Photo: Hockey Royalty
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman, the Washington Capitals have signed defenseman Matt Roy to a seven-year contract that carries a $5.75 million cap hit on Monday after the unrestricted free agent market opened at 12 noon ET.
In addition to Chychrun, Washington expected to sign Matt Roy 6 x $5.75M — sorry wrong terms before
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2024
The 29-year-old posted five goals, 25 points, a .5363 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5557 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5354 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 81 contests, where he averaged 20:54 per game (second among Los Angeles Kings defensemen), including a team-leading 2:51 on a penalty kill that ranked second in the NHL with an .846 efficiency during the regular season.
In 369 career regular-season games, Roy has .5151 Corsi-for, .5127 expected goals-for, and .5032 scoring chances-for percentages, which have all improved in every season since the Kings’ rebuild ended after the 2020-21 campaign. Roy set career-highs in goals (nine), points (26), and games played (82) in 2022-23.
Matt Roy, signed 7x$5.5M, is a defensive defenceman. Has become one of the most underrated play-driving blueliners in the league and had an excellent season in LA this year. Interestingly, despite all that he does turn the puck over quite a bit in transition. #AllCaps pic.twitter.com/wgyzMGfUSM
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2024
Just minutes before, Washington acquired defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators for a 2026 third-round pick and defenseman Nick Jensen.
Jensen and Rasmus Sandin both missed three games and Trevor Van Riemsdyk another due to injury last season. John Carlson finished the regular season with an NHL-high 25:53 average ice time-per-game, further demonstrating Washington’s thin blueline.
The team finished the regular season with an average of 3.07 goals-against per game (tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the NHL average), .79 penalty-killing efficiency (19th), 30.5 shots-against per game (tied with Boston Bruins for 21st), 177.49 expected goals-against at five-on-five (25th), 1844 scoring chances-against at five-on-five (21st), and 102 high-danger goals-against at five-on-five (tied with New Jersey Devils for 27th).
The Capitals are currently $2,031,667 in NHL salary cap space with Nicklas Backstrom (hip) expected to remain on long-term injured reserve next season but are under if T.J. Oshie (back) does not play.
By Harrison Brown
