In the days leading up to the NHL's entry draft, Washington Capitals GM George McPhee indicated on several occasions he didn't think much of this draft class.  Friday night, his actions confirmed that his words were not meant as subterfuge, as he traded the Caps first round pick, No. 26 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for 25-year old right wing Troy Brouwer.

Brouwer is a Restricted Free Agent and arbitration eligible, so the Caps' first priority is to get the player signed.

From the team:

Brouwer, 25, recorded 17 goals and a career-high 19 assists for 36 points in 79 regular-season games in 2010-11. He led the Blackhawks and ranked fifth in the NHL with 262 hits and finished third on the team with five game-winning goals. Brouwer appeared in all seven playoff games with Chicago, collecting 11 penalty minutes and finishing with a plus-two rating.

The 6’3", 215-pound forward helped lead the Blackhawks to win the 2010 Stanley Cup while tallying eight points (four goals, four assists) in 19 playoff contests.

During the 2009-10 campaign, Brouwer registered a career-high 22 goals and 40 points in 69 games with the Blackhawks. In 238 career NHL games with Chicago, Brouwer has recorded 103 points (49 goals, 54 assists).

Brouwer is a physical, tough player, evidenced by his ranking on the NHL Hits leaderboard, and is willing to fight if the situation calls for it, but he can also play with the puck, with 39 goals combined the last two seasons.

The move is somewhat of a departure from the draft and develop mold that Capitals have taken the last several seasons.  But McPhee had already departed with the Caps second and third round picks in trades last season, so there must have been somewhat of an "all-in" mentality, willing to exchange the first round pick for an already developed player.

If McPhee and his scouts didn't see a top-six forward being available to them with the 26th overall pick, then this move benefits the team by acquiring a player that is already that type, especially with the added toughness Brouwer will bring.  The dividends will be immediate to a team that is already a strong contender, instead of having to wait on another draft pick to develop through the system.

It's a tough decision to essentially pass on a draft class (the Caps first pick wasn't until late in the fourth round), but McPhee knows that his team is built to compete right now, and adding pieces to the parent club this season is more important than adding another prospect to the system.  The Capitals have been very protective of their picks and young players in the recent past.  Now is the time to reap the benefits of that patience and hard work of drafting and developing.

This trade was a "win now" move.  It probably will not be the only one before training camp starts.

With the 26th pick in the NHL Draft tonight, it's kind of a forgone conclusion that the Washington Capitals will select Russian center Alexander Khokhlachev if available.  The skilled Russian had a terrific season for OHL Windsor last year, notching 34 goals (12 PPG) and 76 points with a plus-9 rating and in 19 playoff games he went 9-11-20...as a 17-year old. 

Other names that might be available when the Caps pick:  American defenseman Connor Murphy (18-years old, 6'3", 185), Vladislav Namestnikov (C, London OHL), Jamie Oleksiak (6'7", 244 defenseman with soft hands).

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From my vantage, the Philadelphia Flyers self-destructed yesterday.  Over-compensating for their goaltending deficiencies, they gave a 31-year old good-but-not-great goalie a reported nine-year, $51.5 million contract. 

Then, to make room for said contract, they traded away their two best players, captain Mike Richards and All-Star center Jeff Carter -- in the prime of their careers -- for support wingers and draft picks.  Granted, Philly still has lots of young talent, but for my opinion, they sent too much out the door yesterday.  GM Paul Holmgren just put his neck on the table if Ilya Bryzgalov doesn't turn into the reincarnation of Bernie Parent for the Black and Orange.

The Capitals' job in the Eastern Conference just got easier in the 2011-12 season, in my humble opinion.

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I don't get worked up over the NHL schedule like some folks do.  What interests me more in how the NHL plans to realign next season.  News of possible plans to go to two conferences of two divisions, with the top four in each division having to play each other to get out of the division in the playoffs intrigues me. 

If we end up with an NHL "South" Division, it could look like this:  Washington, New Jersey, Philadelphia, one of the New York teams, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida and maybe Columbus or Nashville.

The Washington Capitals announced their 2011-12 regular season schedule today.  Pre-season schedule was announced earlier in the week.

The Washington Capitals’ 82-game regular-season schedule for 2011-12 begins on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Verizon Center versus the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m., with the first road game of the campaign set for Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center.

