Washington Capitals Make Big Trade

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Washington Capitals are shipping defenseman Matt Niskanen to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for blue-liner Radko Gudas.

The Capitals announced shortly before 9 a.m. Friday that they had made the trade, which was done to provide "financial flexibility" to the team, the Capitals said in a statement. Niskanen had a cap hit of $5.75 million, whereas Gudas will only have a cap hit of just over $2.3 million after the Flyers absorb 30 percent of his salary.

Niskanen had two years left on his contract, while Gudas is entering the last year of his deal. The Capitals are seeking to free up space as they will need to resign players like Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky, and next summer they face the daunting prospect of resigning core players Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby.

Gudas, who is 29 and hails from the Czech Republic, scored 20 points last year, whereas Niskanen -- a 32-year-old American -- had 25 points.

"We would like to thank Matt for all of his contributions to our organization for the past five seasons," Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said in the statement. "Matt is a consummate professional and was a big part of our success. We wish him and his family all the best moving forward.

"We feel this move provides us with financial flexibility as we look for additional ways to strengthen our team. In addition, we are pleased to welcome Radko to our organization. Radko is a good defensive defenseman that plays a competitive, physical game."