Capitals Acquire Jensen

The Washington Capitals have acquired Nick Jensen and a fifth-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Madison Bowey and a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, according to Darren Dreger.

Jensen has scored two goals and 15 points this season, matching his career-high in points form a season ago in just his third season in the NHL after being drafted in the fifth-round in 2009. A late bloomer, Jensen has provided a solid two-way game for the Red Wings throughout his three seasons with the team and most recently played on the Red Wings’ second-pairing alongside Danny DeKeyser.

The 28-year-old defender joins a Capitals’ team who are looking to defend their Stanley Cup Title after winning the Championship for the first time in franchise history in 2018. This is the second depth move in as many days for the Capitals who also acquired forward Carl Hagelin from the Los Angeles Kings just a day earlier in exchange for a third-round pick in 2019 and a fifth-round pick in 2020.

Nick Jensen Red Wings
Nick Jensen has been traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Washington Capitals, December 20, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

The Capitals are going all-in once again this season but already feature a core that didn’t need to be heavily touched. The team’s bottom-pairing and bottom-six were certainly areas that needed to be addressed, though, as was their abysmal penalty kill.

Acquiring Hagelin and Jensen help rectify both of those weakened areas as Jensen should immediately slot onto the Capitals third-pairing.

Red Wings Recouping Solid Value for Jensen

For the Red Wings, recouping a second-round pick and a player like Bowey made sense. Though Bowey was once a highly-touted prospect coming out of the WHL, the two-way defender failed to produce offense at the same rate in the AHL and has struggled to find consistent playing time in the NHL over the last two seasons.

This change of scenery could be good for him as the Red Wings are a team in transition. Though they may not be playoff contenders right now, they already have a deep prospect pool and a solid group of young players on their NHL roster to build around. Bowey is a reclamation project but at just 23 years old with only 84 games of NHL experience under his belt, he’s ready to step into the NHL lineup right away in Detroit and help right the ship.

Mathew Barzal New York Islanders
New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal controls the puck in front of Washington Capitals defenseman Madison Bowey. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

A future second-round pick could also do the team well despite the fact that it’s likely going to be in the bottom half of the second round barring a monumental collapse by the Capitals next season.

Jensen carries a very team-friendly cap hit of $812,500 that will cost the Capitals only $192,204 due to pro-ration. This deal will likely be one of the biggest bargains at the deadline for a team that already looked like a force coming out of the Metropolitan Division.

Jensen is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and should get a sizeable increase from his current deal.