The Capitals & The Possibility Of Offer Sheets With Peterka & Other RFAs Garnering Buzz
With several big-name RFAs making rounds on the trade block, could the Washington Capitals consider the offer sheet route? Here's what to know.
The Washington Capitals are expecting this offseason to be quieter than the splash and overhaul they made last summer to retool on the fly, but they do have some areas to address, including bringing in some secondary scoring.
That said, general manager Chris Patrick said that if the team’s going to take a “big hack,” it’ll likely be “a really big hack,” with the prices expected to go up.
Still, there are some interesting names out there, and that includes a number of high-profile restricted free agents. Per The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, one name is drawing a lot of interest: J.J. Peterka, who several teams made an offer for at the trade deadline and who could see a change of scenery this summer with suitors looking at potential offer sheets.
Could the Capitals hop on that train?
First, let’s take a look at how offer sheets work.
Teams can issue offer sheets to other teams’ free agents, though they will have to use their original draft picks as compensation. If a player signs an offer sheet, their current team has seven days to decide whether to match the offer sheet or accept the draft pick compensation based on the AAV of the offer sheet.
For Washington, who is missing its 2026 third-round selection, it is only eligible to make an offer sheet with an AAV $11,700,193 or more, which would cost four first-round picks over the next five drafts, starting with 2026), or an offer sheet with an AAV between $2,340,038 and $4,680,076, which would cost a 2026 second-round pick.
Ultimately, looking at the Capitals’ situation, it doesn’t really work.
If they go with the highest offer, they would be spending all of their available space and putting their eggs in one basket for a big name. They can’t afford to really do that with them wanting to be “ahead of the curve” with their future free agents, and they also don’t want to sacrifice that many first-round selections over the coming years.
The second option is the lower AAV, but they would ultimately make a non-competitive offer for nothing since another team could easily match or outdo D.C. in that regard.
Still, a player like Peterka would be an interesting player and one that fits Washington’s needs well.
The 23-year-old had 27 goals and 41 assists for 68 points in 77 games for the Buffalo Sabres this past season. He’s a proven top-6 scorer with a big shot who can get to the high-danger areas and put the puck in the net, and for the Capitals, that’d bode well for the post-Alex Ovechkin era.
However, given the offer sheet possibilities for D.C., it just may not be in the cards unless Washington makes a trade or bigger splash to try and bring him on board. It’ll be a competitive, pricy market, and the Capitals also don’t want to give up on their current prospects in the system, which would likely be the requested return for a player like that.
So ultimately, going into the offseason, don’t expect offer sheets to be D.C.’s first course of action.
