DALLAS (AP) The Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals cleared some space to try to re-sign a handful of key free agents by trading veteran defenseman Brooks Orpik and backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer to the Colorado Avalanche for the 47th pick in the NHL draft .Shedding Orpik’s $5.5 million salary in the final year of his contract and dealing Grubauer before he earned more as a restricted free agent gives them more than $20 million in cap space. It’s needed because defensemen John Carlson and Michal Kempny can become unrestricted free agents July 1 and playoff hero Devante Smith-Pelly and top-line winger Tom Wilson will get raises as RFAs.”You don’t like trading away good people http://www.flamesshoponline.com/authentic-jaromir-jagr-jersey , but it’s what we had to do to move forward with the team,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday night. ”It’s hard to do, but we had to create some room to sign some players.”Carlson, who led all defenseman in scoring in the regular season and playoffs, is expected to cost $8 million-plus a season on a long-term deal. The Capitals would have struggled to fit that under the $79.5 million ceiling without a move like this.MacLellan has met with Carlson’s agent and said the two sides are really close to agreeing to a contract.”We’re going to do our best to sign John,” MacLellan said. ”Hopefully we can close the deal here over the next 24 hours.”The 37-year-old Orpik was a respected alternate captain who got the Cup third after Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom when Washington won its first title in franchise history. The rugged defenseman played almost 20 minutes a game in four seasons with the Capitals and scored the winning goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas.Colorado GM Joe Sakic was willing to take Orpik in the trade to keep the acquisition cost down and plans to try to trade him or buy him out. He felt it was worth it for the Avalanche to get Grubauer.”We all feel that he’s ready to take the next step and become a No. 1,” Sakic said. ”We’re excited to have two No. 1 goalies.”The 26-year-old joins fellow Capitals draft pick Semyon Varlamov with the Avalanche where he’ll get the chance to start more games than he did behind Braden Holtby in Washington.Grubauer started a career-high 35 games with the Capitals this past season, going 28-15-10 with a 2.35 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. He played well enough to be the Capitals’ starter at the beginning of the playoffs but was replaced by Holtby during Game 2 of the first round after allowing eight goals on 49 shots.The Avalanche lost Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier to injuries last season and with this move shored up their goaltending situation. Bernier will depart in free agency. Sakic expects to agree to terms on a deal with Grubauer, a pending restricted free agent, in short order.”I believe it’ll come pretty quick,” Sakic said.The Capitals can only hope the same in their negotiations with Carlson. It’s their goal to sign him before he can speak with other teams when the draft concludes and would be one of the top free agents available.MacLellan also wouldn’t rule out bringing back Orpik if the Avalanche buy him out.”I think it’s legal,” MacLellan said. ”We’re open to that depending on how much room and how much salary it would take and if we want to put him in that third pair again.”— ARLINGTON Johnny Gaudreau Jersey Kids , Va. (AP) Alex Ovechkin covered his eyes with his gloved hands in disbelief. Barry Trotz hid his disbelief inside.Chandler Stephenson had the perfect view and didn’t like the odds. The net was wide open and Braden Holtby reached his stick across and stopped Alex Tuch’s shot in the final minutes to save the game.”I thought, `Oh, no, no, no,”’ Stephenson said. ”And then his paddle was there and he made the save and I just couldn’t believe it.”Holtby’s unbelievable move might go down as one of the most important moments in Stanley Cup history. It allowed the Washington Capitals to even the final against the Vegas Golden Knights and served as further evidence of Holtby’s dominant playoff run.Most of the buzz going into the Cup Final surrounded Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, a deserved Conn Smythe favorite who already has two championship rings. But Holtby stole the show in making 37 saves in Game 2 and returned to his career-long playoff dominance after allowing five goals on 33 shots in a Game 1 that was far from goalie-friendly. It’s the kind of play his Capitals teammates have come to expect this time of year.”The guy’s just a machine,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said. ”Boy, has he been good. Making the saves that he’s supposed to make look really routine and he’s made some game changers – none better than the one with a couple minutes left in Game 2.”Holtby is not impressed.Trotz has watched ”the save” a handful of times, and Holtby has analyzed it but believes ”there’s a lot more saves that I’ve made even these two games that I like a lot more than that one.” The laser-focused 2016 Vezina Trophy winner is far more worried about how to not need to make that desperate of a stop in Game 3 Saturday night and beyond.”You hope that next time you get more of your body behind it and give it less chance of going in,” Holtby said Friday. ”You try and find little areas where you can limit the chance of the puck going in instead of just hoping it doesn’t.”The 28-year-old doesn’t make saves on hope. Since he made his NHL playoff debut as a rookie in 2012, Holtby has a 2.04 goals-against average and .929 save percentage – fourth- and second-best all-time among goalies with at least 50 games of experience.In other words Los Angeles Kings Hats Womens , Holtby is no one-save pony. In these playoffs, he’s 13-7 with a 2.19 GAA and .921 save percentage since replacing Philipp Grubauer in Game 2 of the first round.”Thank God he’s our goalie,” Ovechkin said. ”He’s over there when we need him.”Holtby wasn’t where he needed to be in February, when he had a stretch of 11 games in which he allowed 41 goals and took some time off to ”reset.” He worked with goaltending coach Scott Murray on some technical adjustments, got his mind right and has felt a noticeable change since.”It was more a mental thing,” Holtby said. ”Every year’s different, every situation, and I was just getting to a point where I was seeing the play one step ahead of it instead of waiting for it to come, and just being a little bit more patient and expecting the unexpected.”It doesn’t get more unexpected than the weird bounce late in Game 2 that preceded his save on Tuch. Maybe that puck goes in 99 times out of 100, but Holtby has shown the ability to make the unpredictable save that stuns friends and foes alike.”Saves like the one in the third period definitely make him a tough goaltender to beat,” former Capitals and current Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. ”He’s never out of a save. He’s a guy that can recover well, he’s got quick feet and he’s just very athletic.”From the other end of the rink Womens Mark Giordano Jersey , Fleury – who has allowed seven goals in the series and not been nearly as unbeatable as he was in the first three rounds – can admire Holtby’s play even if he doesn’t like it.”I think it’s an awesome save,” Fleury said. ”I don’t appreciate it, though. I’d rather it be a goal.”Holtby has done a spectacular job of not only limiting goals but making almost every save on shots he has been able to see. Even if teammates are watching through their fingers on the bench, they appreciate that and are uplifted by it.”He steps up in the big moments,” defenseman Christian Djoos said. ”The saves he makes, in playoffs you need it.”NOTES: Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov took part in an optional practice after leaving Game 2 Wednesday clutching his left arm and not returning. Trotz said Kuznetsov had not been cleared, considers him day to day, and expects Washington’s leading scorer to be a game-time decision. … Capitals D Brooks Orpik, who took a slash from Erik Haula late in Game 2, had his left pinkie wrapped but expects to be able to continue playing. Orpik did not skate Friday. … Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said F William Carrier is getting close and should ”be available in the near future.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals—