Burning a Hole

Assuming, as the rest of the hockey press are assuming, that Tom Poti is out for the regular season, the Caps have two million dollars to spend on one or two NHL free agents. They've just signed Karl Alzner to a two year deal paying less, over both years, than the three million most writers expected Alzner was asking for per year, given his high draft status, solid play and leadership experience as captain of the Canadian team in the World Junior Championship.

If Poti does miss this regular season, the Caps have Alzner to thank now for two million dollars in salary cap space. That could be enough to sign one or two more solid veteran leaders now, or it could be room to trade for two or three such players at the trade deadline.

The salary cap only counts dollars spent on actual paychecks to healthy players, not total contract values. If the Caps wait three quarters of the season and save those two million, they can afford to pick up players whose annual salaries total eight million.

However, as we saw last year, eight million dollars of annual salary for expendable veterans from non-playoff teams might get you a few overpaid players who have seriously underperformed all season. Maybe a Jason Arnott suddenly finds his rhythm and gives you a few great weeks before tapering back off again, but just as often a Marco Sturm continues slumping in a new environment, or a Scott Hannan plays slightly better on a better team, but not well enough to carry them through the playoffs single-handedly. Hannan and Sturm earned a combined 7.5 million dollars last year, but each of them, sadly, played like a million dollars.

The Caps strategy so far this summer seems to be finding veterans who are interested in being part of a bona fide Stanley Cup contender at affordable price tags. They've already publicly said that they're looking to add such players at the start of the year and give them a chance to acclimate to the team and its strategies. Maybe two million dollars buys one or two more good players who can help a little bit and, when the playoffs roll around, play like a little more than a million dollars each

The Capitals don't have a lot of holes to fill, and it's unusual for teams to carry more qualified veterans than can fit on a twenty-man roster card, but the team has said in the last few days that it took a few steps back last year with the amount of youth it brought on, so a reaction in the opposite direction may be possible.

As it currently stands, three qualified rookie-ish players are auditioning for the fourth/fifth center spot on this club: Mathieu Perreault, Mattias Sjogren and Cody Eakin. Most teams do like to give their young players some space to develop each season. Still, great teams have depth to make up for injuries, and this year's available un-signed veteran centers still include Vincent Prospal, John Madden, Kris Draper, Brendan Morrison and Brian Sutherby.

There are also still some decent defensemen available to add depth to this club, including Craig Rivet, Radek Martinek, Bryan McCabe, Niclas Wallin, Brent Sopel, Hannan and Steve Eminger.

Some of the players listed above wouldn't be blamed for questioning whether to sign for under two million dollars to try to win a Cup in Washington, which may be incredibly stacked with the Vokoun signing, but has never won one before.

Eminger and Sutherby are of slight interest because they are two former Washington first round draft picks who made a combined salary of about two million dollars last year. They were each underwhelming in their final seasons as Caps, but maybe they've picked up some experience as they've traveled the league? With so little to spend, they're not top priorities, but at the right price they'd offer solid help and provide a calming presence in the press box.

Madden and Draper may be too old to still lift their copious collections of championship rings, but they can probably each still win some faceoffs and kill some penalties. Prospal and Morrison are each quite talented and capable of playing as second-line centers, but old enough and injured often enough to accept different roles.

Rivet and Hannan may be the best of the bunch through last November, but they each earned around four million dollars last year and each was basically invisible by mid-April. For a million or less, each could be an ideal 7th/8th defenseman on a contender, but no team would insult either established rearguard with such a low offer. They'd have to pick up the phone and dial on their own.

Who else is still available? Former-future-star Nikolay Zherdev only earned about two million last year. Zherdev was Ovechkin's line-mate before they crossed the pond, but Nikolay is such a jerk he didn't fit in with the Blue Jackets, the Rangers or even the Flyers, who are basically the NHL's jerk store. Also, Zherdev repordedly Elin Nordegrened his wife's Bentley in the middle of a busy intersection this year, so he's probably not the strong communicator to come in and help the Caps work together as a team.

Former Caps captain Chris Clark is also still on the market, but his salary is also still inflated from his days playing on Ovechkin's line, as well. Last year, Clark earned 2.6 million and scored fifteen points. When he used to clear space in the corners for the Great Eight, Clark topped out at thirty goals and fifty-four points.

He's not likely to oust Knuble or Laich for another chance in that role, so his value to the Caps now is closer to that of Jason Chimera, the third/fourth liner he was traded for. The Caps are pretty stacked at right wing now, with newcomers Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward pushing Laich, Knuble and enforcer Matt Hendricks for minutes, but Clark has given a lot of teeth to this franchise, and is beloved by its fan base.