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What kept Capitals’ Chris Patrick awake at night before Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou deals
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- What kept Capitals’ Chris Patrick awake at night before Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou deals
What kept Capitals' Chris Patrick awake at night before Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou deals appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Thanks to the work of general manager Chris Patrick, the Washington Capitals have acquired not one but two right-handed players with plenty of offensive upside. He acquired Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues, and then acquired Alex Tuch from the Buffalo Sabres in a sign-and-trade deal, locking him up to an eight-year extension.
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All of this while the Capitals await word on the decision by longtime captain Alex Ovechkin, the top goal scorer in NHL history, on his playing future. Ovechkin can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
But according to Patrick, it was the uncertainty of being able to swing the assets he acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline for both John Carlson and Nic Dowd into the offseason for immediate NHL help – but thankfully for him and the Capitals, it worked out.
"That is what kept me up at night — I thought we did a good job making some hard decisions at the (trade) deadline to get these picks that we could use in deals, but my semi-concern was I just hoped I could get into the deal or there was enough to get into a deal," Patrick told The Athletic on Thursday. "There's other factors, too, like Jordan had to waive his no-trade clause to come to us, or some teams might like other prospects or another offer better. So, I was worried I'd have myself in a good position to make a trade but just for whatever reason, it wouldn't come.
"So when we were able to get in there on Jordan and Alex, it was definitely a big sigh of relief."
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Last season, Tuch scored 33 goals with 33 assists for the Sabres, while Kyrou scored 18 goals with 28 assists for the Blues.
Related: Capitals' Alex Tuch gets real on 2018 Stanley Cup Final connection
Related: Capitals offload winger on Penguins after Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou trades