The 2011-12 NHL schedule format, like the last three seasons, has the Capitals facing the other teams in the Southeast Division six times each and the remaining Eastern Conference opponents four times each. Washington plays each team in the Western Conference at least once, with two games each against Detroit, Nashville and San Jose. Nine Western Conference teams will visit Verizon Center.

The Capitals will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins at Verizon Center on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 at 12:30 p.m. It will mark the third year in a row that the Capitals will play on Super Bowl Sunday.

Washington has six homestands of at least three games on the schedule, the longest being a five-game stretch at Verizon Center from Feb. 28 - Mar. 8. The Capitals have two stretches of at least three straight road games and a season-high five-game road trip from Mar. 13-22. In addition, the Capitals will have 12 sets of back-to-back games.

Nearly half of the Capitals’ 41 home games at Verizon Center fall on weekends, which includes seven games on Friday, six on Saturday and five on Sunday. The schedule features holiday home games on Columbus Day (Oct. 10 vs. Tampa Bay), the day before and the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 23 vs. Winnipeg; Nov. 25 vs. New York Rangers), Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 5 vs. Boston) and the day before Valentine’s Day (Feb. 13 vs. San Jose).

All but eight of Washington’s home games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with five Sunday afternoon games scheduled.

Television broadcast plans will be released at a later date. All Capitals games can be heard on Caps Radio 1500 and 820 AM as well as WashingtonCaps.com.

Let's Go Caps!

Photo © Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

The Washington Capitals today announced that Olaf Kolzig, known as Olie the Goalie and Godzilla to legions of Caps fans, has joined the team as Associate Goaltender Coach, joining his longtime coach Dave Prior, who was announced as Director of Goaltending and NHL Goaltender Coach.

These moves were made in response to Arturs Irbe resigning for personal reasons two weeks ago.

“We are excited to add a familiar face to our staff in Olie Kolzig,” said Caps GM George McPhee via press release. “Olie had a tremendous impact on this franchise as a goaltender as well as an individual, and we are looking forward to him having the same impact as a coach.”

Both Kolzig and Prior will attend the Captials' Rookie Development Camp in July.

Kolzig, perhaps the most favored former-Capital due to his long service with the team and tremendous amount of public relation and philanthropic work in the community, appeared at the Capitals Convention before last season and lamented to fans in a Q&A session how his tenure ended in D.C., expressing a strong desire to be more active in the Capitals community in his retirement.

As far as this space is concerned, Olie never should have been allowed to leave in the first place, and we're more than happy that he's back where he belongs -- and his No. 37 is one step closer to joining Yvon Labre, Rod Langway, Dale Hunter and Mike Gartner hanging from the rafters of Verizon Center.

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From the Caps:

Kolzig, 41, played in 711 games as a Capital from 1989-90 through 2007-08. He currently owns nearly every all-time Capitals goaltending record, including games played, wins (301), shutouts (35) and minutes (41,259) and ranks fourth (minimum 3,000 minutes played) in goals-against average (2.70) and third in save percentage (.906). In terms of single-season records, Kolzig leads in games (73), minutes (4,371), wins (41) and is second (minimum 1,200 minutes) in goals-against average (2.20), save percentage (.920) and shutouts (6).

The Johannesburg, South Africa, native was awarded the 2000 Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s top goalie, and was named the 2005-06 King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner (awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community). He was also named to two NHL All-Star teams (1998 and 2000) as a member of the Capitals.

A former Caps first-round draft pick (19th overall) in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Kolzig helped guide Washington to its only Stanley Cup Final in 1998. During his final season with the Caps in 2007-08, Kolzig was teammates with several current Capitals, including captain Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green. The three-time German Olympian (1998, 2002 – sat out due to injury and 2006) appeared in 719 career NHL games with Washington and Tampa Bay before retiring in September 2009.

Prior spent 12 seasons as the Capitals goaltending coach from 1996-97 through the 2008-09 season, including 11 seasons coaching KolzigVezina-winning season (1999-2000) and the Caps 1998 Stanley Cup appearance. The Capitals won four divisional championships and made six playoff appearances during Prior’s tenure.

