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“I want to be a third-line center,” Beagle said. “That’s what I want to be. So that’s up to the coaching staff and the coaches. Coming into this year that was my goal, was to make that third line stronger, and I felt like coaches gave me that opportunity, and when I had that opportunity I did my best with it. And playing with a guy like [Jason Chimera] and [Tom Wilson], it was awesome. It was a lot of fun. It was some of the funnest hockey I’ve played.”

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The issue is that Beagle is a grinding, defensive center and General Manager Brian MacLellan has said that constructing a faster and more offensive third line is the priority for the offseason. The role of third-line center is again up for grabs, but as Washington moves toward creating a scoring top-nine forward corps, Beagle doesn’t seem to fit those plans. MacLellan didn’t rule him out, either.

“I think it’s a tough role to fill,” MacLellan said. “There are a couple of free agents that could fill that role, but I don’t know that the salary level is going to be the hole that we’re going to have. I don’t know that we’ll be able to afford them. Maybe we’ll have to start within. [Chandler] Stephenson is coming — I’m not sure that he’s a solution right away. Beagle has done it for periods of time — he actually started out pretty well this year doing it. And then Marcus [Johansson], if we need Marcus. I don’t know that we have a definite solution for it.”

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After re-signing for a three-year, $5.25 million deal, Beagle scored eight goals and nine assists in 57 games played and averaged the most ice time of his career (14:01). He broke his hand against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 28, and he felt like he struggled when he initially returned from the injury after missing 24 games. He was again one of the Capitals’ top penalty-killing forwards, and the unit was especially lauded in the postseason. Beagle also added three goals in the playoffs.

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When he did get back in the lineup after breaking his hand, he mostly played as a fourth-line winger, with Johansson at third-line center at the time and Mike Richards centering the fourth line. In Washington’s second-round series against Pittsburgh, Capitals Coach Barry Trotz moved Beagle back to third-line center. It’s unclear where Beagle fits in the lineup next season.

“I think I had a pretty good season,” Beagle said. “Breaking my hand midway there set me back a bit. I think coming back on the ice, I didn’t feel like I was 100 percent coming back, just with some grip-strength stuff. It took me a little bit to find a groove again, but the start of the season I felt really good. I think it was the best hockey I’ve played. Playing with Chimmer and Willy for as long as we got to — he kept that third line together until I busted my hand really. Playing with them for as long as I got to play with them, I felt like we had a lot of good chemistry and we were playing really good hockey. That was a lot of fun, playing with them.

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“Yeah, I think it was the best hockey I played, and coming back, I think I could have been better. I felt like I was not as good. I was still trying to find that groove, but I found it later in the season, and then in playoffs again I felt pretty good. I felt like I was playing good hockey again, and felt kind of like I did in the beginning of the year.”

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