Looking at free agency....the Southeast Division

So, we’ve been gone a few days, and things are settling out as far as the free agency period is concerned. Does any of it really matter in terms of the who-left and who-arrived via free agency (or something close to it)? Let’s look at the Southeast Division…

Washington:

Gains…

Cristobal Huet wasn’t supposed to be a rental. He was supposed to sign a three-year, $15 million deal, be the bridge to the next generation of netminder – presumably Simeon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth – and everyone was to live happily ever after. Instead, the Capitals have Jose Theodore – a former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner who has made more news off the ice than on it, it seems, since winning those trophies. Since his big dual-trophy year, Theodore has posted a record of 112-113-21, 2.76, .905. What’s more, he’s been inconsistent from year to year, going nine games under .500, five games over, .500, two games under, and seven games over in the years since winning the Vezina and Hart Trophies. He has the capacity to be a solid number one netminder, but this is hardly a given. He has some “show me” to do.

Keith Aucoin is a depth forward who can give Hershey some quality minutes and fill in with NHL experience in his resume in an emergency.

Losses…

Matt Cooke supplied a bit of energy in the home stretch that the Caps weren’t getting from Matt Pettinger. But, as George McPhee put it, “you can’t keep everybody.” And, with the Caps having already signed their minimum season’s requirement of Matt’s (Bradley), Cooke became the odd Matt out.

Olaf Kolzig…Let’s leave names out of this. It’s hard to do, but let’s try. Consider…only three goaltenders playing more than half their team’s games last year had a worse GAA than Kolzig – Jason LaBarbera, Johan Holmqvist, and Dwayne Roloson. Only one – Holmqvist – had a worse save percentage. Only one – Roloson – had fewer shutouts. Was Kolzig the worst goaltender in the league?...no. But his age showed over significant stretches over the year. It was the seventh consecutive year in which his minutes decreased. That was a function of his being benched when Huet was brought on board, but even had he been the go-to starter over the last few weeks, he might have ended up with the second fewest number of minutes played since he became a starter ten years ago. If the Caps needed to go 11-1 over their last dozen games to make the playoffs (and they did), it seems unlikely they would have done so with Kolzig in goal. He will be missed for what he meant to this franchise on and off the ice over the past decade, but the fact of the matter is that the tense in that verb – “meant” – is the past tense. Could his departure have been handled more adroitly? Perhaps, but would not have been a certainty that this would be a playoff team in 2008-2009 with Kolzig in goal.

Cristobal Huet…11-2-0, 1.63, .936. Then…3-4, 2.92, .909. The regular season, the playoffs. Since the lockout, he has been 69-41-13, 2.44, .921, with 13 shutouts…in the regular season. He’s also been 5-8, 2.65, .919, with no shutouts, and no series wins…in the playoffs. This is not meant to bash someone who skipped out on the Caps, merely an effort at providing perspective. Huet was the best available goaltender to the Caps when free agency started – Jose Theodore is not as promising a replacement. But the manner in which Huet closed the regular season was atypical of his performance over his career (it is atypical of Martin Brodeur’s for that matter, but that’s another subject). Had Huet been re-signed, the Caps would have a goaltender who has never played more than 52 games in a season and only twice played more than half his team’s games. It is entirely reasonable to suspect that Brent Johnson would be getting more work than he was used to backing up Olaf Kolzig, and we do not suspect that his contribution would be much more than a .500 record (he is 22-35-10 in three seasons in Washington). That has to be factored into the matter, too.

Keepers…

Mike Green was as close to a “must re-sign” as there was. Having a break-out year last year, leading NHL defensemen in goals scored, he had a skill set that the Caps did not have anywhere else in their system for the foreseeable future (one might picture a Josh Godfrey in this role, but he is some years off from competing for a roster spot).

On balance, on paper…

The Caps are not as good a team today as the one that lost game 7 in the opening round of the playoffs to Philadelphia. They are a team with the theme, “show me.” As in, show me Jose Theodore can put his recent inconsistency behind him and at least approach his Vezina/Hart form. As in, show me Mike Green wasn’t a one-year wonder. As in, show me that the rest of this group didn’t plateau (or just play over their heads) the last month of the season.

Tampa Bay:

Gains…

Where to start…OK, Ryan Malone. Technically an arrival via trade for negotiating rights, Malone enjoyed his best season as a pro – 27-24-51, +14 in 77 games. Perhaps surprisingly, he averages 24 goals per 82 games over his career. That’s the good news. For three years, he’s been a teammate of Sidney Crosby (meaning that if he isn’t on Crosby’s line enjoying his playmaking, he’s not facing the opponent’s top checking line, either). For two, he’s been a teammate of Evgeni Malkin (see: the previous sentence). Is that worth $4.5 million a year? He’s going to be flanking another young center, it seems, in Steven Stamkos, and might have a gray-beard on the other side in Mark Recchi (more on that below). On balance, we’re guessing that Malone is going to be the 2008-2009 version of the decent player, overpaid in free agency.

Olaf Kolzig’s shortcomings were described above. He can, however, provide insurance for a young goalie (Mike Smith and Karri Ramo have a combined 81 games of NHL experience) or provide some quality minutes. He is probably not, at this point in his career, a goalie who can put a team on his back and carry them to the playoffs. His legendary temper will be tested, though. Tampa Bay was dead last in the NHL in goals allowed-per-game. Their defense is not better than last year, and in fact their team speed is probably not up to last year’s squad. Kolzig will face, if not a ton of shots (although that seems likely), then a ton of opportunities.

Gary Roberts – another arrival via trade for negotiating rights – would have been a decent pick up three years ago, perhaps as a deadline deal. But now? A 42-year old coming off a season in which he had a broken leg, groin injury, and pneumonia? On a one-year deal? $1.25 million seems a lot for a player who is probably a fourth-liner who might miss 25 games to injury for a team that isn’t going to make the playoffs.

For Vaclav Prospal, last spring was probably something he will look back upon in years to come and ask, “did it really happen (yes, we know, he’s played there before)?” After playing 225 games with the Lightning over three seasons, he was shipped to Philadelphia for 35 games (including 17 playoff games). Perhaps it was the stress of picking either Pat’s or Geno’s, but Prospal is now back in Florida, where he has enjoyed his greatest individual success (he’s averaged 23-46-69 per-82 games with the Lightning). Oddly, perhaps, he was in Anaheim when the Lightning won their Cup in 2003-2004 – the one season that interrupted his run in Tampa. Well, he’s not winning a Cup this year, either, but he might be the best signing of the lot for the Lightning.

