Washington Capitals: 5 best trades in franchise history

5. The Laich Trade

Brooks Laich is a pretty darn polarizing guy in Washington Capitals history. People pretty much either loved him because of his handsomeness and penchant for good quotes or loathed him for his boring quotes and expensive contract.

Perhaps a reason people liked Laich was because he represented a tie to the organization – Peter Bondra. Bondra is arguably the third-best Capitals forward of all-time and certainly the best pre-Ovechkin.

Back in 2003-04, the Caps were undergoing a much-needed fire sale. Pretty much anyone with any real value was traded. Yes, this is included Bondra, who got traded to the Ottawa Senators. In exchange, the Capitals got Laich and a second-round pick (which was later sent to Colorado).

For Bondra, who was past his prime, the Caps got a guy who was a very solid top-six forward for them in his prime. And once Laich got past that, he was still a valuable bottom six forward.

Teams who are sellers might hope for home runs when they do deadline trades, and rightfully so. But if you told them “you’ll get a guy who will play 742 games for you and give you 342 points”, they’d take that in a heartbeat.

Laich might not have helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup directly. But he’s a guy who Caps fans surely wish would have been a part of the festivities nonetheless.