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Washington Capitals Blogger •
Open Season
With the the last tick of the clock at 11:59:59 today, July 1st - Canada's Birthday(congrats ol'gal, well done!) the Free Agent Market doors swung wide open and the offers started flying.
For George McPhee and his Washington Capitals, today will likely be a day of observation. Without much in the way of cash to offer the marquee names on the market, McPhee is most likely busying himself with the trying to unload the contracts of Jose Theodore and Michael Nylander. With qualifying offers to Chris Bourque, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn, Steve Pinizzotto, Jeff Schultz and Kyle Wilson, Geoorge McPhee has but a mere $3 million to play with.
Since that is the case, you can bet it all on the fact that McPhee won't be able to find suitable replacements for Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov just yet. Not until McPhee can find a way to unload one or two of these 'albatross' style contracts will the Capitals have the ability to fill those spots.
So onto the possibilities.
McPhee wants to address 3 positions. More to the point, McPhee NEEDS to address 3 positions. They are, 1st line scoring winger, 2nd line center, rugged top 4 defenseman.
Realistically, the third option, the 'rugged top 4 D-man' can come by way of Karl Alzner. Alzner, a victim of Jose Theodore and Michael Nylander's contracts last year, will be offered a top 4 spot on the back end and, as we can all remember, played superbly in his debut for the Caps last season - turning Milan Jurcina back into a viable D-man certainly proved his value.
With the ability to address the defensive spot through the system, McPhee can simply turn his attention towards finding someone who wants to play on a line with alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
Well, the fact that there will be alot of guys out there seeking their fare share when it comes to a new contract, $3 million dollars won't be enough to lock down 2 top 6 forwards. Even if you take a risk on a \fallen from grace' type of player in Maxim Afinigenov for a discounted rate, you won't have enough room to also add an impact 2nd line centerman.
Your solution? Move those big elephants out of the room.
If anyone needs Michael Nylander the most, it is actually THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS themselves. With the departure of Fedorov, Nylander, who has fallen from grace himself, still technically holds a position as a top 6 forward on the Capitals. With Kozlov and Fedorov gone, one would have to assume that Nylander would see an increase in ice time and, dare I say it, value! Yet, it is near common knowledge that Bruce Boudreau is not a fan of the swedish centerman and is hesitant to play him in key situations.
Finding a taker for Nylander and replacing him on the Free Agent market will not be easy. McPhee will have to make it a sweet deal for anyone willing to take Nyls, most likely by being forced to throw in one of his more valuable young prospects. Yet, if the Canadiens can give up a blue chip prospect and a young RFA for a $7 million dollar bust of a contract, who says there aren't more GM's out there interested in a revitalization project of their own? Gainey is being ripped for his current move for Gomez, yet with he addressed his need for a top flight centerman, regardless of his recent performances. Montreal will now move forward(no pun intended) to addres the rest of their lineup and things will most likely work out in their favor as the sit as the fattest cats on the market with the most money to spend.
So, unlike Montreal, the Caps are in need of some wise investing. There is no way they can even dream of a shopping spree.
Unless...
They find someone interested in a goaltender who won 30+ games in only 50-something starts...
The Free Agent market will be wild today and will likley lead to alot of new homes for many players, but the market for trades is not dead yet. Look for alot of the teams who cannot play with their bank accounts to start tampering with their assets.
Teams like Edmonton, LA, Atlanta and Colorado may be in need of some improvement in the blue paint when all is said and done. And when that dust settles, you can bet that George Mcphee will be right there, ready to offer up a proven goatender(at least in the regualer season) for a not so detrimental cap hit of $4.5 million for one year.
Worth a shot, some teams are very seriously thinking so.
To wrap it up, McPhee has holes to address on his roster, but not alot of cash to play with. His situation is tight and he will need to get creative, yet with a market for goaltenders that is always short on caliber and quality, Jose Theodore may prove to be a very viable option for a team without a true number 1. Moving Nylander's contract andn filling the holes left by Kozlov and Fedorov and George's true needs this summer, yet his only way out may be too sweeten a deal by including some of his very valuable prospects. Most of whom are NHL ready and now have a Calder Cup ring to prove that.
It will be tough for Washington to make a splash, but if they are planning on doing anything, it won't be before one or two of those larger contracts find their way out of the Nation's Capitol.
steven.hindle@hockeybuzz.com
capitalshockeybuzz@live.ca
Go Caps!!!!!
