Cap crunch: Washington still in tight salary situation after Johansson deal

Brian MacLellan had a productive Sunday, but he can't put the phone down just yet.

Even after trading Marcus Johansson to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night, the Washington Capitals general manager remains in a bind as he attempts to fill out a depleted roster while simultaneously squeezing under the salary cap.

The Johansson deal freed up about $4.58 million, giving Washington approximately $9.24 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.

That's an improvement over the $4.65 million of room they found themselves with after signing Evgeny Kuznetsov to an eight-year contract for a cap hit of $7.8 million, but the Capitals only have 14 players signed to their NHL roster following Johansson's departure.

Washington is now down to eight forwards, five defensemen, and one goaltender, with restricted free-agent winger Andre Burakovsky and RFA netminder Philipp Grubauer still requiring new deals.

The Capitals need to sign at least three more players up front and conceivably four more for depth, then at least two more on the back end, in addition to Burakovsky and Grubauer.

That would be eight new contracts with just over $9 million to work with.

Washington lost multiple impact players when free agency opened Saturday, as its No. 1 target Kevin Shattenkirk signed with the New York Rangers, durable defenseman Karl Alzner landed with the Montreal Canadiens, and veteran forward Justin Williams returned to the Carolina Hurricanes.