When I was watching the Caps vs. the Leafs the other night, CSN showed a stat that got me thinking.  In comparing two of the best offensive defensemen in the game, Green and Kaberle, the stats showed that these guys scored half their points on the power play.  I began to wonder, is scoring half your total points on the PP normal for a defenseman?  If it is, could this perhaps be the smoking gun in why the Capitals seem to lack offensive output from any defender not named Green? (Ignoring Poti's very nice output from just the last couple of games)

Lots more after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

While watching the Caps vs. Atlanta (ie. watching my hyper child destroy my house), I had this interesting thought.  What would it cost us to replace Alexander Ovechkin's goal production.  I also came to the disturbing realization that Ovechkin reads as a misspelled word on a Caps blog...weird.  Anyway, what I was thinking is looking at each team in the east, what do they spend to get the same number of goals that we get from our one guy.  I wonder if we get our money's worth.

In doing this, I always took the highest priced player on the team for comparison that fit into the scoring profile.  The higher priced players are more likely to consistently score goals at this pace (most of these guys are at the top of their teams score sheets).  I also chose the quickest combinations to 13 goals.  It doesn't make much sense to try to compare the production of 7 different guys when you can do it with 3.  Besides, you couldn't fit 7 more guys on the team anyway.

For this exercise I am looking for exactly the same goal output as #8, no more and no less.

All numbers from http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/ .

So in alphabetical order by team, here we go, what they pay in salary, and to who for 13 goals.

Atlanta - Kovy (9g, $6,389,260) + Evander Kane (3g, $3,100,000) + Ron Hainsey (1g, $4,500,000) = $13,989,260

Boston - Savard (4g, $5,000,000) + Bergeron (3g, $4,750,000) + Ryder (3g, $4,000,000) + Wheeler (3g, 2,825,000) = $16,575,000

Buffalo - MacArthur (5g, $1,400,000) + Vanek (4g, $7,142,857) + Pominville (3g, $5,300,000) + Hecht (1g, $3,525,000) = $17,367,857

Carolina - Whitney (4g, $3,550,000) + Cullen (3g, $2,875,000) + Jokinen (3g, $1,700,000) + Staal (3g, $8,250,000) = $16,375,000

Florida - Reinprecht (5g, $2,050,000) + Weiss (3g, $3,100,000) + Booth (2g, $4,250,000) + Horton (2g, $4,000,000) + McCabe (1g, $5,750,000) = $19,150,000

Montreal - Cammalleri (5g, $6,000,000) + Gionta (4g, $5,000,000) + Plekanec (3g, $2,750,000) + Kostitsyn (1g, $3,250,000) = $17,000,000

Devils - Parise (6g, $3,125,000) + Zajac (5g, $3,887,500) + Rolston (2g, $5,062,500) = $12,075,000

Islanders - Moulson (6g, $575,000) + Tavares (4g, $3,750,000) + Tambellini (3g, $587,500) = $4,912,500

Rangers - Gaborik (10g, $7,500,000) + Dubinsky (3g, $1,850,000) = $9,350,000

Ottawa - Michalek (6g, $4,333,333) + Alfredsson (5g, $4,875,000) + Neil (2g, $2,000,000) = $11,208,333

Flyers - Richards (6g, $5,750,000) + Briere (5g, $6,500,000) + Pronger (2g, $6,250,000) = $18,500,000

Penguins - Crosby (9g, $8,700,000) + Malkin (4g, $8,700,000) = $17,400,000

Tampa - Stamkos (9g, $3,725,000) + St. Louis (3g, $5,250,000) + Lecavalier (1g, $7,727,273) = $16,702,273

Toronto - Hagman (6g, $3,000,000) + Stempniak (3g, $2,500,000) + Ponikarovsky (3g, $2,105,000) + Kaberle (1g, $4,250,000) = $11,855,000

 

Wow, I'd have to say we aren't doing too bad just paying Ovechkin $9,538,462 for his 13 goals.  Only the Islanders and the Rangers are paying less.  Besides, by having that production in just one player, it also allows us to fit the Professor onto the roster and his incredible goal pace from only one spot on the ice.

