Now that center Nicklas Backstrom‘s salary cap hit is a known figure — $6.7 million for the next decade — Capitals general manager George McPhee can start planning the rest of his offseason. If the NHL’s salary cap stays at $56.8 million, then Washington has somewhere between $11.22 million and $11.77 million to fill the remaining holes.
That starts with the team’s remaining four restricted free agents. Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann could fill the third-line wing spots. Boyd Gordon is another extra forward. Jeff Schultz gives the Caps five defensemen. How much that quartet gets paid determines what’s left to fill the other holes: Second- and third-line center and a sixth defenseman.
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Can the Caps sign those four restricted players for under $5.5 million total? That’s about the only way Washington could afford to sign, say, its own unrestricted free agent center, Eric Belanger, and a more expensive free agent defenseman like Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa). Or go cheap at defenseman by re-signing unrestricted free agents Shaone Morrisonn or Milan Jurcina, Belanger and then a better fit on the second line. Unfortunately, there aren’t many legitimate second-line centers on the open market. Without a trade — or without walking away from one of its own restricted free agents — Washington’s front office likely has around $6 million to fill the two center spots and find a sixth defenseman.
