The Washington Capitals are reportedly perusing the market to bolster their offense.<\/p>\n
According to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman<\/a>, the Capitals have made their desire to acquire some goal-scoring talent quite clear over the past week. Friedman identified those wants in his latest 32 Thoughts column for Sportsnet on Saturday.<\/p>\n Friedman writes:<\/a><\/p>\n 22. Washington, as good a pick to win the East as anyone, made things very clear this week: they are going to grab the best offensive player they can. They feel every goal is work for them.<\/p>\n Friedman\u2019s latest report comes after the Capitals were involved in the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes<\/a>, which saw the high-scoring, star defenseman be traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild. According to several sources<\/a>, the Capitals offered a strong enough trade package to Vancouver, but the Wild just outbid them to acquire Hughes.<\/p>\n Head coach Spencer Carbery also made headlines recently when he stated his belief that the Capitals are missing game-breaking offensive talent<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have those really, really high, high-end difference makers in our forward group that can do some of those things,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to do it by committee.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this season, Friedman reported<\/a> that the Capitals were looking to add more \u201cspeed\u201d to their lineup. Over the summer, the Caps tried to ink speedy, free-agent winger Nikolaj Ehlers to a long-term contract<\/a>\u00a0but were ultimately beaten out by the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n While the 2026 trade deadline is still months away (March 6), several players are reportedly available or soon to become available who could add offense to the Capitals\u2019 lineup. The Athletic\u2019s Chris Johnston recently released his second \u201cNHL trade board\u201d of the year<\/a>, and a few names could be fits in DC.<\/p>\n Among the top options are wingers Kiefer Sherwood (VAN) and Alex Tuch (BUF). Sherwood, also one of the most physical wingers in the NHL, has 16 goals in 34 games for the Canucks this season, while Tuch has 29 points (11g, 18a) in 32 games for the Sabres.<\/p>\n Other offense-first names on the list include Steven Stamkos (NSH), Nazem Kadri (CGY), Yegor Chinakhov (CBJ), Jonathan Marchessault (NSH), Bryan Rust (PIT), Alexander Wennberg (SJS), and Erik Karlsson (PIT).<\/p>\n