2015 Week 2 - Capitals Games 38, 39, and 40 Are In The Books ...

Well fellow Caps Fans here we are basically at the mid-point of the 2014 - 15 NHL regular season and the Barry Trotz era Capitals appear to have jelled into their new system rather nicely and with a new culture as well.  No "Winter Classic Hangover here (nor in Chicago for that matter.)  The Caps are now 3-0-1 so far in the New Year after going 8-2-3 for the month of December, all of which means that at this season's midpoint the Capitals find themselves 21-11-8 with 50 points & 20 ROW on track for 100+ points and 40 ROW.  That's a pretty big change from last season when they finished the regular season with 90 points and a paltry 28 ROW which meant golf lessons.  The biggest difference, the one that validates how much harder a team, the Caps are to play against is the ROW number.  That and the overall goal differential the Caps finished last season with a goal differential of -5, this season through 40 games, the Caps are +16.  Those two things are really huge, IMO. 

Then we have the basic way the Caps play now which in games like the Winter Classic or any of games 38, 39 and 40 you can see, this is a much different team then we've seen in a pretty long time.  The 2014-15 version of the Washington Capitals are constructed fundamentally different then the Caps have been built in some time.  Over the past summer when the Caps decided that GMBM, former Deputy GM Brian , would succeed GMGM his former boss George Mc Phee, I feared the Caps would not change enough.  Then when  free agency opened and the Caps went out and spent big money to bring in not one but two high priced UFA Defensemen, one of whom is 34 years old, I still wondered how this season would play out.  I was encouraged but apprehensive.  The first two full months of the season, and to some degree even now, the jury remains "out." But for me December gave me enough encouragement that I've transitioned from "cautious" through "cautiously optimistic" to just plain "optimistic."   One of the reasons for my shift is that same 34 year old UFA defensemen that GMBM signed over the summer - Brooks Orpik, let's face it the Caps haven't had such a physical "stopper" defensemen on the blueline since trading Brendan Witt to the Nashville Predators during the 2005-2006 season.  And when was the last time the Caps had five bonafide NHL top four caliber defensemen in their lineup?  Clearly the team has and retains a scary good group of forwards who now have scored a total of 120 goals and average of 3.0 goals per game so far this season, buts its the fact that despite having a group of forwards lead by a generational talent who has averaged 0.615 goals/game over his career so far (678 NHL regular season and 58 NHL playoff games) is now clearly built from the goal line out.  A team built so that the offense starts and is rooted in solid defense.  Still not convinced look at the scoring stats of the Capital's blueline corps led by John Carlson who is having a career year: 4 G and 26 A, 30 Points through 40 games played; followed by a resurgent Mike Green: 4 G, 19 A, 23 Points in 32 games played; Karl Alzner with a career high 3 G (and 6 A), even though the season is only half way over.  Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen who also have 9 and 13 points respectively.  Clearly the blue liners are stepping up and participating in the offense as well as blocking shots and making sure the overall team defense numbers are looking good including resulting in a average goals against per game of 2.6 goals/game (10th best in the NHL so far this season.)

Then look at the difference in the forwards and the offense - clearly Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are at the core of the Capitals "offensive game" but with four other forwards (Fehr, Ward, Brouwer, and Johansson) besides Ovechkin and Backstrom on track for 20+ goal seasons and another six players (Laich, Beagle, Burakovsky, Kuznetsov, Carlson, and Green) likely to end the season with 10+ goals this is clearly a much more balanced group of scoring forwards as well.   And I'm not the only one starting to notice some of the other Washington forwards "gifts" and impact.  If that isn't enough to convince you please also note that 10 different Capitals have scored the game winning goal in the Caps 21 wins so far this season. 

Now back to a quick set of thoughts on the three games this past week. 

Game 38 was a  solidly played, 2 point afternoon home win on Sunday January 4th over the never say die Florida Panthers.  While there were a few flitches and lapses, to my thinking the Caps played a well structured game that they pretty much controlled the full 60:00 IMO. 

Game 39 was a good road game on Wednesday evening in Toronto that ultimately the Caps won in regulation by a score of 6 - 2.  Despite the final score, for the first ~27:00 the game was closer than the final score indicates but from that point on the Caps clearly controlled the game and the Maple Leafs. 

