The Almost Young Guns ... Those Who Owe Bruce Boudreau A Big Thank You At Least

The Capitals just finished a road trip to Western Canada and don't have another game until Wednesday night here at Verizon Center against the Detroit Red Wings. Anytime the Caps travel westward or have a break in the Regular Season that usually gets me musing 'bout "hockey" things.  This time I've been thinking about the first season I decided the Capitals "rebuild" was definitely over.  That was basically 2010 when the Caps won the Presidents trophy finishing the 2009-2010 regular season

with 121 points.

Both the 2009 - 2010 and 2010 - 2011 Capitals were very solid teams, but they had several players who owe then Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau and/or GM George McPhee a big thank you for providing a platform/stage that allowed them a chance to shine and ultimately reach for a "pay day" in free agency.  This week's road trip to the Canadian West and it's games against Edmonton - current "home" for Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon who are two such players has prompted me to "muse" about several of the similar players as well.  Where are they?  How is their season going so far?  Where/how would they fit on the 2014-15 Capitals in Barry Trotz's system etc.  So lets start in Edmonton with Hendricks and Gordon.

Boyd Gordon is currently 31 and has played in the NHL for 10 seasons, he has career earnings of $13.4M.  In the 2009-10 season his salary was $800K.  His salary has steadily increased with each new contract since then, but he wasn't a solid "full season" NHL'er until after his stint with the Capitals where his skills as a backchecking forward were clearly understood and well documented.  Of all the guys on this list though I'd say he owes McPhee and Boudreau the least since he was originally drafted in 2002 though he did play for Boudreau in both the AHL and the NHL with a few years in between here in Washington under Glen Hanlon.  Gordon's current contract in Edmonton is the richest of his career to date - 3 seasons $3M/year, and his stint here in DC certainly helped him earn som solid dollars and respect throughout the NHL.

Matt Hendricks is currently 33 and has played in the NHL for 6 seasons, he has career earnings according to CapGeek of $7.425M. In the 2009-10 season his NHL salary was $500K when at 26 he played his first full season (56 games) for the Avalanche, in 2010-11 he joined the Capitals and played 77 games followed by 78 games in 2011-12.  He then played all 48 games in the shortened 2012-13 season before "cashing in" and joining Barry Trotz's Nashville Predators as a UFA for the 2013-14 season. Hendricks quickly became a fan favorite here in DC after Boudreau added him to the 2010-2011 team following GMGM getting him in a trade with the Avalanche.  Hendricks toiled in the AHL the majority of his career after graduating from Saint Cloud State in 2004 until breaking through with the 2009-2010 Avs but it was his stint here in DC under Boudreau that opened the leagues eyes to his value.  Hendy's currently in the first season of a two year deal in Edmonton that pays him $1.85M/year; without the chance Boudreau gave him to be  solid role player on that 2010-11 Capitals team its unlikely he'd have had a solid chance to make an NHL roster at age 27.

Mathieu Perreault:  After a breakout year last season under Boudreau playing with a likely first ballot all star, the affable 26 year old "MattyP", cashed in with a 3 year, $3M/year deal, joining the Winnipeg Jets. owes Bruce Boudreau the least of the players on this list, it's likely the undersized Perreault owes him the most.  After the 5'10" 185# Center had a less than spectacular 2012-13 season here in Washington, Gabby brought Perreault out to Anaheim for the 2013-14 season where he played 69 regular season and 11 playoff games. In the regular season he saw occasional first line time and notched 18 Goals and 25 assists; in the 11 playoff games he had 2 goals and 3 assists.  Additionally throughout the season he played "bigger" than he had at any point of his career. It was exposure and utilization that it's likely no other NHL coach but Bruce Boudreau would have ever given him, and he rose to the occasion, now's he's in the enviable position to more than double his $7.625M career earnings to date over the next three season.

David Steckel, the 32 year old Ohio State grad is currently playing in the AHL for the Anaheim Ducks affiliate, Norfolk Admirals.  However thanks in some degree to the opportunities that Boudreau and the Capitals gave him he was able to cash in on his success as a faceoff specialist and now has career earnings of $5.6M.  So far this season in 7 GP with the Admirals though he is not putting up good statistics and his prior four NHL seasons (2011-13 with Toronto and 2013-14 with the Ducks), the former Verizon fan favorite has not had an "easy go of it" nor has he been exceptionally productive.

Jeff Schultz: The 28 year old defenseman from Calgary has $15.365M of career earnings to date, most of which he should credit a single great season playing alongside Mike Green and being the NHL's +/- leader.  To that he has to give second order credit to Boudreau for having teams in 09-10 and 10-11 that were offensive behemoths.  Then you have to directly credit what is the product of GMGM's propensity for "1 Year too long and $1M too much" - which resulted in him being a compliance buyout.  He is currently playing for the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings on their AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs after getting into 7 playoff games last spring on the Kings Cup winning run.

Well now it's time to go back to musing about the current Caps team and thinking about the upcoming game against the Red Wings...

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

When Will We Caps Fans Be Able To Decide This Is Going To Be A Good Season

So on Sunday Morning I started thinking about the answer to the question "when can I start to comfortably feel this Capitals team might be on track to have a good season and 'go deep" into the playoffs?"  I mean they are off to their best start to a season in several years and are playing harder on the puck than really the past four (4+) seasons, so that prompted me to think about this.
 

