UFA: Jason Arnott

Acquired at the trade deadline in exchange for David Steckel, the Caps needed to bolster their center position with a leader like Jason Arnott. He came in and changed the dynamic of the team on the very first day he stepped in the locker room. Added to the second line with Alex Semin, his words and actions seemed to help the Caps become a more complete team as they did not lose a game in regulation for the rest of the season.

Arnott's regular season numbers for the Capitals were impressive considering he was a scratch for a stretch of games for the New Jersey Devils. Through eleven games he had four goals and three assists. In the playoffs he did okay with a goal and five assists.

When asked if he would like to come back, Arnott replied, "Absolutely." So did the rest of the Caps nation.

Reasons to keep:

Arnott did bring leadership to the locker room. His championship ring carries a lot of weight when addressing the rest of the team. He has been there for bad loses in the post season and he has been through the battles and won. That experience is worth its weight in gold.

His size and productivity does not hurt either. He has averaged 52 points in the last 5 seasons.

Reasons to dump:

I can take his age, but not the price tag. The Devils payed him at $4.5 million a season and it is unlikely he will take a price drop just to stick with a team he only played 20 games with. More than likely a lesser team will take the price tag to bring some sort of offensive help to a struggling line up. $4.5 million off the payroll could free up some space for other changes in the line up.