| Stas Pavlov. 7th July, 2011 - 9:06 pm
 After four consecutive division titles, three 100+ point seasons, but most importantly four early playoff exits, the Washington Capitals were one of the busiest teams in the free agent frenzy, retaining their own Brook Laich, beefed up their forward corpse by signing on Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer, fortified the blue line with Roman Hamrlik and brought over Tomas Vokoun as the last line of defense. There is no doubt that the Capitals are building to win now, but how much better do these signings make them?
Retaining the 28-year-old Laich was a priority for the Capitals to ensure that their second line has a power forward presence. Although his point production declined last year (a drop from 59 to 48 points), Washington sees the potential for Brooks to anchor their second units for the next several years. The cap hit on the Laich deal is 4.5M over the next 6 years is a high (Ryan Kesler is making $5M and scoring 40+ goals to boot) but in this free agent market teams seem to be willing to pay the price to keep their young talent around and Washington is one of them.
Grade for Laich: A
Grade for Washington: B+
Joel Ward has never scored more than 35 points in a regular season in the NHL. His NHL statistics are slightly over one third of a point per game. The biggest standout on his resume is his ability to frustrate the Anaheim Ducks and the Vancouver Canucks with timely goals and 13 points in 12 games. He was a minus player for the past two seasons playing on a superb defensive team and with a great goalie behind him in Pekka Rinne. But, as it stands now, those 12 playoff games have served him well and he is now in line to receive $3M per year for the next four with the Capitals. He will bring toughness and some timely goals for the Caps on the third line but that is too much money to tie up in an unproven third line winger.
Grade for Ward: A+
Grade for Washington: C+
Out of all the signings, Brouwer and Vokoun are the most crucial ones for the Capitals. Brouwer brings it all: defense, leadership, secondary scoring and championship experience to Washington at a very good price. A short term contract at $2.35M/year for a soon to be 26-year-old former Stanley Cup Champion? Yes please.
Grade for Brouwer: A-
Grade for Washington: A+
With Roman Hamrlik, it is always clear what you are going to get, 15-20 minutes of solid ice time, 25+ points (5-29-34 last season) and to be on the ice for more goals for than against (Hamrlik has only finished with a minus +/- rating once in the past 9 NHL seasons). $3.5M is a price to pay for a 37-year-old defenseman but Washington seems to be in a full win-now mode and Hamrlik will be a sound presence on the blue line.
Grade for Hamrlik: A
Grade for Washington: B
The Capitals finally have a sure veteran goaltender that has proven year after year that he can stop pucks.. and many of them. Tomas Vokoun has one of the top save percentages in the league over the past several years and that is playing for a Florida Panthers that were.. well, they were the Florida Panthers. At age 35, Vokoun is just exiting his prime and is little reason to believe that he will not be able to replicate his numbers (.922 SV%, 2.55 GAA) or even better them with a much stronger team in front of him. It is surprising to see him sign for as little as $1.5M and a one year deal when several teams were shopping for a starting net minder, which makes it even a sweeter deal for Washington.
Grade for Vokoun: B
Grade for Washington: A+
Overlooking the money side of things, the Washington Capitals look like a much more improved team as a result of these signings. With Bruce Boudreau defensive system in place for another year, scoring depth throughout the lineup and a legitimate first string goaltender the Capitals are poised for another strong regular season, and I will go on record to say that they will be a force to be reckoned with (watch out Boston) for the Eastern Conference title. |
