Capitals signs second line position Dylan Strom for a one-year, $3.5 million deal

Late on the second day of the free agency, Washington Capitals announced the signing of another major free agent. Sign the team Dylan Stromformerly of the Chicago Blackhawks, for a one-year, $3.5 million deal.

Sportsnet’s Elliot Friedman was the first to report the news.

Sounds like Dylan Strome to WASH, 1x 3.5 million dollars. There was a lot of interest

– Elliot Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 14, 2022

In a beautiful 69 appearances last season, the six-foot-tall Ström scored 22 goals and scored 48 points. The 22 goals marked the high of her career. Strom has focused on Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane for the majority of the season.

The 25-year-old Stromman was not offered a qualifying bid by the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks, which is why he was an unrestricted free agent.

Dylan Strom will reportedly not be offered an eligible bid, making him an unrestricted free agent.

It’s an interesting option, a powerful playmaker with effective shooting ability who can play well. Play challenging second streak minutes. Definitely worth a look. #Blackhawk pic.twitter.com/tGGCYGjbYX

– JFresh (@JFreshHockey) 10 July 2022

Strom played second-line minutes in Chicago, immediately becoming the favorite to replace Niklas Backstrom on the short-term after that. General Manager Brian McClellan said he will turn to internal options such as Conor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre or Alexi Protas.

“The salary cap is the maximum salary,” McClellan said. “We have to plan for Nick to come back sometime. What we can do is give our guys chances. We have some youngsters – McMichael, and hopefully he’ll move on to the next step; Lapierre, we’ll see where he is; Brutus is coming and we expect him to take the next jump – and kinda go from there.” It’s not like we can sign a player worth $9.5 million. We expect Nick to come back at some point. Until that goes away, we plan for him to come back.”

The Capitals will now face a major predicament if Backstrom returns during the season. The team is over $5.6 million over the salary cap and will have to do some major trade to accommodate the Swedes.

After signing Strome $3.5 million each Tweet embedAnd the # the caps Max exceeded $5.6 million with a full 23 players (15F/6D/2G) on the predicted roster.
Backstrom ($9.2 million) to LTIR, could bring in $3.6 million of space. However, if Backstrom returns during the season, she will need to vacate that room.https://t.co/8VhsKIcn4f

– PuckPedia July 14, 2022

Together with Strom’s signature Marcus Johansson is back! It also indicates that team position prospects could end up in the AHL for a full season unless other moves are made.

Strom will be a restricted free agent and will be eligible to arbitrate next summer, which means the Capitals will retain his rights after this season.

Here’s the full version from The Capitals:

Capitals sign Dylan Strom

Arlington, Virginia – Washington Capitals has signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with Dylan Strom, senior vice president and general manager Brian McClellan announced today.

Strom, 25, scored 48 points (22g, 26a) in 69 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021-22. The 6’3-inch, 200-pound striker had a career high in a single season in goals and games played and averaged a career best time of 17:26 on the ice last season. Strom ranked third in the team in the number of goals and fourth in assists and points.

Originally drafted by the Arizona Coyotes with the third overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Strom scored a career high of 57 points (20g, 37a) in 78 games with Arizona and Chicago in 2018-19. The Mississauga native averaged 0.68 points per game in parts of four seasons with Chicago from 2018-19 to 2021-22, which ranked fifth on the team in that period.

In 273 NHL games with Arizona and Chicago, Strom scored 170 points (67 g, 103 a).

Internationally, Strom represented Canada at the 2019 World Championships, where he took a silver medal, and at the 2017 and 2016 World Junior Championships, and took the silver at the 2017 Championships.

Strom was teammates with recently acquired Capitals striker Conor Brown with Erie Otters from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) during the 2013-14 season.

Banner photo: @thegoldenstromes/IG