Radim Vrbata…uh, why? Last year was his first with as many as 50 points (54), his first with as many as 20 goals (27). This will be his fifth team in seven seasons. He might be a 20-25-45 guy, if he gets 16-18 minutes a night. Maybe the Lightning were looking for a Lady Byng candidate (118 PIMs in 422 career games).

Mark Recchi…all one needs to know about this signing is this quote, “I've known Mark for about 20 years.” That was Len Barrie – the other new owner in Tampa – speaking about the acquisition. It’s true, as Barrie pointed out, that Recchi is a future hall of famer, but what he is in the here and now is old…40 years old, and in the three years since the lockout has seen his goal production go from 28 in 2005-2006 to 24 to 14 last year with Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Scary to the point of frightening on a team as defensively challenged as this, Recchi is -53 over the past three seasons. At a buck and a quarter for one year, he is not much of a stress on the checkbook of the boy owners, but he’s not likely to be a difference maker, either. This signing seems more of an indulgence (“Hey, Len…this is fun, now you sign somebody”) than an ingredient to success.

Adam Hall. Tampa Bay will be his fifth team since the lockout (Nashville, NY Rangers, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh being the others). He’ll probably be a fourth liner with the Lightning, and he is one of those role players that can make a quiet difference. We suspect he’ll be better at his role than any other signing, with the exception of Prospal.

Brandon Bochenski…ok, here’s the deal – Bochenski is 26 years old. He has 121 games of NHL experience. Tampa Bay will be his sixth team (Ottawa, Chicago, Boston, Anaheim, and Nashville being the others). And, he has never spent an entire NHL season with one team – Ottawa and Chicago in 2005-2006; Chicago and Boston in 2006-2007; and Boston, Anaheim, and Nashville in 2007-2008. One would think Norfolk is his future for the time being.

Janne Niskala might start for the Lightning on opening night, such is the state of Tampa Bay’s defense. He will be 27 on opening night and has never played in an NHL game. On any other team, this is a depth signing. With the Lightning? Not even God knows.

Losses…

There are a number of free agents the Lightning have chosen not to resign, but they haven’t been picked up elsewhere, either. Hardly surprising for a club that finished 30^th in the league last year.

Keepers…

Ryan Craig…might seem like an odd re-signing. He missed 59 games with a knee injury last year and 13 games before that with a herniated disk in his back. Perhaps the Lightning are counting on Craig and Roberts to split 82 games between them.

Evgeni Artyukhin…is a re-signing of a sort, having spent the last two years in Russia. As best we can tell, the significance of this signing is to add evidence of Tampa Bay’s desire to sign every available forward on the planet.

On balance, on paper…

The Lightning have been busy…so were the Rangers in 2001-2002 (Matthew Barnaby, Pavel Bure, Tom Poti, Martin Rucinsky) and 2002-2003 (Alex Kovalev, Anson Carter), and the Rangers were under .500 and out of the playoffs both years. The Lightning has a similar look of pieces that aren’t yet (or near) a coherent whole. The Lightning have signed – so far – nine forwards through free agency. Tampa Bay could have half of their roster or more replaced by opening night in 2008. Barrie says, "I'll predict right now, Tampa Bay will win the division. That's how much we like our team." Uh, no…too many new parts of indiscriminate assembly. We say…80 points.

Atlanta:

Gains…

Ron Hainsey is a nice defenseman. Is he $4.5 million a year for five years nice? Probably not, but consider the Thrashers’ plight…they are now used as bargaining leverage, as in, “you could end up in Atlanta.” And this a club that was a playoff team two years ago. As for Hainsey, he has two full NHL seasons under his belt, so the thinking here must be “upside”…as in, this guy still must have some considerable upside. Given that he is now the second highest salaried Thrasher, he’d better have some. What Atlanta gets is a guy who probably doesn’t play to his size (tied for 145^th among defensemen in hits last year), who has a glimmer of offensive potential. Statistically, he is vaguely reminiscent of Tom Poti.

Losses…

Bobby Holik…might have found a home and a role with Atlanta after being bought out by the Rangers, a team that miscast him from his checking/shut down role he enjoyed with the Devils. Well, it didn’t work here, either. Over his past 11 seasons, the last three in Atlanta were his worst offensively and his worst on the plus/minus ledger. Given that Atlanta was 29^th in the NHL this past season in goals allowed per game (15^th and 24^th the previous two seasons), he wasn’t helping to shut down much of anything. He might find a role more to his liking back in New Jersey, but in Atlanta, the value of his leaving is in freeing up $4.25 million in cap room.

Mark Recchi…didn’t really contribute that much to the Thrashers last year. After the trading deadline, he was 2-9-11, -7, in 18 games. In his last dozen games, only twice was his ice time over his average for the year. Atlanta might not make up his overall production this year, but for a team that has to move forward, it isn’t production that will be missed all that much.

Keepers…

Johan Hedberg…seems, at this point, comfortable with his role. Whether the number one ends up being Kari Lehtonen or Ondrej Pavelec, Hedberg will be the guy in the baseball cap, ready to go. And having played 57 games over his two years with Atlanta, it seems a good bet he’ll get work.

Eric Boulton…Here’s your fun Eric Boulton fact – in seven seasons, he’s never had as many as ten points. Four times he’s had more than 100 PIMs, including three times when he played fewer than 60 games.

On balance, on paper…

This isn’t a very good team. They didn’t add much. When the big thing is that they are close to signing Ilya Nikulin, there doesn’t seem to be a lot in the near term future, either. This is a team that is years away from competing.

Carolina:

Gains…

Joni Pitkanen…the restricted free agent came over in a trade for Erik Cole, but is on the receiving end of a three-year, $12 million extension. Pitkanen had a good rookie year with the Flyers, then a very good year the following season. But in that second season, he suffered a torn abdominal muscle, the result of which was his missing 21 games. The next year, on a bad Flyers team, he had an indifferent season that resulted in his being traded to Edmonton. He then had another disappointing season (given the expectations he brings as a former #4 overall pick). Now, he tries to resurrect his career on a team that needs defensive help (25^th in goals allowed per game last year) and offensive support from the blue line (no defenseman had more than 25 points scored with the club – Joe Corvo had more for the season, but he arrived in trade).

