Ducks land veteran defenseman John Carlson in a trade with the Capitals

[p]In exchange, the Caps received a conditional 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick. The trade comes shortly after the Caps traded veteran center [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dowd-nic/t4reWfKu/"]Nic Dowd[/a] to the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vegas-golden-knights/fTT0TsUg/"]Vegas Golden Knights[/a] (more here). [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/carlson-john/WWRX2pFj/"]Carlson[/a], 36, leaves the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/washington-capitals/UND9nmoG/"]Capitals[/a] as their all-time leading defenseman in games played (1,143), goals (166), assists (605), and points (771). He has 10 goals and 36 assists this season.[/p][embed guid="7487d46d-7118-4507-82f9-35117467d622" url="https://x.com/NHL/status/2029804645728522685?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The veteran defenseman has spent his entire 17-year career as a member of the Capitals since they drafted him with the 17th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. [/p][p]He'll be joining a young and hungry [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/anaheim-ducks/4CM4ojpD/"]Ducks[/a] team that is currently sitting right behind the Golden Knights for the lead in the Pacific Division. Anaheim currently boasts a 34-24-3 record (71 points), while Vegas has a 29-19-14 record (72 points). [/p][p]However, Anaheim has won seven of their last ten, while the Knights have only won four. Carlson will now give the Ducks a major defensive boost that could help them over the top when it comes to the high-powered forechecks that run the Western Conference.[/p][p]Meanwhile, the Caps are currently fifth in the Wild Card standings and sit four points behind the Boston Bruins for the second spot.[/p][embed guid="993b285b-22b0-4cab-875b-2022653510d5" url="https://x.com/NHL/status/2029956266286588005?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]