Well...it'll be a first

If Jose Theodore is issued the number "60," he will be the first player in Caps history to wear it (well, maybe except for minor leaguers in pre-season games.)

What goes 'round, comes 'round

And it came around today.






Cristobal Huet is off to Chicago...

...enter Jose Theodore

No, wait. Scratch that. Perhaps the order of events is reversed.





Last February, a top-flight goaltender fell into the Caps’ lap – Cristobal Huet. And, even though they were not perhaps looking for a goaltender, the offer was too good to pass up. It relegated Olaf Kolzig to the bench (and, ultimately, to Tampa Bay…the Bill Ranford cycle is complete).

It was a case where, if Kolzig was not pushed out the door, then he was nudged aside by an opportunity presented.

Well, today, the tables might have been turned. As JP points out at Japers’ Rink…

“When a player specifically asks a team for an offer of a certain duration and dollar amount, the team makes that offer and the player walks away, that's not "hit[ting] a couple snags." It's something, but it's not that.”

It occurs to us that the “what” isn’t that complicated. The Caps couldn’t wait anymore, and while Huet might have liked Washington, might have asked for a three-year, $15 million deal that the club was willing to provide, but wanted to “test the waters,” anyway, the testing of the waters inched a little too close to the deadline (and maybe beyond), and there was Theodore – the next opportunity (this one born of necessity) – just outside the door.

Perhaps it wasn’t a case of the deal “falling apart,” as Huet’s agent indicated. It might have expired of natural causes…that cause being “time.” It might have been that the Caps simply couldn’t wait anymore.

Keeping Score

Based on the NHLnumbers.com information, after the Green signing, what a 23-man roster might look like, cap-wise...

We'll update this as the opportunities occur...Comments?

Update...well, you leave the computer for a few hours, and your goalie is in Chicago?? And Jose Theodore is a Cap???

It's a wacky world.

The color of money is...

Green...

...as tsn.ca reports.

$5.25 million/year, four year deal.

One down, several to go.

High Noon (ching...ching...)

It's gettin' to be about high noon in these parts, and that means...

Free agents. Lots of 'em...could be seven by my count...

Huet

Green

Fedorov

Laich

Fehr

Gordon

Morrisonn

Sure, some of 'em are restricted, and some of 'em get qual-ee-fied, and maybe some of 'em get ar-bee-tration. But hey...ya gonna sign 'em, Marshall?

"I've got to. That's the whole thing."

Well...if'n ya don't...

No pressure, eh?