My first thought on the answer was ... well the season has to be at least 20% played out so that would be after game 17 - which occurs Saturday, November 15th in Saint Louis against the Blues.  So by that time the Caps will have played ten home games and seven road games; of the 17 games nine (9) will have been against 2014 playoff teams, and seven will have been against Western Conference teams.  That seems to be getting close to enough games to make a good estimation as to how the rest of the season will go for the Capitals, but just to be safe I'd say a few more games might be the conservative way to go before getting confident.  So since the remainder of the month of November's games after the game in Saint Louis on the 15th are six (6) more games that include two (2) games against Western Conference opponents (Arizona and Colorado) and a home and home against the Metropolitan Division Islanders who are playing exceptionally well so far this season, I've decided to wait until after game 23 on Saturday, November 29th in Toronto. 



In many ways that's being exceptionally conservative from a statistical significance perspective, but in a league at this level, where on any given evening any team can beat any other team; and injuries can drastically change how one lineup stacks up against any other team, I think that's the smart thing to do.  Also consider that right now nine (9) of the sixteen Eastern Conference teams are playing 0.600 or better hockey and IMO it's only a matter of time before the Bruins join that group and make it ten (10) before "regression to the norm" starts to pull some of those teams down to the 0.500 +/- level and "the bubble."  While I don't agree many pundits think the Caps will be one of those teams that regresses.  Certainly after the month of November, a 14 game month for the Caps, is behind them and they've played more than 25% of the season we can legitimately decide if the typical level of play of the 2014-15 Capitals can and will continue to be markedly better than the 2013-14 team.  That will especially be true with the understanding that by the end of November the Capitals will have played nine (9) of those games against six (6) different Western Conference teams, and right now there are six (6) teams who are playing 0.750 or better hockey. 



All that said with the Caps heading out west this week for three (3) games in four days against Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, this road trip will be an important week in further solidifying the team's resurgence.  While every game can in some way be looked at as a measuring stick, three road games in four days are never an easy trip.  For my "money" success in these next three games is any combination of results that equals four (4) or more standings points.  While first up Edmonton is one of only two teams in the league without a two point win so far in this young season, they have some young, elite talent, and two former Caps with "grit" Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon who turned 31 years old on Sunday so I don't expect the Oilers to be an easy two points for the Capitals.  Then we have the Calgary Flames on Saturday evening in the Calgary.  The Flames are playing 0.500+ hockey, just finished up a six (6) game road trip with a solid game in Winnipeg and will, like Florida was on this past Saturday evening, be a team that comes at the Capitals with a gritty game, solid defense and  sound goaltending.  That said the Flames will likely have Jonas Hiller vice Kari Rammo in net if they look at past results as a predictor of future/present performance.  Still my point is Calgary will also not be an easy game for the Capitals.  Then Sunday it's the Canucks in Vancouver who are one of those Western Conference Tams playing better than 0.700 hockey - 'nuff said.



So looking forward to Wednesday's game at Edmonton one can probably see from above why getting the season off to a good start is important and much better than getting off to a sluggish, mediocre start that inevitably leads on to "life on the bubble" in January through April.  In the meantime I'll close this musing with my usual sentiment.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

After a 4-3 OT Home Win It's Off to Montreal for the Capitals ...

Well the Capitals rose to the occasion yesterday and notched a two point overtime win over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. In doing so they stayed on track as the hottest team in the NHL and they remained a perfect 7-0-0 for the month of March. Now they will be heading on to the road for the next six (6) games. First stop Montreal to take on the Canadiens at Le Centre Bell. But before we figuratively shuffle off to ... Montreal, Sunday's win against the Blackhawks deserves one last look and discussion.

Well since the Caps won and we can finish up with the good, let's start with the, well, not so good. The biggest "not so good" item I have and really the only one of note is that the Caps started the game a little too slowly and also a little too "discombobulated". They once again allowed an opposing team to come "into their building" and start a game with a lead. The Blackhawks got on the scoreboard first with a nice counter-punch to a Capitals rush down the ice that missed coverage/slow back-checking by what I've come to call a "frankenstein line" of forwards 21-26-16 gave too much time time and space to, resulted in the Blackhawks scoring on a shot that a) they should have never been given and b0 Braden Holtby probably wants back. In any case, the result was that after 4:46 of the first period, the Capitals trailed the Blackhawks 1-0. The first period was the Capitals worse but as the period progressed they seemed to come alive and get things going, even though as I watched the game I noticed that during the first period Dennis Wideman wasn't totally in synch with his partners or game and didn't really get so until the second period. He was not alone in this even though a couple of guys stepped up and made sure that by the end of the first period the Caps had "righted the ship" and had a 2-1 lead. Also throughout the game, the Capitals just took too many penalties compared to the Blackhawks. The Caps gave the Blackhawks 4 power-plays while they only had two of their own. The good news there was the Caps penalty kill unit was once again excellent allowing the Blackhawks only one power play goal while also scoring one shorthanded goal themselves.

