After a trade, a buyout, and short stint on the open market, Brooks Orpik is back with the Washington Capitals. The team signed the defenceman to a one-year, $1-million deal on Tuesday. Per the team, the contract also includes up to $500,000 in potential performance bonuses.
The Capitals traded Orpik to the Colorado Avalanche in a cap-clearing move along with goaltender Philipp Grubauer ahead of June’s draft. The move gave Washington the flexibility to lock up franchise defenceman John Carlson with Orpik’s $5.5-million cap hit off the books, as well as take care of a long list of RFAs this off-season. The Avalanche placed him on waivers a day later, with the intention of buying out the final year of his deal.
Reports at the time suggested a return to Washington — on a new, more team-friendly contract, of course — would not be out of the question for Orpik and the Stanley Cup champions.
Orpik had 1 year remaining on his previous contract which would have paid him $4.5M in 2018-19
Colorado buying out that final season of that contract pays Orpik $1.5M this year, & $1.5M next year
With Orpik's new deal paying him $1M + $500k in PB, means he still comes out even
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 24, 2018
Orpik, 37, brings physicality and shot-blocking to the Capitals’ blue line, as well as leadership to the locker room. He tallied a team-leading 168 blocked shots in 2017-18, along with 10 assists in 81 regular season games. He also added a goal and four assists during Washington’s run all the way to its first-ever Stanley Cup victory.
“Brooks has been a valuable player and a great mentor for our young players and we are thrilled to bring him back to our organization,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in the team’s press release. “We feel his leadership and competitiveness on and off the ice will be welcomed back to our group.”
July 24, 2018
Washington Capitals