Game 40 was the second game of back to back road games that the Caps stole a point from the Flyers on the back of Braden Holtby's performance in goal last night in Philadelphia.  That said the Caps never quit and it was the second game of  two back to back road games in a hard building to play in and three points out of a possible four in two nights are three points I'd gladly take without complaint.  If you're counting that's five out of a possible six points this past week or 0.833 hockey if you're counting.

Next up the Red Wings at Verizon Center tomorrow evening....

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Game 7: Caps At Flames, A Two Point Night; and a Few Other Blog/Hockey Musings

Well I've been back blogging pretty regularly and I guess thanks to a few links over at Japer's Rink I'm getting a fair amount of traffic, not bad for a fanboy blog, IMO.  In any case sorry for the last post/rant but as those who are Caps fans know, I wasn't the only person who avails themselves of these outlets to feel Glen Healy's comments were way over the top.

Before going over the recap of tonight's #CapsFlames and my thoughts on it a few other random
musings on the topic of hockey blogging.  When I started doing this blog in November 2007 there were a fair number of pretty good blogs out there and many like mine were independent.  Since that time a lot have been assembled into various outlets such as Japer's Rink and their affiliation with SB Nation, while other really, really awesome blogs like The Peerless Prognosticator have stayed "independent."  A few of the bloggers whose contribution to the hockey blogsphere inspired me regularly to add to the content out here on the interwebs in a manner I still aspire to have opted to "hang up their keyboards" and revert to their day jobs.  I myself certainly took a pretty solid hiatus from pretty much April 2012 until again in September, feeling I really had nothing to add to the conversation, and blogging had stopped being a place to release some of my creativity in a manner I enjoyed.  In any case it was with some trepidation that I decided to start doing so again a little over a month ago, so its really pleasurable to note that since I started blogging again I've had a fair amount of traffic and folks reading my blog and musings.  Hopefully it's as entertaining for people to read as it is for me to write again, and that remains the same for both you the reader and myself the writer.

Now to musings about this evening/morning's game in Calgary.  As most Caps fans know from various CSN comments, as well as a quick run through the Caps roster, any trip to and through Western Canada means more than a few Caps are likely to spend a chunk of change for friends and family coming to see them play nearer to their "ancestral homes" than at Verizon Center. In Edmonton, Jason Chimera and Braden Holtby were the ones, Chimera playing in his hometown and Holtby playing but a couple of hours from his in Lloydminster, SK; in Calgary, Mike Green and Jay Beagle are "home"; and when the team gets to Vancouver tomorrow, Troy Brouwer, and Karl Alzner will be playing in front of a number of family, and close friends form their youths.  Additionally, as I noted before this three game road trip though Western Canada is likely as good an early measuring stick as any for the Caps progress in adapting to the team's new system and their discipline in playing that system.  The game in Edmonton on Wednesday Evening was executed almost perfectly by the Caps in every way but one - the scoreboard. 

Last evening in Calgary, the Caps played a very good game both on the ice and on the scoreboard.

They came out strong in Calgary and though it took 11:17 for Joel Ward to score the Caps first goal on a powerplay that really wasn't looking very "awesome" to that point, the Caps did control the game through the entire first period.  Unfortunately the as the first period came to a close Dennis Wideman of the Flames tied the game with a PPG for the Flames at the 19:50 mark of the first stanza. The first period ended with the game tied 1-1 but with the momentum still really tilted the Capitals direction, IMO.

In the second period the Caps did cede some of the game's control to the Flames, however thanks once again to a goal by Joel Ward, this time a 5 on 5 goal at 5:41 of the period assisted by Michael Latta and Brooks Orpik.  Despite being pretty stymied by the Flames from mounting much other offense during the middle period, the Caps did not commit any glaring mistakes of their own and went into the final intermission leading the game 2-1 and playing smart, disciplined hockey.

The third period started just the way you wanted it to if you are a Caps fan.  The Capitals came out of the dressing room ready to play.  In fact just 41 seconds into the period, Nicklas Backstrom scored an even strength goal after a really crisp stretch pass from Karl Alzner sprung him on a 1-0 breakaway. Tonight Karl Alzner was clearly one of the best players on the ice as was Brooks Orpik who showed why he was sought after by the Capitals this off season. Another thing to note is while Ovechkin wasn't on the score sheet with any points, he was a force on the ice throughout the game.  His play when he doesn't have the puck just keeps getting better and better in this system, though he does need to go back to shooting the puck some more as he hasn't been as effective these past three games as he was during the first several of this young season.  Also in addition to Ward's scoring which merits mention in any recap of this game, rookies Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov also looked extremely solid tonight as did Nate Schmidt and Mike Green.  Finally, despite only facing 21 SOG, anytime Braden Holtby posts a 0.952 SV% the Capitals are going to be a very hard team to beat.

