The One That Got Away?

No one can argue with GM George McPhee's success lately in drafting talented young players. The Capitals collective prospects right now are ranked 6th in the NHL by Hockey's Future. But last summer, sitting in the number 5 position, McPhee had a tough decision to make. Go with a potential franchise defenseman or a top line center to compliment Nicklas Backstrom. He chose to go with the defenseman (even though he began to announce the center as his selection) and so Karl Alzner was the pick. (Stanley Leary/Associated Press)

The man he bypassed was center Sam Gagner who was chosen one spot later by the Edmonton Oilers. While Alzner was sent back to the WHL this season for another year of seasoning with the Calgary Hitmen, Gagner stayed with the Oilers. The decision to keep him with the big club has payed off for GM Kevin Lowe. Gagner was named the NHL rookie of the month for February after leading all rookies in scoring, 3 goals and 10 assists in 12 games. He is also tied for 2nd in the NHL in shootout goals with 5 in 15 chances.

Capitals fans should expect to see Alzner in the lineup sooner rather than later. Once his junior season is over he should join the Hershey Bears for their Calder Cup run. But at least for the near future, the debate will rage on. Should McPhee have taken Gagner instead?

Official Retraction

Okay, I'd officially like to retract my previous post that declared the Capitals as players for the #1 overall pick and the rights to Steven Stamkos. With the moves made at the deadline, the team obviously has no aspirations of finishing in the top 5 for a spot in the draft lottery. No, the Caps have decided to add to their lineup and compete now for a playoff spot.

You have to give GM George McPhee a lot of credit with these deadline moves. The Caps gave up next to nothing to acquire a #1 goaltender in Cristobal Huet, a former #1 center in Sergei Fedorov, and an agitator in Matt Cooke. All of these assets were had for a grand total of Anaheim's 2009 2nd-round pick, which we received for Brian Sutherby, defensive prospect Theo Ruth, who is a freshman at Notre Dame and is still multiple years away from seeing an AHL rink let alone an NHL rink, and Matt Pettinger who I would say didn't even deserve to receive a jersey on a nightly basis anymore.

Huet, Fedorov, and Cooke will all be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. But that doesn't mean that they will all depart this summer. It's not as if teams will be lining up to sign a 38 year-old center, or a 29 year-old winger with a career average of about 20 pts/season. If either or both of those players fit well with this team, the Capitals will pay up and bring them back this fall. Huet on the other hand, will most likely be the best free agent goaltender available this summer. His performance down the stretch could earn him a big payday. McPhee will have to make the decision of whether or not he is worth the money it would cost to keep him here. To say the 3-way goaltending battle down the stretch will be interesting is an understatement. Hopefully the cream will rise to the top and one of the three will establish themselves as the #1 man.

As the New York Giants proved this season, once you get into the playoffs anything can happen. With the best player in the world on their side, can Ovechkin take his game to yet another level and lead the Caps on a Stanley Cup run this year? Only time will tell.

A Look Back at Ovechkin's Highlights So Far

Since we are officially in the slowest part of the NHL calendar, it's a great time to reflect back on the highlights of Alex "The Great" in his career so far.


Update: Milan Jurcina has re-signed with the Caps today avoiding an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Monday. According to Tarik of the Washington Post, Jurcina will make $850,000 next season and $912,500 in '08-'09. This is another great job by McPhee locking up a promising young defenseman and sidestepping the arbitration process that has lead to hard feelings in the past between players and management.

Vanek's Contract Offer Should Serve as a Warning

If there's anything that Kevin Lowe's insanely overpriced offer to Buffalo's Thomas Vanek has accomplished, it put the rest of the league on notice. The restriced free agent market, which for so long was dormant, is alive and kicking once again.

General Managers around the league have been put on alert. What for so long seemed like a gentleman's agreement between teams not to bid on each other's restricted free agents, is no more. The message is clear, draft picks be damned.

So with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Shaone Morrisonn, and Mike Green among others set to become restricted free agents next season, George McPhee you have been adequately forewarned.

Aggressive Restraint Continues to Pay Off for McPhee and the Caps

Michael Nylander Signs a 4 year $19.5 million Contract to Return to Washington

Going into the free agency period the talk surrounding this team was that they needed:

A #1 Center - Michael Nylander

A PP Quarterback - Tom Poti

A Top Six Forward - Viktor Kozlov

Yet it seems as though no one wants to give GM George McPhee any credit for the great job he has done over the last 30 hours. So here at capitalfanatic.com, I would like to be the first to congratulate the Caps' boss on a job well done so far.

Let's face it, we all know it would have been great to sign one of the big names. But were any of those players worth the large contracts they received? Hell no. The fact is, as much money as those guys received you cannot say that they are going to be any more productive for their teams than Nylander will be for the Caps.

These contracts being thrown around are outrageous.

Daniel Briere - 8 years @ $6.5 million/year
Chris Drury - 5 years @ $7.05 million/year
Scott Gomez - 7 years @ $7.36 million/year

Not only is the amount per season ridiculous, but the length of the deals could cripple these teams (anybody remember someone by the name of Jaromir) if they don't pan out. Kudos to McPhee for showing aggressive restraint and finding the right players to improve the club without breaking the bank.

Forbes.com Rates the Best GMs in Sports

Found this in an ESPN article.

This will be a list that can be highly debated. Washington area teams to note:

25. Ernie Grunfeld, Wizards

71. George McPhee, Caps

77. Jim Bowden, Nationals

79. Vinny Cerrato, Redskins

For the full list click here.