The good news for the Caps and Capitals fans: well first off there was a lot to like about this game and I won't cover it all here. My favorite items to mention were/are:
a) the Capitals power play was 1 for 2 yesterday and their puck movement in the offensive zone was excellent.
b) Boyd Gordon, Eric Fehr, Matt Bradley and Matt Hendricks' play was excellent and that meant that Chicago couldn't just focus on the top two lines, by the end of regulation this meant Chicago was more worn-out than they would otherwise have been.
c) 21-44-28 is an awesome second line and that looks like something that will continue to be huge the rest of the way until the Capitals are forced to hang up their skates at the end of the post-season.
d) Marcus Johansson continues to mature rapidly and generally play excellently. What do I mean, take this game. It was MoJo90 who took a penalty at the 18:10 mark putting Chicago on the power play and enabling them to overload the Caps 6 on 4 and score the tying goal to send the game into overtime. Then it was MoJo90, who shook that off and came back at ~3:30 into overtime and did excellent work with John Carlson and then Dennis Wideman and Scott Hannan to put the puck on Mike Knuble's stick on the doorstep for the game winner. That's maturity and that's "redemption."
e) Finally, what's to like - ninety (90) points in 70 games played - on pace for a 105 point season. The Capitals now sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points while the Flyers are in first with 91 points - of course the Flyers have two games in hand and appear to be back to playing 0.500+ hockey, so while the Caps are in the race for the Conference, we still have a way to go to attaining that mantle, but it is nice that we have a viable chance to do so.

Final comment on the Chicago game - yesterday, the two hottest teams in the NHL met on national TV. The Capitals were 9-1-0 in their last 10 games before yesterday and the Blackhawks were 8-1-1in their last 10 games coming into the match-up. At the end of the game, the Capitals were still the hottest team in the NHL with a 9-1-0 record in their last ten games while the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks were 7-1-2. I'm happy and if you're a Capitals fan, I think you should be too.

Now about tomorrow night's game in Montreal. Montreal is a hot team playing well right now, they are 7-3-0 in their last ten games. They've played their last two game son the road, loosing to Saint Louis on Thursday 3/10 4-1 in regulation and beating Pittsburgh 3-0 on Saturday. They will be coming into the game well rested and it will be very important for the Capitals to come out ready to play and skating hard and fast. Another thing EVERYONE on the Capitals team - both coaches and players - need to to is forget about the so-called winning streak. In fact forget about any sort of streaks including "hot goaltenders" etc. too. Just set up a game plan that all can believe will win and go execute. Oh and don't get too cute.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

A TWO Point Night At Verizon Center: Capitals 5 - Bruins 3

Well it might have been a little more exciting of a game than it had to be but the Capitals came away with the only two standings points given out at the conclusion of tonight's NHL game at Verizon Center. What I saying to you is simply that the Capitals had a Two Point Night and the Bruins had a No Points night. Yesterday, I wondered if the Capitals would solve the Bruins and Tim Thomas; the answer to that question may have been open through the end of last evening's first period but it was answered roundly by the Caps during the second period. A period that saw the Bruins and Thomas yield not one, not two but three goals to the Capitals. Two goals by defensemen and a third while the Capitals were short-handed off the stick of Alexander Semin. Of course this was the first time this regular season that Tim Thomas yielded more than two goals in a game and he yielded three in a single period.

Through the entire first period both teams played a tight. tight game to a 0-0 tie. Both goaltenders looked solid and the team defense in front of them both was even better. At the end of the first period the Caps had outshot the Bruins 8-3 and as I said, neither team had scored.



Then the second period rolled around and the Capitals broke the ice on a Tyler Sloan wrister through traffic at just less than a minute into the second period. Next came a Mike Green curl, drag, wait for Thomas to commit and net a wrister high on Thomas' glove side at the 12:26 mark of the period. Then with Alexander Ovechkin off the ice, in the sin bin, for a slashing penalty; Mike Green and Alexander Semin combined for a work of art short-handed goal by Semin at the 17:50 mark of the period to put the Capitals up 3-0. Semin celebrated that goal by ending up sprawled on the ice behind the net, pounding his fists on the ice. It may have been a strange looking celebration to some, but the goal was scored by an act of hockey beauty.



Bruins' coach Claude Julien switched netminders when the Bruins came out to start the third period with Tuukka Rask in goal. His team responded and for whatever reason the Caps found the game tied 3-3 after Boston scored two powerplay and one even strength goal less than 10 minutes into the period. Now it was Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau's turn to swap out goalies putting Braden Holtby in for Michal Neivirth after Shawn Throton tied the game at 3 ALL at the 10:10 mark of the third period. Thorton scored at even strength on a 2 on O breakaway but it was a save the Capitals needed Michal Neuvirth to make for them. Braden Holtby came in and did what was required of him, stopping all four (4) shots he faced in the final 10:09 of the game. During those ten minutes, the Capitals managed to return to form and score an even strength goal and an empty net goal to finish the game on top. The first response goal, the game winner for the Capitals, came off a faceoff win by Boyd Gordon that he got back to John Carlson and "Captain America: was able to put a slapshot through traffic past Rask at the 13:25 mark to put the Capitals back in control of the game. Then at the 19:08 mark with Rask on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Alex Ovechkin tallied an empty netter for his eighth (8th) goal of the season to ice the win for the Capitals.

