{"id":731381,"date":"2026-06-28T17:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T17:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/731381\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T17:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T17:31:10","slug":"chris-patrick-had-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/731381\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Patrick had a week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations on making it to Sunday, the end of one of the most exciting weeks in recent Washington Capitals<\/a> history. I can think of only one week in June that has ever come close<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the span of a few short days, general manager Chris Patrick and company have stunned the league with a series of deals that has dramatically improved the team\u2019s short-term outlook. Finally emerging from my stunlock, I am ready to talk about it.<\/p>\n

Jordan Kyrou<\/p>\n

In exchange for Connor McMichael<\/a>, well-liked prospect Milton Gastrin, and their 16th overall 2026 pick, the Capitals acquired Jordan Kyrou<\/a> \u2013 a fast, two-way forward coming out of a suboptimal situation in St. Louis. In recent years, the Capitals have been savvy on that last part, exploiting market inefficiencies to nab players like Jakob Chychrun<\/a>, Logan Thompson<\/a>, and Dylan Strome<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kyrou is what they call an analytics darling, generally meaning a player for whom on-ice goals don\u2019t line up with expected goals. Kyrou\u2019s most common linemates last season were Pavel Buchnevich<\/a> and Jake Neighbours<\/a>, both considered<\/a> sub-replacement level<\/a> according to HockeyViz, and who both saw their on-ice shot-attempt percentage drop ten points when they weren\u2019t lucky enough to share the ice with Kyrou. Kyrou will have much better partners next season \u2013 and more ice time to boot.<\/p>\n

Having heard head coach Spencer Carbery talk around the topic for years, Kyrou seems like the exact kind of player he\u2019s wanted \u2013 who will allow him to diversify his offense types, doing more of the rushes and counterattacks that have worked so well in limited spans during his administration. And, as I\u2019ll get to in more detail, insofar as Kyrou is a replacement for McMichael, he\u2019s a major upgrade, particularly on defense.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know who the Caps might have selected 16th overall. I bet he\u2019s a very nice young man with a bright future. But with Kyrou, the future is now. Or October, at least. He improves the Capitals immediately, which is critical for the surprise twist ending to this article.<\/p>\n

Alex Tuch<\/p>\n

I thought the Caps were done after the Kyrou thing. I turned off notifications for NHL rumors on my phone. I couldn\u2019t be bothered to hear what the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> were up to. This was my error.<\/p>\n

The Capitals acquired Alex Tuch in a sign-and-trade with the Sabres<\/a> in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick and the rights to pending UFA David Kampf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you think of Alex Tuch<\/a> as the The Save guy, you\u2019re missing out. In the intervening years, Tuch has climbed to top-line minutes, playing with Peyton Krebs<\/a> and Tage Thompson<\/a> during Buffalo\u2019s playoff campaign. He just turned 30 but is still fast and coming off one of his best offensive seasons thanks to both high volume and excellent finishing.<\/p>\n

Tuch was near the tops of the league in secondary assists, which can be a red flag \u2013 one I waved for McMichael. But I bet most people\u2019s worries for Tuch are his contract. Tuch will earn $10.5 million dollars over eight years. That\u2019s a lot of money over a lot of time, but we should think of those millions in proportion to the salary cap, which is going to the moon.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

In the year the Caps won the Cup, it would have been worth $8M \u2013 about what Kuznetsov earned in that hardball deal. (J.P. also discussed this on his newsletter<\/a>, but I swear I was ranting about it on the Discord<\/a> before I read it.)<\/p>\n

The eight years is the more daunting figure, but it shouldn\u2019t be. I\u2019m going to use the term time horizon.\u00a0Our that thing for the Caps is way less than eight years. The team \u2013 and again, this is a spoiler for the conclusion to this whole article \u2013 is focused on October, not 2034. When Tuch\u2019s contract is up, during Kash Patel\u2019s second term, when I\u2019m fucking 50, and when we\u2019re all eating lanternflies to get protein, we are not going to care about this contract anymore. I promise. If I\u2019m wrong, you can DM me on my government-mandated Neuralink interface.<\/p>\n

The Departed (overrated Scorsese movie IMO btw)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry to invoke a clich\u00e9 that deserves a place on my Annoying List<\/a>, but the Capitals did some addition by subtraction this week.<\/p>\n

Connor McMichael<\/p>\n

McMichael had a crummy time under Peter Laviolette, but eventually by 2024-25 he broke through. In the graph below, using Evolving Hockey reckoning for the catch-all stat Goals Above Replacement (up is good, down is bad, zero is like a Hershey call-up), I\u2019ve included a hint why:<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> carried McMichael through that exciting breakthrough season<\/a>, but with PLD injured for much of 2025-26 McMichael was exposed. His defense remained poor and without offense \u2013 excepting those tricky secondary assists \u2013 to offset it. Spencer Carbery tried him up and down the lineup, at center and on the wings, and he reached the same conclusion we all did: CMcM is a passenger. He\u2019s got virtues, but he can\u2019t produce unless he\u2019s got a high-value player setting him up.<\/p>\n

