Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kevin Shattenkirk's Role With Washington

03/04/2017 at 3:11pm EST

from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

The player for whom the Capitals ceded a 2017 first-round pick, a conditional second-rounder, and former Boston College forward Zach Sanford played just 17:50 in his debut on Tuesday, two fewer minutes than he was averaging in St. Louis.

Kevin Shattenkirk’s workload in Washington is by design.

The Capitals made the most significant transaction in the trade market by landing the former Boston University defenseman to serve as a complementary player, not a go-to piece.

The package general manager Brian MacLellan sent out the door was hefty, especially for a rental the Capitals have little chance of re-signing. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and ex-Bruin Brett Connolly are restricted at season’s end. Kuznetsov is due to double his current $3 million average annual value. The 25-year-old Orlov will look to Torey Krug’s $5.25 million annual payday as a comparable. Connolly could hit 20 goals, which would give him valuable ammunition in arbitration.

All those things add up to Shattenkirk being a short-term Washington visitor instead of one with Supreme Court-like tenure. Even so, the thing that makes Shattenkirk a shrewd investment for the Capitals is how they project to use the 28-year-old: similarly to how the Blues deployed the offensive-minded blue liner.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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