Next up the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday at Verizon Center.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Boyd Gordon Signed; Another Look At How the 2010-2011 Caps Roster is Shaping Up

Yesterday, the Capitals signed 26 year old, RFA Center Boyd Gordon to a one yar, $800,000 contract. With the signing the Capitals now have a projected roster with 23 players, 13 Forwards, 7 Defensemen, and 3 Goaltenders that has a projected hit against the salary cap of $50.1M Million. That leaves them $9.1 M of space against the Salary Cap of $59.4M for the 2010-2011 season. Right now here's what the Capitals Roster looks like (Cap Hits in parentheses, "deep backups" not on the Cap Hit Roster but part of the 50 contract max) this:

Forwards ($34.05M):

A. Ovechkin ($9M) - N. Backstrom ($6.7M) - M. Knuble ($2.8M)

A. Semin ($6M) - M. Perrault ($0.745M) - B. Laich ($2.1M)

J. Chimera ($1.88M) - D. Steckel ($1.1M) - M. Bradley ($1M)

K. Aucouin (0.512M) - B. Gordon (0.8M) - S. Pinizzotto (0.538M)

- Backup: T. Bruess ($0.875M), Deep Backup: M. Johansson ($0.9M)

Defensemen ($14.12M):

M. Green ($5.25M) - K. Alzner ($1.68M)

T. Poti ($3.5M) - J. Carlson ($0.816M)

J. Erskine ($1.25M) - T. Sloan ($0.700M)

Backup: J. Finley ($0.850M); Deep Backup: J. Godfrey ($0.846M)

Goaltenders ($2.368M):

S. Varlamov ($0.865M)

M. Neuvirth ($0.865M)

Backup: B. Holtby ($0.638M), Deep Backup: D. Sabourin ($0.525M).

That's a total hit against the salary cap of approximately $50.1M for a 23 man roster (the "deep backups" aren't counted against the cap or the 23 man limit as this analysis pre-supposes they will reside in the Locker Room in Hershey. I just included them to list who the Capitals have under contract for next year at this point that would be available if necessary. Of course this list doesn't let include the 5 RFAs who have been tendered qualifying offers that remain unsigned (Zach Miskovic, Jay Beagle, Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, and Patrick McNeill) or the three RFAs who have filed for Arbitration (Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann, and Jeff Schultz). Assuming the Capitals end up with all eight (8) unsigned RFAs under contract, they'll liklely still have some space available under the Cap with which they might find a second line center if they need one, either now or before the trade deadline. However, any significant additions to the Blue Line Corps and/or the Goaltending situation would likely require at least some re-engineering to the lineup that affects the forwards. To be sure the signings of the RFAs will result in the movement of folks around, especially on the lower half of the depth chart.

All of the above said, you can see just how deep the Capitals organization is by looking at this roster which has NONE of those eight RFAs in the line-up. Even without any of the current RFAs you have a lineup which features a mature and seasoned group of young guns that includes a two time Hart Trophy Winner/three time finalist and a two-time Norris Trophy finalist, another guy who scored 100+ points last season, and a fourth guy with 30+ goals, not to mention two other 20+ goal scorers, and an already accomplished young goaltender. My point being is that even if they only end up keeping four of the eight RFAs after they resign them, this team is still going to be loaded with talent.

Is it September yet?

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps Sign Boyd Gordon to 1 Year Contract; RW Eric Fehr also has been Re-Signed

The Caps announced they signed Boyd Gordon to a 1 year contract today. In keeping with club policy - and why that is I can't fathom since in a shake of a lambs tail they will be published - the Caps Organization did not disclose the contracts terms. According to Tark El-Bashir, the deal is worth $725,000.

RW Eric Fehr has also been resigned, that happened yesterday, according to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, Fehr accepted his qualifying offer at a Salary Cap hit of $735,000.

All that remains now is Shaone Morrisson's arbitration on July 24th - after that the Caps will know if they need to shed some salary or if they've kept the team, less Matt Cooke, Cristobel Huet and Olaf Kolzig basically intact.

It may be a minority opinion, but I believe that Jose Theodore will do great here in DC and that he and goal tending coach Dave Prior will work very well together. Even before the great set of negotiating tactics Huet and his agent pulled, I had concerns about Huet's ability to withstand a workload of 60+ regular season games AND a longer than 1 series playoff run for the first time in his career. I have less concern with Theodore's durability, yes he has had an inconsistent showing before, but so too had Huet. Theodore really wants to be here and is as confident as he has been in a long time. He has a pretty good defense in front of him even though I must admit he is very, very likely to see more shots per game then he has in a while at Colorado.

There is no doubt in my mind that even if Morrisson's arbitration results require the Caps to make Cap room, ShaMo is one of the top 4 D-men on the team on opening night so it'll be interesting to see how things play out with Brian Pothier's recovery and the other players on the bubble.

