Capitals

Washington Capitals Draft Previw

On Friday night, the Washington Capitals will begin drafting and hopefully make the right moves that will bring the franchise's first Stanley Cup and DC's first championship in twenty years.  This year the Caps will have the 26th pick, in the first round, and will have picks in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.  The Caps traded there second and third round picks.  Since the lockout the Caps have drafted well all across the board as all of the Caps stars were drafted and the Caps still seem to have plenty of talent in Hershey and in the amateur leagues.  I'll just take a look at where the Caps could possibly go with the 26th pick.

The Caps have seemed to have filled there needs of defenseman  and centers in the past.  John Carlon and Karl Alzner looked to be a pairing to be reckoned with for years to come at the blue line, while young guns, Marcus Johansson and Matthew Perrault seem to be in  line for the second line centers and or wingers of the future.  In a tough NHL season you can  never have to much depth so look for the Caps to add depth at the wings and blue line this draft.  After watching this past playoffs, its obvious that they need to start getting players that don't have a "I'll do it my way" attitude and players that have a toughness about them and won't quit when the going gets tough.  Here's a few of ideas of what players the Caps may go with.

Tomas Jurco, 6'2, 193, RW: Slovakia, St. John's Sea Dogs (QMJHL).
 Jurco, is mainly known for his youtube skills, but has some great on ice stickhandling skills as well also.  Jurco has a wicked wrist shot and can also have a deadly slapshot when he needs to. scouts say he can be an all around player.  The Caps can use a player like this as Mike Knuble won't be around for long, so Jurco an be his replacement. Problem is Jurco could be gone before the Caps draft.


Alexander Khokhlachev,  5'10,  172, C:  Russia, Windsor Spitfires (OHL).
Kholkhlachev, always plays with high energy and doesn't take nights off.  Seem to be solid in shooing and passing, scouts would like to seem him bulk up a little more and his lack of size is why Khokhlachev will be available in the late first round.  Even though the Caps have plenty of young talent, at the center spot,  the Caps can use a  guy that has a high motor and high energy  and could possibly convert  him to a  winger.


Phillip Danault, 6'0, 170, LW:  Canada, Victoriaville Tigers (QMJHL).
Danault has shown he's a leader, as he was named captain of Victoriaville as a 17 year old.  Leaders are what the Caps need  right now and  Danault can fit the role perfectly.  Danault  does everything, from scoring to grinding it out and his coaches say that he will do everything  for his team.  A player like that is what exactly the Caps need, but it's not a guarntee  that Danault  will be there as Montreal has the 17th pick and has been  eying  him.


Scott Mayfield, 6'4, 200, D: USA, Younstown  (USHL).
Mayfield, is considered  to be one of  the best skating defenseman in this year's draft.  Mayfield can  also play offense, and is a great two way defenseman.  If  the  Caps feel  they can turn him into strictly  a defensive defenseman then the Caps should jump on this right away, since  the Caps want to play a defensive system. Drafting Mayfield could be risky  as he wants to play a little college hockey at, the University of Denver, before going pro.


It's also a possibility that the Caps will  trade players to get a higher first round draft pick.  As I  have stated before, the Caps must trade players to get a new culture around the locker room f they want to finally win  a cup. GM, George McPhee seems  to do well with  the draft  no matter where the Caps pick so hopefully, those will be the right moves again this year. 

 Offseason Moves: What Should the Caps do?

 Sorry to the fans that think Bruce Boudreau should be fired, but it looks like Boudreau is going to stay.  Owner Ted Leonsis, said on 106.7 the fan, last week, that it's up to GM George McPhee on if Boudreau stays or goes.  McPhee said that he wants Boudreau to stay.  So with that being said that means moves must be made player personal wise, after another playoffs disappointment.  Let's start off with the current team and whose contracts are expiring.  (Plus/minus added for defenseman in stats).

Jason Arnott: UFA (unrestricted free agent) $4.5 million last year.

2010-2011 stats: 17 Goals, 14 Assists, 21 Points,

4 Goals, 3 Assists, 7 points in 11 games with Capitals

Brooks Laich: UFA $2.6 million last year.

