When I first heard the news of Coach Bruce Boudreau's firing from the Washington Capitals, I cursed my fortune to pick that week to go to Anaheim for my day job. As it happens, I was in the right place at the right time to witness the first game of the transformation of the Anaheim Ducks into Boudreau's attacking system. I was fortunate enough to be in the building for his first game as head coach. My main observation from that night is: for those of you who might be missing Bruce Boudreau right now, don't.

Continue reading this post »

From A Capital Offense:

Now that Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee has signed his top priority this offseason in Nicklas Backstrom, he can begin to focus on his other pieces.

Continue reading this post »

From A Capital Offense:

Capitals #1 center Nicklas Backstrom is due a big pay raise come July 1 when he becomes a restricted free agent.  Talks on a new contract are in progress and the two sides appear relatively close to a deal.  Trying to figure out his worth based on recently awarded contracts for comparable players is an interesting exercise, but one must also consider the salary structure on the Capitals.  Next season, Alex Ovechkin is due $9 million, Alexander Semin is due $6 million, and Mike Green is due $5 million.

The next question is term:  Ovechkin is signed for another 11 seasons, Semin is UFA after next season, and Green is on for another 2 seasons.  Where does Backstrom fit in this scheme?  One could argue he's somewhere between Semin and Ovechkin based on his role and production.

Continue reading this post »

-Mathieu Perreault continues to make his case:  he already has as many goals (4) and points (9) this season as Alexandre Giroux has in his entire NHL career.  I think I know which one won't be recalled again this year.

Perreault already knows how to celebrate like a pro.

-We'll need Boyd Gordon's 60.1% faceoff win percentage come playoff time. After Gordon and 4th line center David Steckel (59.7%, 609 of 1020), the Capitals faceoff leaders are Brendan Morrison (51.2%, 486 of 948) and Nicklas Backstrom (49.9%, 620 of 1242).   Yikes.

-Since coming to the Capitals, Eric Belanger has won only 48.9% (69 of 141) of his faceoffs, which is in stark contrast to the 57.6% he won in Minnesota.  Mathieu Perreault, by comparison, has won 45.2 % (90 of 199), which sits him right between Brooks Laich (45.7%, 150 of 328) and Tomas Fleischmann (43.6%, 143 of 328).

-Speaking of Mathieu Perreault's faceoffs, he sits 15th among NHL rookies in Faceoff Wins and Faceoffs Taken, but he's 9th in winning percentage among those 15 rookies who have taken at least 170 faceoffs.  In fact, among all rookies who have taken 170 or more faceoffs, only two have won more than 50% of their draws, and the average winning percentage for the 14 rookies who have taken more faceoffs than Perreault is 45.9%.  Think Perreault's winning percentage is looking that bad now? 

-For comparison, here are some notable NHL players and their faceoff winning percentage as a rookie:
*Vincent Lecavalier, 40.3% (384 of 953), wins 52.8% this season
*Sidney Crosby, 45.5% (534 of 1174), wins 56% this season
*Mike Richards, 45.7% (418 of 914), wins 50.7% this season
*Olli Jokinen, 43.9% (342 of 779), wins 48.8% this season
*Manny Malhotra, 43.9% (258 of 558), wins 62.4% this season

The Capitals have acquired RW Scott Walker from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2010 7th round draft pick [story]. 

The Capitals have acquired C Eric Belanger from the Minnesota Wild for a 2010 2nd Round Draft Pick.

The Capitals have re-acquired D Milan Jurcina from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2010 6th Round Draft Pick

The Capitals have acquired D Joe Corvo from the Carolina Hurricanes for Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala, and a 2nd Round Pick.  [Story]

Continue reading this post »

Here is the second half of my trade prospects summary:  Forwards.  I believe there are several forwards that might interest the Capitals and I'm going to run down the list of who I think is of interest and available.  Some are more likely than others, of course.  Rumor has it George McPhee is in the market for a center, which is no surprise.  There are a lot of names being bandied about, but I don't suspect any team with real playoff aspirations will trade away a player as valuable as a big #2 center.

Continue reading this post »

There is a lot of talk about the upcoming trade deadline, so I thought I would give my 2 cents.  I think the Capitals are in great shape going into the playoffs if they don't change anything at the trade deadline.  I think they could use some depth and perhaps an upgrade or two, so I will outline players who I think are likely possibilities to trade for.  This will not include goalies as I think the Capitals have more than they know what to do with and won't trade any of the ones they have, but I know that George McPhee is looking at everything.  The caveat for any trade must be that McPhee would make the trade, which means he would take into consideration time left on a player's contract, personality and chemistry concerns, and the asking price.  In general, don't expect McPhee to go after players with a lot of time left on their contracts, and I don't expect most playoff contending teams to trade away players they see as valuable.