Next up the Caps take a quick hop over to Vancouver to take on the Canucks (4-3-0; 7 points, 0.572)at 6:30 PM PDT and 9:30PM EDT tonight. They will likely be facing a well rested Ryan Miller along with the rest of a hungry Vancouver lineup coming off a 7-3 loss in Denver on Friday evening.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Capital's Rookie Camp Barely Underway; TSN Commenters Already Quite Ridiculous and Irritating

Well Caps fans yesterday my Caps Season Ticket Holder (STH) package arrived - not sure if I'll really use my new "Club Red 365" Lunchbox but I like it.  If there was a 10 year old mini-me here I know what his sandwich would be in tomorrow morning.  The arrival of the Caps STH package always cements the idea that hockey season is just around the corner and prompts me to check out the usual hockey blogs and media haunts as well as start some more research as to where and how I think the Capitals prospects and approaches for the upcoming season are starting to flesh out.

If you read my blog last week you'll know I am a fan and generally an optimistic one at that.  Last year this time I was curiously optimistic as to how the Adam Oates era would begin and go here in DC hockey, now we know those answer - short and not at all sweet.  Now we start the Barry Trotz era, given Trotz's last "gig" was so long in Nashville, I think we can all expect our current head coach's era to be longer than our last one here in Cap Nation.  I also think we can look to the style that Nashville played for at least a few clues as to the type of game he is going to be expecting from the Capitals and we will be watching.  Combined with the off season Free Agent pickups I think we will be looking at - believe it or not - a much higher energy game plan, and yes a "200 foot game" as has been speculated.

 But what does that really mean, I'm thinking shorter shifts for the forward lines and shifts of no more than 1:00 on average for the Blue Liners.  To me, I expect at the end of this regular season Ovechkin and Backstrom will have played 77+ games and have an ATOI of 18:45 - 20:00 - there 5 on 5 Corsi and +/- will be at career highs; and both will be 100+ point producers for the season with no more that 50% of those points coming on the power play.  Remember that you read that here first. Why did I lead off with that - just read the comments to this article over on TSN - it's typical of what their readers usually post about our Captain who they clearly do not watch actually play. Further if at any time you've ever wondered why reading my blog I'll occasionally rant about  "xenophobia" against anyone who is not a Canadian in the NHL in hockey media, etc.  just read more comments in articles on TSN where posters talk about any Russian, European or American players.  Now back to my more on point hockey musings.  I think the improved success of Backstrom and Ovechkin will be sparked by two things an even more talented and creative new Left Wing on the line (either Kuznetsov or perhaps Burakovsky) and smoother, faster breakouts from the Defensive zone enabled by a collectively more talented, bigger defensive corps. To me the addition of Niskanen is huge - it means the Caps now will have three pairings with anchored by a really skilled puck mover.  It takes a huge load off Mike Green and John Carlson and means other teams cannot sit back at all when 74 and 52 are on the bench.  Orpik brings grit and means gives some relief to Alzner - his addition means that 27 isn't the only NHL top four "shutdown" D-Man on the team; but I feel Niskanen's addition means other teams will have to play a much more intense forecheck if they expect to beat the Capitals during a game's five on five play.  I also think these changes mean the Caps, who had and continue to have tons of talent on the forward lines, now have a full set of three defensive pairings that will be able play the same game no matter who is out on the ice.  That will mean opponents won't be able to focus so much of their game plan on stopping 8 and 19.

Play the above out through the 40 minutes of each game that Ovechkin and Backstrom are on the bench and it should mean the rest of the team will also have more room to play the game and put up solid five on five numbers.  I don't see any reason why 42, 25 and 20 can't once again have career or near career years.  As with last week's article I think this year could be the year when we see if 90 is really better off as a natural center and a second line of Burakovsky (if Kuznetsov is on the first line) - Johansson - Brouwer could be surprisingly awesome.  I would NEVER count Eric Fehr out of the mix for the top lines.  Last season Chimera and Ward made whoever played pivot between them better, IMO.  I believe Tom Wilson will continue to develop, as will Casey Wellman as well.  What does the above mean - to me it means that Brooks Laich and Jay Beagle as well as any other forward on the team better show up to camp as fit as they've ever been and ready to play a harder faster game than they've ever played if they expect to be in this lineup on Thanksgiving.  The same really goes for the blue line corps.  I expect this team, far more than the 2013-14 Capitals will push each other to be much better hockey players both as individuals and as a team.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Well Its Been A Month Since My Last Post and Three Weeks Since The Capitals Season Ended...