2010-2011 stats:  16 Goals, 32 Assists, 48 Points

Matt Bradley: UFA $1 million last year.

2010-2011 stats: 4 Goals, 7 Assists, 11 Points

Boyd Gordon: UFA $800,000 last year.

2010-2011 stats: 3 Goals, 6 Assists, 9 Points

Scott Hannan: UFA $4.5 million last year.

2010-2011 stats: 1 Goal, 10 Assists, 11 Points, +4.

1 Goal, 4 Assists, 5 Points, +3 in 55 games with Capitals

Marco Sturm: UFA $3.5 million last year.

2010-2011 stats: 5 Goals, 11 Assists, 16 Points.

1 Goal, 6 Assists, 7 Points in 18 games with Capitals

Sean Collins: UFA $650,000 last year

2010-2011 stats: 1 goal, 1 Point, +2

Karl Alzner: RFA (restricted free agent) $1.67 million.

2010-2011 stats: 2 Goals, 10 Assists, 12 Points +14

Semyon Varlamov: RFA $821,667

2010 -2011 stats: 11-9-5, 2.23 GAA, .924 save percentage in 25 game started.

The Musts:  In this year's free agent class, I only see two must resigns this year.  Karl Alzner and Brooks Laich.  Alzner is a key component to future of this defense as he and John Carlson look to be a force of a defensive paring to be reckoned with for years to come.  This was the first year that Alzner and Carlson were paired together, in the NHL, and did a damn good job to.  Alzner's +14 rating speaks for itself, but in mid season it was this pairing that was going against the other teams top lines across the league. 

To me, Brooks Laich is not a must resign because of stats, but because of the other things he does.  Laich is the one that is always hustling, digging pucks out of corners, making the extra pass to score a goal etc.  If I ever played organized hockey, I would want to model my game after Liach because of those attributes stated above.  A player like Laich could inspire someone like Semin to not slack off during games.  Laich may not get all the goals, but he's the person that will make the plays to have a goal scored and that's way he needs to remain in DC.

The don't have to resign, but would be nice to keep: Jason Arnott, Scott Hannan, and Marco Sturm all fall into this category.  The main reason, why these 3, are in this category, is because of how much they were being paid this year.  If the Caps do resign both Brooks Liach and Karl Alzner, George McPhee will have about $4.7 million in cap room to work with.  Which means the Caps can only afford to resign one out of the three players in this category.  Out of the three I would say Arnott would be the one to resign, but he'll be the most expensive one to resign.  Arnott brought the veteran leadership to the Caps that this team lacked.  He is also a great two way player, which bodes well for the defensive system the Caps want to play.

Sturm is hurt to much and Matthew Perreault can easily take his place, Scott Hannan was a great addition to the team this year, but like Sturm he will be to much to keep and young defenseman Dmitry Orlov looks to be ready to move up from Hershey. 

Let them go: Semyon Varlamov, Sean Collins, Matt Bradley and Boyd Gordon.  Varly has been injured way to much to resign him for a good amount of money and has also been rumored of going across the pond to play in the KHL.  If Varly is willing to sign for about $1.5 million or less then resign him, if he wants more let him go to the KHL.  I'm pretty sure Michael Neuvrith and Braden Holtby can fill in for Valry's place pretty well.

For Matt Bradley, Boyd Gordon and Sean Collins, I just see them as role players, role players are easy to find for cheap on the free agent market or can be brought up from Hershey.  If the Caps do resign who I think they should there will most likely not be any cap space for these players, unless some trades are made.

Trades: Trades are a must this offseason and can't wait until next year's trade deadline to make at least one big move.  Alex Semin, Mike Green and Dennis Wideman should all be considered as players that are tradeable.  As before I have been critical of Alex Semin's effort and with just cause, his lack of effort and poor attitude is something that you don't want on a team that is still trying to win the Cup.  Semin may not be the player that gets traded in the offseason, but more likely at the trade deadline.  The reason being, Semin is making $6.7 million this year that would seem a pretty hard sell to any team in July, but in February, a team that is in 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th place may feel that they need an offensive power like Semin to make the playoffs and will call the Caps to get him.