Josef Melichar…is something of an interesting selection. Melichar, formerly of Pittsburgh, spent all of last season in Europe. He is likely to contribute next to no offense, but looking at the Carolina roster, there isn’t a “defensive” defenseman in the group (ok, a good defensive defenseman). If Pitkanen is supposed to contribute offense – and he is – then Melichar is supposed to contribute defense. Carolina could use it. We’re thinking they’ll come up short.

Losses…

Keith Aucoin…53 games of NHL experience, 38 of them last year. Not exactly a crippling loss.

Glen Wesley…losing a veteran of almost 1,500 NHL games to retirement might be a problem in a lot of places, but Carolina has enough veteran leadership to allow them to deal with this loss. It doesn’t help that it is another hole on the blue line, though.

Keepers…

Michael Leighton…has been in the league for four seasons. He had a 34-game year in Chicago in 2003-2004. Other than that, he has yet to register as many as ten games in a season. This is his seventh organization (Chicago, Buffalo, Anaheim, Nashville, Anaheim, Montreal, and Philadelphia being the first six). Cam Ward played 69 games last year…he might play more this year if Leighton is the backup.

Dennis Seidenberg…is a decent defenseman on a team that needs a good deal more. He received a 50 percent raise with his contract extension, but it would be nice if he was more durable. Over the past three seasons with three different teams (Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Carolina) he has missed more than a third of the games played with a variety of injuries (concussion, wrist, knee twice, and ankle).

Tuumo Ruutu…showed promise off of his rookie year in Chicago in 2003-2004 (23-21-44 in 82 games), but has seen his production decline ever since. He played only 15 games in 2005-2006 (back and ankle injuries limiting him to a 2-3-5 finish), but in the two full seasons since then was 17-21-38, then 10-22-32 last year, split between Chicago and Carolina. On the Carolina depth chart, he is on the third line, manning the left side, for which $2.25 million might be a lot of money (although it is only for one year).

Tim Gleason…might be the best defenseman on the Hurricanes, even with the addition last year of Joe Corvo and the recent addition of Joni Pitkanen. Still only 25 years old, he has 262 games of NHL experience. He might not put up a lot of numbers from the blue line (he doesn’t have, for instance, a 20-point season), but he could be important to letting Corvo or Pitkanen contribute on offense without giving up too much the other way.

On balance, on paper…

Carolina has more or less only tweaked their roster, hoping to squeeze out the extra two or three points they needed to win the Southeast Division last year. The trouble is, 94 points doesn’t seem likely to be enough to win the Southeast this coming year. Carolina probably won’t fall back much with these changes, but they need more to be a division favorite, too.

Florida:

Gains…

Cory Stillman…the Southeast Division tour continues. Florida is Stillman’s third stop in the Southeast (Tampa Bay and Carolina being the other two – with Stanley Cups won at each). He brings two things Florida can use…experience and reliability. Florida had a total of three wingers who played in more than 60 games. In his 12 full seasons, Stillman has played in at least 72 games nine times. He brings a total of 839 games of experience, not to mention those two Cups. Florida had three 20-plus goal scorers and two 50-plus point scorers, and a player who was both – Olli Jokinen – is gone. Only once in the last seven seasons has Stillman had fewer than 20 goals; only twice has he had fewer than 50 points. While he has some mileage on him (he will be 35 in December), he is one of those “next tier” signings that is probably going to be more successful than the flashy stuff. He is not the “last piece” by any means to the Florida playoff puzzle, but he will make this a better team.

Losses…

Olli Jokinen…finally escapes. He has 723 regular season games under his belt. He has no playoff games on his resume. He is tops among active players in that measure of futility and will set the record early next year (Guy Charron – 734). He leaves Florida serving as an appropriate enigma, emblematic of the Panthers’ frustration. He was their best player in recent years; he led the club in goals, assists, and points last year. But he was also a brutal -19, worst (by far) on the team. Only 12 players in the league were worse. Florida will miss the Jokinen of 2006-2007 (39-52-91, +18); they will not miss the Jokinen of last year…it was time for him to move on.

Keepers…

Rostislav Olesz…is a former #7 overall pick who has not (yet?) blossomed. He is 33-44-77 in 190 NHL games. With Jokinen gone, it’s time for him to step up. But first, he has to show up. In three full seasons, he’s had his share of injuries – knee, shoulder, hand.

Greg Campbell…won’t dominate the stat sheet, but he’s improved steadily over his three full seasons and has gotten increasing ice time in the mean time. But, -11, -10, -12 in those three years has to improve.

On balance, on paper…

Florida will not miss Jokinen as much as his career statistics suggest, and Stillman could be a pleasant surprise – a solid pro for a team that needs one. Much of their outlook depends on resigning their restricted free agents (losing Jay Bouwmeester would, for example, be a disaster for this club). As currently constituted, they probably slip back a notch.

Grading the Division So Far…

Tampa…We look at Tampa and think, “Al Czervik,” the character in “Caddyshack” who tossed money around like confetti without a clue about what he was doing (“I’ll take six o’ those…gimme a box o’ those…”). They will have won the off season, but it won’t be enough to make the playoffs, Len Barrie’s confidence notwithstanding. Grade: C

Washington…The Caps lost a bit of ground here, but had a backup plan to cope with the loss of Cristobal Huet. It is a team that is built to stand pat (depending as it does on its youth). Part of that is not losing its youth, and keeping Mike Green is part of that. Grade: B-

Atlanta…It’s hard to see a way where Atlanta escapes the Southeast Division cellar this year. Their performance in free agency hasn’t put a coat of optimism on that view. To its credit, we suppose, it hasn’t tried to buy its way to a shortcut back to competitiveness…such strategies rarely, if ever, work (as Tampa will find out). Grade: C-

Florida…We’ll say right now that Cory Stillman will be the best UFA addition (as opposed to re-signing) in the Southeast this year. It will not make Florida a playoff team; there are too many holes. They will probably fight with Tampa Bay to see who can win the Sunshine State. Grade: B-

Carolina…The free agency period seems more for fans and media that it is for teams. Big signings more often than not, it seems, are all sizzle and no steak. Carolina pursued a moderate path, adding players where they need them (defense) and eschewing the big deal. Does this make them better? They will miss Erik Cole, but they are probably a more balanced team. Their success depends more on who returns (Eric Staal, Rod Brind’Amour, and Cam Ward in particular), but the moves they've made look measured and sensible. Grade: B

Day Two...The Need for Speed

Today was Day Two of "Christmas Hockey in July" at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. We took in the morning session with the Group B players, and the keywords seemed to be "gadgets" and "speed." The first half of the session was devoted to measurement -- spider-like meters set up around the ice surface in what seemed to be an effort to measure individual players' speed...blue line-to-blue line, taking corners, and a number of slalom-type courses. After a few of those, it seemed the guys were ready (we'd have been dead).