Ok, not really.

I was looking at the NHL stats page, just wondering where Backstrom ranked in points after his 4 point night.  For those that are curious, tied for 7th in the league.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/app?component=completePointLeadersList&page=statshome&service=direct

Anyway, while I was scanning the chart, there was a number that jumped out at me.  The number 11.  The number that is 37.5% better than the next best number in this column, 8.  And yeah, I know that +/- is the worst stat in hockey.  Regardless, when Ovechkin is on the ice, excluding the PP, the Caps score more goals than the opposition at a 37.5% better rate than any of the other top 13 (after a quick check, actually better than the entire first page of 30) goal scorers.  And compared to some of the others, it's a much better rate than that (of course, that is where +/- becomes a weak stat, you can't compare Nash at Columbus to the high flying Caps). 

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like there actually might be a little defensive responsibility being executed by our top line.  Either that, or offense really is the best defense in this instance, and they are just flat out outscoring everyone handily.

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	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	+/-	ESP	SHP	PPP	HmP	RdP	DvP	ODvP	P/G
1	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	12	10	11	21	4	11	0	10	13	8	12	9	1.75
2	Alex Ovechkin	WSH	L	11	11	8	19	11	14	0	5	11	8	0	19	1.73
3	Marian Gaborik	NYR	R	12	10	8	18	6	12	0	6	10	8	3	15	1.50
4	Joe Thornton	SJS	C	12	3	14	17	-2	7	0	10	5	12	5	12	1.42
5	Patrick Marleau	SJS	C	12	9	7	16	2	9	1	6	3	13	1	15	1.33
6	Vinny Prospal	NYR	C	12	4	12	16	8	9	0	7	11	5	3	13	1.33
7	Dustin Penner	EDM	R	12	8	7	15	8	11	0	4	10	5	5	10	1.25
8	Dany Heatley	SJS	L	12	8	7	15	-1	7	0	8	5	10	5	10	1.25
9	Ryan Smyth	LAK	L	12	6	9	15	3	7	0	8	7	8	8	7	1.25
10	Rick Nash	CBJ	R	10	6	9	15	-2	10	2	3	3	12	0	15	1.50
11	Henrik Sedin	VAN	C	12	6	9	15	3	8	0	7	12	3	5	10	1.25
12	Nicklas Backstrom	WSH	C	11	3	12	15	6	9	0	6	9	6	0	15	1.36
13	Rene Bourque	CGY	L	10	5	9	14	-1	9	1	4	8	6	9	5	1.40
14	Alexander Semin	WSH	L	9	7	6	13	3	8	0	5	9	4	0	13	1.44
15	Evgeni Malkin	PIT	C	11	4	9	13	0	5	1	7	5	8	4	9	1.18
16	Brad Richards	DAL	C	9	3	10	13	5	9	0	4	4	9	2	11	1.44
17	Martin St Louis	TBL	R	9	3	10	13	-2	7	0	6	8	5	7	6	1.44
18	Wojtek Wolski	COL	L	12	7	5	12	8	9	0	3	6	6	5	7	1.00
19	James Neal	DAL	L	11	6	6	12	5	8	1	3	5	7	4	8	1.09
20	Zach Parise	NJD	L	9	6	6	12	6	9	0	3	4	8	6	6	1.33
21	Ales Kotalik	NYR	R	12	5	7	12	-3	3	0	9	8	4	4	8	1.00
22	Michael Cammalleri	MTL	L	11	5	7	12	4	9	0	3	8	4	3	9	1.09
23	Michael Del Zotto	NYR	D	12	4	8	12	4	4	0	8	7	5	2	10	1.00
24	Paul Stastny	COL	C	12	4	8	12	7	8	0	4	8	4	4	8	1.00
25	Dustin Brown	LAK	L	12	4	8	12	0	6	0	6	6	6	8	4	1.00
26	Daniel Alfredsson	OTT	R	9	4	8	12	0	6	3	3	8	4	4	8	1.33
27	Ales Hemsky	EDM	R	11	2	10	12	2	7	0	5	8	4	3	9	1.09
28	Dan Boyle	SJS	D	12	2	10	12	1	5	0	7	4	8	1	11	1.00
29	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	9	7	4	11	1	6	0	5	7	4	4	7	1.22
30	Mike Richards	PHI	C	10	6	5	11	-3	4	0	7	8	3	3	8	1.10

