The Washington Capitals were the best team in the NHL for a number of years and did not win the Stanley Cup. So if anyone realizes the oft-overlooked fact that all you have to do to have a reasonable shot at a Championship in the NHL is to make the playoffs, it's them.
That is why the Washington Capitals, despite icing a distinctly worse team than their fans are used to, are a likely candidate to buy at the trade deadline, so long as they are within a reasonable distance of the playoffs.
With Holtby in net, the odds of winning a Cup with this roster are way, way better than they have any right to be, and assuming the Hockey Gods have a sense of irony, this could be the Cap's year.
So they should definitely be going for it.
And, wouldn't you know it, heading into tonight's game against the Bruins, they are in first in their division.
The only thing that is standing in their way on the path to improving their team is that pesky old salary cap. The Capitals are currently maxed out, and, as has been the case since the summer, the only real thing that can be done is to get someone to take Brooks Orpik and his $5.5 million dollar cap-hit.
Jay Beagle makes almost two million, so between them, the Caps could clear up almost $8 million in salary with players it would be easy to replace at or near the league minimum.
The Coyotes have 17 million dollars in cap space available and I am sure the Capitals could pay to facilitate this kind of transaction.
Armed with Cap Space, the Capitals have a good 'win now' roster and could part with any number of assets. How many more years do you have with an Ovechkin/Hotby prime combo? Washington really doesn't want to go Cupless in the Ovechkin era, and so I think that, under the right circumstances, they'd be wiling to sacrifice as much of the future as was necessary to take another run.
The way Holtby plays, you have to consider the Caps a contender, regardless of how many replacement players they're dressing on a given night. But the first step is moving out Orpik's salary - even if you have to pay significantly to do so.
Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»