I put Mike Green and Dennis Wideman up there because they are basically the same players, offensive defenseman.  Which makes perfect sense to have two offensive defenseman on a team that wants to play a defensive system.  NOT.  I understand why McPhee did get Wideman, to replace Green while Green was hurt, but now with Green healthy the Caps are stuck with this problem of having two offensive defenseman.  This is were a trade should be made this summer trade either Green or Wideman to one clear up some cap room and two possibly get a defenseman that plays defense.

The Case For and Against Boudreau 

Obviously with this pathetic loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning the talk of firing Bruce Boudreau, but everything must be considered before a move is made. Here's both of the cases.

Keep Him: Bruce Boudreau took a team that was in last place, in November of 2008, and won the Southeast division that year.  Boudreau has a record of 189-79 in the regular season.  Boudreau turned a team full of offensive minded players into a defensive minded system that was able to work towards the end of the season and in the first round of the playoffs.  Against the Lightning it was the players fault that they got frustrated and decided to abandon the system.  The coaches can only do so much, its up to the players to continue to play within the system and stick to it no matter what. Boudreau knows these players better than any coach in the NHL because he coached most of these players in Hershey. If Boudreau is fired, he will most likely get hired by another team then come back to beat the Caps in next years playoffs. 

Fire Him: Boudreau has a record of 17-20 in the playoffs, is 1-3 in game 7's all played at home and 3-4 in games were the Caps face elimination.  All of that is unacceptable for a team of this talent.  This team should of been, at the very least, to a conference final already.  Boudreau showed, in games 4 and 3, that he can't motivate this team.  It's the job of a head coach to motivate the team.  In 24/7, Boudreau was trying to motivate the team and the look on the players faces were basically we are not going to listen to you and we don't respect you.  At the time when I saw I thought, ok it's a long losing streak; everyone is frustrated.  But maybe the players don't respond to Boudreau anymore as was evidence in, once again, games 4 and 3.  Most of these players have had Boudreau as there coach for all of there careers, including in Hershey, and maybe the players have grown tired of him therefore they won't listen to him anymore. 

If Boudreau is to be fired, I say go with Ken Hitchcock.  He's the former coach of the Dallas Stars and most recently the Columbus Blue Jackets and Hitchcock won the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Dallas Stars.  Hitchcock knows what it takes to get a team there.  I don't think a young, upcoming coach will be the right fit for this team because the superstars on this team will run him out of DC within a few months, if he does not get along with the players or runs a system that they players don't like.    

Overall it is a tough decision, Boudreau has had excellent success in the regular season, but hasn't in the playoffs.  Is it the player's fault? Or has Boudreau lost this team completely?  Of course, in a city that has not seen a major professional sports championship in 20 years, fans want success now.  But is firing the coach the right move? Or should players be traded? Ted Leonsis will have to give answers to these questions and hopefully those are the right ones.   

 

Everyone Takes Responsibility

The shock is still settling in, how can a team that beat the Rangers in 5 games and then get swept by the Lightning?  From what I saw, from this series, everyone should be taking the blame.  From the coaching staff not getting the team fired up, to the players putting themselves before the team and for the front office not getting the right players.  Lets start with the players.

Players: At the end of the regular season it finally seemed like the players were buying into a defensive system everyone was willing to give up stats for the better of the team and that continued in the first round series against the New York Rangers.  When the bounces didn't go there way, the players didn't get frustrated as was evidence in the two overtime wins, against the Rangers, and that's when I personally started to believe that this was the year.  Then came Tampa Bay and there 1-3-1 trap.  I don't think that this team has the players that can beat the trap in the neutral zone, but that didn't mean they could not dump the puck into the offensive zone. Besides game 1, it seemed like the Caps didn't have to much trouble breaking the trap, but they were always losing in the 3rd period and that's were the players abandoned the system and started relying on themselves to break the trap and score that game tying or winning goal.  Instead of dumping the puck into the zone, like they should've, Ovechkin and others tried to break the trap by carrying the puck across the blue line, right were 3 Lightning players were waiting.  This normally led to a turnover or offsides call.  All of last night it seemed like the players were relying on themselves to win and didn't care about the system anymore.  