After the ice was resurfaced, Coach Boudreau took over the session and worked the boys through a number of skating drills. The Coach does seem to be in his element, taking advantage of the teaching moment. Some of the time, it almost looked as if the drills were as much an effort to see who could remember the instructions...


The highlight, though, was a competition at the end of the session. The group was divided into two squads, and pucks were lined up at each blue line. The object of the exercise was to deposit all of the pucks into the net, players taking turns in the effort. If a player missed, he had to collect the puck and high-tail it back to the blue line, leaving the biscuit for another player. First team to clean its blue line of all the pucks wins. The group shooting at the balcony end of the ice fell behind early and at one point had four pucks left to the Caps "Retired Numbers" end group's one puck remaining. But the Balcony Boys crawled back to tie things up, each group with a puck remaining. This brought out the competitive juices of each team as the tempo picked up in skating in, shooting, and -- several times, it turned out -- lugging the puck back to the blue line to get the next skater on.

Finally, the Balcony boys completed their comeback, and you'd have thought the guys had won a championship as they leaped off the bench to congratulate one another. The losers had to stick around to do a round of "herbies" (the full herbie...blue line/back, red line/back, far blue line/back, far goal line/back).

All in all, a very nice way to spend a summer's day in sweltering DC.



click on the images for larger versions.

We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States…

…In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

On July 4th, remember what the 56 men who signed this Declaration of Independence bequeathed, and what it is that those men and women have fought and died for over the last 232 years to preserve.

Happy Independence Day.

C'mon Caps Fans...

...you knew it had to happen...












Crosby and Satan...

The Cycle

This week is the week of the “here and now.” Next week will be that of the “hopes and dreams.”

This week, we ponder additions such as Jose Theodore and we wonder about keeping Sergei Fedorov and Brooks Laich.

Next week, we will wonder about the chances of Karl Alzner making the team in the fall and when Simeon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth might be stepping between the pipes.

This week, we ponder what effects this signing or that will have on this year’s cap, and whether we can keep as much of last year’s magical team as possible.

Next week, we will wonder when – or if – Mathieu Perreault or Francois Bouchard will be ready to make the big leap to the NHL.

This week, we ponder the wisdom of letting Cristobal Huet go.

Next week we will wonder whether drafting Braden Holtby was a stroke of genius…or not.

This week, we ponder the wisdom of paying Mike Green more than $5 million a year.

Next week we will wonder whether Stefan Della Rovere has the moxie to compete at the highest level.

This week we ponder who's aboard.

Next week we will wonder who's on their way.

This week…next week…the cycle in a fortnight.

Just askin'...

Let's put on our "just suppose" caps for a moment, and let us ask this question...

Just suppose, for the sake of argument, that the Caps had never signed Cristobal Huet at the trading deadline last year. We would still have the problem we had coming into this year of who would be the "bridge" between Olaf Kolzig and either of Simeon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth.

If someone had come to you and said, "look, we can get a former Vezina/Hart trophy winner, who is at his worst a 'serviceable' goalie, who costs about a million less than Kolzig, who has expressed a desire to play for this team as that bridge..."

...would you be sneering at the prospect today?

Just askin'

It'll take some getting used to...

...if Brad Lukowich gives up his number.

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?

The Act that Keeps Entertaining

OK, here are the first two paragraphs from a story this morning...

"The Rangers' perfect 2008-09 world would feature Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin combining forces on the first line with Chris Drury moving to left wing to skate with Scott Gomez on the second unit.

"It's anybody's guess why Glen Sather hasn't made the effort to communicate that vision to Jagr, who has every right to be miffed over what can politely be described as the GM's cavalier approach to the captain's impending free agency, but trust me, the Rangers will be giddy if they can retain Jagr and unite him with Sundin."

Can you guess who wrote them? Of course, it's our old pal, Larry Brooks, who never ceases to bring a frothing message board fantasy league perspective to these times of year, when there is the possibility of player movement and the Rangers doing something dopey in that regard.

What makes anyone think a pairing of Mats Sundin and Jaromir Jagr would work any better than a pairing of Jagr and Chris Drury did?...or a pairing of Jagr and Scott Gomez did? Oh, Sundin's a name player with a big contract expiring, even though in the end, it's all about keeping Jagr.

Adding Drury and Gomez and $14.4 million in cap hit didn't have the desired effect. Now, signing Sundin, re-signing Jagr, re-signing Avery, and God knows who else from the free agency buffet, is supposed to do the trick?

Yeah, that kind of strategy works...

The 2007-2008 season, by the "tens" -- Defensemen: Jeff Schultz

Number four in the defenseman hit parade…

Jeff Schultz

Theme: “I think no virtue goes with size.”

One defenseman is 6’6, 221. The other is 6’6, 213. One is Jeff Schultz, the other…Chris Pronger. And that is the sort of comparison that leads to wonderment among Caps fans as to why Schultz doesn’t play more to his size, more like…Pronger.

Let’s leave behind the context of that quote from Emerson, above (it comes from a poem about a bird). It speaks to an important issue with respect to Schultz. Why does he become something of a whipping boy because he’s not a big hitter in a six-foot, six-inch body?

He had 40 fewer hits than did Minnesota’s Nick Schultz (who is six inches and 20 pounds smaller than Jeff), but as far as we are concerned, we don’t care if Schultz hits a guy or reads him Emerson, as long as whatever he does keeps opponents from putting pucks in the Capitals’ net. And the fact is Schultz – only 22 years old this morning – was more than merely a serviceable defenseman with a hitting problem this past season. In fact, he was pretty effective. If you look at his ten game splits, the usual lack of pizzazz one sees from offense-weighted statistics is there...

He did have a stretch of six games (December 8-17) in which he netted four of his five goals. But otherwise, the numbers have the look of a defenseman who tends to his own end rather than join any rush.