Before joining the Capitals’ coaching staff, Prior worked as a goaltending coach for the Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets. In addition, the native of Guelph, Ontario, gained international experience mentoring goalies on the German National Team and spent seven years working with the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

The Caps signed Swedish forward Mattias Sjogren to an entry-level contract today, reportedly for the maximum allowed to a rookie under the CBA.  Swedish papers Expressen and Aftonbladet had it early today, and Japers Rink was the first local outlet with the story.

Sjogren is a big, physical player according to scouting reports with good international experince, and should challenge for a spot on the Caps roster in training camp. The Capitals have several unsigned forwards and Sjogren addresses a need to add physicality to the front line.

The following is the press release from the team this afternoon.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have signed free agent center Mattias Sjogren to a two-year entry-level contract beginning next season, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. In keeping with club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to have Mattias join the Capitals organization,” said McPhee. “He is a big center who has developed very well over the past few seasons and is ready for a new challenge.”

The 6’2”, 214-pound center spent the 2010-11 season with Farjestad of the Swedish Elite League, recording a career-high 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) and 44 penalty minutes in 51 games. Sjogren helped lead Farjestad to a SEL championship, registering nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 13 postseason games.

Sjogren, 23, represented Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World Championships in Slovakia, winning the silver medal while tallying four points (one goal, three assists) in nine games. He scored the game-winning goal versus USA in the preliminary round.

The native of Landskrona, Sweden has 59 points (24 goals, 35 assists) in 148 career games with Farjestad and Rogle of the SEL.

I read with interest both On Frozen Blog's piece "Renewed Questions of Leadership" and Ed Frankovic's "Caps Off-season Focus Should Be on Leadership".  I know both these guys very well from our time in the press box together, not to mention an episode or two of working out with 12 ounce curls, and have the utmost respect for both.  Please take a moment or two to read their opinions if you haven't already.

They know my way of thought as well, so I think they will understand my position when I say, respectfully, that I disagree with them and think they are both over-simplifying the point and romanticising a notion that is not quantifiable.  And they are doing it, maybe even subconsciously, because the real answer is too tough to take.

They both go to great extents to quote executives and others in the game about the importance of "Leadership".  It's a concept that is as deeply rooted in hockey as the mythical "playoff hockey." (I guess Vancouver didn't play "playoff hockey" last night since they won 7-3.)  Hockey is the only sport that bestows a decoration on the uniform of one of its players signifying he is the captain.  But for the most part, it's just that: a decoration.

Leadership isn't taught.  It isn't acquired. It isn't tangible.  If George McPhee, or any executive, could identify it or train someone to do it, they already would.  Leaders aren't made, they are born.  You can train people to manage others, to teach others, to instruct others, to discipline others. But only Leaders know how to lead.

It has to be self-motivated.

McPhee has gone out the last couple of seasons to acquire several veterans that were supposed to bring "leadership."  Jason Chimera. Mike Knuble. Scott Hannan. Jason Arnott. Dennis Wideman.  He had a pretty good one in the room already in Brooks Laich. All are tremendously hard workers, experienced, talented, sacrificing; honorable.  Knuble and Arnott have rings; Arnott a former captain.  Are these not the requirements that John and Ed spoke about in their posts?  Is the fact that the Caps flamed out in the second round this season evidence these men are not leaders?

Were these players leaders during the regular season, when the Caps came back from an eight-game losing streak in December to capture the Eastern Conference regular season title?  Were they leaders in the first round when the Capitals stymied the New York Rangers in five games? Are we to believe then that they simply forgot to lead in the second round?  I hardly think so.

And how about the captain, the man on this team that wears the decorative "C' on his sweater?  There's not a man in that room that doesn't have the utmost respect for Alex Ovechkin.  There's also not a man in that room that wants to win more than he does.  Isn't that where respect -- leadership -- comes from?

The problem with the Capitals isn't a lack of leadership, on the ice, in the room, or in the organization.  If anything, the problem is with some of the individuals in the room and their lack of clarity of purpose.  There are several on this team that are "happy to be here."  They may be extremely talented players, and at times say the right things, but repeatedly cower when faced with hardship and sacrifice. 