The past four years it seems like that one of the Capitals stars have failed to show up in the playoffs from Alex Semin, to Mike Green and this year Nicklas Backstrom.  Backstrom only had 2 assists and 0 goals this playoffs, unacceptable for a talent like him.  Now its possible Backstrom could've been hurt the whole year as his point production dropped significantly.  That could be due to the new defensive system this year, but something was not right with the Swed this year.  Then there was Mike Green last night, deciding at the last minute not to play.  You're a HOCKEY PLAYER!!! Be tough and suck it up with the teams season on the line.  Green did not do that and let his team and a whole fan base down.  And of course Semin didn't show up the second half of this series, but him not showing up doesn't surprise me anymore.  If the Caps are ever to win the cup, all of there starts must show up for all of the playoffs.

Coaches: Bruce Boudreau started feeling the heat in December, when the Caps were on a 9 game losing streak.  The reason for the losing streak was that Boudreau, and the rest of the coaching staff, were trying to change the free wheeling system into a defensive minded team.  At the end of the year Boudreau looked like a genius as he turned an offensive juggernaut into a defensive minded club in hopes of finally winning the Stanley Cup.  It seemed like it was all working even during the Rangers series, but then the team fell apart against the Lightning.  It's the coaches job to make sure that the team believes in the system, it's the coaches job to make sure that the players play as a team and not for them selves, it's the coaches job to fire up the team when there back is against the wall.  Boudreau failed to do all of that this series and that's why his job is in huge jeopardy right now.  Another question of the coaching is why do stars seem to disappear on in the playoffs? Now it could be all mental, but it someone different every year from Semin last year to Backstrom this year.  As a coach you have to find a way to get your stars fired up and get production out of them.

Thing is if you fire a coach you must have a concrete plan of where you want to go from here. What coaches should be hired? What happens if you don't get the coach you wanted? Those questions must be answered before someone is fired.

Front Office: GM George McPhee is also not exempt from this.  Boudreau wanted a defensive system, but didn't have defensive players.  It was McPhee's job to get those players that will play defense for Boudreau.  At the trade deadline McPhee did ok at filling that need.  He went out and got Jason Arnott, who is a great two way center, but then got Dennis Wideman who is more of an offensive defenseman.  Now the move might of been done to replace Mike Green, but now the problem next year will be there are two offensive defenseman.  I don't want to hear excuses Pittsburgh's GM Ray Shero lost his top two players midway through the season and without the Pens top players Shero found a way to keep his team in the playoffs and earned a 4th seed.  McPhee needs to find a way to get the defensive players that want to play defense, so Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin can hopefully score goals and that's all they'll have to worry about.  Remember these player have only known offense there whole careers, you can't teach them to play defense and expect to get the same scoring production out of them and as we saw they eventually abandoned the defensive system.  

The past few years I have felt that McPhee has had trouble deciding when to turn the switch from building mode to win now mode.  There's plenty of talent in Hershey that could've been used as trade bait to get defensive players to DC.  But McPhee wants to keep on building for the future, but problem is if McPhee keeps on building for the future he will miss the win now opportunity while Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin are in there primes.  I have no problem with stocking up in Hershey for the future, but the future is now and the Caps should be in win now mode. 

When a team has collapse like this, everyone has to take the blame and changes must be made.  The question is; where should the changes be made? Do you fire the coach? Do you trade players and go with a new core? Do you hire a new GM? Ted Leonsis must answer all of these questions before the NHL offseason begins and the answers are not going to come easy. 

