Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
In a thin free agent market, center Mike Ribeiro is bound to get plenty of attention, especially after a very good year with the Washington Capitals. Which is why the Caps were hoping to re-sign him, and all indications were that that feeling was mutual between the two.
But at this point, it doesn’t look like Ribeiro coming back to Washington will be anything but a pipedream for the Caps. Unless they do some moving around of some of the current salaries on their roster, whether it comes through trade or buyout, there won’t be room for Ribeiro in the budget.
In a season that saw the Caps get off to that extremely slow start, Ribeiro was one of their only sources of consistent offense. He posted just over a point per game, with 49 points in 48 tilts on the year. Of those 49, 36 were assists, which ranked second on the team, while he also added 13 goals to the equation. He wasn’t particularly good in the faceoff circle, but that’s something we’ve come to expect from him.
Despite Ribeiro’s stated desire to remain in Washington, and perhaps sign his last contract to remain with the Capitals, he’s coming off of a season in which he carried a $5 million cap hit. Heading into the summer with an extremely thin free agent class, he could easily seek a raise, though it probably wouldn’t be substantial with the salary cap coming down.
The Capitals will have a touch over $5.5 million in cap space, but their current payroll doesn’t include youngsters, such as Tom Wilson, who could be making an appearance next season. Which means that they have less space than it would appear. Even when they do cut Jeff Schultz loose, as he’s asked for a trade, they still may not have enough.
There’s a reason that there hasn’t been too much movement on a new deal for Ribeiro, even with both sides saying that they’d like a deal to get done after the season had ended. Washington simply can’t afford him. Now they’re faced with the task of trying to replace one of last year’s top playmakers.
