Andrew Cassels and Lawrence Nycholat? Well, they have to get to 23 somehow. Cassels' best days are, as they say, behind him, but given what appears to be the Caps' plan, this is not a bad pickup. He'll give them a year, maybe two, of decent two way play and will be able to impart some wisdom in the process -- hopefully. He's not, and is not intended to be, a long-term solution to the center problem.
Nycholat serves more in my mind to underline the lingering problem on the blue line -- a lack of physical defensemen (and please, no "Yonkman" references until he stays vertical for a dozen or so games). Even if they are not in the team's long term plans, they're needed to take away opponents' incentive to take liberties with the kids.
On balance, not a bad day for the Caps, but nothing here to convince me that a 50+ point season is on its way.
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