, Va. (AP) The Washington Capitals are bringing back two of the more

ARLINGTON Columbus Blue Jackets T-Shirts Authentic , Va. (AP) The Washington Capitals are bringing back two of the more important players from their Stanley Cup run by getting new contracts done with winger Devante Smith-Pelly and defenseman Michal Kempny.Smith-Pelly had offers from other teams and took less money to sign a $1 million, one-year deal Thursday. A person with knowledge of the move later in the day said the Capitals agreed to terms on a multiyear contract with Kempny. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.”We all want to come back and play and try it again with the same group,” Smith-Pelly said. ”Obviously it might not work that way, but I think that’s what’s everyone intention to all come back and all be the same group.”Smith-Pelly and Kempny were key acquisitions for the Capitals who played dividends in the playoffs. Smith-Pelly scored seven goals in the postseason, while Kempny filled the need for a top-four defenseman.Each player said after the season he’d like to return. For Kempny, it’s the chance to keep an ”amazing” time going after fitting in perfectly alongside John Carlson and found his game under associate coach Todd Reirden.”I’m very happy here,” Kempny said recently. ”We had plan with Todd, with defenseman coach, and the plan work out very well.”The Capitals acquired Kempny from Chicago at the trade deadline for a third-round pick. He did not seem to be a favorite of Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, was largely a third-pairing defenseman in Chicago and doubted his own ability to play difficult minutes against top NHL players.”Todd, defenseman coach, he get my belief in myself back and I really appreciate (him) for it because when I came here I didn’t believe in myself,” Kempny said. ”I didn’t have confidence enough. Now, I’m back and my confidence is getting better and better.”The 27 year-old Czech had two goals and three assists while playing 17:42 a game in the playoffs. Even better news for him is Reirden is the strong front-runner to replace departed coach Barry Trotz.Smith-Pelly likewise got his career back on track in Washington after he was bought out by New Jersey last summer. When signing Smith-Pelly to a two-way, league-minimum $650,000 contract, general manager Brian MacLellan called him a ”project” and made no assurances he’d crack the opening night roster.The Toronto native put up seven goals and nine assists in 75 regular-season games and then had two game-winners during his scoring tear in the playoffs. Being comfortable in Washington and embraced by teammates and fans led Smith-Pelly to take the Capitals’ offer rather than a one- or two-year deal elsewhere with a higher salary.”It wasn’t worth it to leave somewhere where I’m happy and somewhere where I really want to be,” the 26-year-old third-liner said. ”The money to me personally is not that important if I’m not going to be happy somewhere else.”Smith-Pelly has 40 goals and 53 assists for 93 points in 341 regular-season games with the Anaheim Ducks Columbus Blue Jackets Hoodies Authentic , Montreal Canadiens, Devils and Capitals. Smith-Pelly was ready to stop the career carousel.”It’d be nice to just stick in for one place for a couple years, and hopefully if it works out, longer than just this one next year,” Smith-Pelly said. ”It definitely played a role in the decision. I’m kind of tired of playing on new teams and all that stuff. It’s good to come back and be in the same place consecutive years.”A 2010 second-round pick who had yet to find a foothold anywhere, Smith-Pelly was more than happy to take a chance on putting up bigger numbers going into unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019.”I have confidence in myself that I can carry over from the playoffs and do something and then set myself up for something bigger and more stable later,” Smith-Pelly said. ”It’s definitely betting yourself. That’s what I’m doing, and I’m confident in myself.”The Capitals wanted him back even after not giving him a qualifying offer Monday as a restricted free agent. Doing so at a cost of $715,000 would have opened them up to an arbitration case and, at the very least, kept Smith-Pelly’s salary-cap hit an unknown until the hearing in July or August.It didn’t get to that point. The team continued to negotiate with agent Eustace King, and Smith-Pelly was more than happy to take a chance on putting up bigger numbers going into unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019.”I have confidence in myself that I can carry over from the playoffs and do something and then set myself up for something bigger and more stable later,” Smith-Pelly said. ”It’s definitely betting yourself. That’s what I’m doing, and I’m confident in myself.”— ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) William Nylander fondly recalls messing around on the ice with Alex Ovechkin as an 11-year-old when his dad, Michael, played for the Washington Capitals.”I have some good memories,” Nylander said.Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom remembers those days Columbus Blue Jackets Hats Authentic , too. It was a decade ago when he, Ovechkin and Washington’s ”Young Guns” looked like a powerhouse that could win the Stanley Cup multiple times and dominate the NHL for years to come. The Capitals beat Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs last spring in their ninth playoff appearance in 10 years but have yet to advance past the second round.As the Maple Leafs and Capitals meet outdoors at the U.S. Naval Academy on Saturday night, they’re both legitimate contenders but look like teams going in opposite directions in the near future. Toronto is at the start of its championship window and Washington appears on the edge of running out of time.Like the Capitals had Ovechkin, Backstrom, Alex Semin and Mike Green, the Maple Leafs have their own young stars in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Nylander.There are plenty of similarities.”It was a lot of excitement around the team when we were at that age. I’m sure they’re feeling the same,” Backstrom said. Asked if there was less stress in that position, he added: ”Yeah, but actually time flies. They’ve got to enjoy every moment.”The Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals are headed back to the playoffs and with Ovechkin, Backstrom and goaltender Braden Holtby still have the potential to lift the Cup this June. But after the salary cap necessitated roster changes after two consecutive Presidents’ Trophy-winning seasons, they don’t have quite the external pressure as a Cup favorite.”You’ve just got to get in,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”If you get in and you’ve got everybody playing at the top of their game at the same time, you’ve got a chance.”Toronto certainly has a shot without the pressure as Matthews and Marner are just 20, while Nylander is 21. The Maple Leafs’ young stars are as excited as Ovechkin and Backstrom were when they were beginning their NHL journeys but fully understand – perhaps from seeing the Capitals’ regular-season success and playoff losses – that talent doesn’t magically turn into championships. Veteran general manager Lou Lamoriello augmented his young core with 38-year-old leader Patrick Marleau and Cup-winning defenseman Ron Hainsey in the offseason, and acquired center Tomas Plekanec at the trade deadline.There has also been the natural progression of the three young stars.”I just think we’re significantly better because our young guys are better,” said coach Mike Babcock, who won the Cup with Detroit in 2003 and is signed through the 2022-23 season. ”They’ve been through it more. They’ve seen what it’s like. They’ve been eliminated from the playoffs. They know right away here you get in the playoffs and then 10 days later one of you is moving on and one of you goes home.”Almost immediately after the playoff exit Custom Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys , Maple Leafs players tried to rationalize it as growing pains. Now looking down on the Capitals in the Eastern Conference standings, the Maple Leafs can feel the progress with their next playoff trip a month away.”It just motivates you,” 23-year-old defenseman Morgan Rielly said. ”Even though we didn’t win the series, I think that we proved to ourselves that we can play with those high-end teams, and I think that moving forward we have to believe in ourselves.”Marleau, who rode the roller coaster of Cup contention in 19 seasons with the San Jose Sharks that included just one trip to the final in 2016, said the belief is always there no matter the external expectations.”When you’re in the locker room, when you’re with the guys, you always believe in them and you always think you have a chance of winning,” Marleau said. ”You’ve got to put in the work and put yourself in the right spots to succeed and then when it comes playoff time, crunch time, you know you’ve got to have some luck and some bounces here and there.”Washington might be a few bounces away from its own dynasty – a save on Ovechkin early in Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, several stops by Jaroslav Halak in 2010 and an empty net against the Rangers in 2015. That’s just reality in a sport so full of parity.The same thing could surely happen to the Maple Leafs. Amid all the potential and excitement surrounding his group, Babcock knows it.”Don’t get me wrong, we’re still going to have lots of highs and lots of crushing lows,” he said. ”That’s just part of being on a good team. But you want to set yourself up for as many opportunities as you can possibly have, and I think we’re going in the right direction that way.”