Current Capitals Roster
Name | Cap Hit |
Forwards (10) | |
Alexander Ovechkin | $9,538,462 |
Nicklas Backstrom | $6,700,000 |
Alexander Semin | $6,700,000 |
Eric Fehr | $2,200,000 |
Mike Knuble | $2,000,000 |
Jason Chimera | $1,875,000 |
Marcus Johansson | $900,000 |
Matt Hendricks | $825,000 |
D.J. King | $637,500 |
Jay Beagle | $512,500 |
$31,888,462 | |
Defensemen (7) | |
Mike Green | $5,250,000 |
Dennis Wideman | $3,937,500 |
Tom Poti | $2,875,000 |
Jeff Schultz | $2,750,000 |
John Erskine | $1,500,000 |
John Carlson | $845,833 |
Tyler Sloan | $700,000 |
$17,858,333 | |
Goaltenders (1) | |
Michal Neuvirth | $1,150,000 |
Restricted Free Agents
Name | Last Year |
Troy Brouwer | $1,025,000 |
Mathieu Perreault | $716,667 |
Karl Alzner | $1,675,000 |
Semyon Varlamov | $821,667 |
Unrestricted Free Agents
Name | Last Year |
Jason Arnott | $4,500,000 |
Marco Sturm | $3,500,000 |
Brooks Laich | $2,066,667 |
Matt Bradley | $1,000,000 |
Boyd Gordon | $800,000 |
Scott Hannan | $4,500,000 |
Sean Collins | $650,000 |
What's the difference between RFAs and UFAs?
The difference my friend lies in the restrictions. An unrestricted free agent can sign with whomever they want come July 1st. A restricted free agent could sign with whomever they want, however, any offer they accept, the Capitals are eligible to match to retain the player. Also, all players that are restricted free agents must be tendered a qualifying offer by July 1st otherwise they become an unrestricted free agent. There is also compensation awarded if a team loses a restricted free agent. So the odds of the Capitals' restricted free agents coming back is pretty good.
Who will the Caps re-sign?
Every team has to have at least 20 players. However, it is generally advised to have 22 to 23 players on the roster to provide for depth, the Capitals had 23 players last season to start. That being said, with 17 players under contract and another 4 as RFAs, the Caps will have 21 players. However, I don't believe all 21 will be on the opening day roster. Jay Beagle can still go back and forth from Hershey, so he may or may not make the team. I highly doubt DJ King will remain with the team, he didn't provide much, if anything at all this season. Mathieu Perrault will probably be signed to a contract that will allow him to go back and forth like Beagle. Karl Alzner is a lock to remain on the roster. Semyon Varlamov is a huge question mark due to the emergence of Braden Holtby.
In terms of the UFAs, they must re-sign Brooks Laich. I believe Boyd Gordon will also be re-signed as he is a key face-off man on the penalty kill and took the second most face-offs after Nicklas Backstrom and won 58% of them. Enough babbling, time for the breakdowns
Forwards
They have 10 forwards currently on the roster. Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Eric Fehr, Mike Knuble, Jason Chimera, Marcus Johnasson, and Matt Hendricks are not going anywhere. DJ King and Jay Beagle are the interesting guys on the roster right now.
I highly doubt DJ King will make the opening day roster. He played in only 16 games, and not even 100 minutes on the season. I highly doubt he will be back this season as Matt Hendricks has been willing to throw it down with pretty much everyone. Throw in John Erskine and DJ King's role on the team in unnecessary. Jay Beagle can go back and forth from Hershey, so he will most likely start the season down there. That leaves it at 8 forwards. The Capitals are going to need at least four forwards and will probably start the season with 13.
Who to sign?
That being said, they must re-sign Brooks Laich. He is huge on the power-play, penalty-kill, and pretty much everywhere he's on the ice. Troy Brouwer will be signed before July 1st. You don't trade a 1st round pick for the rights to a guy and then not sign him. Among the UFAs, Matt Bradley has not been tendered an offer yet, so it appears he may not be returning to DC. Boyd Gordon will also likely re-sign. That will leave two spots available as to whether the Caps will sign Marco Sturm or Jason Arnott remains a mystery.