The Kyrou deal wasn\u2019t a player-for-player trade \u2013 and even if it were, McMichael being on an expiring RFA deal and due a major pay raise would complicate things. But if we were to just consider these two players on ice next season, which we should, because that will be the big flourish at the end of this article you\u2019re reading, then it\u2019s night and day.<\/p>\n

Look at this graph<\/a>. From Evolving Hockey again, it compares McMichael (left) to Kyrou (right) in various categories of their impacts: team goals, expected goals, offensive attempts \u2013 and then two defensive categories: opponent expected goals and attempts.<\/p>\n

\"KyrouEvolving Hockey<\/p>\n

Except for actual goals, Kyrou trounces McMichael. On defense, the mere removal of McMichael will improve the Caps. Even if the Caps didn\u2019t get Kyrou for him, I think the Caps would have been wise to not even tender an offer to McMichael this summer. Instead, they got an excellent, all-around player. I love it.<\/p>\n

Hendrix Lapierre<\/p>\n

The inverse of McMichael in a lot of ways, Lapierre is a legit defensive forward, but he hasn\u2019t been able to do much else. Four goals and twelve assists in 74 games<\/a> somehow feels like a good outing considering his toolset. Going 90 games between goals is fine if you\u2019re a stay-at-home defender with a muffin for a shot, but the expectations for Lapierre were higher.<\/p>\n

His lack of scoring had externalities. Even on the nights when Lapierre was playing in the middle six, Spencer Carbery declined to play his line more than ten minutes a night. That put extra stress on the other three lines, and it was one of the pestering frustrations for some of us at RMNB all season.<\/p>\n

Removing Lapierre, among others, should allow Carbery to balance his lines better. They may not all be able to play the same way \u2013 and that may be a struggle \u2013 but he won\u2019t have to hide one trio every single night. I\u2019ll be grateful for that alone.<\/p>\n

David Kampf and Declan Chisholm<\/p>\n

Kampf played 18 minutes for the Capitals in two games. I don\u2019t even know what he looks like. I forgot his jersey number.<\/p>\n

Declan Chisholm<\/a> may yet be fine or even good. I hope he\u2019ll get a chance with the Devils, but my heart does not weep.<\/p>\n

Free agency is days away, and the Caps aren\u2019t done. They\u2019ve been linked to Boone Jenner<\/a>, which is more interesting than I thought at first glance. They\u2019ll need more players at the margins, and they\u2019ll need to shore up the defense with Rasmus Sandin out<\/a>, but it feels like their big moves have already been made.<\/p>\n

Save one.<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin<\/p>\n

If I were a 40-something silver fox (wait, hold on a sec, I am this) unemployed millionaire hockey legend currently probably on a yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean (alas, I no longer am this), I\u2019d have been watching the Capitals\u2019 week with interest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying Chris Patrick\u2019s moves were part of an enticement scheme to get Alex Ovechkin<\/a> to re-sign. These moves help whether Ovi comes back or not, but they sure sweeten the offer.<\/p>\n

This is what Match TV said last week<\/a>: \u201cThe stronger the team, the better for Ovechkin,\u201d and \u201cmoney is a secondary concern for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, the team is much, much, much stronger than it was one week ago. Here are the catch-all stats for the involved players from Evolving Hockey (GAR) and HockeyViz (Synthetic Goals<\/a>). Evolving Hockey\u2019s numbers are single-season; HockeyViz weighs previous seasons too.<\/p>\n

Player
\nEvolving
\nHockeyViz<\/p>\n

Kyrou
\n+11.5
\n+11.3<\/p>\n

Tuch
\n+12.3
\n-0.9<\/p>\n

Lapierre
\n+2.9
\n-1.1<\/p>\n

Kampf
\n-0.4
\n-2.8<\/p>\n

McMichael
\n-0.9
\n-4.7<\/p>\n

Chisholm
\n-0.9
\n0.0<\/p>\n

(I notice that Tuch\u2019s got a negative rating on HockeyViz. Worth thinking about.)<\/p>\n

I suspect we\u2019re going to hear about Ovechkin\u2019s decision soon. I won\u2019t make a prediction about dollars or term (but I wonder if we\u2019re underestimating the chance of a two-year deal), but I will hazard this guess: it\u2019s an easier choice now than it was in April. The Washington Capitals were an unimpressive team in 2025-26 who missed the playoffs, some might say, on a statistical fluke. Now, with weakness purged, with speed and skill injected, with young players blossoming, and stars still in stride, they\u2019re the most improved team in the NHL so far this summer.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait \u2019til fall.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcca<\/p>\n

This story would not be possible without<\/p>\n

Please consider joining us in supporting them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Congratulations on making it to Sunday, the end of one of the most exciting weeks in recent Washington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-731381","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\/731381","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=731381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}