As a person who watches hockey as a fan, I sometimes watch what our guys are doing on defense, and scratch my head.  What in the hell are they doing?  I'm not an X's and O's guy, I've never played the game.  However, when I watch Chris Drury drive down the wing, covered by a dman just slightly behind, and he rubs the dman off by cutting close around the back of the goal, what is supposed to happen?  What did happen is that the dman just stayed on his side of the goal, and Drury carried the puck around the goal, up the wall, and was able to turn and survey the ice with zero pressure.  That can't be right.

So, I guess kind of what I'm asking is, what exactly are we playing for a defensive style?  What are each player's responsabilities?  I know we aren't playing a left wing lock, and we certainly aren't trapping in the neutral zone.  What exactly is our plan on D to regain the puck?  Too often, I see our two defenders just standing next to the goalie, while the opponents have free reign to moved around near the wall with almost no pressure.  This doesn't make much sense to me unless they are about to charge down the ice with Theo60 carrying the puck in a wing formation like in some bad Disney movie.

Beyond what the strategy is for each position, how is the addition of Woods supposed to help our defense?  Is he just allowing them to jump  into the play more so we try to spend less time in our own zone?  Is he actually bringing new player responsabilities on defense?  Is he just better working with young players and developing them?  (and yes, I know that is one of the answers, but is it the only one?)  Lastly, in regards to what Woods is going to ask of our defensive players, are there some that fit the mold for the style better than others?  Are there some that really won't be able to play this style well at all?

Thanks for your input ahead of time.  Teach a fan what we are doing!

 Hello fellow Capital fans, I come to you today begging for a little charity web design. 

I am the President of a newly formed charity Teach Our Tots Today (ToTT).  ToTT's goal is to raise money for Early Intervention therapies in the Lynchburg, VA area.  Early Intervention is the program in Virginia that provides therapy to children age birth to 3 with disabilities or delayed developement.  I became aware of Early Intervention when my son entered the program after being diagnosed with Autism.  He has since exited the program after reaching his third birthday, and the therapies this program provided have had huge results with his development.

Unfortunately, in this current budget cutting environment, Early Intervention had their budget cut by more than 1/2 by Virginia.  This meant that some therapies were not provided, therapies were no longer provided in the child's natural environment, and a waiting list was formed for children that desperately needed therapies, but for whom there was no money.  We feel lucky that the regional provider for Early Intervention at least took these actions to keep providing what services they could;  some providers just kept business as normal until they ran out of money, some did so half way through the year, and then closed their doors and stopped all therapy sessions. 

ToTT hopes to make sure that this never happens again.  Hopefully we can create an organization that will bridge the the financial need between what is available in the state budget and the therapies that these children need.  We are just getting off the ground, and barely have the funds to file our 501.C.3 paperwork to become a tax exempt organization.  We need a web presence at this point, and we just don't have the funds to pay for a web designer, so we are looking for someone who will do the work for a worthy charity for free.  I know it is a lot to ask, but the cause is a worthy one.

Any questions about the work desired, the organization, myself and my family, or god forbid an actual volunteer to do the work can be directed to Sam Jacobs at advocate4cvakids@comcast.net . 

Sorry about the long post, and thank you for your time.  Also a very heartfelt thank you to J.P. for allowing us to post this very off topic post on the best Capital's blog on the net.

Thanks again, and GO CAPS!!!!

Sam Jacobs

President

Teach Our Tots Today

advocate4cvakids@comcast.net

One thing we have talked about this offseason repeatedly is the need for the Caps to find a 2nd line center, 2nd line right wing, and an impact D-man.  Even though it is unlikely that the Caps will try to address these deficits through free agency because of the high cost, the possiblity always exists.

