At first blush . . .

The Peerless will ponder the two signings over the next day or two, but one question keeps popping into his head . . .

When you imagine the Stanley Cup, can you see the names "Tom Poti" and "Viktor Kozlov" on it?

No?

And on top of this, Tarik El-Bashir reports that: a) the Caps aren't done yet, and b) there have been feelers put out about Alexei Yashin.

Here is the first impression The Peerless has of these signings . . . the Caps, desperately needing to be more of a club that is difficult to play against, has the look of a club that is going to be pushed all over the ice next year, even with Donald Brashear dressing every night. Maybe a good night's sleep will temper that opinion, and maybe the Caps have other cards to play that will add some grit to the team, but right now, even though these signings constitute skill upgrades over last year's incumbents at those positions (second line right wing, power-play specialist), it doesn't look like a bold leap forward.

And, if Yashin is added to this mix, this is not a playoff team.