If Tarik El Bashir's latest Twitter Tweet is correct and the Capitals just signed Tomas "Flash" Fleischmann to a one year $2.6Million contract, I am shocked, appalled and disgusted. How the Capitals management ever concluded an arbitrator would award Flash close to or more than $2.6 million, I really can't fathom. Also who cares - why in the world would the Capitals be willing to spend that much Salary Cap for their #7 or higher forward? There's no way Flash is the answer to the question "What do the Capitals need right now up front?" They need a bonafide, no kidding second line center. Flash might someday, when he learns to CONSISTENTLY play BOTH ends of the rink, be a top line or second line winger on a Stanley Cup contending team, however IMHO as I chronicled here before he's most definitely NOT a natural center who can adequately and consistently backcheck effectively against any of the other top Eastern or Western Conference first lines. I'll admit he can hurt them, on his good nights, in the offensive zones but he often gives up as many goals, or more, when he's in that role as he takes from then. The issue and why I'm disappointed in this signing is it takes away at least five hundred thousand and as much as a million dollars worth of Cap Space the Capitals really need to go and get somebody who can be that second line center.
Worst of all, and now I'll sound like all these guys who are screaming for the Caps to "beef up on the blue line," if he's not traded sooner, the issue this creates really won't be totally visible until it's too late to do anything about it. That's right, I'll say it - with or without that bona-fide second line center, despite the improvements of the other Southeast Division Teams, the Capitals will probably have little trouble winning the Division again. So you won't see the glaring issue the lack of a truly effective second line center creates until the playoffs.
Well my whine and rant is over - I hope I'm wrong and either way right or wrong, I won't cry in my beer or revisit this subject until the end of the first round of the 2011 playoffs. That said I will say two things here:
1)I'm going to have a hard time being cordial to anyone who thinks "Flash" is worth $2.6M next season, that has issues with Alexander Semin, one of the top 10 ranked forwards in the league last season, making $6M for next season's efforts.
2) I'm really hoping that the Caps give Brooks Laich a chance at the second line center on a second line between Alexander Semin and Eric Fehr. Sorry but putting Fleischmann there first and WASTING over 15:00 TOI per game on his flashy but ineffective, streaky play would have a very high probability of being an EPIC FAIL. If Gabby continues to give "Flash" more ice time then Fehr or anything close to the ice time of either Laich or Semin, I'm sorry but I just can't understand it. Why Monumental Sports and GMGM agree to give Favorites of Bruce (FOB) deals for more than they might otherwise have to pay like the extra $200K/year they're giving Tyler Sloan and now what is likely an extra $500-$1,000K for next year that "Flash" is getting, boggles my mind.
Of course now that I reacted to an unconfirmed "tweet" watch the salary number will get corrected or the Caps will make a trade for that second line center I crave that involves/includes "Flash" going to a team in need for a good scoring winger on their top two lines and it will all make sense to me.... see I'm the eternal optimist.
Is it September yet?
LETS GO CAPS!!!
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4 comments:
Hi Mark,
A lot of people (on Japers Rink, anyway) were posting that 3.5 - 4 million/year might have been awarded Flash and the Caps would have accepted it. Can you imagine? Me, neither. I agree with your analysis, except I do think an arbiter might very well have awarded him more than 2.6. Crazy world.
Again, I agree with you, but it could have been much worse.
Paul R.
Hi Mark,
A lot of people (on Japers Rink, anyway) were posting that 3.5 - 4 million/year might have been awarded Flash and the Caps would have accepted it. Can you imagine? Me, neither. I agree with your analysis, except I do think an arbiter might very well have awarded him more than 2.6. Crazy world.
Again, I agree with you, but it could have been much worse.
Paul R.
I understand and that could have happened indee - actually Peerless did a great blog post on the reasons and comparables, I commented there so I'll be brief - the issue isn't whether Flash is worth $2.6M anywhere in the NHL, the issue to me is his fit right now with the Capitals and what the role I see him ending up playing is worth as a percentage of Salary Cap. That said I'm glad he's signed - now trade him for what we need...
I was actually hoping that he would get some crazy amount in arbitration that would force the Caps to walk away. Flash has been with the Caps for awhile and it is always something. Yes, he had 20 goals, but he just faded in the latter part of the season and was a none factor in the playoffs. I too am so hoping that he is NOT the second line center as I don't want a season of Semin trying to avoid passing to Flash. To me it seems as if Flash benefited from being on the second line but Semin suffered from it. I am just really tired of the favoritism that BB shows to Flash and hope he is gone before the season starts. But if he is here, then no excuses this season.
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