Can't wait till next season - LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Hockey News But The Big Sports Stories Yesterday Was In Omaha, NE

Torres Surpirses At Omaha Swimming Trials; Phelps Could Break Spitz's Record In Beijing

The really big news in sports yesterday happened at the Olympic Trials, sure Tyson Gay falling and getting hurt in the 200M track race in Eugene, OR was news but since it looks like all will be well for him in the 100M for Beijing, the real news was in the swimming trials in Omaha, NE. Whether you think the big story is Michael Phelps winning five individual events at the trials, setting two world records and going for 8 medals at the Olympics, Katie Hoff qualifying for 5 individual events and competing for 6 medals at the Olympics, or 41 Dara Torres winning two qualifying events and going for two medals at her 5th Olympics, you have to believe the top sports news story of the week occurred in a pool at Omaha, NE. Since both Phelps and Hoff are local heroes (Baltimore), DC area sports fans can take comfort in knowing they're rooting for locals to make history in China this summer. As for Torres' performance and achievement, it does indeed transcend her sport and, almost regardless of how she finishes in the Olympics, there is no doubt she has already become an icon and celebrity that draws universal praise. The sight of a 41 year old mother with her 2 year old on the pool deck after winning the Olympic trials for the 50M freestyle in American Record time, is something that won't soon be seen again. The Olympic Swimming events are sure to be well watched and exciting looking at the team the US has going to the event. Just 5 weeks till opening ceremonies - the US has a lot of solid athletes going to these games in lots of different events. Go red, white & blue!

On the local hockey news front both Tarik and Corey have blog entries and stories about the recent filings by Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn for arbitration and the signing of Matt Cooke by the Pittsburgh Penguins. At this point that means that Laich and Morrisonn are out of the RFA eligible for offer sheet pools and that if they don't reach mutual deals with the Caps in the next two weeks the arbitration process starts. If they go to arbitration, they'll then get one year deals with the Caps as decided by those proceedings. RW Eric Fehr is expected to accept his qualifying offer and C Boyd Gordon could do the same. These events are all probably good news for the Caps and could mean there will be enough room under the salary cap left to bring back veteran superstar Sergei Federov like young gun, fellow countrymen Ovechkin and Semin would like to see. While it "ain't over till its over" so far this off season seems very well played by the entire Capitals front office.

[Ed Note] Looking ahead to this coming week is exciting for us here in Bristow. On the professional front events keep moving forward at ICx Technologies and reasons to be optimistic about continued excellent growth despite a trying economy continue to emerge and mature. No looming proposal submission deadlines this week, though there is still lots to do on four projects we continue to pursue, so just the usual hectic pace. Our son Chris reports to the US Merchant Marine Academy on July 10. That's first thing Thursday morning so we'll spend Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday in New York before dropping him off at Kings Point to start his four years there. This is just all so weird, I've pondered all this before but I sure don't feel like I thought I'd feel about this sort of stuff 20 years ago. Perhaps 48 is the new 28? I'll try and stop by Kettler for the afternoon session of development camp tom arrow before we head up to NY on Tuesday. If I do I'll try and take a few pics of the Caps prospects and post them Monday evening. I don't expect much news from the Caps on Laich, Gordon, Morrisonn, Fehr or Federov this week and I'm just not into following the "What will Mats Sundin do?" rumours and news so postings here for the next couple of days will likely be more about Life Approaching 50 and the USMMA then about the Washington Capitals or even ICx Technologies.

Can't wait till next season, LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

What's Next for Caps Fans?

As the Free Agent Signing Dust Begins to Settle Who Still Has Cap Room?


That is a question that may play a big role in what happens over the next week or two with the remaining unsigned Washington Capital free agents. As of this morning the Caps still had not re-signed 4 Restricted Free Agents: Center Brooks Laich, Center Boyd Gordon, Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn, and Right Wing Eric Fehr as well as two key unsigned trade deadline pickups that are now Unrestricted Free Agents: Center Sergei Federov and Left Wing Matt Cooke. Will the Caps be able to keep all six of these players and virtually hold together their entire team from last season (less Goalies Olie Kolzig and Cristobel Huet)? A lot of that answer now depends on the fact the Caps have just over $6.3M of Salary Cap space left for next season and some other teams in the league have a lot of Cap space and a lot of needs. Who will the Caps potentially compete with for their most desired remaining free agents?


There are 13 NHL teams who have significant ability to continue to be active without making major shuffles with their existing rosters. The teams with significant salary cap space can be easily seen at the website "HockeyBuzz.com" - as of this morning they are: 1) LA Kings have $27.1M of salary cap space and an 08/09 roster with just 18 signed players; 2) Atlanta - over $25M of Cap Space and just 18 players on their 08/09 roster; 3) Columbus has $17.7M of cap Space and 21 roster slots filled; 4) Vancouver has $17.2M of salary cap space and 19 filled roster slots; 5) Colorado has over $16M of cap room and only has 16 roster slots filled; 6) the New York Islanders have $15.9 of cap room and 19 on their roster; 7) Phoenix has $15M of space and a roster with 20 players; 8) Nashville has $14.2M of space and 19 signed players; 9) Buffalo has just under $14M of cap space and 18 players on their roster; 10) Ottawa has $12.3M and 19 on their roster; 11) Minnesota has $11.4 of room and 19 signed; 12) Florida has $11.3 M of space but a pretty full roster; 13) Carolina has a pretty full roster but still has ~9.5M of cap room. So what do these teams need and what might they likely do?


