Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic announced today that Lisa Hillary, their Washington Capitals beat reporter for the last three seasons, will leave the D.C. beat and join Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

From the press release: 

After serving as the Capitals television beat reporter for Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic for three seasons, Hillary joins Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to lead their television news coverage of the Flyers. A veteran hockey reporter, she joined the network in July 2007 following a lengthy career as a reporter and anchor with several major television outlets in Canada, where she spent time covering the NHL for two national sports networks, The Sports Network (TSN) and The Score. A graduate of Algonquin College, she also spent time as a news anchor for Ottawa’s A-Channel.

Veteran D.C. television reporter Jill Sorenson will resume the duties as the Capitals beat reporter for CSN-MA that she has previously held. 

Sorenson, a longtime Washington-area sports journalist, returns to the role of Capitals television beat reporter after serving as an anchor and reporter for Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic for five years. Sorenson, who led the network’s coverage of the Capitals from 2005 to 2007, spent four years as the Capitals beat reporter for WRC-TV (NBC) from 2000 to 2004, where she served as a sports anchor and reporter. A graduate of Brown University, Sorenson also spent time as a news reporter for WTTG-TV (FOX) in Washington, D.C. and as a as a sports anchor and reporter for WDIO-TV (ABC) in Duluth, Minn.

Best wishes to Lisa Hillary in her transition, and best of luck to Jill Sorenson on her new (old) duties.

According to this report by James Mirtle, the "mystery team" that signed C Eric Belanger is indeed the team he last played for, the Washington Capitals, to a one-year, $1.85 million contract.  The salary is a slight raise from the $1.75 million Belanger made last season. 

The report also says the reason Belanger was instructed not to reveal the team was that Washington did not want him to announce it for fear of complicating another deal they had in the works, potentially moving a forward in exchange for a defenseman.

Belanger had 15 goals and 26 assists in 77 games last season between Minnesota and D.C.

The report also links the Caps with free agent D Willie Mitchell yet again, who has recovered from his concussion sustained at the end of last season.  Mitchell remains another possibility to bolster the Caps devensive corps.

The Belanger deal certainly opens up the idea once again that C/RW Tomas Fleischmann could be the moving part in this equation.  Flash had moments of brilliance last season shrouded in a fog of playing a new position and the extended Olympic break. 

But the memory of his complete disappearance in the opening round loss to the Montreal Canadiens has to linger in the mind of GM George McPhee and Coach Bruce Boudreau.

McPhee did well by signing Fleischmann before arbitration to protect his asset, but Flash seems to have fallen into a "square peg" situation, much like Michael Nylander before him.  Both players are obviously talented, but either misfit for the style or position asked of him.

Tarik El-Bashir, Washington Capitals beat writer, will move on to cover Georgetown Basketball and NASCAR, among other assignments. Katie Carrera, who wrote high school sports and assisted Tarik on the Caps beat will take over.

Best of luck to both in their new assignments.

Unless something extraordinary happens over the weekend, next Wednesday, July 28, Tomas Fleischmann, his agent, Rich Evans, and the Washington Capitals will meet with an arbitrator to determine the forward's compensation for the 2010-2011 season.

Flash missed the first 11 games of the 2009-2010 season recovering from a blood clot in his leg, and when he returned he immediately showed off his skills, posting 14 goals in his first 25 games.  He could not sustain that torrid pace, and only netted nine in the team's last 44 games, before disappearing in the playoffs, where he had one point in Games 1-6 against Montreal and was scratched for Game 7.

The 26-year old forward -- and we'll call him a forward for now since that is one of the points of contention -- feels like he should be paid like a prominent No. 2 center, which is precisely an area of need for this Capitals team. 

Fleischmann had some success in the pivot last season -- he had some of his finer offensive outputs at center.  But his face-off technique (43.1%) and defensive skills still leave too much to be desired to seriously consider him "the answer" at 2/C.  And then there's the complicating factor of his playoff performance, or lack thereof.

Would the Caps seriously consider a candidate at second-line center as a free agent if he had been left off his team's playoff roster for a Game 7?  Probably not.

It's no secret Flash is popular with his coaches and amongst his teammates.  By all accounts, he's the type of guy you want in the room.  But is he going to take the next step -- and more importantly, should he be paid like it before he gets there?

It's an interesting question, and only GM George McPhee can make that determination.

McPhee was able to come to deals with the team's other RFAs, inking Jeff Schultz and Eric Fehr to multi-year deals and Boyd Gordon to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration with those players.  If McPhee is willing to allow the Fleischmann negotiations to go to the arbiter, it could be telling that he believes the player needs another "show me" year.

Or worse.  If McPhee is willing to go through the arduous process and risk being forced to -- in his mind -- overpay for Fleischmann's services, perhaps McPhee doesn't see the player as part of the eventual equation and is willing to live with the consequences for this season.

