Caps & Johansson Sign On the Decision

On Friday, the Washington Capitals came to terms with restricted free agent forward Marcus Johansson, signing him to a 1-year deal, reportedly worth $3.75 million.

Johansson was the last of the restricted free agents that the Capitals were to take care of in this off-season and they had to do so via an arbitration hearing last week.  The decision hit pretty well the middle between where the two sides were asking, so it appears to have worked out for both sides.

Last season, Johansson played pretty well for the Capitals, scoring 20 goals and 47 points in all 82 games for the club, which ranked him 128th overall in pool scoring, 90th among all forwards.

The 24-year old Swede has now played in five seasons in Washington and he has become a very productive and reliable winger for the team and they'll need to see some improved numbers from a guy like him, if they are going to go over the hump and be an Eastern Conference contender.

Saying that, the Capitals have made some improvements to their roster in this offseason, adding T.J. Oshie via trade and signing Justin Williams, bolstering their offense up front.  There should be a few more options for assists for Johansson in the coming year, but I'm not necessarily convinced that his numbers will go up, quite yet.

For now, I think the early projections are going to be around where he was last season and we'll keep a close eye on him, come training camp.  Where he lines up and who he plays with will be a big part of whether or not his numbers will increase or not.