- Starting with the LA Kings: the Kings have 5 unsigned RFA skaters and an unsigned goalie RFA, they could use help everywhere look for the Kings to start by matching whatever offer sheet RFA Center Jarret Stoll gets. The Kings really could use a solid number 1 goalie but the market is thin this year so unless they make a run at Atlanta RFA Kari Lehtonen or take a gamble on Ray Emery they will likely wait and see how things work out given the otherwise now thin market for tenders. All in all the Kings seem committed to a long term vision of building their team through the draft but they do have the room to try and pick up someone like Sergei Federov who could help them a lot and fit their timetables for growing their own young team members or they could make reasonable offer sheets to either Boyd Gordon, Shaone Morrisonn or Brooks Laich that push them past the level Caps GM George McPhee (GMGM) would consider prudent to match. Elsewhere around the league there are some similar situations but if the Kings go shopping it's probable they will make reasonable offers for solid guys like Matt Cooke even though their needs are great.


- The Atlanta Thrashers have a lot of salary Cap room and needs in several areas. The first thing the Thrashers are likely to do with their Cap room you ask match any reasonable offer sheet that 24 year old RFA Goalie Kari Lehtonen gets. Next Atlanta needs at two more top 6 defenseman, they could put a solid offer sheet in front of a number of RFA D-men including Florida's Jay Boumeister, Shaone Morrison, or others. In all there are at least 20 UFA D-Men and 7-10 RFA defensemen that could help the bluebirds and right now Atlanta only has 5 defenseman on their roster with solid NHL experience. The situation at D might not be as dire given Atlanta's draft but they need to at least have some insurace at the position. They have to make some deals here and will before looking to see what they can do to replace Marian Hossa and take some more offensive pressure off the talented and prolific Ilya Kovalchuk. Atlanta is a place known to be a friendly environ for European players and there are already six Eurpeans on the roster including Kovalchuk and on other Russian - left wing Slava Kozlov; also they could stand to upgrade their depth at the Center position, so it's also not impossible to see them making a fair 2 or even 3 year offer to Sergei Federov, given the amount of Cap room they have for the next couple of seasons, though they would more likely be looking for a two year deal given a) Federov's age and b) the fact Kovalchuk becomes a UFA in 2010.


- Let's come back to Columbus since in addition to everything else you have to consider some other factors and take a look at Vancouver next. The Canucks have one primary need - more offensive production. They lost UFA Markus Naslund to the NY Rangers and are now taking a run at Mats Sundin, making him an offer that would reportedly make him the highest paid forward in the NHL - and the guy is thinking about it!?!? In the meantime, they are making some nice, lower key moves to shore up the rest of their roster like signing veteran defensman Nolan Baumgartner; they are making significant progress in building their team and getting back into the playoffs. They also needed a back-up goalie to all-star Roberto Luongo so they re-signed backup Curtis Sanford. While Vancouver has the ability to make a run at some of the Capitals unsigned free agents, based on their needs and other recent moves they will likely look elsewhere to fill them.


- The Colorado Avalanche have $16M of cap room but also need to fill 7 roster slots. The Avs got some of their current salary cap room when the Capitals picked up goaltender Jose Theodore and they back-filled that loss by signing Andrew Raycroft, that swap out created over $4M of their current cap room. However, there are obvious differences between Theodore and Raycroft that the Avalanche has to make up for elsewhere in their roster. Another big question mark for the Avs is whether longtime Avalanche star Joe Sakic will be back in Denver next season. Colorado has been pushing to improve the defensive aspects of their offense and they need to either re-sign Sakic or pick up a suitable replacement. With 7 roster slots to fill the Avalanche have an average of $2.28M per position available but also need to do some proactive planning so they can try and improve their goal tending situation during next year's 2009 free agency period, so while the Avs will be active in the remainder of the off-season, they won't likely do anything crazy. When and if the Avalanche extend offer sheets or attempt UFA signings, they will not likely be of the type that will land them on this or any other list of crazy deals.


- What do the New York Islanders who have 4 open roster slots and just shy of $16M of cap room need? First off the Isles have five unsigned RFAs and they are likely to re-sign at least four, if not all five of them - those moves will eat up at least 4 and more likely close to 8M of their cap room. Another interesting thing to note is the Islander's once "crazy deal" with #1 goaltender Rick DiPietro now is looking very smart. DiPietro's $4.5M cap hit salary is a bargain for a solid #1 goalie and helps the boys in Nassau County by giving them the room to "consider the possibilities." Unfortunately like the Washington Capitals deal with Jaromir Jagr, the Islanders decision to buy out Alexi Yelshin's contract eats up an average between 2 and 4.7M of that flexibility between this year and the 2014-2015 season. With the loss of forward Miroslav Satan to the Penguins in this year's free agent flurry, the Isles will also likely look to add one or two experienced forward who can light up the red light. The Islanders have already shown a strong desire to improve their team with the UFA signing of Mark Streit. Given their familiarity with the Capitals, as Eastern Conference rivals, it's not unimaginable to think Isles GM Garth Snow is considering making a few offers to any of the Capitals free agents or the Ranger's Brendan Stranahan and Martin Straka, of the Caps free agents Matt Cooke's style of play would also fit well with the Isles needs now that they have parted ways with Chris Simon. What the Islanders need most is a new arena, but since that's not currently in play look for them to use at least some of their Cap room in the free agent market between now and when Camp starts, they want to get back to the playoffs now and that will mean they'll do more than just look to upgrade their backup goalie, still remaining on Snow's to do list, and the pick up of Streit, they completed on Tuesday.


