$5 Million Well Saved

With training camp just a few weeks away, it appears George McPhee is content with entering the 2010-2011 season with essentially the same roster as a season ago.  The core groups remains; Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alex Semin.  The Caps still hold one of the deepest rosters in the league as all four lines can score.  McPhee was able to re-sign all of the restricted free agents from a year ago.  So the President’s Trophy winners from a season ago are still in tact, and are in prime position to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

The cause for concern occurs when one views the current roster and sees no improvements in areas that when viewed under a microscope are areas of concern for Caps fans.  The consensus areas of weakness?  The blueline and depth down the middle.

So what’s the silver lining?  Easy…roughly $5 million of cap space.

Now, we are still waiting for the official announcement of the return of Eric Belanger.  This signing is still pending a “roster change”.  What that roster change is remains a secret and a constant area of speculation.  It has been widely reported that the “roster change” is a likely trade.  One can understand why the signing of Belanger hasn’t been announced because if it were to be contingent on a trade, the announcement would show McPhee’s cards and adversely effect McPhee’s leverage in making a trade.  So we will continue to wait.  Logic would say that with only three weeks until the beginning of training camp, that announcement would come sometime in the next three weeks.

So with Belanger still not officially signed, the Caps have roughly $5 million of cap space entering the season – assuming no other transactions.

The Capitals’ blogosphere is mostly split on whether it would have been more advantageous to have spent the $5 million this offseason on free agent upgrades, or enter the season with what you have and re-evaluate at the trade deadline.  I take the side of saving the $5 million and taking advantage of the flexibility it provides you during the season.  It is tempting to evaluate the season prior and throw money at “quick fixes”.  Despite the disastrous end to last season, McPhee has decided to be proactive instead of reactive.  With the high hopes and expectations of a season ago coming to an abrupt halt, the easy thing to do would have been to go after high priced free agents to fill the obvious holes in the lineup.  But McPhee has the backbone to continue the course; the course that has brought this team from the Eastern Conference basement, all the way to the President’s Trophy in just five years.  The recipe has always been to draft well, development the draft picks in the minors, and add an occasional free agent to top off the lineup.

The Capitals blue line is a prime example.  The easiest target that Capitals nay-sayers point to is the lack of a shutdown defenseman on the blueline.  Instead of breaking the team’s bank account and going after high priced free agents like Anton Volchenkov or Paul Martin, which would have potentially pinned the Caps against the salary cap and thus preventing the ability to make necessary improvements down the road, the development of Karl Alzner and John Carlson will come to fruition this season.  Alzner and Carlson will be great additions to the blueline.  Carlson was arguably the Capitals’ best defenseman during the playoffs last year.  The organization’s confidence in Karl Alzner was made apparent when Alzner was given a game 7 sweater a season ago.  Both players have paid their dues in the minors, have won back-to-back Calder Cups, and have shown the ability to perform in high pressure situations.  So despite the fact that a “shut down” defenseman hasn’t been brought into the fold, the Capitals blueline will enter this season better than it was a season ago.  For the sake of argument, if it pans out that Alzner and Carlson struggle at the NHL level, the Capitals will still have the necessary cap space to make adjustments if needed.

The $5 million in cap space also provides the Caps with the opportunity to address their most pressing need; the need for a second line center.  But again, the development of players is reigning supreme over going after high priced free agents.  It appears that Tomas Fleischmann will be the front runner for the second line center position entering training camp.  Resisting the urge to go after a free agent center, McPhee has provided players like Marcus Johansson, Mathieu Perreault, and Evgeny Kuznetsov the opportunity to show their skills and have an opportunity at winning a spot with the big club.  Saving the $5 million in cap space provides these players with the opportunity and even more motivation to make the roster.  It also will not slow their development.  Most importantly, it provides the flexibility to make any necessary adjustments during the season.

At some point the Capitals will have to address their most pressing issues.  The title of contender comes with a certain expectation and an added amount of pressure.  The Capitals are one piece away from being the favorites to win the Cup this season.  Entering the season with financial flexibility allows Boudreau and McPhee to determine what exactly that piece is and make the necessary adjustments at the trade deadline.  My philosophy is to never fix something unless it is broken.  The current Caps lineup is far from broken.  It just needs a few tweaks.  McPhee has set the team up to have the ability make any adjustments deemed necessary.

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