 

However, will the usual business of free agency change this offseason?  With an expected reduction of the salary cap in 2010-11, regardless of how small, GM's are having to take an even closer look at how they are manageing their funds.  That would mean, I assume, that teams are going to be hesitant to offer long term deals to free agents considering cap liablity. 

 

Also, the talent pool in free agency seems kind of weird this year.  The structure of free agency, most players hitting unrestricted status only after reaching their 27th birthday or later, means that you definitely know what you are getting when you sign one of these guys.  There are usually not too many guys on the upswing of their careers, but they have a proven track record and as a GM you usually know what to expect.  This year though, it seems like most of the big names are well beyond their primes, and made big money for questionable production (my assumption). 

 

With that in mind, is it possible that we see a year where in general free agents might sign contracts making less money than they did in their last contract?  Lets take a look at some of the guys and see if it makes sense.  For the sake of just looking at guys who make a lot of money, since money is the argument, I'll only look at guys making $3million and more.

 

Name                                  Position                Age                2008 Salary             Points

Mats Sundin                           C                         38                     $7 million               9-19-28

Joe Sakic                                C                         39                     $6 million               2-10-12

Saku Koivu                             C                         34                     $4.27 million          16-34-50

Mike Comrie                          C                         28                     $4 million                10-17-27

Sergei Fedorov                     C                         39                     $4 million                11-22-33

Robert Lang                          C                         38                     $4 million                 18-21-39

Mike Cammalleri                  C                         27                      $3.6 million              39-43-82

Henrik Sedin                        C                          28                     $3.575 mill                22-60-82

Steve Sullivan                       C                          34                     $3.2 million             11-21-32

Marion Gaborik                   RW                        27                     $7.5 million              13-10-23

Marion Hossa                    RW                        30                      $7.45 million           40-31-71

Martin Havlat                       RW                        28                     $6 million                 29-48-77

Bill Guerin                          RW                         38                      $4.5 million              21-27-48

Alexei Kovalev                    RW                         36                      $4.5 million             26-36-65

Brian Gionta                      RW                         30                       $4 million                20-40-60

Maxim Afinogenov            RW                          29                      $3.5 million             6-14-20

Miroslav Satan                   RW                         34                       $3.5 million             19-19-36

Alex Tanguay                     LW                          29                        $5.375 mill              16-25-41

Keith Tkachuk                   LW                          37                        $4.5 million             25-24-49

Jere Lehtenin                    LW                          36                       $4.1 million              8-16-24

Erik Cole                            LW                          30                        $4 million                 18-24-42

Daniel Sedin                     LW                          28                        $3.575                       31-51-82

Scott Niedermayer           D                             35                        $6.750                       14-45-59

Mathieu Schneider          D                              40                        $5.75                          9-23-32

Sergei Zubov                     D                             38                         $5.35                         0-4-4

Rob Blake                         D                              39                         $5 million                 10-35-45

Jay Bouwmeester            D                              25                       $4.875                        15-27-42

Adrian Aucoin                  D                                35                        $4 million                   10-24-34

Derek Morris                     D                              30                          $3.75 million           5-15-20

Derian Hatcher                D                               37                          $3.5 million              2-5-7

Mattius Ohlund                D                                32                        $3.5                             6-19-25

Christian Backman         D                               29                         $3.4 million               2-5-7

Jaroslav Spacek              D                               35                        $3.3 million                8-37-35

Filip Kuba                         D                                32                         $3 million                  3-37-40

 

Wow.  I hate when I start off with what I think is a perfectly good assumption, and then my research proves me completely wrong.  There really weren't as many 35+ year olds as I thought, and most of these free agents had pretty decent years.  I don't know if they are worth what they are paid, but with a few exceptions, probably don't see anything real out of line.

Obviously you would have to be careful with any of these guys over age 36.  Other than Tkachuk, Guerin, and Kovalev none of them really had very good numbers anyway.  But those guys are at or near the end of their careers anyway.  Don't see any time signing anyone over age 36 for longer than a 1 year contract.