In this post, I will profile the two defensemen I see as a likely trade possibilities  and I'll give a quick rundown on why I don't see other defenders as possibilities.  Forwards have their own post.

Continue reading this post »

In the morning roundup, J.P. mentioned that a full 20% of NHL head coaches have donned a Capitals sweater at one point in the NHL careers. I took it upon myself to compile a list of all NHL coaches and to see if there was any Capitals connection. I found a surprising number of connections, including the entire Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff. I have also included a couple Baltimore Skipjacks connections for fun.  Not including the Skipjacks connections (sorry Barry Trotz), 17 of 29 NHL teams (besides the Capitals) have at least one coach on their staff who has played for the Caps or was a coach for the Caps. 

By the way, one of my favorite All-Time NHL record holders is on this list.  Current Philadelphia Goalie Coach Jeff Reese set the NHL record for most assists and points by a goalie in one game with 3 while he was tending goal for the Calgary Flames on February 10, 1993.

All games played and coached totals include playoffs.

Continue reading this post »

If you're a family person like I am, you know that it must be a difficult time in Jose Theodore's life right now.  He's had his issues this year with family and hockey is not just his job, it's his retreat and his therapy.  He may not have been 100% there to start the year, but he's stuck with it and now he's the goalie we thought we were getting in the summer of 2008.

Continue reading this post »

There has been a lot of talk surrounding the Washington Capitals and their defense, lack of defense, improved defense, lack of a top defenseman, and so forth.  For the record, the Capitals are 11th in the league in Goals Against Average, and 4th in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Martin Brodeur-led Devils, the Ryan Miller-led Sabres, and the Tim Thomas/Tuukka Rask-led Bruins.  I don't think a lot of this talk about needing another defensive defenseman is justified.  I do believe it would be prudent for General Manager George McPhee to explore trade possibilities, though, so I'll take a look and see what's out there. I do not believe whatever we get in a trade is worth a player off the current roster, I do not believe we should trade any of our four top goaltenders or any of our other few blue-chip prospects (Karl Alzner, John Carlson, Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johansson), and I think trading a first-round draft pick must be justified by a high value in return.

Continue reading this post »

Now that Braden Holtby has been recalled for the third time this season, I think this post should be revisited. He has proven himself more than capable at both the ECHL and AHL levels, I think it is plausible he sees some game action on this recall.  I do believe, however, that will depend on a number of circumstances.

Continue reading this post »

It is nice to see Jason Chimera doing what we expected him to do when we traded for him:  play a solid physical game, fight occasionally, and chip in on offense from on a fairly regular basis.  He did all of those last night and ended up with the coveted "Gordie Howe Hat Trick."  Gordie Howe, by the way, only ever had one of these in his 1,767 NHL game career. 

Don't look now, but Chimera is also riding a 3-game point streak.  His longest streaks have been 4.  He's also got 5 points in 7 games as a Cap, along with 11 PIM and a +1.  I'd say he's fitting in quite nicely.  Keep it up, Jason.

Continue reading this post »

I am revisiting my FanPost from last month on defensemen the Capitals might be interested in trading for.  I’ll add a couple and subtract a couple, and I’ll dangle new trade bait out there and subtract other bait.  I’ll take a fresh look at the standings and see where teams are.  We’re still nearly two months from the March 3 trade deadline, so it’s a bit early still to speculate with any hope for accuracy, but I’ll take a stab anyway.  I’ll include a couple of rumors I’ve heard, too.

Continue reading this post »

The Washington Capitals have cap space for a change, and they have the potential to make a few trades for some good players at the trade deadline.  I think the forwards are set, barring an injury, so I’m not planning to concentrate on them right now, but I wouldn’t ignore the possibility of a McPhee move.  The same applies to the goaltending.  I just don’t think we need anything barring injury or meltdown.  Someone like Ray Whitney or Martin Biron would probably be available and could be useful if the situation called for one of them.  McPhee has been waiting for this for a few years.  He has maneuvered his chess pieces around the board for this moment, and it seems as though the moment is right for him make a move, likely closer to the deadline.

Continue reading this post »

I love how people say the Capitals are a one man team and have no defense.  Just to prove a point, I did what I do best, a little research.

Continue reading this post »