$5.3 Million in Cap Space
After locking down Tomas Fleischmann to a much more reasonable one year pact of $2.6 million for next season, the Capitals are now looking at the trade and UFA landscape to round out their roster for the upcoming 2010-11 season.
After inking Flash, only hours prior to his arbitration hearing, George McPhee set about addressing the need to add grit and toughness by swapping Stefan Della Rovere for DJ King.
Although I am not in favor of parting with Della Rovere, the Capitals do settle the issue of needing someone to stand up for their team-mates. King is a younger and more voracious Donald Brashear and we can all be sure that if anyone tries to mess with any Capitals this year that it will be Mr.King answering the bell. The fact that McPhee got the Blues to lock him up for two years at an extremely reasonable cap hit of $637k is also a nice bonus.
Beyond the minor swap for an enforcer, the Caps are now(more or less) settled with the players they have. There are no more UFA's or RFA's from last season's team that the Caps need to lock up, so they must now decide what fresh new faces will fill in the remaining 2 roster spots.
At $54.9 million, the Caps have roughly $5.3 million in cap space left to spend on those two roster spots.
The question is, do they spend it one player or two?
Washington still clearly needs to address their defensive corps, but I hesitate to wonder if there is anything out there that fancies George McPhee's interest.
Let's be realistic, the cost of a Tomas Kaberle or another high-level defender would likely compromise more of the Caps heavily stocked pipeline. Not necessarily something the Caps want to dip into...but, let's get even more real. If the Capitals are to take that next step towards becoming true Stanley Cup contenders, they just might have to part with some of their young guns to round out their already stellar roster.
The youth movement is hitting phase 2 this season as Alzner, Carlson and perhaps a Mathieu Perreault or Marcus Johansson will be joining the Caps roster, but there still remains a need to balance out the leadership department.
No offense to Mike Knuble and Tom Poti, but when they are your only 2 'vets' on the team, there is likely a need to increase the strength of your veteran leadership. Not to say that either of those players can't do the job, nor that the young core that truly form the leadership group of this team, are not capable of doing the job, but the truth is that it really would not hurt the Capitals to consider adding some veteran talent and leadership to their team.
Two vets that spring to mind are Bill Guerin and Mike Modano. Both are in the twilights of their careers, but given what the Capitals need, both of them seem to suit the team perfectly.
Guerin may not add speed, but he will add alot of leadership, some soft hands, another force on the power play, and above all else, another option for Bruce Boudreau.
The same applies to Modano. Mike may have lost a step or two in recent years, but he still has decent legs and a keen ability to find the back of the net. His leadership skills are renowned and would provide the Caps a solid balance of offense and defense in a less demanding role.
Now, are the Caps going to add guys like Modano or Guerin to the club? Likely not. That is, unless they are interested in playing for cheap and a shot at the Cup. In either case, if I was George McPhee, I would be talking to the agents of both, even if it's just to kick the tires.
At the same time, I would see what defenders like Kevin Bieksa, or the like, are available. The fact is that the Capitals could use a player like Bieksa in their mix, but McPhee likely is not willing to pay the price the Canucks will be asking. That said, again, if I was George, I would be kicking the tires in the very least.
The truth is, now is the time for speculation. Now is the time to let your imagination run wild as the Capitals core is fully intact. The team must simply round out its edges and it will be ready for another run at the President's Trophy and, hopefully, some hockey in June.
Never before has this team had this much mobility, cap-wise, while boasting as much talent.
There is no doubt in my mind that Washington will seek out some veteran leadership as well as some help on defense. If they can manage to get both in the same player, then expect an even larger influx of rookies on the roster this season. Otherwise, there is definitely a strong chance that we could see two more additions to this Capitals roster before the season kicks off on October 8th.
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