Day off for the Nats and the U.S. Open has packed up and moved on so I got some hockey transcribing done this morning. Local reporters had a conference call with Caps general manager George McPhee last week where he deftly avoided any and all talk of unrestricted free agents. Check out our story from Sunday on Caps’ stellar recent draft history here. Good quotes from McPhee and Ross Mahoney, director of amateur scouting the last 13 years.
Will have a draft preview in the print edition later in the week – the event is this Friday and Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. – but with the No. 26 pick and nothing at all in the second or third round this isn’t likely to be a blockbuster weekend for Washington. The front office will begin trickling into Minnesota tonight.
“I don’t think it’s the greatest of drafts. If you were ever going to move picks to acquire players to help your team – whether it’s a Dennis Wideman or others,” McPhee said. “I’m real happy with the Wideman deal [with Florida on Feb. 28] because we’ve got an NHL player right now and he’s playing for us next year and we gave up a third-round pick in a draft where it may be really hard to find a player in the third round this year. And if you do it’s going to be three or four years from now before he plays. So I thought if you’re going to give away picks this was the year to do it. And I don’t have any regrets about that.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Wideman, a 28-year-old defenseman, was acquired for forward Jake Hauswirth and that 2011 third-round pick. The second-round selection went to Carolina last year at the trade deadline for defenseman Joe Corvo. That one didn’t quite work out so well for the Caps. Corvo wasn’t all that good during his time here and immediately re-signed with the Hurricanes. Wideman, at least, figures to be a key piece to next year’s blueline. His hematoma injury – suffered in late March against Carolina – hurt Washington in the playoffs, for sure.
Doesn’t mean it’s a lock that this draft will be a bore. Even with few high-end players available outside the top 10 or 15 picks there’s still always the potential for a big trade at these things. And the Caps certainly have some intriguing chips if they wanted to go in that direction. But McPhee wasn’t tipping his hand. He just wants to be ready if something comes his way. Remember, it was a seemingly inconsequential draft-day deal with Philadelphia three years ago that netted Washington a young defenseman named John Carlson. All it took was defenseman Steve Eminger and a third-round pick to move up into the first round at No. 27 to nab Carlson.
“I don’t know what to expect this year. We’ll go there prepared to draft a player in the first round and see what else develops throughout the rest of the draft,” McPhee said. “But if there are trades being discussed we’re certainly going to be involved.”
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