Their potential line combinations, should they sign who I recommend they do looks like this:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Semin - Laich - Brouwer
Chimera - Johansson - Fehr
? - Gordon - Hendricks
As you can see, they could use a winger on the fourth line, however, i think the plan is to move Chimera down to the fourth line, move Laich to the wing with Johnasson, and still try to acquire a second-line center. The second-line center has been the biggest problem for the Caps since Federov left, they've tried Laich, Fleischmann, Brendan Morrison, Eric Belanger, Johansson, Perrault, and now Arnott. So it'll look more like this:
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble
Semin - ? - Brouwer
Laich - Johansson - Fehr
Chimera - Gordon - Hendricks
Another way to go is to find someone on the market that could complement Alexander Semin. One of these days, I need to do a thorough analysis on him. He's one of the most baffling players in the NHL. He has so much talent, yet injuries, lackluster play, and whatever is going on in his head prevents him from being a top-10 player in the NHL. The only other center that I think will help this team is Brad Richards, but he's going to be way out of their price range if they resign who I think they should. They will most likely try to bring back Arnott at a reduced price (maybe $3 or $3.5mil?) and try one of the Hershey guys.
Defensemen
They're going to re-sign Karl Alzner, and then they're going to be in a spot of trouble in terms of whom to start. They'll have Mike Green, Dennis Wideman, Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz, John Erskine, John Carlson, and Tyler Sloan. Odds are, Tyler Sloan will be riding the pine and John Erskine and Jeff Schultz will also swap riding the pine. That gives the Caps a ton of scorers on defense in Green, Wideman, and Carlson. Don't forget, Poti also used to pick-up power play time and with Alzner playing defense predominantly, this team looks really good on defense. Obviously Alzner and Carlson will be paired up and I think Schultz/Erskine will be paired up with Green which will make an interesting combination of Wideman and Poti. Sorry Scott Hannan, but barring a trade, odds are you're not coming back. Sean Collins will most likely return to Hershey.
Goaltending
This is by far the most interesting situation. You have three goalies that are studs. Michal Neuvirth played the most this season with 45 starts, a 2.45 GAA and a .914 SV %. Good for 25th and 14th among goalies who qualified. Semyon Varlamov on the other hand, had some pooor luck in 25 starts and only 11 wins while posting a 2.23 GAA and a .924 SV% good for 4th and 6th in the league respectively. Braden Holtby did even better with a 1.79 GAA and .934 SV%. His only problem though is that he got wrecked in shootouts. Absolutely wrecked, see the Caps-Rangers game on January 24th. Varlamov is trying to re-sign with the Capitals, but teams in the KHL have been pursuing him with rumors of $4 million a season circulating around. In games Varly has started, he's received 1 goal or less of support in 10 of his games. So 40% of the time his team didn't give him a chance to win. In those 10 games, Varly is 0-8-2. Take that out of his 11-9-5 record and all of a sudden it looks really good. It's like really good pitcher that receives no run support. Braden Holtby still needs to work on improving in shootouts and playing with more consistency, so it would make sense for the Caps to re-sign Varly, but not for more than $2 million a year.
Recap
Sign: Troy Brouwer, Karl Alzner, Mathieu Perreault (to Hershey), Semyon Varlamov, Brooks Laich, Boyd Gordon, and find a second-line center. I am guessing that the Caps will have about 3 to 4 million to sign Arnott or another center, if they can find one, or try to work a trade with their abundant amount of defensemen. If Varlamov asks for too much money, he's not coming back. Gordon is almost a lock to come back, Laich will command a lot of money on the open market, so it's up to him whether he wants to come back or take more money elsewhere
Still up in the air: Jason Arnott, Matt Bradley, Semyon Varlamov, Brooks Laich
Guarantee they won't be coming back: Marco Sturm and Scott Hannan
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