Hey fellow Caps Fans and other assorted readers - how ya been?  For me it's been a month since my last blog post and three full weeks since the Capitals season ended, ignominously with a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers that followed a 1-0 defeat at their hands in the prior game. Coming to terms with six straight periods of scoreless hockey at the hands of "King Henrik" hasn't really been the reason for my hiatus, I understood that prety quickly. However letting the Rangers dominate them 5-0 in a game seven was a bit harder to understand, though a week of great fishing in the out islands of the Bahammas made that all a very distant memory so that wasn't th issue either. Now not knowing what to say or add to the discourse on the overall 2012-2013 Washington Capitals and their season, that was and remains the concundrum I find myself in.  But hey, the good news is I do this stuff for fun, and when it stops being fun I can either stop doing it or change what I'm doing - like going fishing, so that's what I did.  Now I'm looking ahead to the 2013-2014 Caps season and watching the remaining four teams in the running for the Stanley Cup battle it out.  And that's starting to be fun again.

So looking at the Caps let me say, I'm excited with the way the Caps geled at the end of the season, and I like the way the Caps now play under Adam Oates and his coaching staff's system.  Doesn't change my perplexion at the way the season ended but for the Capitals Organization and we fans, its time once again to move on and look forward.  In the near term that means the resigning, or not, of Free Agents - Unrestricted and Restricted; and the NHL Draft.  The Capitals had 10 guys under contract in 2012-2013 who are now unrestricted free agents:

Michael Carmen - you too are probably saying "Michael who" so I have attached a link to his Hershey Bears bio.  He was picked up from the Avalanche in a trade of minor leaguers in February 2012 and from what I can tell is unlikely to be resigned by any NHL team at this point, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him continue his professional career in the "A" or Europe next season.

Joey Crabb - another guy from what I can tell is an easy no resign decision, at least for the Capitals the way he was handled and ended the season.  Don't get me wrong I like the grit Crabb brings and I believe he'll end up signed somewhere next season, I just cannot see it being Washington.

Matt Hendricks - to me "Hendy" is a definate guy to resign and I believe he'll be back with a contract similar to the one that Eric Fehr signed (two years at 1-1.5M/year).

Patrick McNeill - if you haven't followed McNeill's career thus far I can't really fault you, to say his development has progressed slower than the Capitals hoped since he was drafted by the Capitals in theofourth round of the 2005 draft would not be understatment, but from my perspective he's worth keeping the 27 ear old around at least another year at the NHL Minimum and assigning him again to Hershey.  Especially since I think we'll be seeing some moving and not resigning of Poti and Schultz this off season.

Tom Poti - it was great to see Poti back from what for most would have been a career ending injury but the Capitals just cannot and should not resign him this upcoming season, and personnally I expect to see the 36 year old d-man retire this off season assuing he doesn't get any significant interest in signing him for $2+M/year elsewhere around the league.

Ryan Potulny - the Capitals signed the 28 year old Center as an Unrestricted Free Agent in July 2011 and since then he has been playing in Hershey, he's 6-0 and 182# and has had two pretty solid seasons in Hershey, he is likely to be resigned at the end of offseason if he's still around and a roster spot is available for a league minimum and that seems like a fair thing to do. Who knows he could be another Matt Hendricks kind of guy.

Joel Rechlicz - this another guy definately worth giving another year and another shot - he's just too much of a charachter and with way too much grit to not see if he can't stick as a grinder somewhere in the NHL, sorry i know I'm a softee for guys like this but that's me.

Mike Ribero - I've made no secret of it, I think in order to continue to maintain thebalance they have and the ability to be a "four line team" the Capitals need to resign "Ribz".  The question at hand is that really possible.  If they don't resign Ribero then the Caps need to go after either Patrik Elias (unlikely that would work or be cheaper), Michal Handzus (also likely to be no easier or cheaper to sign than Ribero) or they could take a flyer on a promising guy whos been somewhat erratic like Tyler Bozak or Nik Antropov and hope it works out.  Personnally, like I said, that's all why i think the Capitals need to resign Ribero but both the term and the amount have to be something both sides can live with and currently that agreement hasn't been reached.

