It was heartbreaking. Depressing. Infuriating. Sad.
In what should have been a close, grinding, hard-fought and bloody game 7 turned out to be an embarrassment. No team should be dismissed from the playoffs in this fashion, but the Washington Capitals, for the sixth straight year, choked.
They aren’t losers by any stretch of the imaginaton, but they certainly aren’t winners. To take a 2-0 series lead and then disappear is becoming quite the trend in DC. They simply gave up when they thought they had already won. The Rangers played a hard-nosed hockey series while the Caps were too busy playing pick-up, and the fans were left wondering, again, “Why?”.
There were the typical excuses – Ovechkin played with a fractured foot the last two games. That’s terrible to hear. But that didn’t stop him from flying to Helsinki and playing in the Worlds only two days later. Lundqvist was unbeatable – He did play on his head, but the Caps also didn’t battle in front of the net like they should have and kept taking too many outside shots. The Rangers just outplayed them – it’s the fucking playoffs. If you can’t figure out how to raise your level of play by now then get used to disappointment.
The Caps star players were pretty obsolete. The Rangers did do a good job of shutting down Ovechkin and keeping him to two points, and Martin Erat did dislocate his elbow when Ovechkin came crashing down on a ‘backcheck’. Brooks Laich was still hurt and his intensity and play was sorely missed. That doesn’t explain, however, why Backstrom, Ribeiro, Johansson and Green were all absent. Sure Ribeiro and Green scored in seperate overtimes, but other than those two instances, they were pretty quiet. It’s unexcuseable that the highest paid players on the team couldn’t figure it out. It’s been 6 years.
I could rant all day, but I’m tired of making excuses for the Caps and dissecting their play. It’s been a long couple of weeks for me and my brain hurts me.
So what are the Caps plans now heading into the off-season? With the new salary cap lowering to $64.5M, the Caps have about $6.4M to play with. Mike Ribeiro is one of the many question marks as he has said many times that he wants to stay in Washington. He wants a 4-5 year deal and could ask for $5.5M which would be put quite a dent in that remaining $6.4. Ribeiro, although pretty quiet in the last half of the season, was tied for the league lead in power play assists and was the only source of offense in the first part of the season. He is worth it. But…
Karl Alzner also needs to be signed. He’s an RFA and every team in the league wants a Karl Alzner. Edmonton is a team that could put in an offer if it came down to it. The Caps could get a nice return if they opt to go that way. Alzner’s game is something the Caps desperately need and as he matures he will become a great shut down defenseman. If they want to get rid of anyone, it should be John Carlson. Alzner will command about $2.4M or so, up from his $1.2M he made the previous years.
Courtesy: USA Today
Marcus Johansson is another RFA. Johansson made $900K in his entry level deal and now has the potential to earn more than double that. He’s come a long way and played well at times with Ovechkin and Backstrom. Teams would come calling for someone like him, especially a team like Detroit.
Tom Poti is a UFA and he’s most likely gone. I just kinda felt bad about not including his name.
Woltek Wolski just signed in the KHL. He didn’t quite pan out anyway, but he was a nice guy. Good luck.
The real problem with the Caps offseason moves lies with Matt Hendricks. For three years, Hendricks has been the heart and soul of the Capitals locker room. He’s the kind of guy that can teams need to bring energy either through a fight or a hard-fought goal. The Capitals need Matt Hendricks back. At $825K the last three years, he’s due for a raise of at least $800K and he’s well worth it. And to put it in perspective, the New York Rangers are said to already be waiting in line come July 5th for Hendricks. He doesn’t want to leave and neither do the fans but especially his teammates.
This off-season is going to be different for the Caps and GM George McPhee. Normally the Caps would let their trade deadline deals slip through the free agent cracks and GMGM would focus on bringing in different players. This year the Caps need to focus on what they already have. They probably won’t go fishing for FA’s come July 5th, but they could be forced to trade some value to get some value back, in a cheaper form. The Caps do have a lot of youth that will make a jump season. Tom Wilson, Dmitry Orlov, Nate Schmidt, Tomas Kundratek and Cameron Schilling areallready to take the leap and join the lineup. If Alzner has to go, Orlov will step up and he’s more than capable. Schmidt is also a player I’m excited about to see on the back line. Wilson has proved himself to be NHL ready and he will only get bigger, stronger and meaner over the summer as he knows what it’s going to take.
- Courtesy: USA Today
The Caps might have to do something they haven’t done in a long time and do nothing come July 5th. It all depends on whether or not Ribeiro signs. Some players who are not UFA’s or RFA’s this summer who could be traded are Jason Chimera, Jeff Schultz, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward and Michal Neuvirth.
There is a lot of potential trade bait out there this summer. If GMGM goes that route, then these players could be victims. It’s tough to say right now, but the NHL Draft is going to be very interesting, especially with teams going into the new allignment next season.
More to come…