- What will Wayne Gretzky do next out in Sun City? Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes have been actively engaged in working to improve their team since early last season when they picked up goaltender Ilja Bryzgalov from Anaheim early in last season and picking up Center Olli Jokenen from the Florida Panthers just prior to this years entry draft. Looking at the team they've assembled reveals a pretty formidable roster and the likely next things that would help would be to upgrade their #3 through #6 defenseman. The free agent market still has a fair amount of talent available in this area (top 2 defensemen are quickly being picked off but Phoenix has Ed Jovanoski and Derek Morris in those slots), so even though they've already been active in this area with the signing of David Hale, Phoenix could continue to look to use some of their ~$15M of available salary cap in this area.


- Nashville is another team to skip over because they have a whole lot of factors other than just salary cap management and hockey operations needs, so it's off to Buffalo. The Sabres continue to work on reloading after being the first victims of their own success in self-growing talent from their draft picks. Looking at today's Sabres it's easy to forget that they would have absolutely no (as in zero, zip, nada) cap room if they had retained Chris Drury and Danny Briere AND they would still have 3 roster slots to fill. Examining the last couple of years in Buffalo is the real place to get a lesson in the meaning of the new/post CBA NHL. As far as what the Sabres are still looking for, GM Darcy Reiger says it's a quality blueliner, he's been very open about his desire and eve talked about it at a press conference on Wednesday. Other than that look for the Sabres to use their $14M of salary cap space to hold on to their three forwards who are RFAs. Basically, the Sabres are looking to replace and upgrade 19 season NHL veteran Finn Teppo Numminen. That said the list of available veteran defenseman as of this morning doesn't yield an intuitively obvious available selection - the best choices are two former Rangers Darius Kasperitis and Marek Malik. Perhaps Reiger is hoping to sign an offer sheet with Jay Bouwmeester of the Florida Panthers but I'd still expect the Panthers to match any offer that would even push the levels of prudence.


- Over in the Canadian Capital, Senator's GM Bryan Murray has been a flurry of activity since being ousted in the first round of the playoffs by Pittsburgh. Since then the Senators have brought in Craig Hartsburg as their new coach and made moves that amount to a major reshape of their roster. The Senators have waived and are buying out Goalie Ray Emery, they let #1 defenseman Wade Redden go to the New York Rangers in free agency earlier this week and they've made some other moves to retool and reload. The Senators have a) re-signed forward Chris Kelly; b) signed UFA Goalie Alex Auld as their backup netminder; c) signed UFA forward and pest Jarkko Ruutu; and d) re-signed UFA forward Shean Donovan. Overall, these move have rationalized their roster and left them with the ability to go after a couple more players who fit with their forward plans for the next two or three years with their ~13M of cap room since their core of Alfredsson, Spezza, Heatley, and Fisher are under contract until at least the end of the 2011-2012 season; however anticipate them holding on to some of their flexibility to potentially change out number 1 goalies when Martin Gerber becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this next season. If the Senators were to go after any of the Caps free agents, now that they have signed Ruutu that would most likely be a putting a good but sane offer sheet in front of either Brooks Laich or even Boyd Gordon though ShaMo is also a clear possibility as the current number 5 defenseman under contract for them is former WashingtonCapital/Hershey Bear Lawrence Nycholat.


- The Minnesota Wild and their 18,000+ fans at every game have made a few smart moves so far this off season so they have $11.4M of Cap Room to fill their 4 open roster slots and they've signed five players this past week as well as well as taking a run at signing Marian Hossa. The Wild only have two unsigned RFAs at this point and are solid both "between the pipes" and "at the blue line" so could make a run at a couple of offensive minded RFAs with offer sheets but with $11.4M of Cap room this year, and looking at the need to re-sign Marian Gaborik as a UFA next year, any RFA offer sheets the Wild make will proabably be sane enough for the RFA's current team to match. In the case of the Caps RFA's while Brooks Laich might be a good fit for the Wild it's hard to imagine them offering him more than say $2.5M or a term longer than a couple of years and something like that GMGM would likely both be able to and want to match.


- Florida has $11.3M of Cap room, two unsigned restricted free agents and a fairly full roster. Expect the re-signing of Jay Bouwmeester to use $6M +/- $500K of the available salary cap; then the Panthers will likely match any reasonable offer sheet that Right Wing Anthony Stewart might get if he doesn't just take his qualifying offer, as you would expect from a guy who is a 2003 first round pick with only 2 NHL goals and 46 games of NHL experience. What the Panthers do with the remaining $5M of salary cap space is anybody's guess - they've done a good job of retooling after dealing Olli Jokenen to Phoenix picking up two more solid defensemen in that deal and UFA forward Corey Stillman. One thing they could do is try and extend an offer sheet to Brooks Laich - his numbers and style of play compliment their needs - but given their small amount of cap room after matching any Bouwmeester offer sheet probably wouldn't enable them to offer anything that GMGM and the Caps wouldn't gladly match.


