Throughout the season I always look forward to reading the 30 Thoughts notes package every week from CBC’s Elliott Friedman. He had another edition Tuesday with some items on the Caps in the aftermath of their Stanley Cup playoffs second-round loss to Tampa Bay last week. The specific one that caught my eye was about Washington’s known weaknesses as general manager George McPhee and the front office attempt to re-tool the club for another go in 2011-12: The Caps could use some more speed on the blueline and among the bottom six forwards and some tenacity added among the top six forwards. Friedman also advocated removing a key player to shake up the locker room – presumably forward Alex Semin or defenseman Mike Green, who both have taken hits over the years for not showing up in the playoffs and are entering the final year of their respective contracts. I’ll address that issue more in depth in a post later. Given the weakness of this year’s free-agent class, a trade might be the best way to tweak the top six forwards.
McPhee noted in his exit interview with reporters last week that there was “an imbalance” on the blueline during the playoffs thanks to injuries. With Dennis Wideman and Tom Poti hurt, that left Green and rookie John Carlson as the only puck-moving defensemen – guys who can help a team retain possession and get passes out of the zone quick with a minimum of turnovers. They have the speed and skating ability to escape trouble. But far too often – especially against Tampa Bay – it looked like the Caps’ “D” was skating in quicksand. After the series we learned even Carlson (hip pointer) and Green (lower-body injury) were playing hurt. Green, in fact, missed Game 4.
Remember, Washington already has seven defensemen signed for next season. That would leave free-agent Scott Hannan – acquired in a trade from Colorado last November – as the odd-man out. Of course, much depends on the status of defenseman Tom Poti, whose groin injury was actually labeled “career threatening” by McPhee. Poti just signed a two-year extension ($2.875 million) in September. If he recovers the unit would be – barring any trades, which are always possible – Green, Carlson, Wideman, Poti, Karl Alzner, Jeff Schultz and John Erskine with the depth positions including top prospect Dmitri Orlov – another big puck-moving defenseman – and Tyler Sloan, among others.
As for the forwards, it did seem at times during the playoffs that the third and fourth lines didn’t have the necessary speed to produce a strong, consistent forecheck against Tampa Bay. Maybe the lack of puck possession is a mitigating factor there. Jason Chimera remains among the sport’s fastest skaters. But he will be 32 next season so you wonder how long that will hold up. Chimera isn’t exactly known for his finishing skills around the net and so his value drops with ever millisecond he loses. Matt Bradley will be 33 and is an unrestricted free agent anyway. Eric Fehr is still young (26), but no one mistakes him for a speed demon and he underwent yet another shoulder surgery last Saturday. He is questionable for the start of training camp in September. Center Boyd Gordon is a free agent also. Good skater. Elite faceoff guy. Don’t see price being an issue there – though injury history and health concerns going forward might be.
That leaves plenty of room for a remodel job on the bottom two lines. Matt Hendricks earned himself a contract this past season so he appears good to go at left wing on the fourth line. Otherwise, do you add prospect Cody Eakin to the mix? He’s one of the top junior players in Canada and his two-way style allows for projections as a third-line anchor – if not higher. But he also has all of four games of AHL experience. Is he really ready to make the NHL leap next year at 20.
Jay Beagle? He appeared in 31 NHL games this season. Hasn’t shown any kind of scoring touch, but Caps seem to like him. Given the 25-year-old’s super-cheap $512,500 contract, could easily see Beagle as a fourth-line right wing with the versatility to move around when needed. But there aren’t many other internal options among the bottom six forwards. Eakin will only be here if he’s going to play most nights. Otherwise, you’re wasting valuable development time at Hershey. Andrew Gordon would be another option as a youngish – he’s 25 – forward from Hershey. But he’s an unrestricted free agent, too. D.J. King has another year on his deal, but barely played last season (16 games).
Back to the top six forwards for a moment: You have to pencil in speedy Marcus Johansson as the second-line center considering veteran Jason Arnott is no guarantee to return. Even if we ignore the public statements from Evgeny Kuznetsov – the organization’s top prospect and one of the best teenagers in the world – that he is staying in Russia next season I’m not sure how a 6-foot, 175-pound, 19-year-old skill player adds to the toughness quotient among the top six. Maybe he’d be an adequate replacement for Semin if the veteran right wing is traded. But is Kuznetsov replacing Semin’s expected 30-to-40 goals in 2011-12? Seems unlikely. Just kicking around some options based on the weaknesses Friedman pointed out. We’ll see what else McPhee and his staff have in mind.
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