 Ovechkin and Stamkos Face off for First Time in Playoffs

Well the Caps got past the New York Rangers in what was a tough 5 game series.  Up next there southeast division counterpart the Tampa Bay Lighting.  The Bolts came back from 3-1 deficit to beat the Crosbyless Shittsburgh Penguins in 7 games. The Caps won the regular season series 4-2 and the Caps outscored the Bolts 18 to 10.  This could be the start of a long rivalry in the southeast division.  Ovechkin vs Stamkos is a sexy headline to hockey fans and Boudreau has called out Stamkos and Steve Downie for flopping to much.  Trash talk and a playoff series sounds like the perfect mixture for a rivalry.   Here's my keys to this series.

Facing a Real Offense: Yes it was a great defensive performance against the Rangers, yes it was great that the pk only gave up one goal, but outside of Marion Gaborik the Rangers have no offensive weapons what so ever.  Against the Lighting the Caps defense will have to worry about more than one offensive threat.   The Bolts have Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St Louis who have both won a cup and oh yea they have the up and coming talent in Steven Stamkos.  St Louis is 3rd in the league with playoff points with 4 goals and 4 assists.  The Caps defense has done a good job at times during the regular season against the Bolts offense as they did shut Tampa out 6-0.  Tampa's offense likes to work the puck in deep then throw a centering pass into the slot.  Sounds easy to defend but if the defense does not stay at home the centering passes can cause confusion in the Caps defensive zone.   

Old vs Young: The Caps and Lighting feature two different goaltenders.  The Caps have Michael Neuvirth who is only 23 year old and Tampa has Dwayne Roloson who is 41.  Nuvie, in the playoffs, has a GAA of 1.38 and a save percentage of .946%.  Not to be out done Roloson has a GAA of 1.77 and is leading the playoffs in save percentage with .949%.  Without Neuvirth, the Caps would not have beaten the Rangers in 5 games and without Roloson Tampa maybe on the golf course right now.  The goalie that remains hot, that team has the best chance of winning this series with the offensive power both of these teams have and both of the goalies will be seeing a lot of shots on goal.

Support From the Third Lines: Another reason for both of the teams success is the support from there role players.  The Caps have gotten contributions from Jason Chimera and Swedish center Marcus Johanson.  While the Lightning have received help from Sean Bergenhim and Simone Gange.  When teams get help from there role players that takes the pressure off of the teams stars and it also puts pressure on the opposing team's coach to choose which defensive line he should send out.  When its just a team's top line scoring coaches know to put there top dmen on them, but if you have multiple lines scoring that makes the decision a little bit harder on who to send out.  Ovechkin and Stamkos don't have to do everything since they know they can rely on there teammates for scoring help and that'll relax and Ovie and Stamkos also; and from my experience you play better when you're relaxed.  If one of the team's third line goes cold expect that team's scoring to drop and expect that team to struggle in this series.

Expect a lot goals coming from this series.  I won't be surprised if a regular score is 5-4, 4-3 on nightly basis.  From the Caps perspective I would like to see Nicklas Backstrom start scoring more as he only has 1 assist in this year's playoffs.  If Backstrom can finally get going that will be a deadly first line for the rest of the playoffs.  If this was last year's team I could see this series going 7 games, but the Caps finally learned how to play defense and will hopefully stick to that philosphy for this series to shut down Tampa's scorers.  Even thought Tampa has Lecavalier and St Louis, who have cups, I still think this is a young team and they don't have the defensive fire power to shut down Ovie and company.  Give me the Caps in 6 games. 

Game 4 Must be Treated as Game 7 for Caps

Well the New York Rangers got the game 3 win and could be on the verge of turning the series around with a game 4 win Wednesday night.  While at times the Rangers did get, what some may say, lucky goals the fact is that the Caps were out shot 35 to 25 and it seemed that most of the play was spent in Caps defensive zone.  The Caps also reverted back to there bad habit of taking stupid and uneeded penalties. For Bruce Boudreau and the rest of the Capitals the formula is simple win game 4 and take the series win with game 5 at home, of course easier said then done.

