Once his long march toward his first one-way contract had ended, defenseman Taylor Chorney helped his in-laws move. It was Tuesday evening, hours before he could formally sign a one-year, $700,00 deal with the Washington Capitals, but Chorney had already made his decision, sealed after talks with Coach Barry Trotz and assistant Todd Reirden. So the 28-year-old stashed away his cell phone, picked up some boxes and, for a moment, tried forgetting about hockey.
“At that point I finally relaxed a little bit,” he said.
The madness resurfaced somewhat the following morning, but by then the legwork had been done.