Capitals & Forward Both Interested In Long-Term Extension

A couple of weeks ago Dan Rosen noted that the Washington Capitals could move on from Tom Wilson, Evgeni Kuznetsov, or Anthony Mantha in the summer. While the Capitals appear to be a few years from rebuilding and are still trying to compete at the moment, something has to change from this season where they failed to make the playoffs.

Mantha would be the best to move on from, but the most difficult. There have been some reports that Kuznetsov had asked for a trade, while also some rumors floating around about Wilson. According to Tarik El-Bashir, Wilson and the Capitals both have interest in a long-term extension.

At the moment, the Capitals only have four forwards signed past 2024-25, so whether that's in anticipation of the inevitable rebuild that is coming, keeping a player like Wilson around would help the team down the road. His current contract has one more year at $5.167 million AAV before he is a UFA. He has also been a key contributor in the success of the team as he is both one of the most physical players in the NHL and can score. It makes sense that both sides will be in talks to keep him around through his 30s.