There are multiple reasons why the Caps must treat game 4 as a game 7.  The most obvious one is that with a game 4 win by the Rangers that guarantees a game 6 back at MSG, therefore making it a long series and possibly another 7 game series for the Caps.  Also, the longer the series goes the more likely that Henrik Lundqvist  continues to get hotter and hotter as a goaltender.  The Caps  need to think about conserving there energy if they are to win the cup.  It's been evident that this series has been very physical and the physicality will most likely continue for the rest of the series.  With that being said the Caps need to limit there bumps and bruises by ending the series as quickly as possible, especially with the possibility of playing another physical team in the Montreal Canadiens in the next round. With a game 4 loss, all the talk and questions are going to come again of why the Caps can't hold on to a lead in a playoff series and that is the last thing that the players and coaching staff need to be ask about in a playoff series.  If the Caps take this series in 5 games then all of that talk of not holding onto a series lead will be gone. 

To win games 4 and 5 the Caps must get back to what they were doing in game 2 and in the second half of game 1.  They need to be the ones that come out a throw the first hit and kill the Rangers will physically, basically come out with game 7 intensity to cancel out the Rangers intensity from playing in front of there fans.  The Caps can not be playing in there defensive end of the ice for the majority of the time as what happened on Sunday and that was part of the reason for dumb penalties because of the tired legs.  Which brings me to my next point. Backstrom, Knuble and Hendricks all took stupid penalties on Sunday, Stanley Cup winning teams don't do that type of crap, which is exactly what it is.  Knuble on the pk had no one around him when he was attempting to clear the puck, so if there's no one around you why did Knuble decide to try to bounce it off the glass?  Makes no sense to me just shoot down the ice no need to be fancy in that situation.  For Backstrom the play was already ahead of him, as Karl Alzner defended Marian Gaborik  perfectly, but Backstrom just had to commit the hook or slash on the Rangers player entering the zone, once again dumb.  I will say the Matt Hendriks penalty was a little bit questionable, but don't put yourself in that position.  Offense hasn't been that bad so far this series, but I will say there is no way that this Rangers team should be outshooting our offense by 10 shots.  Yes the Rangers have a great defensive line pairing of Staal and Girardi, but the Caps were able to have a great offensive performance in game 2.  Yes I know the Rangers now have the advantage of last line change, but that's were the second and third lines of the Caps must score in game 4.  Caps should try to get Lundqvist's head a little, crash the net more, give "The King" a little love tap or two just to mess with him. 

I know that I personally said that Caps will in 7 games, but man would it be nice to win a series 3-1 especially when playing a team like the Rangers.  Wednesday we will be able to tell if we are going to be in it for the long haul or if the Caps have finally learned how to get a lead in the series and keep the lead.

Here We Go Again Caps vs Rangers

For the second time in two years, the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers will be facing off in the first round of the NHL playoffs.  The Rangers won the regular season series 3-1 by outscoring the Caps 17-7 and King Lundqvist was able to shutout the Caps twice.  The Caps lead the all time playoff series against the Rangers 3-2.  The Rangers will be without there second leading scoring Ryan Callahan while the Caps will be without defenseman Dennis Wideman with a leg hematoma, but the good news for the Caps is that Mike Green should be back on Wednesday night.  Those are the facts now here's some keys to a Caps series win.

Capitals Offense vs Henrik Lundqvist:  I'm pretty sure everyone remembers what happened two years ago, if it weren't for Sergei Fedorov the Caps would've lost another playoff series and why not because of multiple players, but because of one freaking goaltender.  Henrik Lundqvist almost single handedly won the Rangers that series two years ago and can sure do it again this year as he lead the league in shutouts, with 11, and had a GAA of 2.28, this past season.  If the Caps are going to win this series they can't let The King get hot, they need convert on almost all of there power plays and odd man rushes so Lundqvist doesn't get his confidence up.   Another strategy to use could possibly be switching up the offense with every line shift and every game to try to confuse The King.  Boudreau has done a good job of switching up the line combinations and that could also help confuse Lundqvist and the rest of the Ranger's defense.

