Capitals trade Grubauer, Orpik to Avalanche
The Washington Capitals traded goaltender Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Brooks Orpik to the Colorado Avalanche for the 47th overall pick in this year's draft, the team announced Friday.
"We would like to thank Brooks and Philipp for all of their contributions to our organization," general manager Brian MacLellan said in a release. "Philipp has been a consummate professional and a great teammate and we wish him all the best. Brooks was a great leader and a tremendous role model for our young players in his four years with our organization. This was a difficult move, but the one we felt we needed to make in order to give some flexibility moving forward."
Grubauer is coming off his third season as a backup to No. 1 Braden Holtby that saw him post career highs in games and wins with 35 and 15, respectively, while posting a .923 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average.
Canes offered earlier second-rounder than Colorado for Grubauer and were willing to take Orpik's contract (not permanently, presumably, for obvious reasons) -- but Caps apparently wanted him out of the Southeas...er, Metro.
— Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) June 23, 2018
Orpik, meanwhile, just completed his fourth season in Washington and put up 10 assists in 81 contests. The 37-year-old has one year remaining on his contract at $5.5 million.
With the addition of the Avalanche's second-round pick, the Capitals now have seven selections in the draft.