His season breaks down, as you might expect, into two pieces. However, it isn’t a “Hanlon” and a “Boudreau” segment. The dividing line is Christmas. Before December 25^th, Schultz was 5-1-6, -4, in 29 games. He was even or better in 17 of those games, but was inconsistent. After Christmas, his offensive numbers did change some on per-game basis (0-12-12 in 43 games), but Schultz became much more consistent and reliable in his play. He finished the season +16 in his last 43 games and was +10 in his last 22 games as the Caps were turning into the stretch.

Jeff Schultz had only 38 games of NHL experience coming into this year (all earned last year). But by the end of this season, he was a dependable 18-20 minute a night defenseman (he averaged 18:41 in ice time after Christmas). What’s more, he’s quite a bargain in that role (cap hit: $750,000; 2008-2009 is the last year of his current contract). It’s hard to see what there is to complain about with Schultz, who looks to have a long NHL career ahead of him. We hope it’s with the Capitals.

By the way…it might bear noting that while Schultz had “only” 61 hits in 72 games this year, Pronger had only 74 in the same number of games, tied for 99^th in the league.

The 2007-2008 season, by the "tens" -- Defensemen: Tom Poti

Next up on the blue line…

Tom Poti

Theme: “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

Tom Poti came to the Capitals in 2007-2008 with certain expectations – a power play specialist (6-26-32 in power play scoring in 2006-2007, 11^th in the league among defensemen), not an especially big hitter given his size (tied for 111^th in the league among defensemen in 2006-2007), occasionally a liability in his own end (a minus player in five of his last six seasons entering this one).

If you look at Poti’s ten game splits, your disappointment in his performance (if that’s what you’re looking for) might be confirmed, to a point…

He had only those two goals, and he only had more than five points in a split once. But look a little harder. As with many Caps, his was two seasons. The “Hanlon”/”Boudreau” segment comparison is useful, but in Poti’s case, it is almost more an “injured/not injured” split.

In his “Hanlon” segment, Poti played in only 15 of 21 games, missing six with a groin injury. He finished that part of the schedule 0-4-4, -4, and certainly not looking like a player worth a $3.5 million price tag. However – and here we go again – Poti was 0-3-3, +1, in his first two games under the new coach, and it spring-loaded the rest of his season. In his last 56 games (he would miss another five games to injury over two separate incidents), he was 2-23-25, +13.

As far as expectations go, we can dispense with the hitting category right away. Poti was not a big hitter with the Caps any more than he was the year before on Long island. He finished tied for 159^th in the league among defensemen in that category. While hitting has is uses and places, it is not the be-all or end-all of defense (we’ll get to that with Jeff Schultz later). Poti was second on the team among defensemen in plus-minus, second in total scoring, and second in average ice time.

But there is the matter of special teams – power play, specifically – and evidence of an altered role for Poti. As noted, in 2006-2007 Poti was 11^th among defensemen in power play scoring – 6-26-32. This past season, he was 0-8-8. That’s the Mike Green effect (Green was 16^th in power play scoring among defensemen this past season). Poti, who logged an average of 4:38 in power play ice time with the Islanders in 2006-2007, logged about two fewer minutes, on average (2:39), on the power play in 2007-2008.

Conversely, while Poti was only 0-6-6 at even strength with the Islanders in 2006-2007, he was 2-19-21 at even strength with the Caps this past season. The switch from emphasis on the power play to that of play at even strength looked to be reflected in his shots. The 99 shots on goal he registered was his lowest in the NHL since his rookie year in 1988-1999. On an average shots-per-game basis, he was down about 20 percent (1.39 shots-per-game last year versus 1.72 the year before). He was more “stable” than “specialist.” It was not a case of failing to achieve expectations than it was his carving out a different set of them.

The 2007-2008 season, by the "tens" -- Defensemen: Shaone Morrisonn

If we’re going to do Mike Green, then next should be his partner on the blue line, which brings us to…

Shaone Morrisonn

Theme: “The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part.”

Hockey and “The Sorrows of Werther” probably don’t intersect much, but that quote from von Goethe does seem to offer a glimpse into the matter of pairs on the blue line and the complementary partnership of Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn. Green is getting a lot of attention this week in his restricted free agency status, Morrisonn not as much, even though he – like Green – finds himself in the restricted free agency pool.

As for Morrisonn, one might wonder if Green would have had the breakout season he did without Morrisonn playing the patient, stay-at-home, let-Mikey-join-the-rush sort of defense that he did. Morrisonn’s ten-game splits will not look especially impressive…

…but his value isn’t going to be reflected in the usual offense-weighted statistics. In a curious way, one can see his value precisely in his offensive statistics. As with Green, it is useful to look at the “Hanlon” and “Boudreau” segments. Under Glen Hanlon, Morrisonn was 0-3-3, -10, paired mostly with Milan Jurcina. Morrisonn and Green were paired in Bruce Boudreau’s first game behind the Capitals’ bench, against Philadelphia on November 23^rd, and the two were 1-1-2, +4, combined. Seems the coach was on to something.

Over the second half of the year, the two were a combined +28. Morrisonn, by himself, improved from a -10 in his “Hanlon” segment to +14 in his “Boudreau” segment.

Morrisonn seemed to rise to the occasion with respect to opponents, as well. Against the Atlantic Division, arguably the best and deepest of the divisions in the East last season, Morrisonn was on the plus side of the ledger against four of the five clubs – Pittsburgh being the exception. Against the other four clubs, Morrisonn was a combined +8 in 16 games. Extending that line of thought, Morrisonn was even or better in 41 of 55 games in his “Boudreau” segment for the year (only 11 for 21 in his “Hanlon” segment). Plus-minus always has a certain “chicken or the egg” air about it, but it remains that Morrisonn was more successful in his own game and as a partner to Green in those last 55 games he played for the season.

Morrisonn has been consistent in his three years with the Caps. Whether the Caps were finishing the year with 70 points, as they did in his first two years, or with 94 points and playoff spot, his statistical lines have been steady: 1-13-14, +7, in 2005-2006; 3-10-13, +3, in 2006-2007; and 1-9-10, +4, this past season. That kind of consistency, along with his attention to his stay-at-home role, doesn’t make for gaudy statistics. But perhaps it served as the basis for an important contribution to the success of the club this year.

However…Morrisonn’s one goal this year?

…it was a game-winner.

