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.
It was a quick exit for the Caps. Apologies to fans from the owner, some job security for a coach by a general manager and all around bad feeling for just about everyone else. What is done, can not be undone so all there is left to do is look to the future of the franchise. Where do the Capitals go from here?
The first thing they have to do is analyze what went wrong. The Capitals thought that changing their system to a more defensive style would prove useful come playoff time. It did work. If you look at game five against the New York Rangers, the Capitals played their system to a tee. They were patient, played responsible in the defensive zone and their transition from defense to offense lead to a few goals.
But in the series against the Lightning, their iron clad system turned into confusion and mental mistakes. Resiliency turned into panic and poor decision making. Some of it can be blamed on youth. A third of the Caps defensive corps are rookies. Some of it could be blamed on role players not stepping up and adding to the score sheet.
The Capitals are an emotional team. The Lightning gave them very little to react to. There were no fights, no real scrums. Tampa kept their emotions in check and the Capitals had little to work on. They couldn't get under the skin of top players like Marty St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. There was nothing to build a cause around and they just got out played. I think we all remember what Steve Downie tried to do getting into a fight with Ovechkin in the regular season. It ended up bolstering the Caps bench and Matt Bradley came to the rescue. But the Bolts didn't give the Caps much to work with in the playoffs.
Now the Caps have to correct it when they face this type of game again. Brooks Laich is a unrestricted free agent this summer, as is Jason Arnott, Matt Bradley, Marco Sturm and Boyd Gordon. George McPhee might try to hold on to a few, but all were non factors in the series against the Lightnin (just two goals total and a combined -2 for those 5 players in four games).
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McPhee could try to re-energize his team with some proven role players. Bring in some guys who know what their job is and do it well. An agitator when he needs to be, a fighter to protect his team and some one who isn't afraid to score a goal or two.
As far as his defense looks, McPhee has masterfully protected his blue line with some great youth. Karl Alzner and John Carlson have been fantastic on the back end for Washington, often matched up with top lines on opposing teams. With youth coming up the pipeline in Dmitri Orlov the Caps will be okay on the back end. Alzner is a RFA this summer, but I don't think McPhee will have any trouble resigning the young defenseman.
The netminders look good too. Michal Neuvirth's first season as a Capital was a success. He was the best goaltender in the playoffs before they ran into the Lightning. Even if back up Semyon Varlamov goes to the KHL, which he is rumored to do, Braden Holtby will be more than capable filling in. The Caps are solid with three youthful goaltenders that have nothing but potential ahead of them.
Let's face it, the young guns (Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nick Backstrom and Mike Green) aren't getting much younger. These core players actually have the clock against them. Green's contract ends next year, as does Semin. If a contracts can't be negotiated, the pair could be traded for something in return (not saying that will happen, McPhee has done funnier and less funnier things).
The power play needs to be revamped. After only scoring 2 goals for 19 chances against the Lightning (one goal on a 5 on 3), the extra man advantage needs to find a better system. Part of their problem is their predictability. It is a problem that plagued the Capitals all season long. They look for the one timer opposite side of the overload. Backstrom feeds the cross ice pass to shooters Green, Semin and Ovechkin and Mike Knuble cleans up the garbage. But teams have started to be more aggressive on the passer and take away the center of the ice. Instead of a quick pass, the Caps are still looking for the cross ice pass, often forcing it if it isn't there.
The easiest solution to the power play woes is to practice moving the puck much faster and puck control inside the zone. Practicing patience and wearing down the penalty killers could lead to mistakes by the defensive team and open seams to one timers or better. The system doesn't always work, but it does lead to offensive chances and also tires the goaltender who has to go from post to post to keep up with the passes and fake shots.
The penalty kill is fine. Although it would be best if the Capitals practiced some discipline. They changed their penalty kill to be more aggressive and the killers they have also add an offensive threat to keep other teams honest. It wasn't perfect against the Bolts, they scored at least a power play goal in three of four games in the series.
There will be a whole lot of questions this summer yet to be answered. Will the Caps be able to hold on to the players they need while improving their team? Will the power play change? Will the Caps go in a different direction with their offense? The sad thing is we will have to wait until September to get all the answers.
Caps notes:
Ovechkin is off to play in the World Championship. After admitting he had been injured for most of the season according to Wash Post. He was recovering from surgery in March during his "rest." Ovi stayed mum on the injury and blamed most of his lack of offensive production due to his focus on the post season.
Other injuries that were disclosed: Mike Knuble (broken thumb), Mike Green (hip flexor), John Carlson (hip pointer), Jason Arnott (had knee surgery late in the season). Add Tom Poti who is battling a groin pull problem and Backstrom had a fractured thumb late in the season.
Round two is set. The Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Washington Capitals. The Lightning were down three games to one to the depleted Pittsburgh Penguins to win in game seven 1-0. What has been surprising about the Bolts win is they did it with their defense, a soft spot during the regular season. And having Dwayne Roloson in net didn't hurt either who has won 7 straight elimination games.
