The Washington Capitals are a team in transition. They have a number of expiring contracts, and thus are expected to engage in a fairly deep roster churn in the offseason.
Still, this remains Alexander Ovechkin's team, and as he goes, so they go.
But that hasn't proved a sustainable model for playoff success - as the hot and cold, shoot first, shoot second, shoot third Ovie may even attest - and it could be high time for coach Barry Trotz and general manager Brian MacLellan to find more secondary scoring sources for the team.
"The elusive second line center issue is going to haunt the Caps until they make the proper move to obtain one," writes Eric Melllin of Hockeybuzz.com. "The loss of Grabovski in the offseason was a mistake, and I can't imagine how he would have looked with Burakovsky or Kuznetsov."
Enter Los Angeles Kings center, Mike Richards and fallen-out-of-favor Caps defenseman, Mike Green.
The Capitals have long been rumored to be interested in moving Green as his one-dimensional game and locker-room personality has left the organization and coach Barry Trotz wanting.
Richards has also had his named bandied about quite a bit in this still-young season. He makes quite a bit of money on a deal that carries him through the 2018-19 season - he has a cap hit of $5.75 million - and is currently in a fourth line role.
He has 12 points in 30 games of action this season and is averaging only 14:31 of ice time.
Those numbers don't add up, and it's exactly why Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is predicting that, though Richards isn't the apple of every other NHL GMs' eyes, he's the most likely of any of L.A.'s pieces to be moved.
"The Kings might have to free up cash at some point, which has some wondering if center Mike Richards may finally get moved. The guy teams covet is captain Dustin Brown, but he's not going anywhere."
Adding Green could potentially help the Kings for their playoff run, and it could assist in alleviating their cap issues for the future as his deal is up at the end of the season.
Richards, at 29 years old, is inching closer to the end of his NHL prime years, but he's still an effective two-way forward who would greatly benefit from playing alongside more talented scorers.