The Lightning Looking for a Jump Start

The rights to negotiate with Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts for a conditional draft pick, reported to be a fourth or, perhaps, a third round pick (if Malone signs with the Lightning).

Well…that’s a way to go.

That is the deal the Tampa Bay Lightning worked out with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier today. New Lightning owner Oren Koules said of the deal, “We said earlier this week we would be aggressive in our pursuit of free agents in order to win and compete. This trade today doesn’t guarantee anything, but we believe it gives us a leg up in our attempt to sign these two impact players.”

Ten days ago, the Lightning surrendered a seventh round pick in the 2008 draft for the rights to negotiate with Flyer free agent Vaclav Prospal (Philadelphia selected Joacim Eriksson with the pick).

It has all the look of an effort to jump start the team, to try and bite off the entire 23 points or so (the difference between Tampa Bay’s 71 points last year and eight-place Boston’s 94 points) in one fell swoop. Perhaps it is an effort to replicate what Pittsburgh did two years ago (a 47-point improvement over the previous year), or what Philadelphia (39-point improvement) or even Washington (24-point improvement) accomplished this past season.

There is a difference.

In the cases of Pittsburgh, and then Philadelphia and Washington, the improvements could be tied largely to the emergence of young players. In Pittsburgh, Marc-Andre Fleury showed in 2006-2007 that he could be a bona fide number one goaltender (40-16-9, 2.83, .906). Ryan Whitney took on a bigger role on defense (a 21-point improvement). Sidney Crosby built on his fine rookie year to win the Hart, Ross, and Pearson trophies.

In Philadelphia this past season, the Flyers added Daniel Briere via free agency, but it was Mike Richards who led the team in scoring. He more than doubled his point output from the previous season (75 versus 32) and almost tripled his goals scored (28 versus 10). Jeff Carter had almost a 50 percent improvement in scoring (53 points versus 37) and more than doubled his goal scoring (29 versus 14). Joffrey Lupul, obtained in a trade with Edmonton and who is still under 25, would have had a career year in scoring, but for missing 26 games with injuries. He still managed 46 points in 56 games.

In Washington, Alex Ovechkin turned into a monster (a 19-goal, 20-point, +47 improvement over the previous season), Mike Green had a breakout year (a nine-fold increase in goals, almost a quadrupling of assists, a five-fold increase in total scoring over the previous year), and Nicklas Backstrom did well enough as a rookie to be named a Calder Trophy finalist.

Where is that youth infusion coming from in Tampa Bay next year? Steven Stamkos is reputed to be quite a player. He should be the second line center on the Lightning on opening night and will be among the favorites in the Calder Trophy race. But is that enough? Even with Malone, Roberts, and Prospal, not to mention Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, it is a team that will lack depth, defense, and goaltending. And if you don’t think that is important, consider the experiences of Philadelphia and Washington this year. While Philadelphia improved its goal-scoring by 34 goals this past season, they improved their goals allowed by 70. For Washington, the improvement on offense was seven goals, while on defense it was 55 goals.

From the Lightning perspective, the risk in these pre-free agency period signings is small – mid to low round draft picks. The problem is that it has all the look of sizzle, but not much steak. Even these signings were to take place, it’s hard to conceive of Tampa Bay as a contending team next year, and it is not as if the Lightning have a lot of talent in their prospect pool following in behind these guys.

It might be an effort to jump start a return to competitiveness, but we suspect there isn’t enough juice there to get that engine to turn over.

The 2007-2008 season, by the "tens" -- Defensemen: Mike Green

It’s been a while, but given where we are in the calendar, about to embark on the free agency period, it’s worth it to look back at the defense, some of whom are in the free agency mix. First up…

Mike Green

Theme: “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup.”

Coming into the 2007-2008 season, Mike Green had 92 games of NHL experience under his belt over two seasons, and he was 3-12-15, -18, in the process. One might have expected him to be a full-time NHL defenseman, but entering his second full year, and still being only to turn 22 in the first week of the season, one might not have expected him to be more than a second or third pair defenseman as he continued to learn the ropes.

And as the year started, that’s what he was. In the first 21 games of the year, Green averaged a shade under 19 minutes a game. Only twice did he log more than 20 minutes of ice time. And while he showed a glimmer of offense (3-4-7, which works out to a 12-16-28 pace over 82 games), he was stuck down on the depth chart.

The coaching change that took place on Thanksgiving had quite an effect on Green. He scored goals in each of his first two games after the change behind the bench, and took off from there, going 15-34-49 over his last 61 games. And, he averaged more than 25 minutes a game. Only twice did he log less than 20 minutes a game, and those were his first two games playing under new coach Bruce Boudreau. In fact, nine times in those last 61 games he logged in excess of 30 minutes of ice time. The ten-game splits end up looking like this…

Green had two especially productive stretches in those last 61 games. In a 19-game stretch from December 8^th through January 19st, Green scored at better than a point-a-game pace: 9-12-21. Not coincidentally, the Caps were 12-4-3, raising their record from 9-17-2 to 21-21-5, the first time the Caps were at .500 since October 24^th.

The second stretch came to close the season. Over the last 12 games, Green was 1-12-13, +9. That last figure – plus-9 – was twice as good as any he posted in any ten-game split of the year (plus-4 over the third set of ten-games he played). And, of course, the Caps finished 11-1-0 to capture the Southeast Division crown.

Overall, breaking his season into the “Hanlon” and Boudreau” segments, Green registered points in only five of the first 21 games – the “Hanlon” segment. He scored points in 32 of the 61 games he played under Bourdreau. And, while he had only two multi-point games in the first 21, he had 14 in his last 61.

There is a subtle clutch aspect to Green’s performance this year. Of his 18-38-56 points line this year, he was 9-15-24 when the Caps were tied in games. That included a 3-2-5 line in overtime games.

On the flip side, it bears noting that among the 175 defensemen playing more than 50 games in the NHL last season, only seven registered less shorthanded ice time per game than did Green (20 seconds).

Green might end up getting a very large offer from another team, which the Caps appear likely to match, unless the offer would push him well into the top-ten paid defenseman category (last year, that would have been the “Rob Blake” threshold -- $6 million/year). It will make next week more than a little interesting, but the season Mike Green had is what makes it so.

Ten minutes...

"If someone puts an offer sheet in front of one of our players, we'll match it - probably in less than 10 minutes."

