The final contract question of the Capitals’ off season was answered today, when an arbitrator awarded Shaone Morrisonn a one-year, $1.975 million dollar contract. This is generally felt to be a very fair deal for both sides however it does create a Salary Cap crunch for the Capitals.
DMG has a pretty good article on the Cap implications and several likely alternatives over at The Caps Blue Line, though picking on John Erskine for his relatively paltry 537K salary seems a bit misguided. The real issue is the Caps have a lot of talent on the team and whether you choose to point to Federov's $4M salary; Nylander's $5+M salary, or even Ovechkin or Green's large salaries, this (a salary cap crunch) was inevitable once the Caps had a contender whether it was built from within or via trade. Just be glad we aren't overpaying for two #1 Goaltenders.... Seriously, the good news is the Caps have a wealth of talent, think of the Cap issues we'd be looking at if we had Huet and Kolzig's salary cap hits to deal with - not quite what Chicago is looking at but close. The bad news? - the Caps will likely have to try and put someone down to Hershey after training camp who may not clear waivers. Of all the problems and concerns Caps management and fans could have had, this is probably the best of them and easiest to deal with.
Can't wait till next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!
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DMG has a pretty good article on the Cap implications and several likely alternatives over at The Caps Blue Line, though picking on John Erskine for his relatively paltry 537K salary seems a bit misguided.
Fair enough. I think Erskine is worth the money from a money-out-of-pocket standpoint but I also think that if getting rid of him were enough to get under the cap there'd be no question that he'd be the one to go.
You make a good point that's been a little lost in the wake of Morrisonn's arbitration ruling: thank God the team didn't sign either Kolzig or Huet. If they had it probably would have eaten up enough space that Fedorov, Laich or Morrisonn would have to be jettisoned.
dmg: My points exactly, I also agree that when either Alzner or Lepisto is ready to come up, Erskine is either back in Hershey or gone altogether. I like Erskine's grit but his skating ability is his achilles heal and the reason he'll go before Jurcina, though at 860K+ Jurcina yields more Cap room. Schultz is a keeper, though a lot less fun to watch then either Jurcina, when he pounds someone with a killer hit, or Ersjine when he drops the gloves and goes at it. Schultz's stats are well deserved and with a little more "physicality" he'll be a reall top 4 D man.
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