Dany Sabourin - two words on resigning Sabourin - Philipp Grubauer. 

Wojtek Wolski - I just can't see Wolski returning or the Capitals pursuing him in any sort of aggressive fashion.  Though only 27, the 6-3, 215# LW from Poland hasn't really had a season that showcased his talent or potential since the 2009 - 2010 season that he split between Phoenix and Colorado.

So of the ten (10) UFA's, I'm suggesting the Capitals resign five of them:  Hendricks, Ribero, Rechlicz, Potulny, and McNeill. That would be a good offseason for GMGM with regard to UFAs but if he doesn't resign Ribero, then he needs to sign a player with similar potential and talent as the second line center.

On the restricted free agent ledger, the Capitals have two unsinged.  Karl Alzner - that's a no brainer.  He needs to be the first signing of this off season and I'd guess he, his agent and GMGM are talking to make that happen.  The second is Marcus Johansson, for the right price, MoJo should be resigned.  The reality though is the decision to resign him cannot be a "no brainer" - his offensive production to date and his size make it a decision worth "mulling over" but he is only 22 and is likely to continue to develop over the next 3+ seasons. 

Resigning Hendricks, Ribero, Alzner and Johannsson still leaves the Capitals - how all this happens with a healthy Brooks Laich and even thinking about retaining Jeff Schultz is likely an impossibility under next seasons salary cap but I'll continue to ponder and muse on that one.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Another Week Down and With It Came At Least Some Small Resons to Hope The Capitals Can Salvage A Season Yet...

Well Caps fans in the week since my last blog post "our" Washington Capitals have gone 2-1-0, giving us all at least some reason to hope this year's Capitals can salvage a reasonable season and maybe even make a playoff run.  Further last weekend we all got to see how "the system" when played well can beat anybody, in fact the New Jersey Devils played "the system" to perfection and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, including demi-god Sidney Crosby not once BUT twice this past week.  Further the Capitals used and played they system very well a systematically took apart the Florida Panthers - last years SE Division champions 5-0 on Saturday at Verizon Center.  Then they faced and beat a well coached and adjusted Panthers team last night in a comeback OT 6-5 win at Sunrise, FL.  So to me those are reasons to hope.

Of course hope is not a plan, nor is it any sort of "done deal."  Tomorrow the Caps take on the explosive Tampa By Lightning in Saint Petersburg, FL and they must "keep the pedal to the medal" if they are to really start dogging out of this early season hole they've put themselves in.  The good news if there is any on that front is there are no teams in the Eastern Conference who are as "on fire" or playing as strongly as either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Anaheim Ducks are in the Western Conference.  Chicago is red hot playing 0.888 hockey since the season started while Anaheim isn't far behind playing 0.792 hockey 25% of the way through the season.  By contrast Eastern Conference leader New Jersey is playing very well at 0.730 but nowhere near 0.800 hockey.  While we cannot yet talk about the Capitals in such terms looking at 50 or 52 points as a "magic number" to definitely make the playoffs this season in the Eastern Conference that means the Capitals now have to play a solid but achievable 0.614 the rest of this season.  They've doe it before, and with 14 of their remaining 35 games against SE Division rivals whom they've done very well against these past few seasons, they certainly have a chance to do so again.

I'm not burying my head in the sand - the Capitals have a long road in front of them now. That said I
have no reason to or intention of jumping on the bandwagon of naysayers, ever.  It's not my thing, I've said for a while now, I'm not a "journalist" nor do I want to pretend to be, this is a fan's blog, and I'm the fan.  In addition to their two recent wins here's a few other reasons I now have hope:

1) Alexander Ovechkin seems more and more comfortable on the Right Wing and his productivity is rising.  In addition to having the same "sick" skilz he always had on LW, his play now is a) much more defensively responsible, b) much more creative - he's making the others on the ice with him better and at the same time notching his own scoring points; and c) he's clearly matured and is the team's Captain as well as it's star.  I congratulate both Ovechkin for taking the risk and allowing himself to be coached even though he already was a league superstar and new coach Adam Oates for not giving up and proving all the naysayers around the league wrong - Ovechkin is proving to be very coachable by a coach who is as intense, dedicated, and imaginative to excellence as he is.

2) Mike Ribero is the player we all hoped we were picking up when the Caps retooled and let Semin go to Carolina to create the Cap Space necessary to once again have two top six Centerman.  I could fill the rest of this blog post with superlatives for "Ribz" but his play has been speaking for itself for some considerable time.