I know it is silly to grade the defensive guys by points production, but that is what I was looking at for everyone else.  Regardless, most of those guys had better offensive numbers than anyone on our blueline not named Green.  I would expect that most of you know what the guys on the D list here bring more than I do anyway.  But again, probably don't see anyone who didn't earn their contract.

In conclusion, my assumptions were flawed.  The free agent list isn't just overpaid hasbeens this year.  There is a pretty good amount of solid 30-35 year old veterans, and a few under 30 studs who are going to get paid.  Except for the retirement age guys, and the injured guys, it really looks like most of these guys played up to their contracts, and probably will take an increase in pay in the upcoming season.  It will be interesting to see what gyrations the teams go through in the coming cap years after signing these guys.

I wanted to take a look at some of the players available in free agency this year and see who we might want to make a run for on the Capitals.  Added to this, I also wanted to take a look at some players that we might perhaps trade for, maybe giving away an extra 4-6 defenseman where we are deep.

With that said, I want to make a couple things clear:

1. I have no idea who we might bring up from Hershey next year, which might make this whole conversation moot.

2. I am not a salary cap expert.  I would assume that we can't afford to break the bank for anyone next year, but I don't know the complete details.  With that being the case, I'm not looking at guys who have a $4 million salary...we couldn't afford it.

3. I am not a trade expert.  I will look at some trades that might make sense for the Caps in the player they would recieve.  I don't really know if such a trade would make any sense for the other team.

4. I am a Caps fan and have seen almost zero games by other teams, except when they play the Caps.  I will make most of my judgements based of salary, player size, contract situation, goals, and points.  Based on those stats, I might look at a player who doesn't actually fit the role we are looking for, even if all the stats are there.

5. In this conversation, I am just looking at forwards.  We all know we need to improve the defense as well, but we have to see what we have in some of the guys in Hershey.  The need for D might be filled from the Bears, or from a deadline deal.  Here I am just looking at a gritty winger and maybe a 2nd line center.

With all that said, basically I'm looking for some gritty forwards who maybe scored 15-25 goals this year.  We aren't looking for an all star, just someone who will play physical, play puck control, and get their body in front of the net.  On first look, I am disturbed when I go down the scoring list how quickly we come to guys who scored 25 goals.  Top end scoring wasn't huge anywhere this year, and there just weren't a whole lot of guys who scored more than 25 goals.  These guys could be more expensive than you would ordinarily think.  There were only 59 guys who scored 26 goals or more.  That averages at 2 per team.  Who knows what the market will be.

Joe Pavelski C San Jose  25-34-59   5'11"  194   $1,637,500

          At 24, he is probably a RFA, not a UFA, but his numbers are solid.  Not a big guy, but might make a fine 2nd line center.

Dustin Brown RW Las Angelos  24-29-53  6'0"  200  $3,175,000

         Another 24 year old, he is under contract through 2011-12.  Kind of expensive, but since it would involve a trade, we would move some money their way too. 

James Neal LW Dallas 24-13-37  6'2" 185 $??????

        21 years old.  No idea his contract status, although I'm sure he's under contract since he was drafted in 2005.  Pretty skinny for his size, so probaby not the guy we are looking for in front of the net.

Alexei Ponikarovski LW Toronto 23-38-61 6'4" 220 $2,105,00

       29 years old and under contract through next year.  Nice cap number and good size.  I doubt Toronto would want to move him, but who knows, if they don't do something to get better, maybe they would trade him now to avoid him just walking away after next year.

Andrei Kostitsyn LW Montreal 23-18-41 6'0" 205 $3,250,000

       24 years old and under contract until 2010-11.  Not sure Montreal would trade him, and not sure that he would want to leave his brother behind.  Decent size.

Todd White C Atlanta 22-51-73 5'10" 193 $2,375,00

        Price is right, decade of experience, would be a great 2nd line center for us.  Under contract until 2010-11.  Forget about it though, he centers Atlanta's top line (and best nick name Little White Russian line)

Ryan Clowe RW San Jose 22-30-52 6'2" 215 $1,600,000

        26 years old and some experience on a good team.  either a RFA or a UFA, this guy has good size, good numbers, even with a raise should be an ok cap hit. 