In what would be their best period of the series, the Capitals scored a pair of goals while their net minder Michal Neuvirth came up with the shutout. The only response the New York Rangers could come up with was Sean Avery's antics with seconds left in the game. It would do little to prevent Jason Arnott and Jason Chimera from scoring to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead in the series.
Alex Ovechkin can still prove to be dangerous in overtime. He recorded is franchise leading 11th overtime game winning goal in his career. It was a goal he would dance to as he defeated a team that may come to call in the post season in the Buffalo Sabres with a deflected shot that would sneak past Jhonas Enroth for the final score of 5-4.
For Ovechkin it notches 30 goals for what will be a career low for the left winger as the season starts to wane. Mike Knuble would tally two goals while Alex Semin and Jason Arnott rounded out the scoring for the Capitals.
It was a quick start for the Caps as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Enroth could not control John Carlson's shot on net and Knuble was there to clean up the rebound just :37 seconds into the game. Four minutes later, a similar play did in the Sabres as the shot was mishandled by their goaltender and Semin was on the door step to make sure the puck went in.
But the lead didn't last long. The Sabres answered with a screened shot and a soft goal given up by Michal Neuvirth. Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford would pull the game even before the game turned ten minutes old. After the flurry of scoring subsided, both teams seemed to settle in to play better defense and the game would remain scoreless through the second half of the first period, the second period and half way through the third.
Paul Gaustad would score the tie breaker in the third period at the 12 minute mark putting the Sabres in the lead. That would not last long as the Caps roared back and answered with Knuble scoring his second goal off of a deflected Brooks Laich shot on the power play. The Sabres would make it interesting by scoring on their powerplay chance to take the lead back as Stafford scored his second of the game. Stafford's goal was the result of a pass that had been knocked in from a hard charging Carlson after the Caps turned the puck over on the offensive end.
But the Caps get lucky in the dying minutes of the game as Gaustad was called for high sticking at 18:35. With the Neuvirth on the bench Jason Arnott, parked in front of Enroth, calmly reigned in a rebounded shot and back handed it past the Sabres' net minder to tie the game at 4 and force the overtime penalty. The charged crowd at Verizon Center erupted with Arnott's tally.
Ovechkin would get the game winner on the same kind of bounce Stafford had scoring late in the third period. His pass would be deflected by a pair of Sabre defenders before finding the edge of the net just inches from Enroth's out stretched leg pad. The goal sealed the game for the Caps who take the season series from the Sabres 3-1 and prompted Ovi's dance. He would finish the night with three points (1g, 2a).
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Nick Backstrom played the strongest game yet this year. He would get the play-maker with three assists and add 4 shots of his own on Enroth. Semin had two points (1g, 1a), and Marco Sturm and Laich would each get an assist on the night while defenseman Carlson had a pair of assists.
The Caps showed some brilliant resiliency against a desperate team trying to keep themselves in the playoffs. The game had a tension to it similar to a playoff game, a good test for both teams. There was a lot of ebb and flow to the game for both sides as each team seemed to have the answer to the others goals.
The Capitals are limping into the post season as they deal with injuries down the stretch. Sean Collins was recalled from Hershey to boost the blue line as John Erskine sat out with what was called a "minor" injury. Even with a depleted D core, the Caps defense soldiered on.
The schedule winds down with a pair of road games, one against Toronto. The other is part of a final home and home with the Florida Panthers before the Caps close the book on another 82 game season.
The Capitals nearly wasted a really good start at home. It looked like the New York Islanders were going to weather the early flurry of shots by the Caps and walk away with a 1-0 win. But the Caps complete a second rally to come from behind on a last minute goal and some magic left in the captain in overtime as the Caps down the Isles 2-1 on Alex Ovechkin's overtime goal.
With new members aboard, Jason Arnott, Marco Sturm and Dennis Wideman, the Caps came out with a some renewed energy as they face the Islanders in the second game of a home and home. But they could not convert on 11 shots in the first and 17 shots in the second period. It looked as if the Islanders would survive the early barrage of shots and wait for the Caps to make a mistake.
That mistake would happen in the second period when a tired line and a tired John Carlson turned over the puck int he neutral zone leading to a three on one the other way. Michal Neuvirth, who played spectacularly all game, could not stop them all as the Isles would take the 1-0 lead.
The Caps' offense then countered with a series of missed opportunities. It didn't seem to matter how pretty the play was or how open the shooter was, pucks were shot wide, pucks bounced off sticks or plays were broken up by the Islanders defense. A last ditch effort by the Caps late in the third with Neuvirth pulled would turn the game around. New comer Jason Arnott found an open Brooks Laich in front of the net, and Laich's tip in tied it with just 48 seconds left in the game.
Cue the overtime dramatics by Alex Ovechkin. On his first shift of the overtime period picked up a turnover inside his own zone on the half wall, deked a Islander defender that was turned around on the play and cut up the ice on the right side to back hand the game winner past Nathan Lawson. His goal came unassisted.
