The Capitals came to contract agreements with defenseman Shaone Morrisonn, 26, and forward Eric Fehr, 23, on Wednesday. Both players were restricted free agents – meaning they were still Caps property, but could have signed an offer sheet with another NHL club. Both players had previously declined an arbitration hearing and instead accepted one-year qualifying offers from the team. Forward Boyd Gordon, another restricted free agent, signed his qualifying offer earlier in the week. Defenseman Milan Jurcina is the only RFA to take the Caps to arbitration. His hearing is July 28th, although he can always sign a negotiated deal with the club before then. Minor leaguers Chris Bourque, Kyle Wilson and Steve Pinizzotto also signed contracts. Pinizzotto’s was for two years.
That means, only one of Washington’s five restricted free agents is unaccounted for. Defenseman Jeff Schultz did not sign his qualifying offer – which was at least a 5% raise off last year’s contract – and remains an RFA. Not sure why Schultz and his agent went in that direction. The qualifying offer – and the small raise – are now off the table. But Schultz remains Caps property unless he signs an offer sheet with another team and the Caps choose not to match it.
Remember, this is a player who was drafted ahead of Mike Green in the first round in 2004. But it’s still fair to say that the 23-year-old is a work-in-progress – even if Schultz has played in 174 NHL games over the last three years. The Caps will likely have six other NHL defensemen AND top prospects Karl Alzner and John Carlson all battling for jobs in training camp in September. So Schultz can’t really afford a lengthy holdout and it’s unclear why the Caps would bother to up the original qualifying offer.