-- Capitals General Manager George McPhee


Yesterday at 5:00 pm, clubs could begin entering into negotiations with other clubs’ restricted free agents on new deals. And now we enter a gray area in the matter of the Caps’ most coveted prize – Mike Green. That gray area is the range of picks designated as compensation and that of the level compensation that might cause the Caps to think for a little more than 10 minutes about matching an offer sheet tendered to Green.

Consider an article written by Scott Cullen for tsn.ca. In it, he lays out the compensation categories for restricted free agents and notes a few of the gems that could be available in each of those categories.

Where this starts to impact a player like Mike Green is in that hazy area of $5.2 - $6.5 million – where Green might see an offer sheet and where a free agent returns two first-rounders, a second-round pick and a third-round pick. Let’s look at this from a couple of different perspectives.

First, equivalence. Let’s say you’d look at this as a “trade.” And suppose – just suppose, mind you (The Peerless not being Eklund) – that this “trade” was with Edmonton. Further, let’s say that Edmonton, with Green, would be drafting in the middle of the first round the next few years. Would you trade Mike Green for Jordan Eberle (taken 22nd overall this year by Edmonton), Alexandre Plante (taken 15th last year), Jeff Petry (taken 45th in 2006), and Theo Peckham (taken 75th in 2006)?

You say you don’t know much about those guys? Well, GM’s do – a lot more than thee or me – and it is still an inexact science (that of evaluating the sort of talent you have to look at for the draft and in predicting where you might find yourself in the draft order).

Second, there is the matter of money, and here it gets even murkier (this is the grayest of the gray area). At the low end of the equivalence category for the picks coming in the scenario described above, you have the amount of $5,231,249. So, a team tenders an offer sheet to Green for seven years and $37 million ($5.285 million per year). If you’re the Caps, I suspect you don’t take those ten minutes, you inform the parties that you’re matching the offer, and everyone goes on their way.

OK, but what about at the top end of the range? There, the amount is $6,539,062. Let’s say that same team offers that seven-year deal, but instead of $37.1 million, it is for $45.5 million ($6.5 million per year). You’re only getting the same draft picks back – the two first-rounders, a second-round pick and a third-round pick – but you have the additional consideration of the additional $1.215 million in cap hit to consider.

Mike Green might be worth that extra $1.215 million – by himself – but you have to ask now if you are also going to be willing to cut loose or not re-sign a player you might have afforded (Brooks Laich?...Sergei Fedorov?) to accommodate that within the cap or, perhaps more relevant to the Caps – within your target budget.

In the end, I suspect Mike Green will be wearing a red sweater (no, not Calgary and not Carolina, not Ottawa and not Montreal, not Phoenix and not…hey, there are a lot of teams with red jerseys) come the fall. But I also suspect that the Caps are going to lose a name player or two in accommodating Green’s breakout season of last year. That’s all part of the new NHL, too.

GM’ing isn’t easy these days.

The patience of development

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."

-- Saint Augustine

With as many of our species as there are in Caps Nation, it is bound to happen from time to time that certain blogging topics will overlap (or collide, if you prefer). Such is the case this morning. The folks over at On Frozen Blog posted an entry yesterday on the time it takes for draftees to make the big time and make a difference. The money quote there is…

“Brooks Laich is the norm in NHL development. Mike Green is not.”

Over the past couple of days, as time allowed, we took a look at first round draft picks since 1999. We were curious to compare the number of regular season games they played at each step of the way before making their debut at the next level and then, when they finally “made it” – defined here as playing in at least 40 games at the NHL level. Here are the results…

Some of the interesting aspects of the results…

- Only one first round pick went from being drafted to being in uniform for opening night of the next season – Steve Eminger. He played in 17 games with the Caps before being returned to Kitchener.

- There is the expected apprenticeship served by most picks – particularly the North Americans -- and it goes something like this…the player is drafted, then they spend the next year with the club they were with when drafted. The following year they get a taste of NHL play (though not enough to crack the 40 games-played threshold), then they stick with the club the next year. Using that benchmark, John Carlson should be a reasonably stable fixture on the Caps blue line for the 2010-2011 season.

- There aren’t enough Europeans in this group to draw strong conclusions, and the three that have been drafted and dressed with the club have taken different paths to get here – Semin had some bumps along the way, Ovechkin stepped right in after the lockout, Backstrom paid his year of dues in Europe. It would be hard to predict what will happen with Anton Gustafsson other than he’ll be in Europe this coming season (way to step out on that limb, Peerless).

- You can see the effect of injury on the progress of Eric Fehr. Last season might have been his first with at least 40 games played with the club, but not for an injury that robbed him of a full season. If healthy, this should be his year to reach that level of play.- As you will note, the first three Caps in that list are no longer with the club (Beech with Pittsburgh, Sutherby with Anaheim, and Eminger with Philadelphia). However, all of the subsequent picks remain with the club.

This is a representation of the progress of first round picks. Even for such picks, development cannot be (and, in the Caps’ experience, isn’t) rushed. One might and should expect to perhaps add a year, perhaps two, in the development schedule for players drafted after the first round. For fans wondering when a Francois Bouchard (a second round pick) or a Mathieu Perreault (a sixth rounder) might crack the lineup, be patient. It takes time.

Bloggers are the root of all journalistic evil (well, a lot of it)

“And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.”

-- Luke 4:23

There is an article in the Vancouver Sun, penned last Friday by Iain MacIntyre, that covers a lot of matters pertaining to potential player movement, but there was one part of it that homes in on bloggers in a less-than-flattering light…

“The hottest rumour from earlier in the week -- that the Columbus Blue Jackets were about to acquire the negotiating rights to Pittsburgh Penguin Ryan Malone and sign the power forward to a five-year, $25-million-US contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1 -- was shot down by the player himself.

"’I don't want any team I go to to give up a possible teammate, Malone told the Columbus Dispatch. ‘So we're going to wait until the first.’

“The Blue Jackets do want to acquire Malone. But the story got ahead of the facts.

“That happens frequently in the Age of the Blogger, who has chewed down the standards of journalism the way the pine beetle has decimated B.C. forests (emphasis added).”

You’ll read about this in other places (Barry Melrose Rocks, Japers’ Rink, Tom Benjamin’s NHL Blog), and they do a good job of conveying the offense taken among bloggers who do, in fact, try to adhere to journalistic standards in a blogging context. But there is another aspect of this that had me rolling my eyes in amusement…

Indignation.