Andrew Brunette LW Minnesota 22-28-50 6'1" 210 $2,333,333

        Holy cow! This guy is still playing?  Loved him as a cap.  2 more years on his contract, but Minnesota might have a major overhaul this year, so who knows if he is available or not.  Ok size, can he play right wing opposite Semin?

Matt Cullen C Carolina 22-21-43 6'1" 200 $2,800,000

        Another 10 year vet with good playoff experience.  Nice numbers, nice size, nice salary with 1 year left.  Not sure Carolina would move him in division, if at all.

Niklas Hagman RW Toronto 22-20-42 6'0" 205 $3,000,000

        Probably more than we want to spend, but at 29 should still have some game left.  Contracted through 2011-12 so would have to be a trade.

Colby Armstrong RW Atlanta 22-18-40 6'2" 190 $1,200,000

        At 26, either a RFA or UFA.  Good numbers, good size, but a little light.  Could be a nice salary level even with an increase.

Ryan Callahan RW New York 22-18-40 5'11" 185 $575,000

        At 24, he is a RFA this year.  Considering how he played against us, I'm sure he's not available.  Still, even with a substantial bump in salary, he could be worth it.

Patrick Berglund C St. Louis 21-26-47 6'4" 187 $1,246,667

        20 years old and putting up those numbers? This kid ain't available.  Needs to hit the weight room anyway.

Rene Bourque LW Calgary 21-19-40 6'2" 213 $1,300,000

        27 and good experience on a playoff team.  Good size and numbers and cap hit.  1 year left on his contract.  Don't know if Calgary needs any 4-6 d-men.

Mikko Koivu C MInnesota 20-47-67 6'2" 207 $3,250,000

         26 years old and great numbers.  Contracted through 10-11.  Whatever restructuring Minnesota does to their lineup, you can't imagine them trading this guy, but who knows.

Travis Zajac C New Jersey 20-42-62 6'2" 200 $984,200

        At 24, he is a RFA.  With those numbers he will get a substantial raise.  I imagine the Devils will match any offers.

Mikhail Grabovski C Toronto 20-28-48 5'11" 182 $850,000

        At 25, he is a RFA.  Should get a raise based on his numbers.  Does Toronto match an offer sheet on him?

Drew Stafford RW Buffalo 20-25-45 6'1" 202 $984,200

         23 year old RFA.  Good size, good numbers, probably cheap.  Buffalo probably makes him an offer.

Ales Kotalik RW Edmonton 20-23-43 6'2" 225 $2,333,333

         30 years old.  Should have some playoff experience from Buffalo.  Real nice size and numbers.  Should be affordable.  UFA.

Tomas Plekanec C Montreal 20-19-39 5'10" 196 $1,600,000

         26 year old RFA or UFA.  A little small, but nice numbers/salary.

David Moss RW Calgary 20-19-39 6'3" 203 $550,000

         27 year old UFA.  Nice size, nice numbers, real nice price.

Jason Williams RW Columbus 19-28-47 5'11" 185 $2,200,000

         28 year old UFA.  Nice numbers, but small. 

Dave Bolland C Chicago 19-28-47 6'0" 176 $845,833

         22 year old RFA.  Needs to hit the weight room, but I imagine Chicago makes him an offer.

Steve Ott C Dallas 19-27-46 6'0" 193 $1,425,000

         26 year old RFA or UFA.  Could use a little more size, but nice numbers and low price.

Mikael Samuelsson RW Detroit 19-21-40 6'2" 211 $1,200,000

         32 years old UFA and the experience doesn't get any better than playing in Detroit.  Nice size, nice price.

Chad LaRose RW Carolina 19-12-31 5'10" 181 $875,000

          27 year old UFA, this guy stat and size wise looks like Flash with fewer assists.  No thanks.

Tim Connolly C Buffalo 18-29-47 6'1" 199 $2,967,000

          28 year old UFA.  Perhaps a little expensive, and a little light, but who knows?

