Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Price of Success

At the risk of invoking comparisons to Oscar Wilde and this quote...

"A cynic is a man who knows the price of
everything but the value of nothing."


...we note that the Caps' success last season comes with a price. It is the price of keeping the "core" pieces of the puzzle in place, as this look at the cap hits of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 suggest:



Five years ago, this club was a wreck, and the disappointment of failure was being worn openly. This club didn't disappoint anyone last year (except perhaps those who now feel that there is unfinished business to take care of) and has the look of another club that went from basement to Stanley Cup final in two seasons.

It is a club that has followed a plan -- draft well, keep that core together (note those amounts in yellow above), add pieces through trade or free agency as needed.

There is spending stoopid and spending well. In 2001 and 2002, the Caps spent stoopid and paid a heavy price in the years that followed -- economically and emotionally. In 2008, they seem to be spending well.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If youre not going to spend your money on guys like ovechkin, green, backstrom, semin, etc., whats the point of having money?