These players are not capable of being led, not at this time anyway. At some point in their careers they may realize that all the money, fame and notoriety is meaningless without achieving the ultimate goal. But for now, they are too self-centered to concentrate, really seriously concentrate, on the matter at hand and sacrifice personal gains for the team's greater pursuit.  No less an expert on leadership than Gen. George S. Patton alluded to this concept in his speech to the Third Army in 1944.

"Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the... cowards and we will have a nation of brave men."

Now I'm not comparing the game of ice hockey to the rigors of World War II, but the concept of leadership is the same regardless.  No, the problem with this team isn't the lack of leaders, its that it has a lack of followers.  Cull the cowards from the program as Patton suggests and watch how effective the leaders that are already assembled can be.

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Ultimately though, and this is the point that no one wants to address: you have to have the players.  For all the fawning media coverage of this team locally, the real truth is that this team is still significantly flawed in several areas and honestly, just isn't good enough to compete past the level they have achieved the last few seasons.  They aren't advancing because of lack of leadership, it's because they aren't good enough yet.

Again, from Patton:

"The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible."

Aynyway, here are the points I consider to be this teams biggest weaknesses.

• This team is weak physically down the middle.  Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson are both extremely talented players and supreme skaters, but lack the physicality necessary to compete with stronger players. It's no secret that if you put a body on these guys they aren't going to answer the bell, and it's more glaring in the playoffs when the sheet gets shorter. None of the Capitals centers in the playoffs except for Boyd Gordon on the fourth line had a faceoff percentage higher than 50 percent.  That's unacceptable.
• There's not nearly enough toughness on this team.  Matt Hendricks and Matt Bradley were both willing during the regular season to drop the gloves when they had to, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about players willing to get into the corners, dig pucks out, stand in the crease and deliver a pounding.  Not take it, but deliver it.  The Capitals lose more one-on-one puck battles than any other team in the league. This team is in need of a couple of rugged wingers (and probably a defenseman as well) willing to get their noses dirty and push people around.  They don't need fighters, they need physically stronger players to give their supremely talented players more room to skate.
• There's no offensive contribution from the third and fourth lines at all.  17-of-21 goals scored by forwards in the playoffs by the Capitals were by just six players.  Look at Tampa Bay, their third line of Bergenheim, Downie and Moore have combined for 13 goals and 19 assists in 13 games.  Boston has 12 players with more than one goal in the playoffs. You don't need a 30-goal scorer on the third line, but you need contribution.  Bergenheim has made himself a LOT of money this post-season as he becomes a UFA.
• I've said this before, but I also think Bruce Boudreau needs to go back to what got him here.  He doesn't like playing the trap.  He's never implemented it before and has never taught it.  His players are ill-fitted for it and don't like it.  The lack of conviction from his players was evident because of the lack of conviction in the system by the coach.  Live by the sword or die by it.  I maintain that Boudreau allowed the Canadian media to alter his judgment on the heels of the loss to Montreal last year and the pain of the eight-game losing streak. Another thing Patton said in his address to the Third Army in 1944 applies here (forgive the rough language):

"I don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a thing... We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy."

• Lastly, Alex Ovechkin needs to elevate his game.  The league has "figured him out." If he wants to lead this team and become one of the greats of all-time, he's going to have to elevate his game past what it is now.  He's going to have to learn when to try to carry the puck and when to give it up.  He's going to have to dump to the opposite corner and crash the goal.  He's going to have to reign in his emotion and channel it rather than let it get the best of him.  And he needs to be in supreme shape at the beginning, middle and end of the season.

Lastly, and I know this is the hardest part of all, but I implore all Caps fans to continue exercising patience. 

There are a lot of Caps fans that have no idea how it was back in the dark days, when this team was a laughingstock or worse, an afterthought.  The Washington Capitals franchise is enjoying an unprecedented run of success and with the two best players signed long-term, there's little reason to think that run won't be continued.  This team is young, talented and managed by dedicated and knowledgeable executives. They just have some issues that still need to be addressed.

There is no reason to blow this thing up and start over.  Bringing in new coaches or executives would only delay the process, not speed it up.  At least in my opinion.

The window isn't closing, as some folks would lead you to believe, it's barely been opened.  They just have to fix the cracks.

