The Washington Capitals have traded forward Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third-round pick.
The 32-year-old forward is set for his second tour with the Wild, having scored six goals and 14 points during the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season. Johansson finishes his second run with the Caps with a respectable 13 goals and 28 points in 60 games.
Johansson spent the first seven years of his career with the Capitals, recording a career-high 24 goals and 58 points in 2016-17. He also had three other 46-plus-point showings and was generally a valuable middle-six forward for the club. He joined the New Jersey Devils for a two-year stint before bouncing around to Boston, Buffalo, Minnesota and Seattle. Johansson returned to D.C. for the 2021-22 season after the Kraken moved him ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.
Johansson has 157 goals in 435 career games played. Away from the NHL, Johansson won silver at the 2014 Olympic Games with Sweden, a silver at the 2009 World Junior Championship and bronze a year after.
The 32-year-old forward is in the last year of a deal with an AAV of $1.1 million.
The Wild currently sit third in the Central Division with a 33-21-6 record and 72 points. Dallas currently leads the division with 75 points, while Winnipeg is just one point behind in the top wild-card position. Johansson will give the Wild some extra scoring depth for what should be a wild fight until the end of the regular season.
The Caps sit three points behind Pittsburgh for the final wild-card spot, but they have three games in hand. The Caps traded defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway to the Boston Bruins last week in a move that saw the team land a 2023 first-round pick, among other assets.
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