The Washington Capitals exited the expansion draft the same way they exited the Playoffs:
As total losers.
Now, the Playoffs weren't their fault - they assembled the best team money could buy, they played great and, as luck would have it, got super unlucky when former goalie and future mailman Marc Andre Fleury came out of retirement to impersonate Gump Worsely.
Unlike he Playoffs, the Capitals actually could have done something to avoid losing, but they didn't. The were unable to find someone to take Brooks Orpik (I bet Arizona woulda taken a first from next year to take Orpik and allow the Caps to keep Schmidt, but who knows?).
Schmidt is fast, he's got some offensive potential and he's good at defense. A positive possession player who is 25 and only going to get better with more ice time. He is probably the best player the Knights got. (Though that isn't saying much).
George McPhee looks like a terrible choice to run the Knights, as anyone who knows the Capitals could have said - and many of their choices were questionable or down-right bad. This suggests he could have been scammed out of Schmidt (whose nickname is probably Schmidty).
The Capitals really should have paid the price to keep Schmidt, as he is near irreplaceable considering all the free agents the Caps have.
I don't know where you're supposed to get a defenseman who is actually good at the price it would have cost to keep him, which , and I am just guessing here, probably wouldn't have been much more than a draft pick or two.
Bottom line is that I think the Capitals, who are losing Alzner and Shattenkirk, should have been more proactive in keeping Schmidt. I think that if they had of been more creative, they could have found a workaround.
As it stands, they are now down three of the six good defenseman they had last season.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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