As we slowly come out of our post-sweep funk, let's take a look at the Washington Capitals impending free agents and start the debate on whether the Caps should try to re-sign the player or part ways with them.  The Capitals have seven unrestricted free agents and two restricted (must extend "qualifying offer" to retain negotiating rights).  Ages listed for start of 2011-12 season.

Jason Arnott  37, UFA, 2010 salary $4.5 million (Season: 73 games, 17-14-31, -6, 40 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 1-5-6, +4, 2 PIM): Arnott had four goals and three assists in his 11 regular season games with the Caps.  Revealed in exit interviews he had knee surgery after his seventh game with the Caps post-trade, missing just 15 days and six games.

Arnott looked slow in the latter stages of the season and playoffs, and now we know the reason why.  He provided a boost to the team's leadership, as he instantly added gravitas to the room upon his arrival.  On the ice, he showed flashes of his skill, including an absolute sick play to feed Alex Ovechkin for the tying goal in Game Two against Tampa Bay.  He still carries his size and strength well, but no longer an elite skater, and the knee surgery will only hinder that.

He was able to coax Alex Semin's considerable talent out for a while, but Semin disappeared in the second round, showing "The Enigma" knows no leader.

If Arnott is willing to accept a sizable pay cut to take another legitimate chance at a Cup, the Caps should consider the idea.  But they really should try fill the No. 2 center spot with a considerably younger player.

Scott Hannan  33, UFA, $4.5 million (Season: 78 games, 1-10-11, +4, 34 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 0-1-1, +1, 2 PIM): Acquired in December, Hannan's not about the numbers, but about defensive responsibility.  He does a lot of things right that you can't see on TV.  He's always in the right position, and takes some of the best angles in the game to retrieve pucks. He's also one of the most durable players in the game,

Hannan's problem is that while he's game physically, and able against smaller players, he just isn't imposing despite his 6'1", 225 lbs frame, and sometimes just gets beaten in battles along the boards, as he did by the much smaller Martin St. Louis in Game Three, leading to a goal. 

Overall though, he's a terrific defender and was one of the biggest benefactors of the change in philosophy to a more defensively oriented team.  He's going to be pretty expensive to re-sign, and with the Caps stable of defensemen -- including possibly Dmitri Orlov -- this might be a spot where McPhee tries to save money and lets Hannan walk.

Marco Sturm  33, UFA, $3.5 million (Season: 35 games, 5-11-16, +6, 23 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 1-2-3, +1, 4 PIM):  Sturm averaged 25 goals a season from 01-02 to 09-10, minus 08-09 when he was injured, so the guy can score when healthy. Unfortunately, most of this past season he was not healthy.  He had knee surgery, probably came back to soon, then missed more time, which led to getting waived by the Kings and subsequent waiver claim by the Caps.

Sturm proved to be quite a competitor, and though and he didn't provide that secondary scoring he's always been capable in his history, he played much more physically than I expected, chipped in on the penalty kill, and was a good soldier, playing whenever and wherever Bruce Boudreau stuck him in

His once-elite speed and skating has really suffered from injuries two of the last three seasons and he's really a shell of the player he once was.  I'd be highly surprised if the Caps rolled the dice on that speed returning at this point in his career.

Brooks Laich  28, UFA, $2.066,667 (Season: 82 games, 16-32-48, +14, 46 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 1-6-7, even, 2 PIM): The Iron Man of the Capitals is a fan favorite, do-gooder and resident quote machine.  His goal scoring fell off this season, as did just about everyone's up front, and Laich probably suffered from bouncing between wing and center as much as anything else.  He even spent some time playing the point on the Power Play of Doom for a while, despite being the only player who would consistently park his behind in the crease with the extra man.

In all seriousness though, Laich is going to be McPhee's biggest decision this off-season.  There are already rumors floating that Toronto GM Brian Burke is going to make Laich his off-season priority, and Burke has never met a player he couldn't overpay.  Laich is an incredibly versatile player, as he can play wing or center and plays on both special teams.  He stands to at least double his paycheck, and that's where McPhee is going to have to make the call.

Many Caps fans thought Laich should have been awarded the Captain's C when it went to Ovechkin.  There could be a mini-revolt by the fan base if the Caps let him walk.