3) The second AND third lines have been key to the Caps solid play, and Nicklas Backstrom seemed to be determined to let everyone know he's still around and as awesome a playmaker and passer as ever whether passing to Troy Brouwer; Joel Ward or Ovechkin.

4) At he beginning of the season I wondered who of Mathieu Perrault and Marcus Johanasson would become the "Brian Gionta" of the 2013 Capitals.  Based on the last two games, it appears that MP85 is determined it be him, it'll be interesting to see what happens the next time MJ90 gets a crack at the lineup.

5) The top four defenseman: Green, Alzner; Carlson; and Erskine have all, in my view, fully embraced and become comfortable with the new system and are making very few mental mistakes at all.  Tomas Kundratek is making a believer of me as well, and begrudgingly I have to say Jeff Schultz is the right guy o be in the lineup right now, though I would like to see "Mr. Nasty" play with more physicality and I believe when he's back to being healthy Jack Hillen should get another shot in the lineup as well.  So where does that leave Poti and Hamrlik - I'd say at this point the Caps should look to trade one or the other for something they might want, especially with Orlov in the wings as well.  When was the last time the Caps had that sort of luxury - an extra D-Man to shop?

6) Goaltending hasn't been on fire but it's not a big issue right now - witness last evening's 6-5 SO win over the Panthers.  If the Caps hadn't gotten into playing fire wagon hockey in the second period with the Panthers, particularly the Weiss-Hubredeau line, there's no way the panthers are even in the game... SV% aside.

So that's why I have some hope today for a decent season by the Capitals, I'm still concerned and the Caps need to keep their focus and drive going for all 35 remaining games, but if they want to, "they got this."

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

How Much is Karl Alzner Really Worth?

So now that the Washington Capitals are pushing up against the salary cap, at least according to those who look at Capgeek.com and do not factor in the idea that Tom Poti is likely to start the season on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) or retire; we Capitals fans turn our attention to the two unsigned Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) who might get offer sheets: Karl Alzner and Troy Brouwer.

There is certainly a lot of speculation about just what sort of offer sheets they might get; here's an interesting blog post from a Montreal Canadiens blog; I hope it's not right, I like Karl Alzner but $4.7M per year, I just can't see another team offering him that much and also being willing to forfeit the draft picks that would cost them. That said if some other GM wants to target the Capitals and make the sort of offers that "Eyes on the Prize" suggests (Alzner 1-4 years for $4.7M/year and Brouwer 1-3 years for $3.1M/year), I'd take them up on it and let both players go to those teams. The Capitals have the bench strength to let that happen without nearly the negative impacts that matching such offers would create in their current plans/roster. Also the draft picks they'd pick up would no doubt only further strengthen the talent pipeline they already have in their system. That's why I think we DON'T see many GMs using the "screw your neighbor" tactic too often. This isn't a parlor game or a card game after all, well maybe it is but it's real high stakes and for real. It's one thing to go target a young, promising talent like Alzner or Brouwer with offer sheets that provide them a 10-15% premium in terms of cap hit or a contract term with a year or two of extra length but quite another to "overpay" by any more given the compensation the acquiring team must also put up to close the deal. So we are back to really trying to gauge what these two players are really worth. Recognize, they both already have qualifying offers in hand from the Capitals so there's really no risk on there part to wait and see if the market offers them something more, especially in Brouwer's case, it's not like he has any reason to have any allegiance to Washington. So let's look at the 22 Year Old British Columbian and locate a few "comparables."

Karl Alzner:
Position: Defense
Age: 22
Height: 6'-2"; Weight: 210 pounds; Shoots: Left

