level. Caps fans should be very excited at his acquisition.

Finally, the Capitals traded veteran forward Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 3rd round pick.

Johansson is a pending UFA and wasn't likely to re-sign with the Capitals anyways, so this move is simply GM MacLellan recouping some assets for a player on an expiring contract. Solid move.

So... if you're keeping track at home, here's how that all shakes down:

In
Sandin
3rd round pick

Out
Gustafsson
Johansson
1st round pick

It'll be interesting to see what moves, if any, the Caps make between now and Friday's trade deadline.