Ek's note:

We are thrilled to have Eric Mellin covering the Washington Capitals for us here at HockeyBuzz. Eric’s father, originally from St. Paul, MN (who played college hockey with the great Andre Beulieu) got the boy into hockey at the age of 3, and he grew up playing club hockey in the Washington, DC area - He has been following the Capitals since the early 80's. Eric attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) where he played a year of college hockey before injury forced him to quit playing competitively. After moving on to Towson University, he married and settled in the Baltimore area. He still plays recreationally. He has been covering hockey for a Baltimore-based sports blog since 2012.



On Monday, Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan (GMBM) held a press conference to chat with reporters about the promotion of Director of Amateur Scouting, Ross Mahoney, to Assistant General Manager. While that is mind-blowing news, the conference quickly turned to what exactly GMBM's plans were going into the NHL Entry Draft in 10 days, and whether or not GMBM plans to use the Capitals final compliance buyout this summer.

Brooks Laich has been the subject of rumors going into the off-season, and the idea that the Caps might buy him out of the last few years of his contract has been growing. Laich is, whether you like to think so or not, one of the better two-way forwards in the NHL. During the Boudreau-era, he made a name for himself as a leader on this team and proved to be a reliable defensive-forward while being able to contribute offensively. Because of injury the last two seasons, Laich has been limited to just 60-or-so games and his impact on games hasn't been the same. You can also use the "Caps have had 3 coaches in 5 years" excuse as well, and the amount of systems he, and the rest of the team, has had to learn no doubt played a factor in his limited ice-time.

On Monday, MacLellan put to rest the rumor that the Capitals will be using their final compliance buyout on Laich, or any other player for that matter. Laich is still extremely useful, and, if healthy, should do extremely well under new Head Coach Barry Trotz. Laich is a leader and a good locker-room guy, and this is a Caps team that has missed that presence. (Plus they can't buy him out anyway because he failed his end-of-the-year physical, so that may have had something to do with it, too) At any rate, I'm glad he's staying.

Mike Green is another one that I'm glad isn't going anywhere, and before you huff-and-puff and state your business, let me at least explain why. MacLellan said, "Our priority is to get Mike Green on track here. There were circumstances last year that might have hindered his performance." While I'd love to know what these "circumstances" were, it's nice to know that Green will have another shot at finding his game here. Mike Green is still an amazing talent who can move the puck and contribute offensively. Yes, his defensive play can be awful and, at times, non-existent, but he's also been the subject of intense scrutiny over the last few years. That can take a toll on any player. Green has gotten away from his game and tried to incorporate 3 different styles of play over the last 4 years. He hasn't played with a compatible player since Tom Poti, and Green's confidence in his game has been beaten down to an imaginary pulp. Poti, while not a physical presence, helped calm the play down and he created support for Green, and the Caps haven't been able to find the right partner to pair him with. Whether it's via Free Agency or someone on the current roster, Trotz and MacLellan will have find another compatible player for Green to help him come out of his shell, otherwise, I'm not too sure there would be many teams willing to take on that contract.

Which leads to me to the next, and most important goal for the new GM this summer:
The need for a top D-man pairing.

Per Ted Starkey's twitter " I think I would get aggressive [to get a top D]. I think there's a lot of teams looking for high-end defensemen".

The Caps have lacked that physical presence on the ice - the elusive 'shut-down' defenseman that teams hate to play against. The lack of support in the defensive zone for the Caps is painfully obvious, and that has made the transition game that much more frustrating. It will be interesting to see who the Caps try to bring in, and with Trotz on board, it may open up the FA pool a little more.

Lastly, and only because this is already getting to be a long post, the Caps must re-sign Mikhail Grabovski, but they may have other ideas. MacLellan mentioned today that, "We like the job Grabovski did for us last year but we're also balancing what we're going to do with our roster."

Awesome.

GMBM also said that he'd like to see Kutznetsov in the center position, which means the possibility of Grabo re-signing is getting smaller by the day. Grabovski is the kind of player the Caps have been looking for since Sergei Fedorov left. If they think Trotz can get Kutzy to play that position, is it worth letting Grabo go? Or maybe they are banking on Laich being 100% by training camp? Whatever the case, I'd hate to lose Grabovski after only a year. I think he'd be great under Trotz.

More to come on the Caps and MacLellan's statement about having Grubauer down in Hershey for another year, and what that means in goal.

Thanks for reading.


Find me on Twitter - @_Mellin_

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