Last season Alzner had a salary cap hit of $1.675M ($875K salary, up to $750K of performance bonuses and then the prorated $87.5K portion of his signing bonus) on the final year of his entry level deal. He was drafted in 2007 by the Capitals in the first round with the fifth pick of the draft. He was a blue chip prospect and his development to this point in his career has tracked and delivered on those expectations. Alzner didn't miss a game for the Capitals last season - he played 82 regular season games and 9 playoff games. He was usually paired with rookie John Carlson and they were, in many games, the Capitals "stoppers." As Alzner generally played the role of "stay at home" defenseman of the two, he is generally seen as the soundest young defender in the Capitals organization when it comes to hockey fundamentals. His ATOI last season was 19:00 minutes and he was a regular on a penalty killing unit that was very good. Because of his partner John Carlson and "young gun" Mike Green's scoring prowess, many often overlook Alzner's excellent abilities when it comes to his slapshoots from the point. In short Karl Alzner is the total package and he had 98 hits during the 82 game regular season and his Corsi On was 3.45 and Corsi Off was 2.45 during 5 on 5 play. In short, he had a solid season and he is definitely a top four defenseman at the NHL level by just about any measure. Is he worth more than a basic qualifying offer for sure and I'd bet he has one in hand. If I were Montreal would I offer Alzner anything like "Eye on the Prize" suggests - No, that price is too high for him, especially when you consider the draft picks you'd have to forfeit. That said if I were Vancouver, Alzner's "hometown team", who have a little bit of Cap Space and who could make more room, I'd offer him $3.5M/year and a four year contract to see if he'd like to "come home." Alzner would be a great fit for Vancouver and they could use another "Steady Eddy" top 4 D-Man to replace the loss of Christian Ehrhoff to Buffalo in free agency. Now that would be decision time for Caps GM George McPhee as I'd expect $3.5M would be on the order of $500K more than the Capitals would prefer to pay Alzner but not so much so that I wouldn't consider strongly matching the offer. What do I think Karl Alzner is worth, based on what I've seen to date I'd say he's a $3+M player...and after giving Roman Hamrlik a two year $3.5M/year deal, I'd say that the Caps Organization wouldn't argue with that. Also looking around the league, there aren't many clearly top four blueliners who have finished their entry level contracts that aren't making $3+M and maybe as much as $4M/year though I think the likely number starts with a "3". The best comparable I think out there for Alzner is the NY Rangers' Marc Staal, though Alzner's body of work isn't quite yet up at the same level of the 24 year old Staal brother.

There are actually quite a few teams who I think could be and should be interested in Alzner. Another team besides Vancouver, that could present Alzner an offer sheet might be Saint Louis, they could really, really use a guy like him and they have a TON of salary cap space, as does Ottawa who like Saint Louis could use another top four defenseman and Alzner would make a great pairing for Sergei Gonchar, IMO. Of course as mentioned there is Montreal, also Minnesota, Florida, Dallas ..and the list could go on, but the one thing that might actually help the Capitals avoid seeing any ridiculous offers made for Karl Alzner, is if you were an NHL GM who was willing to make a run at and possibly overpay for a young RFA D-man, why not "swing for the fences" and take a run at Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators or Drew Doughty of the LA Kings?

Rookie Camp Opened Yesterday

Tarik's blog had a nice post yesterday on the first day of rookie camp, sounds like Karl Alzner, John Carlson and Simeon Varlamov all showed up in shape, ready to play and brought their "A" games. Could be an interesting year for some of the Cap's defensemen and Daren Machesney. That said I'm looking forward to seeing what Machesney does in training camp and believe he will prove to be the real deal this year. Personally I see Machesney and Varlamov in Hershey at the start of the season and Michal Neuvirth on loan to another AHL team, though it's obviously way too early to make any predictions along these lines. The report on Alzner and Carlson is good news even though Brian Pothier has been spotted around KCI in the past two weeks.


Of course the Caps still need to sort out their $2.6M+ over the salary cap issues, and the good news has a flip side in that it'll make the cap overage even larger.


Corey Masisek's blog had one interesting addition to Tarik's note - after the rookies left the ice, 6 peope took to the ice including none other than Mike Green.


The blogsphere is making a lot out of the 25 minutes of "Herbies" that Coach Boudreau put the rookies through at the end of their first two hour workout, yesterday. For his part Boudreau explained to the press that he did this to make a point - according to Gabby there are three kinds of shape a) Juniors Shape; b) AHL shape, and c) NHL shape. Sounds like an extension of his "holding yourself accountable philosophy" and that he plans to continue to put his imprint on the post rebuilding Caps. It also sounds like a great way to make sure that you minimize injuries during the season - that is start the season and play every game, all year long, "in game shape". It also sounds like the veterans who are all showing up plan to show up ready to play and intend to bring their "A" games, too. For my part, I'm recalling, that Football camp tradition of "two a days" to whip yourself into shape and build teamwork and "esprit de corps".


Well, once again I left with the same feelings and conclusions. You guessed it. My overarching feeling after musing on the Caps this morning - I really can't wait till I get the chance to go to the "Phone Booth" and Rock The Red on October 11th (that's just 26 short days away). My conclusion:


LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!

Another busy week down and how about those Caps?

