Well rather than be confusing and updating my previous, long post, I will update occassionally with new posts, giving you the signings that have happened to date.
The Good:
The Caps signed veteran right winger Mike Knuble, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers. He's a big, physical forward who can play both ways. He will be a valuable addition to power play situations on both sides. He can play well defensively short handed, and can also distribute the puck and get in front of the net on power plays (He's had 10 PP Goals in the last five straight seasons). This is a particularly good signing with Kozlov and Federov gone, that regains some of the depth at forward. In all likelyhood, Knuble will play on the first line with Ovechkin and Backstrom, replacing Kozlov.
The Bad:
Donnie Brashear has left the Caps and signed with the New York Rangers. While unfortunate that the Caps have lost him, as I said before, this isn't the biggest loss in the world. In fact, the Caps did just fine in the playoffs with him suspended. He was valuable as an enforcer, but not as much as a skater. The Caps team is, overall, very physical, even without his presence, and so, the bruiser won't be missed very much.
I do think it's rather amusing that Donnie was signed by the Rangers after all the controversy he stirred up in the Rangers series. He was harshly punished for a somewhat late hit on a Ranger, as well as for getting in the face of a fellow bruiser in warmups of the same game. The Rangers bitched and moaned about his play, even after the league handed down a suspension, and then they go ahead and sign him.
Overview:
The Capitals have freed up cap room with Federov and Kozlov gone, and used up a good bit of it to sign Knuble. With that in mind, George McPhee, the Caps GM, has said that Knuble's signing will be the biggest profile signing they make. He expressed confidence in keeping Laich as the second line center, and has no plans to make a move to sign someone else to fill that role.
This leaves the lines looking about like this:
1st: Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Knuble
2nd: Semin, Laich, and possibly Clark
3rd: Bradley, Gordon, Steckel
However, that said, there's a lot of room for this to move around. There is plenty of depth right behind Laich at center with Aucoin and Beagle coming up from the minors, as well as Nylander and Fleischmann in the mix.
As far as depth goes, left wing is simultaneously the shallowest as well as the strongest, with Ovechkin and Semin at the top, but with only Steckel and then three minor leaguers behind that with Laing, Bourque, and Osala. And some of those three are free agents.
On the other side, right wing is both deep and not very strong. Knuble leads the pack, and is followed by numerous guys who can and have played on the energy line; Bradley, Gordon, and Clark. The other notable in this group is Eric Fehr, who could very well compete to be the second line's right winger.
As of now, the defense and goalie situations haven't changed. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is yet to be seen. The defense could use some help, but considering the limited cap space, it's unlikely that the Caps will get anyone of note in that area for cheap. The only forseeable possibility could be Chris Chelios. It's yet to be seen how many teams will take a shot at a 47 year old defenseman. If the teams looking at him are hesitant, he could wind up being a steal, and would be valuable for his leadership and experience on a relatively young defense.
That's all for now.
Until next time,
-TES
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