{"id":706637,"date":"2026-06-16T02:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706637\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T02:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:53:07","slug":"three-nhl-teams-linked-to-former-capitals-defenseman-john-carlson-ahead-of-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706637\/","title":{"rendered":"Three NHL teams linked to former Capitals defenseman John Carlson ahead of free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Carlson<\/a> will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and should have plenty of suitors ready to offer\u00a0him a big-money contract.<\/p>\n

Carlson, 36, finished the 2025-26 campaign with the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> after a trade-deadline deal sent him west from the Washington Capitals<\/a>. While the Ducks are expected to be one of the more interested teams in inking Carlson to a deal, there are a couple of others, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli<\/a>, that could also be preparing their bids for the still high-scoring veteran defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ducks are a possibility to stay,\u201d Seravalli said on Frankly Hockey<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ll throw two (other) teams at you. The Philadelphia Flyers \u2013 that\u2019s a fit to me. What about the Chicago Blackhawks? They need someone that can effectively quarterback their power play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seravalli adds that he believes Carlson is set for a raise on the $8 million salary he had been making, likely aiming for $9 to $10 million on a three-year contract. Previous reporting from TSN\u2019s Pierre LeBrun indicated that Carlson was in talks with the Capitals<\/a> on a two-year contract extension worth $9 million per season before he was traded to the Ducks.<\/p>\n

In 71 games split between the Capitals and Ducks, Carlson recorded 60 points (14g, 46a). Among all scheduled free agents, he is the second-highest scoring defenseman and fifth-highest scoring player overall. He skated 23:10 of ice time per game, which ranked 29th in the NHL.<\/p>\n

While the Ducks are an obvious pick for an interested team, the Flyers and Blackhawks are also mentioned due to roster needs this summer. Both need a power-play quarterback, and the Flyers, in particular, are lacking right-handed options on their backend. Carlson could prefer a move back to the East Coast, where his family is settled.<\/p>\n

While Carlson could have interest from the teams that Seravalli brings up, it\u2019s possible that the Capitals could also revisit their talks with their former longtime alternate captain. After re-signing Timothy Liljegren<\/a>, the Caps still need another right-handed defenseman to start the 2026-27 campaign.<\/p>\n

Carlson has maintained ties to the area since his departure, wearing a University of Maryland hat during his Breakdown Day interview with Ducks media<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0recently hanging out with goaltender Logan Thompson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Capitals still have plenty of cap space to potentially battle with other teams for Carlson\u2019s signature, as per PuckPedia<\/a>, they\u2019re set to have $31.4 million in room this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Carlson will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and should have plenty of suitors ready…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-706637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}