So We had a busy week at ICx Technologies; we had a lot of activity going on five major pursuits - four that I'm working on and another that has a real good team chasing it. All in all, for what used to be a really quiet time in past years this summer is just full of activity and surprises. Of course as I say that beats the daylights out of the alternative, and the days are flying by.

Up in Kings Point, NY on Long Island at the USMMA, the Class of 2012 completed "Indoc" and classes started on Wednesday for the entire Regiment of Midshipman. Our son has the same professor I had for Calculus I, I suspect he'll do better than I did. When we hear from him, it's clear that Indoctrination and the transition to the fast paced academic calender Kings Point maintains has NOT gotten any easier in 30 years. I now get to see the Academy from 3 perspectives - my own two - Alumni and Parent and our son's student - it's weird on many levels. To make matters more confusing, on Tuesday Evening, I went to the Nationals - Phillies Game with 14 of my USMMA Class of 1982 Classmates. We had a great time, the furthest travellers came from Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Chester , PA. We believe the 15 of us were the largest gathering of classmates since graduating, other than at Homecoming every five years at the Academy. If you haven't been out to Nationals Park, when you go you're in for a treat - the sight lines are "all good"; the stadium is just so well setup it's hard to describe. Now the Nats just need to get a good product on the field and it'll all come together for them like it did last season for the - you probably saw this one coming - Washington Capitals. Also it's great to see the redevelopment that the Ballpark and the relocation of the Department of Transportation Headquarters are having on that section of DC. As they used to say on the features pages of The Prelate at Cardinal Dougherty RC High School in Philadelphia "back in the day" - a good time was had by all. Chris's classmates in the USMMA Class of 2012 have great futures to look forward to judging by the conversations and catching up the 15 of us did while the Nats and Phillies played to a 2-0 victory by the boys from the City of Brotherly Love.

Well I can't go more than a week without thinking about how much I'm looking forward to the next season by the Caps. The real issue between now and the start of the next NHL Season for the Great Number 8 and his teammates is that the Capitals are very tight on Salary Cap space. In fact with their desired group of top seven defenseman they are likely $2M over the salary cap. of course currently Brian Pothier is projected to be on LTIR but even without his salary, if Karl Alzner were to start the season in a Capitals "sweater" and Jeff Schultz is the number 4/5 defenseman the Caps will be ~984K K over the salary cap; if the Caps leave Alzner in Hershey and have Sami Lepeisto and John Erskine in the line-up the Capitals will still be pretty much right up on top of the Salary Cap and Alzner will get some time to grow into the Caps systems in Hershey. Personally I'm rooting for Patrick McNeill as much as anybody and let's not forget Quintin Laing - I'm rooting for both Laing & McNeill when Training Camp opens at Kettler on September 20th, 2008.

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

Caps Signing News - Caps Sign Top Prospect Karl Alzner to 3 Year Entry Level Contract

Per the Caps Website , today the Caps signed top prospect Karl Alzner to a 3 year NHL Entry Level deal. Rabid Caps fans can get their first "eyes on" Alzner this summer when he attends the Caps' summer development camp, to be held July 7-12 at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va. However he has been here before, he attended summer development camp with the Caps last year and played in a preseason game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Alzner was Washington’s first choice (fifth overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The 19-year-old from British Columbia was named the 2007-08 recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the WHL’s player of the year. Alzner was also named the WHL’s best defenseman for 2007-08. He is also the WHL’s nominee for CHL player of the year. Although the Capitals' team defense took a quantum leap forward in the second half, the Caps could still use a bona fide shutdown defender. That was Alzner’s role with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen in 2007-08, and it was his role with Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championship. He excelled at that task with both teams.

"We're very excited for Karl as today marks the start of his pro career," said Hitmen GM and Head Coach Kelly Kisio. "Not only has Karl been an excellent defenseman for the Calgary Hitmen but his leadership off the ice will leave a lasting impact in our dressing room." Alzner, the 2008 Calgary Hitmen Player of the Year, WHL Player of the Year and WHL Defenceman of the Year, not only captained the Hitmen this past season but also led Team Canada to a Gold Medal at the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championship.

Not the D-Man, I was hoping to see get quickly signed by the Caps after the conclusion of the World Championships but a good solid signing in any case. Given the doubts surrounding Brian Pothier's potential to return to the Caps, Alzner probably has a legitimate chance at making the Caps roster this year and will certainly make the Bears if he looks like he needs some more seasoning. LETS GO CAPS!!!!