As in, “spare me the indignation.”

Anyone who takes the craft of journalism seriously, who has studied it and practiced it over the years will, as is true for any profession, respect and follow the standards that govern it. But it isn’t as if you can’t see a hint of cracks in the armor right there in McIntyre’s article (got to read further, after the sermon)…

“It was [Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian] Burke, of course, who admitted then that NHL GMs will lie, deceive, confuse, distort and fabricate with impunity if its helps their position leading up to the draft.

"’It's like a British officer who's taken prisoner; it is their sworn duty to try and escape,’ Burke reiterated Thursday of lying at the draft. ‘If I can get someone to take a player because they think I want him, that means the guy I really want drops one more space. Everyone does it; I'm just the only one to admit it. I think it's more fun to toy with the group when you have a high pick’…

"…’GMs are liars,’ one player agent said, as if stating the obvious. ‘That's their whole thing. If they want stuff out there, they know who to contact. You see a lot of media types who stand in front of television cameras holding their BlackBerrys.’"

Imagine that…GM’s trading on desires among the “media types” (or “journalists,” if you will) to get the story first – often at the sake of accuracy (we are dealing here, after all, with what amount to lies).

Getting things wrong in a head long race to be first is of some (but not much) consequence, but generally, a persistence in the practice leads to becoming an object of ridicule. But sometimes, it matters (the 2000 Presidential election in the U.S. comes to mind, and I’m not aware that bloggers had anything to do with calling one, then the other candidate, then no candidate as the winner that night).

Blogging isn't as developed an art or science as is journalism. It is finding its way, which explains the desire among many responsible bloggers to respect journalistic standards in the absence of such standards for blogging. It doesn't make blogging the root of evil or the equivalent of pests denuding whole forests of journalistic standards. There is enough shoddy reporting among mainstream professional journalists to tempt one – well, me – to shout, “Please!…spare us the indignation reflected in comments comparing bloggers decimating journalistic standards to pine beetles decimating whole forests!!” First, it overstates the influence (in my opinion) of bloggers. Second, journalism would be better served by paying more attention to the admonition in the gospel according to St. Luke, “physician, heal thyself.”

Be afraid, Caps fans...be very afraid.

If you click to an entry we made on the remaining free agents the Caps need to sign, you will find a couple of comments opining on the possibility of an offer sheet to be tendered to restricted free agent Mike Green.

This is not idle chatter or wild-eyed panic...it is a real possibility. Why, you ask? Well, just look...

Green and new Lightning owner Oren Koules share a certain kinship with respect to hair style choices.

Throw this into the mix...

...and there is more than a chance that the Lightning are poised to tender Green an offer.

And then there were five...

In 2004-2005, hockey went dark. Good thing, from an aesthetic perspective, because for all intents and purposes the Capitals were an expansion team. When they came out of the darkness, the Caps iced a team in 2005-2006 that was not so much engineered to compete as to develop. Or, more accurately, allow kids to develop in Hershey and elsewhere.

While the strategy was paying dividends in some respects in 2005-2006 (Hershey, for example, won the AHL Calder Cup), the Capitals struggled, finishing that year with a 29-41-12 record. It was a club filled with role players, journeymen, youngsters, and one emerging star (that being Alex Ovechkin's rookie year).

Until yesterday, six players who played in at least half of the Capitals' games that season were still with the organization -- Ovechkin, Chris Clark, Brooks Laich, Matt Bradley, Shaone Morrisonn...

...and Ben Clymer.

Clymer was placed on waivers yesterday with the aim of buying out the remaining year of the three-year deal he signed in July 2006. Clymer spent all of last year in Hershey with the Bears, while the Caps were once more competing for a playoff spot. Before that, he played 143 games with the Caps over two seasons, going 23-30-53, -24, with 116 penalty minutes and three game-winning goals.

He was the epitome of the good soldier, accepting a changing role (moving to defense to start the 2006-2007 season, although that did not work out) and playing through an injury he suffered in training camp of the 2006-2007 season that plagued him until March, when he was finally shut down for the season.

Clymer is one of those players who risks being forgotten or having his contributions dismissed as the Caps become a more competitive team. But for a couple of years, he played his role and fulfilled his responsibilities faithfully on a club that despite its record, probably did better than most folks (this one included) would have predicted. And let's not forget, Clymer did play 66 games in the regular season and five playoff games for a Stanley Cup champion (Tampa Bay, in 2003-2004).

Still only 30 years old, with more than 400 games of NHL experience, Clymer may find himself employed by an NHL club this fall. Good luck to him in that effort.

Putting Cancer on Ice

We hope you click on that link over there in the right hand margin from time to time to "Put Cancer on Ice," a fundraising project sponsored by a trio of Caps fans.

PCOI has announced that it will hold its second annual "Dave Fay Memorial Hockey Game" at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Saturday, July 19, 2008, 8:30-10:00 pm.

Through February of this year, PCOI has raised more than $14,000 in proceeds to fight cancer from its monthly hockey games, annual golf tournaments, and contributions from sponsors. At this year's Dave Fay Memorial event, PCOI will be conducting a silent auction, in addition to the hockey game. An authenticated signed Nicklas Backstrom jersey and an authenticated signed "Young Guns" poster (Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom) are the featured items.

If you're looking for a hockey fix put on by folks who love the game and play in the name of a good cause, here's the ticket.

With one week to go...

There are eight players of note who have unresolved contract situations (their respective cap hits and salaries from last season shown here)...



Who gets signed? Who gets offer sheets tendered by other clubs? Will any or all of the UFA's be signed before next Tuesday? How much will the new contracts (if any) be worth?

Have at it.



source: nhlnumbers.com

They're Thrilled in Philly

OK, so it's only 1,213 votes at the Flyers' site, but vox populi and all that...

Steve Eminger...The People's Choice.

With an agent like this...

...well, draw your own conclusions about how to end that sentence upon reading what Pat Morris -- agent for Ranger forward Sean Avery -- had to say about his client...

"...the balance, I think, is every coach says: 'Bring me a guy who wants to compete, who wants to win, who leaves his best on the ice. And off the ice, if he's an ax murderer, as long as he leaves his ax at home when he comes to play...'"

Morris went on to say that he wasn't comparing Avery to an axe murderer, just making a point that Avery "comes to play."



It looks as though he'll be taking his sticks and his axe to another team.

Wonder if it will be Jersey?