Matt Bradley  33, UFA, $1 million (Season: 61 games, 4-7-11, -3, 68 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 0-0-0, -3, 4 PIM): Bradley's certainly not known for his scoring, but the fourth-line center registered just one point after Feb. 14, the date of his last goal this season.  He's one of the few Caps players that's willing to mix it up and he had 10 fights this season in his 61 games.  Still, Bradley's ice time and shifts dwindled as the playoffs went on; he skated just 4:50 on seven shifts in Game Four against Tampa.

Bradley brings an element of the game when he's most feisty. But anecdotally, his spark just seemed to be missing as the season wore on.  Considering the Caps re-signed Matt Hendricks, a player three years younger and more skilled than Bradley, to do essentially the same job Bradley has for the last six seasons, the handwriting may be on the wall for the veteran winger.  Also, consider the fact that Jay Beagle could also fill the same role at half the price next season with eight year younger legs if the Caps feel they need more grit.

Boyd Gordon  28, UFA, $800,000 (Season: 60 games, 3-6-9, -5, 16 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 0-0-0, -1, 6 PIM): Gordon, the fourth-line center, is a faceoff specialist (8th in NHL of players with 100 or more draw), called upon to take defensive zone draws and kill penalties.  He's had a history of back problems, but played 60 games this season. 

Gordon certainly doesn't add anything to the offense but is responsible and considering the team traded away its other faceoff specialist in David Steckel, we could see the Caps re-signing him to a moderately-priced contract such as the one he played with this season.

Sean Collins  28, UFA, $650,000 (Season: 4 games, 1-0-1, +2, 0 PIM; Playoffs: 1 game, 0-0-0, even, 0 PIM): Collins spent most of the season in Hershey, where he compiled four goals and 16 assists (+29) in 73 games.  He was pressed into duty for the Capitals in the playoffs and was exposed as an AHL-level player on numerous occasions in Game Four against Tampa Bay. He just doesn't possess the speed, strength or acumen necessary at the NHL level.

Hershey could sign him as a veteran AHL defender to fill out their usually competetive roster, but he should only be used as an extreme injury replacement in the regular season, and the Caps already have Tyler Sloan signed for another year to play No. 8 defenseman next season.

Karl Alzner  23, RFA, $1.675 million (Season: 82 games, 2-10-12, +14, 24 PIM; Playoffs: 9 games, 0-1-1, -4, 0 PIM):  Alzner played every single game this season, paired with John Carlson, as the de facto top defensive pairing for the Caps.  He was on the ice when the opponent's top line was out, and was the top defender on the penalty kill.

Alzner is a classic stay-at-home defenseman and as he continues to fill out, his physical game will as well.  Something folks lose sight of is that Alzner is 6'3", but just 205, and an off-season in the weight room will help him with some of the more physical power forwards in the league, as well as possession battles in the corners and behind the goal.

As with Hannan, Alzner's positioning and angle play is sublime, well advanced for a player his age and experience.  We anticipate the Caps signing Alzner to a reasonable long-term deal this summer.

Semyon Varlamov  23, RFA, $821,667 (Season: 27 games, 11-9-5, 2.23, .924, 2 shutouts; Playoffs: 0 games): Varlamov changed his sweater number to No. 1 before the start of this season, but he couldn't stay on the ice long enough to earn the job.  He played extremely well when he was able to dress, but could only do so 27 times, watching Michal Neuvirth eclipse him in standing this season.  When the playoffs rolled around, Boudreau stuck with Neuvirth, resisting to insert Varlamov despite his past playoff success.

Varlamov has all the talent in the world, but his injury problems have kept him from playing a full season the last two years, and if the Caps think his is a chronic situation, they won't get caught up in doling out a multi-year deal for an injury-prone netminder.  McPhee has stated on numerous occasions that he values all three of the Caps young goalies (with Braden Holtby), but we could envision a scenario where GMGM trades Varlamov's rights and lets someone else worry about signing him long-term.

Varlamov's agent has also made rumblings about taking his client to the KHL, to which McPhee responded, "If he wants to go to the KHL, let him go." We think that's more of a negotiating ploy by the agent, and Varlamov has stated recently that he wants to stay in the NHL and in D.C.  But he also wants to be a starter, and the possibility of being a No. 1 goalie -- plus a possible huge contract offer from a team in his home land -- might be too much to pass up.