This strategy is risky in itself.  Say Fleischmann does take the "next step" this season, settles into the second line center spot and puts himself in position for not just a nice salary, but a HUGE raise after next season.  With the impending free agency of Alex Semin as well, would exellent performance by the pair actually be a distraction for the Capitals as they chase Lord Stanley's Cup next spring?

McPhee might have tipped his hand already by not acquiring a veteran second line center via free agency this off-season.  It looks more and more every day like the slot will be filled by someone in-house.  There is no shortage of candidates, but all are seriously flawed in some manner.

In addition to Fleischmann, Mathieu Perrault and Marcus Johansson are both options to helm the second pivot.  But Perrault, despite his 50 points in 56 games with AHL Hershey and nine points in 21 games with the big club, is very undersized to compete with the elite centers of the NHL.  And Johansson, who had a tremendous development camp by all accounts, is just 20 years old and has never played on North American soil.

Of course, Coach Bruce Boudreau could turn back to old reliable, Brooks Laich.  But he'd much rather keep Laich on a wing, where he can get into the crease and create havoc without some of the defensive responsibility at center.

It's a curious situation all around.  How Fleischmann's contract works out could go a long way in telling us what McPhee really thinks of the situation.  But even then, it won't give us all the answers.

One thing we do know:  McPhee wasn't impressed with the free agent options, or he could have already eliminated this headache.

With yesterday's news that the Caps have re-signed winger Eric Fehr to a sparkling new two-year deal (reportedly worth $2.2 million per season), that leaves just C/RW Tomas Fleischmann as the sole unsigned Restricted Free Agent.

Fehr joins D Jeff Schultz (four-year, $11 million) and C Boyd Gordon (one-year, $800,000) as players that have re-upped with the Captials in the past week.

Unless Flash and his agent have a turn of heart and get something worked out, the sides will meet in arbitration July 28 in Toronto, accirding to a tweet from Mike Vogel this morning.

GM George McPhee was able to bring three big contributors back into the fold at reasonable price tags, and hopes to do the same with Fleischmann.  The center had moments of brilliance last season, but was too inconsistant during the regular season and then all but disappeared in the playoffs -- not the way you want to enter an arbitration hearing.

Fleischmann and his agent would be better served finding a middle ground with GMGM, rather than go throught he bitterness of arbitration for the sake of a few more bucks.

Perhaps McPhee has been putting a little more attention to retaining his talent than going out and seeking new talent via free agency.  But to good affect, in my opinion.  Some of the money being thrown around for average players on the market thus far has been a little ridiculous, and I think McPhee and the Caps are better served being patient and prudent.

There are a few names out there left unsigned that might look good wearing a red sweater this fall.  I'm willing to wait a little longer to see who, if anyone, McPhee still has an interest in.

The Washington Capitals announced today the re-signing of D Jeff Schultz to a four-year contract.

In keeping with team policy, the terms of the agreement were not announced, but according to Capitals Insider:

The deal is worth $11 million over four years and will pay the defenseman $2.5 million in each of the first two years and $3 million in the final two years for a $2.75 million per season average.

Schultz led the NHL in plus/minus last season with a plus-50 rating. The 24-year-old also racked up three goals and 20 assists in 73 games..

Earlier in the week, the team inked C Boyd Gordon to a one-year deal.  Again, Capitals Insider had the contract at $800,000.

Gordon, limited to 36 games because of a back injury in 2009-10, had four goals and six assists in his sixth season with the Caps.

The two signings leaves just two unsigned restricted free agents, C Tomas Fleischmann and RW Eric Fehr, both of whom have filed for arbitration.

Also, Michael Nylander was waived (again) at noon.  He will count $4.875 million agains the Capitals' salary cap if no team claims him.

Dino Ciccarelli was named as a 2010 inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame today.  In 19 seasons in the NHL, including 3 1/2 with the Washington Capitals, the smallish -- but tough as nails -- winger scored 608 goals and 592 assists.

He registered 40 or more goals in a season seven times, and had a 72 goal season as a 17-year old with the London Knights in juniors.

He was a four-time all-star and made two trips to the Stanley Cup finals, in his rookie year of 1980-81 with the Minnesota North Stars and in 1994-95 with the Detroit Red Wings, losing on both occasions.

Ciccarelli's career was pocked by an indecent exposure incident in 1987, and an assault conviction for attacking Toronto defenseman Luke Richardson with a stick in 1988, for which he served one day in jail. 

The controversial incidents have been long rumored to be the reason it has taken several years for Ciccarelli to be properly honored by the Hockey Hall.

What's undeniable is that Ciccarelli ranks 16 all-time in goals scored, and very few players played with the grit and determination that the undersized Ciccarelli brough to the rink every night.

Congratulations to Dino Ciccarelli.  You weren't with the Capitals for very long in the grand scheme of things, but you hold a very special place in the hockey memories for long-time Caps fans.