With the the last tick of the clock at 11:59:59 today, July 1st - Canada's Birthday(congrats ol'gal, well done!) the Free Agent Market doors swung wide open and the offers started flying.
For George McPhee and his Washington Capitals, today will likely be a day of observation. Without much in the way of cash to offer the marquee names on the market, McPhee is most likely busying himself with the trying to unload the contracts of Jose Theodore and Michael Nylander. With qualifying offers to Chris Bourque, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn, Steve Pinizzotto, Jeff Schultz and Kyle Wilson, Geoorge McPhee has but a mere $3 million to play with.
Since that is the case, you can bet it all on the fact that McPhee won't be able to find suitable replacements for Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov just yet. Not until McPhee can find a way to unload one or two of these 'albatross' style contracts will the Capitals have the ability to fill those spots.
So onto the possibilities.
McPhee wants to address 3 positions. More to the point, McPhee NEEDS to address 3 positions. They are, 1st line scoring winger, 2nd line center, rugged top 4 defenseman.
Realistically, the third option, the 'rugged top 4 D-man' can come by way of Karl Alzner. Alzner, a victim of Jose Theodore and Michael Nylander's contracts last year, will be offered a top 4 spot on the back end and, as we can all remember, played superbly in his debut for the Caps last season - turning Milan Jurcina back into a viable D-man certainly proved his value.
With the ability to address the defensive spot through the system, McPhee can simply turn his attention towards finding someone who wants to play on a line with alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
Well, the fact that there will be alot of guys out there seeking their fare share when it comes to a new contract, $3 million dollars won't be enough to lock down 2 top 6 forwards. Even if you take a risk on a \fallen from grace' type of player in Maxim Afinigenov for a discounted rate, you won't have enough room to also add an impact 2nd line centerman.
Your solution? Move those big elephants out of the room.
If anyone needs Michael Nylander the most, it is actually THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS themselves. With the departure of Fedorov, Nylander, who has fallen from grace himself, still technically holds a position as a top 6 forward on the Capitals. With Kozlov and Fedorov gone, one would have to assume that Nylander would see an increase in ice time and, dare I say it, value! Yet, it is near common knowledge that Bruce Boudreau is not a fan of the swedish centerman and is hesitant to play him in key situations.
Finding a taker for Nylander and replacing him on the Free Agent market will not be easy. McPhee will have to make it a sweet deal for anyone willing to take Nyls, most likely by being forced to throw in one of his more valuable young prospects. Yet, if the Canadiens can give up a blue chip prospect and a young RFA for a $7 million dollar bust of a contract, who says there aren't more GM's out there interested in a revitalization project of their own? Gainey is being ripped for his current move for Gomez, yet with he addressed his need for a top flight centerman, regardless of his recent performances. Montreal will now move forward(no pun intended) to addres the rest of their lineup and things will most likely work out in their favor as the sit as the fattest cats on the market with the most money to spend.
So, unlike Montreal, the Caps are in need of some wise investing. There is no way they can even dream of a shopping spree.
Unless...
They find someone interested in a goaltender who won 30+ games in only 50-something starts...
The Free Agent market will be wild today and will likley lead to alot of new homes for many players, but the market for trades is not dead yet. Look for alot of the teams who cannot play with their bank accounts to start tampering with their assets.
Teams like Edmonton, LA, Atlanta and Colorado may be in need of some improvement in the blue paint when all is said and done. And when that dust settles, you can bet that George Mcphee will be right there, ready to offer up a proven goatender(at least in the regualer season) for a not so detrimental cap hit of $4.5 million for one year.
Worth a shot, some teams are very seriously thinking so.
To wrap it up, McPhee has holes to address on his roster, but not alot of cash to play with. His situation is tight and he will need to get creative, yet with a market for goaltenders that is always short on caliber and quality, Jose Theodore may prove to be a very viable option for a team without a true number 1. Moving Nylander's contract andn filling the holes left by Kozlov and Fedorov and George's true needs this summer, yet his only way out may be too sweeten a deal by including some of his very valuable prospects. Most of whom are NHL ready and now have a Calder Cup ring to prove that.
It will be tough for Washington to make a splash, but if they are planning on doing anything, it won't be before one or two of those larger contracts find their way out of the Nation's Capitol.
steven.hindle@hockeybuzz.com
capitalshockeybuzz@live.ca
Go Caps!!!!!
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