Kyle Okposo RW Islanders 18-21-39 6'0" 195 $850,000

          21 year old signed through 2010-11.  Not sure what Islanders would take in trade, if they would even consider it.

Andrew Cogliano C Edmonton 18-20-38 5'9" 178 $850,000

          21 and under contract through next year.  Cheap, but really small.  Any better than Aucoin?

Kyle Wellwood C Vancouver 18-9-27 5'10" 180 $997,500

         25 year old RFA.  Small and not great numbers, but cheap.  Don't know if Vancouver lets him go.  All I know about him is he took a couple sticks to the face in the playoffs and kept right on playing.  Not big, but tough.

Joel Ward RW Nashville 17-18-35 6'2" 215 $?????

          No idea what this guy's contract status is except that at 28, this is his 2nd year in the league.  Last year was in Minnesota.  Nice size, ok numbers.

David Clarkson RW New Jersey 17-15-32 6'1" 205 $837,500

          25 and another year on his salary.  Ok size, ok numbers, cheap.  Doubt NJ makes a trade.

Nick Foligno LW Ottawa 17-15-32 6'0" 188 $850,000

          21 year old under contract through next year.  Nice numbers, needs to spend some time in the weight room.  Nice salary.  No idea what Ottawa might do in the off season to get better.

Clarke MacArthur LW Buffalo 17-14-31 6'1" 191 $600,000

         24 year old RFA.  A little light, but nice numbers for the price.

Sam Gagne C Edmonton 16-25-41 5'10" 191 $875,000

         19 year old with a year left on his contract.  Small, but nice numbers for someone so young.  Don't see Edmonton making a trade.

Ruslan Fedotenko LW Pittsburgh 16-23-39 6'2" 195 $2,250,000

          30 year old UFA.  Perhaps a little expensive for this level of production, and considering who he played with, I don't see him putting up better numbers anywhere else.

Brendan Morrison C Anaheim 16-15-31 5'11" 181 $2,750,000

          33 year old UFA.  Small, and too much money for that production.

Matt Stajan C Toronto 15-40-55 6'1" 180 $1,750,000

          25 year old under contract through next season.  A little light, but very nice production for the price.  Who knows with Toronto if he would be available.

Antti Miettinen RW Minnesota 15-29-44 6'0" 190 $2,333,333

         28 year old under contract through 2010-11.  Good production for the price.  Even with changes in Minnesota, I doubt he's available.

Rich Peverly C Atlanta 15-29-44 6'0" 185 $??????

         26 year old who was traded from Nashville to Atlanta.  No idea what his contract situation is, but nice numbers.

Todd Bertuzzi RW Calgary 15-29-44 6'3" 245 $1,950,000

        34 year old UFA.  Definitely adds size and grit, but comes with a ton of baggage.  Nice price for his production.

Radek Dvorak RW Florida 15-21-36 6'2" 200 $1,550,000

       32 year old UFA.  Nice size and ok numbers for the price.

Tyler Kennedy C Pittsburgh 15-20-35 5'10" 183 $541,667

       22 year old RFA.  Integral part of their checking line, don't think they let him get away.

Scottie Upshall RW Phoenix 15-19-34 6'0" 197 $1,225,000

       25 year old RFA.  Very nice player for the price, but who knows who is calling the shots in Phoenix, if anyone.

Steve Bernier RW Vancouver 15-17-32 6'2" 233 $2,500,00

       24 year old RFA.  Really nice size, doubt Vancouver lets him get away.

Nikolai Kulemin RW Toronto 15-16-31 6'1" 183 $1,487,500

       22 year old with one year left on his contract.  Ok size, good numbers for the price.  Again, it's Toronto.

Maxim Lapierre C Montreal 15-13-28 6'2" 200 $687,500

       24 year old with a year on his contract.  Very nice size and affordable.  Don't know why Montreal would trade him.

 

I mostly looked at RW and C since that is where our need is.  This took a lot longer than I thought it would once I started considering players that we could trade for.  A couple things that jumped out at me as I did this.

