Capitals GM MacLellan quietly savors Stanley Cup victory

LAS VEGAS -- Brian MacLellan doesn't seek the spotlight, not even here in this glitzy city. He'll be the first to tell you that.

The Washington Capitals general manager doesn't need to be patted on the back. And he certainly isn't bothered that he was not named a finalist for the NHL's 2018 General Manager of the Year award last month.
When the hockey world returns to the Vegas strip for the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 20, George McPhee of the Vegas Golden Knights, Kevin Cheveldayoff of the Winnipeg Jets and Steve Yzerman of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be up for the honor. McPhee, 59, is considered the leading candidate after his Cinderella Golden Knights set NHL expansion records for regular season wins (51) and points (109) before making a storybook run to the Stanley Cup Final.
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Should it play out that way, MacLellan will be happy for McPhee, his former minor hockey teammate and front office colleague with the Capitals.
MacLellan left Vegas Friday with the only award he ever wanted, the one prize he'd dreamed of ever since he was a hockey-crazed kid growing up in Guelph, Ontario.
"This is the pinnacle," MacLellan said, coddling the Stanley Cup after the Capitals series-clinching 4-3 victory against the GoIden Knights in Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
Given the remarkable exploits of his Golden Knights this season, McPhee got most of the hype between the two GMs heading into the Final.
"That's fine," MacLellan said with a laugh. "For me, winning is all that matters. As long as you get to this point, it's fun."

The McPhee-MacLellan relationship was well documented in the days leading up to the Capitals-Golden Knights showdown. Both are Guelph natives and played the 1977-78 season with the Guelph Holody Platers; both played college hockey at Bowling Green. As GM of the Capitals, McPhee hired MacLellan in 2000. In 2014, MacLellan replaced McPhee as Washington GM.
Four years later, it's time that MacLellan receives the kudos he so richly deserves for reaching the top of his profession.
Think about the moves he was forced to make because of salary cap issues last summer. Washington lost puck-moving defenseman Nate Schmidt in the Vegas expansion draft, watched unrestricted free agent defensemen Karl Alzner (Montreal), Kevin Shattenkirk (New York) and forward Justin Williams (Carolina) sign elsewhere, and traded forward Marcus Johansson to the New Jersey Devils, all in a two-week span in early July.
"We spent the last three years building that team to where it was last year, and we maxed it out, both player-wise and salary-wise," MacLellan said at the time. "We were expecting to run into some issues here going forward. I think it's no different than the teams that have won in the past. We have the same kind of hangover, but we haven't won a championship and we're dealing with it now."
Give MacLellan credit for making some tough choices that made the Capitals a better team.
The departures of Schmidt, Alzner, Shattenkirk, Williams and Johanssen freed up the necessary finances to sign cornerstones Evgeny Kuznetsov, 26, T.J. Oshie, 31, and Dmitry Orlov, 26, to long-term deals last summer.
Kuznetsov, who signed an eight-year, $62.4 million contract, took over first-line center duties from Nicklas Backstrom and led the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists).

Oshie, the feisty wing who signed an eight-year, $46 million contract, scored an NHL-high six power play goals in the run to the Cup.
Orlov, a shutdown defenseman who signed a six-year, $30.6 million contract, was third in playoff ice time (24:12) on the Capitals. Only defensemen John Carlson (25:38) and Matt Niskanen (25:23) had more.
"I'm feeling good about those signings right now, that's for sure," MacLellan said with a chuckle.
He feels the same way for signing forward Devante Smith-Pelly, 25, to a one-year, two-way contract July 3 that included the NHL minimum salary of $650,000. Smith-Pelly equaled his regular-season total of seven goals in the playoffs and was one of Washington's unsung heroes.

"I think we improved the past two years," MacLellan said. "The veteran guys were solid, the young guys added some life and it was as good a team game as we've played for the four years I've been here. The team defense was outstanding. It was a big commitment at the end by everybody. Some of these years we peaked a little early and faded at the end, and this year was the opposite."
MacLellan once again faces some difficult choices. Coach Barry Trotz and No. 1 defenseman John Carlson are eligible to become free agents on July 1.
"We're going to do our best," MacLellan said.
However it plays out, MacLellan has shown he knows how to press the right buttons.
"Our young guys are growing, our vets got a taste of this," MacLellan said. "We learned how to handle pressure.
"I see no reason why we can't keep going."