- Carolina has 2 unsigned RFAs a fairly full roster and $9.5M of cap space - they could are solid in the net and at the blue line but some of their own free agent losses mean they probably wouldn't mind having some more offensive punch in their arsenal. For Washington Capital fans that means the only worry is Brooks Laich, also since GMGM has made it clear Matt Cooke isn't within the Capitals affordability curve this season and the Hurricanes have both the payroll room and roster space, don't be surprised if they make a sane offer to Laich and also a fair offer that puts Matt Cooke, or one of several other guys like him, in Hurricane Red to start the season.


- Now time to look at two teams that are likely harder to anticipate and figure out - Columbus and Nashville. First Columbus, current payroll room $17.7M and two open roster spots. In addition to the basic on ice hockey factors, the ownership is in some transition, though the team is stable and firmly rooted in Columbus, as the team founder and original majority owner John H. McConnell passed away this year and his son John P. McConnell has a legacy to uphold. The Blue Jackets have already been quite active this free agent season signing defenseman Mike Commodore on July 1st, and winger Kristian Huselius on July 2nd. In addition to these two high profile signings expect the Jackets to match anything but a totally insane offer sheet to RFA goaltender Pascal Leclaire who is coming off a breakout season, it wouldn't take a gambler to bet that will cost them between $3.5 and $4.5M of their $17.7M cap room given the current set of available #1 goalies and the number of teams who ought to be looking for a #1 tender. That would leave Columbus with $13.2M to match any offer sheets their remaining three RFAs might get. Given the Blue Jackets are a small market team, and assuming the prior moves are made, that takes them to a actual total payroll of ~$49M so the only other probable action would be to wait a while and see if there are some bargains to be had in late July and August after a few more teams "cap out" in the next couple of days.


- All the above brings us to last but not least - Nashville - given all the churning with regard to ownership, etc. the Predetors appear committed to working hard to "stand pat" and hold a stable roster. In a very smart move they re-signed Goalie Dan Ellis to a sensible 2 year contract. Now they are well positioned to preserve their roster's talented young players by matching anything but insane offer sheets. Then regardless of what type of "Payton Place" drama happens with the ownership of this team they will be well positioned to see who might help them that needs a job in late July and August. Of course what this means is that I feel any analysis of the data is pointless with these guys right now since there's all sorts of distractions and these guys have a pretty sound on ice product as is. It is interesting to note that while researching this piece I looked over lots of data on the web as well including each team's web site, looking at all the other teams in this post's sites its easy to see lots of team releases about their free agent signings, their draft, and their upcoming prospects camp - at Nashville's site the five news stories currently are - "Preds Visit Safety Day at Ft. Cambell"; "Local Youth Got Skills at Nationals"; "Magical Appearance at Dancer Auditions"; "Preds Acquire Ryan Jones, '09 Second Round Pick from Minnesota"; and "Predators Around Town" - notice anything different than at most sites? That said most Predator fans are quite pleased with the Ellis signing and the current state of their team from looking at their message boards.


Tarik reported last evening that for the Caps other than working to hold their RFAs and sign Sergei Federov, GMGM says the Caps won't be looking at the free agent market at all until August when all the dust settles. Per Tarik: "*McPhee also said he doesn't envision making another free agent signing. At least not right away."


Things look pretty good for the Caps, Development Camp starts at Kettler on Monday and I'm going to try and stop and watch some of it before heading out of town on Tuesday, if I do I'll try and take some pics and post them. Additional articles with some more analysis are probably in the offing though I fully expect after posting this article numerous events will occur in the next couple of days that show well why I get paid to analyze things other than Hockey and i don't get paid to analyze and comment on the NHL. In any case - the more I look at recent events the more I think the Caps are going in the right direction and making the best possible moves.


Can't wait till next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

Qualifying Offers Out for Green, Morrisonn, Fehr, Gordon & Laich

My action item list for Caps Management had a big omission in it, good thing nobody is crazy enough to give me an NHL GM position. Today, was the last day to issue qualifying offers and fortunately even though it wasn't on my AI list GMGM issued 5 qualifying offers. Per "Dump & Chase", yesterday, the Capitals today issued qualifying contract offers to defensemen Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn and forwards Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon and Brooks Laich. The offers allow Washington to retain exclusive negotiating rights with these players even beyond July 1, when the five would gain restricted free agent (RFA) status if they have not yet come to terms with the team. Two of the Caps prospects in the minor league system - Jamie Hunt and Stephen Werner - were not issued offers and now become Unrestricted Free Agents. Last year Hunt and Werner totaled 1.2M in salaries that the Caps free up in their budget.

Now the real fun begins.....

Still can't wait for next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Winter is here!

Winter is here - that white stuff outside is snow. Okay there's not much hockey news to talk about today. If you've already read other blogs you know Boyd Gordon has a broken hand and many commenters to posts elsewhere still want to speculate about the mystery surrounding the announcement. Me I take it at face value - the mystery to me is how he scored in OT with it - I believe he did (unlike some other commenters to various blogs) just goes to show me he and Chris Clark are cut from the same mold. Tough guys - old time hockey - LETS GO CAPS!!!! The world agrees the ice at VC is the pits. I commented on this a couple of days ago as have others. Something needs to be done. We don't need to be running the Veteran's Stadium of the NHL. Well I can't wait till Friday evening when I'll be able to watch the Caps on the tube. LETS GO CAPS (Oh I said that already). If I can't write anything too erudite, I may as well be brief. More thoughts tomorrow.