General Manager George McPhee (GMGM) proved that he’s not all that stupid, when it comes to toying with the lineup. On Tuesday night, the eve of the NHL Trade Deadline, he made two deals that brought Dustin Penner over from Anaheim and Rotislav Klesla from Phoenix, the latter, which also included prospect Chris Brown and a 4th round pick in 2015. But the most impressive thing GMGM did was unload Martin Erat to Phoenix.
Courtesy: USATS
Dustin Penner, 31, is a UFA at the end of season. He was having a good year so far in Anaheim under former Caps coach, Bruce Boudreau. Penner has 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 49 games so far, and is a +22, which is will no doubt take a hit when he starts playing with the Caps. Penner is a decent pick up, considering the Caps traded back the 4th round pick in 2014 that they got from the Perrault deal. He’s been playing mostly with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, but we’ll see where Oates puts him tomorrow night. He’s a very big man at 6’4″ 242lbs with a good shot and should help with traffic in front of the net. He’s someone that I hope the Caps hold on to after the year is up. He’s a two time Stanley Cup winner with Anaheim in ’07 and L.A. in ’12.
Courtesy: USA Today
Rostislav Klesla, 31, also a UFA, was buried in the minors most of the season after being placed on waivers back in November. Klesla is a big boy at 6’3″, 215lbs. He’s a rugged, stay-at-home kind of defenseman, something the Caps needed. However, he hasn’t played in the NHL in a few months, so let’s hope his conditioning is up to speed. Klesla was the first ever draft pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He and Brown will report to Hershey.
The deadline is still a few hours away, but I have to leave it to GMGM, he did a pretty decent job today, considering all we had to give up was a disgruntled, wash-up player and a prospect (John Mitchell) who didn’t work out.
But that’s not all, and most Caps fans already know this.
Evgeni Kutznetsov played his last KHL game today and has already purchased his ticket to DC. It’ll be a little bit before he gets here, but that does boost the Caps offense a touch. I’m still not sold on him, but I have to see him play first and, hopefully, he’ll prove to me that he’s not just another Alex Semin.
Jack Hillen was also removed from LTIR and will be in the lineup tomorrow night. That is a big deal. Hillen is a smart player and can move the puck well. I look at him like a ‘poor-man’s’ Dan Boyle (San Jose). I hope Hillen will play with Green and help to ease defensive nerves.
Keep in touch and I’ll have more tomorrow.
As for rumors, the Caps don’t seem to be done. There are murmurings that the Caps are talking to Buffalo about Jaroslav Halak, and Braden Holtby’s name keeps coming up. Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t lose Holtby and that Neuvirth is let go instead.
More to come…
