The one thing we were sure about the Capitals coming into the 2010-11 season was that they possessed offense in abundance. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, however. Washington ranks ninth in the NHL while averaging three goals per game. But working from a position of strength, general manager George McPhee still figured he could afford to deal one of his forwards to get stronger on the blueline.
The player he ultimately dealt for a veteran defenseman was Tomas Fleischmann, who struggled as the team’s second-line center at the start of the season. But there was a reason the 26-year-old was coveted by the Colorado Avalanche. He scored a career-high 23 goals for Washington last year.
So it’s no surprise that Fleischmann earned NHL Second Star of the Week honors on Monday just three weeks after leaving the Caps. In three games, he scored four goals and added three assists for the Avalanche. Fleischmann now has more points with Colorado (11) in 10 games than he had in 23 with Washington (10).
But the Caps also know how streaky Fleischmann can be. Fleischmann is pointless his last two games and had a minus-3 rating in a 5-0 loss to Los Angeles. Memories of last year’s disastrous postseason — where Fleischmann was a scratch in Game 7 against Montreal — still linger in Washington. A second star won’t change that.
