NHL clears Capitals of wrongdoing for trading, re-signing Orpik

The Washington Capitals are off the hook on the subject of Brooks Orpik.

Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan told Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press on Friday that the NHL put the club through a thorough questioning process and determined no rules were violated.

Bill Daly, the league's deputy commissioner, confirmed MacLellan's assessment that the Capitals did nothing wrong by including Orpik in the trade that sent goaltender Philipp Grubauer to the Colorado Avalanche, then re-signing the veteran defenseman at a lower cap hit after the Avalanche bought him out.

Orpik's original cap hit was $5.5 million, with a base salary of $4.5 million, in what was to be the final year of the five-year, $27.5-million contract he signed with Washington on July 1, 2014.

The Avalanche bought out that final year after acquiring him in the Grubauer deal at the draft, and the Capitals re-signed him in late July on a one-year pact worth $1 million, plus up to $500,000 in bonuses ($250,000 for 20 games played and another $250,000 if he appears in 40 contests, according to CapFriendly).

Orpik is owed $1.5 million in each of the next two seasons as a result of the buyout.