The newly acquired players seem to add some chemistry early on. The Caps were making plays, had chances and were getting good shots to the net. As the season winds down, the chemistry should get even stronger. All three, Arnott, Wideman and Sturm had a shot in the first period. Sturm had a great chance in the first on the break away but couldn't convert, Arnott had a chance on a tip in front that nearly went in.
Nick Backstrom did not have a strong game as he continues to struggle to create offense. He took two bad penalties in the third period that put a damper on the Caps trying to rally. He was on the bench when the Caps pulled their goaltender in the waning moments of the game.
The Caps looked good through the first period and a half. They faced a good Islander team that was determined not to let the Caps get back into this one a second game in a row. Neuvirth took home the game's third star, but he kept his team in it making some ten bell saves on penalty kills in the third period.
The Washington Capitals' general manager George McPhee faced what could be his toughest trade deadline of his career. How can he spark a struggling offense without giving up too much in return? While it remains to be seen how the newly acquired players will form into the collective, one thing is certain; McPhee certainly got the most bang for his buck.
Acquisition #1
Claimed LW Marco Sturm off waivers from Los Angeles Kings
Sturm '10-'11 Stats: 17 GP, 4g, 5a, 9p, +6, 1ppg; 32 years old, 6', 194 lbs.
Contract 1 yr $3.5 million UFA
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Sturm brings some offensive punch. Although coming off of an injury and only playing 17 games this season with the Kings, he has nine points in his last 17 games and can add some scoring power to the Caps sputtering power play. A smart pick up for McPhee as it costs nothing in way of trade bait as in player assets or draft picks. Sturm has one day of practice under his belt already and will start against the New York Islanders Tuesday night.
Acquisition #2
Caps trade prospect Jake Hauswirth and a 2011 3rd round pick to the Florida Panthers for D Dennis Wideman
Wideman '10-'11 Stats: 61 GP, 9g, 24a, 33p, -26, 8ppg, 11ppa, 75 h; 27 years old, 6', 196 lbs.
Contract 2 yr $3.9375 million UFA
With question marks on Tom Poti and Mike Green, McPhee felt he needed to step in and help his defensive core.
"Not knowing Tom [Poti's] status, I felt like geez, we may need to pick up another defensemen," McPhee said of the decision to trade for Wideman. "I thought maybe we could tough it out with what we have. But when Mike [Green] went down I thought it was really important to help this team now."
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Wideman is another vet that can handle the puck well and quarterback the power play relieving some of the pressure on John Carlson, who has filled the void with injuries. Wideman's 19 power play points will inject some life into the struggling power play for the Caps. He also has another year on his contract.
"Wideman seems to be a real good fit," McPhee went on. "Because he is an offensive guy, he is good on the power play, he is a right hand shot. We were pleased we were able to do that deal."
The Capitals give up prospect Jake Hauswirth. Hauswirth impressed the Caps in his first development camp with the team, but then fizzled to make any head way in the organization eventually landing in the ECHL playing for the SC Stingrays once he signed as a free agent. The lack of depth in the Florida ranks may see him excel in the AHL level where the Caps' farm team is loaded with more than enough talent.
Wideman was obviously excited:
Acquisition #3
Caps trade C David Steckel and a 2011 second round pick to the New Jersey Devils for C Jason Arnott
Arnott '10-'11 Stats: 62 GP, 13g, 11a, 24p, -9, 2ppg, 3ppa; 36 year old, 6'5", 220 lbs.
Contract 1 year $4.5 million UFA
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Jason Arnott's return to New Jersey hasn't gone smoothly. His numbers are down from a season ago. What he does bring is some Stanley Cup experience. McPhee is hoping that not only can Arnott hold down the center position on the second or third line, but also be a leader in the locker room. McPhee compares his trade with the one that saw Sergei Fedorov boost a team that was in need of some leadership and direction.
"There weren't many centers available," McPhee said as he talked about targeting Arnott. "He [Arnott] was one a lot of people wanted to have and he had a no trade clause... He was hoping to work it out with us."
The trade comes at a cost as McPhee had to give up David Steckel in return. Steckel's trade not only secures a centerman the Caps wanted, but also frees up some cap space to do it.
"We took a player out of our roster that we love," McPhee said of giving up Steckel in the trade. "[Steckel] is such a great guy, he has done really well for us here, he has become an NHL player, a solid NHL player. But we thought we had some depth there with Boyd Gordon and Jay Beagle."
Overall Grade: B
To pick up Marco Sturm, Dennis Wideman and Jason Arnott for one roster player, a prospect and no first round picks is something to be admired. McPhee played his hand close to his chest and it payed off. The only reason it's not an A grade is because I am not sure how these players will blend into the Caps' collective. It is a wait and see sort of proposition.
McPhee bolsters his defense core with a player that can make an impact now. He gets two veteran forwards that have playoff experience and the Caps see a ray of light at the end of the regular season tunnel. If the newcomers can gain some chemistry with the rest of the team, this is going to be a tough Caps team to beat in the post season.
Capitals are five points from their division rivals the Tampa Bay Lighting.
