Semin, Green both still in town.

Yesterday The Hockey News suggested the Caps may have to trade Alexander Semin or Mike Green to fit Karl Alzner into the salary cap. Semin's six million dollar salary would certainly leave room for Alzner's expected three million dollar paycheck, but it's a bit of a relief the see the Caps were able to clear enough cap space instead by trading away Eric Fehr.

While Fehr has long maintained the promise of becoming a key goal scorer in high-pressure situations, Semin has actually performed that feat at the NHL level a lot more often. Really, it's the results at the NHL level that matter.

In the same day, Winnipeg traded away Angelo Esposito, a kid who led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in scoring when he still had another year left of junior eligibility. Esposito was the consensus #1 overall draft pick going into his draft year, but he struggled as an eighteen year old to replicate his previous success. In the draft, he slid down to the end of the first round, where the Pittsburgh Penguins picked him up. He wound up in Atlanta as the key component in a trade for superstar Marian Hossa.

But Esposito didn't play a single game in Atlanta, either. Now that he's been traded to Florida for a forward who scored three points in thirty-three NHL games last year, the Canadian Press headline reads simply, "Winnipeg Jets acquire Kendal McArdle from Florida for prospect." In the NHL, you're nobody until you're in the NHL.

Eric Fehr scored 59 goals in his final year of junior hockey, but by junior hockey standards he's no Angelo Esposito. Still, in the NHL, where Angelo Esposito is certainly no Eric Fehr, Eric Fehr is only the sum of what he has shown in the big league. With one twenty-goal season and a major shoulder injury every year, Fehr is okay, but it's much easier to keep a team going without him than without Semin or Green, who also struggle with injuries, but still manage to consistently produce point totals that would let them lead less talented clubs.

Now that the Caps have made a sacrifice to the salary cap, hopefully it will leave them alone and let them keep their great team together.