Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you are having a restful week before the new year and that your holiday season has been a lovely one.

Traditionally the end of the year is slow on news but the Caps have dropped a transfer rumor into our stocking.

The Caps formally announced Friday they had signed former Real Salt Lake attacker Damir Kreilach, who his longtime club announced earlier this week would be out of contract. The 34-year-old had been a mainstay in the RSL attack, playing as a second striker or advanced midfielder and generally performing at a very high level.

His 2023, however, was a disappointment. In 1,300 minutes, Kreilach had four goals (3.6 expected goals) and one assist (.6 expected assists). Because his 2022 was largely limited by a nagging back injury, the last time we saw Kreilach firing on all cylinders was in 2021, when he had career highs in goals (16) and assists (8).

Kreilach remained very, very good at progressing the ball for RSL last year, even as his counting stats dropped. That’s important because this is an area where the Caps’ midfield took a hit following the departure of Julian Gressel meaning that, if Kreilach is comfortable playing in a less advanced role, he could really help out. The fact that he can be an effective goalscorer would be nice as well, given that no one outside of Brian White and Ryan Gauld has distinguished themselves in this regard. And, hey, worst case this is a Blas Perez-type deal, where the club signs a longtime Caps killer to keep the bad man from hurting us anymore.

The move certainly fits with comments from Vanni Sartini that they were targeting guys with MLS experience and the veteran leadership would also be valuable. Part of the wisdom of this deal will come down to how much money Kreilach will cost salary-wise and what type of role Vanni Sartini is envisioning he play. Kreilach is coming in on a two-year deal, which feels bold for a guy with this kind of age and injury record, but the press release makes it sound like it is not a designated player (or even max-TAM) deal, making it seem more palatable.

It is difficult to see a world where Kreilach plays 2,800 minutes, like he did in 2021. That is to say, expecting him to be a full-time starter seems like a mistake. But for the right price, I think you could do a lot worse than Kreilach as a depth piece whose skill set helps paper over the Gressel-sized gap in this team’s makeup — and good depth is often what sets great teams apart from good ones in MLS.

Still, fans (and the team) will need to be prepared for the fact that the back injury which limited his play in 2022 might have permanently changed the type of impact player he can be.

Shameless Self Promotion

Want a fuller breakdown of what the Caps may have turned up in the SuperDraft? Caleb dives into the numbers

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