Oshie is getting better each year. No evidence he is too old to sign. They will be competitive again in the east next year. Playoffs are a different story. They need to upgrade the defense and get more from the third and fourth lines. A new coach could help.
He's 30. His getting better days are over. You simply hope he could maintain for a couple years and then not decline too much.
Their defense was the best it's ever been and they're about to lose their best defenseman in Alzner. The third and fourth lines were the best they've ever been. That was, literally, the best team the capitals have ever put on the ice. There is no more getting better with this squad.
$2MM isn't nothing for a non-producer...
Reload with what / who? Filip Forsburg? 
Oshie actually gives them a chance to make the playoffs next year...
He produces well enough. Frankly he'd be better if they just converted him to defenseman. He certainly wouldn't be any worse than Carlson or Orpik.
Trade Backstrom, MoJo, Niskenan, & Holtby now, and plan to trade Carlson at the deadline. Eat as much salary as possible and get the best prospects back. Keep Alzner over Oshie.
Management needs to sit down and have an honest coversation with Ovechkin. If he wants to go somewhere else, fine. Trade him. Eat as much salary as possible. If not, he needs to commit fully to conditioning and playing defense. Because he is no longer scoring the 50 goals that cover up his unwillingness to play defense.
Trotz can stay for a couple years to groom all the young talent that we will have, but management needs to be looking to identify someone who can scheme and make adjustments in the fly to take over. Someone who will be able to use the Caps newfound speed to win in the postseason.
Making the playoffs means nothing. Half the NHL makes the freaking playoffs. This team has been making the playoffs for the better part of the last decade. Who cares anymore. We are the butt of jokes in hockey. We're basically Cleveland or the Cubs before 2015. The team reflects its leadership. Its time for that to end. To quote the Bible:
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