1. There were a lot of high paid players that only scored 25 or fewer goals.

2. There are not very many UFA's in this group, but a lot of RFA's.  Don't know if there are any chances to grab a RFA.

I ended up posting a lot more players than I had intended to, but I know virtually nothing about most of them.  I hope to get a lot of feedback on whether any of these guys would fit, if any would be possible to get, or if this was just a giant waste of time.

It has been a memorable year.  We knew at the outset that we would have a good team.  We fully expected that we would make the playoffs.  Done.  We were pretty damned sure that we would win the southeast.  Done.  Not sure that we really expected to be second overall in the conference and to have such a great record against the other divisions, but that was done as well.  We knew that we had to get past the first round of the playoffs for our year to be considered a success.  Did that too.

As we stare at the ice in disbelief at a seventh game collapse, we need to take a second and consider the entirety of the season that has passed and balance it against our disappointment.  This year we supported the Caps like never before, with the most shutouts in history, filling the seats at an average per game rate of 97% capacity.  Washington area TV ratings for games were also excellent.  For an entire season this team was the talk of the town.

We had the pleasure of seeing another season of the most prolific scorer in the game.  We had the opportunity to share in his endless enthusiasm and excitement with scoring and delivering huge hits.  He will win the Richard trophy for the second straight year, as well as being in the running for the Hart and Pearson.  With over 200 goals and over 200 assists in his first four years, we can only expect more of the same to come.

We saw Mike Green set the record for consecutive goal scoring games for a defenseman.  He also scored 31 goals, the first time a defenseman had scored 30 in over a decade.  He is also in the running for the Norris.

The Capitals rewarded our faithfulness at the ticket booth by tying the total number of wins in a season at 50.  They also recorded the most number of points in the history of the organization.

There were also high points in the post season.  They came back from a 3-1 deficit against the Rangers to win the series in 7 games.  We had to beat one of the best goaltenders in the game to achieve that.  In the second round, until this last game, we managed to play neck and neck with one of the better teams in the league.  A team that is just as explosive as we are offensively.

This post season we have also seen possibly the future of our goaltending.  Stepping in to releive a shell shocked Theo, Semyon VarLAmov was the backbone of this team as we moved forward.  Playing in more post season games than regular season ones, he made incredible save after incredible save, never getting rattled.  If he can manage to play 11 excellent games for every 2 bad ones, like he has done in these playoffs, he will be incredible.

We have also seen the emergence of a third line of the type we had been missing since Dahlen, Halpern, and Kono.  Bradley, Laich, and Steckel just flat out got it done.  They forechecked, the held the puck, they tired out the defense, and they created scoring opportunities.  This was the grit line that we had been missing and will be the key to our future playoff success.

And lets not forget the guys we have waiting in the wings.  Hershey will begin playing for the eastern conference finals this weekend.  If Varly isn't our goalie of the future, Neuvirth has been excellent in Hershey.  Or Holtby.  The talent down there is excellent.  Bourque, Osala, Aucoin, Pinizzotto, Giroux, Della Rovere, Bouchard, Perreault, Alzer, Carlson, Sloan, Collins, Kronwall, Lepisto...damn training camp is gonna be interesting the next couple of years.

Not to say that everything is rosy.  This last series has repeatedly exposed some flaws in our team that have to be corrected for next year.  Someone other than Ovechkin has to score on a regular basis.  At some point everyone on our team has to learn how to anticipate and read pucks off the wall...Pittsburg just killed us on the walls.  We need more speed on defense, indirect passes just killed us as the puck repeatedly went past our defense hitting forwards in stride for way too many 2v1 and 3v1 on our goalie.  The forwards need to learn how to support our defense on breakouts when the other team has a strong forecheck.  All of this should be fixable.

Overall there is a hell of a lot more positives than negatives.  Through the tears and the heaviness of heart, remember that you got to watch the most exciting team in hockey, and the future looks even more bright.

Well, I have to go.  My wife is behind me with a smile and a razor.  Be safe, stay faithful, and continue to rock the red.