Replacing the Wounded: It's going to be interesting to see how the Caps deal with Dennis Wideman being out and how the Rangers attack the Caps.  Most likely either Tyler Solan or John Erskine will be taking Wideman's place.  Since coming over from Florida Wideman has had a +7 plus minus rating compared to a -26 plus minus in the sunshine state.  It seems that Mike Green will be back as he took part in all of practice today and it looks like Jason Arnott is back at 100% again who has made impact on the team both offensively and defensively.  Arnott has worked well with Alex Semin on the second line and has complimented Ovie nicely on the power play since coming over from New Jeresey.

Where the F@$% Are You Semin?  Seems like I"m beating a dead horse with this one, but it has to be mentioned.  Alexander Semin has literally done NOTHING in the playoffs, last year he took 44 shots on goal and scored 0 times.  With someone like Semin's talent that is inexcusable and his playoff performance the past 3 years is unacceptable.  Here's his career playoff stat line; in 28 games he has scored 8 goals, 24 points and 28 PIM's, that means that Semin is off the ice for at least a minute every game when he should be on the ice, not good.  And there is no way that one can argue I'm being hard on him.  He has the talent to be a top 10 scorer in the league every year, but he doesn't want to play every game.  Semin will have games like in Anaheim were he'll have a hat trick and the game winning goal and then he will have multiple games were he will turn the puck over multiple times and miss shots on goal high and wide that should be in the back of the net.  Semin basically has a NBA player attitude were he just shows up whenever he feels like and that's not a player you want on your team.  If Semin continues to be a non factor in the playoffs, it's going to be easy for teams defense's just to focus on the first line as they have in the past.  If the Caps are to finally hoist the Stanley Cup, this year, Semin has to get his head out of his ass and give 100% every night this spring.

Power Play Heating Up:  The Caps have scored 5 times on the extra man in there past 4 games.  This is obviously a good sign if the power play unit can continue to keep scoring in the playoffs.  The power play was mostly dormant, by past years standards, this year as they finished 16th in the league.  Last year the power play struggled in the playoffs as the unit only scored once with the extra man, but the fact that Jarslov Halak was on fire was a huge factor.  Since Dennis Wideman and Jason Arnott  were acquired, at the trade deadline, the power play has scored more so the power play should be alright this year.

New Territory for Nuvie:  After posting a 27-12-4 record with a GAA of 2.45, in the regular season, Michal Neuvirth well be getting the start between the pipes for the playoffs.  Nuvie has had great playoff success in the AHL as he lead the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup last year.  So the question will be can Nuvie transfer that AHL success to the NHL?  Another issue with the goaltending will be how quick  Boudreau decides to pull Nuvie if he struggles.  The past two years Boudreau pulled Jose Theodore in favor of Semyon Varlamov.  Theo could've been pulled due to his inconsistency and this year Nuvie has not shown inconsistency.  Boudreau may have to wrestle with possibly ruining a young goaltender's confidence, if he pulls Nuive, or going with the hot hand in the past with Varly. 

Prediction: This past season, the Caps had multiple highs and multiple lows.  Though it wasn't easy, the Caps have seemed to learn how to play defensive hockey with a bunch of offensive players.  Defense is the key to winning in the spring and the Caps have done that as they were ranked 4th in goals against and had the league's second best penalty kill unit.  With all that being said the Caps will still have to face Henrik Lundqvist who once again had a great year.  If The King gets hot again expect another long series, the Rangers will struggle to score goals especially without Ryan Callahan so if the Caps can keep the Rangers scoring to 1 to 2 goals a game it could be a quick series.  If the Caps go up by 3 games quickly everyone is going to be asking can the Caps finally close out a series? Only time will tell for that answer.  Overall I think this is going to be a tough series, I don't see Lundqvist cooling off in the playoffs he knows he's the biggest key for the Rangers success in the playoffs.  I'll take the Caps in once again 7 games.  LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Questionable Moves for Capitals

Despite there not being a top line defenseman on the market and I will say the Capitals did address the need for a veteran center, I'm still questioning the Caps moves.  I think it has become very clear that you can not teach offensive minded guys like Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom to play a defensive minded game, that is not part of there game.  If you want to play a defensive minded system you go out and get defensive guys, not guys that play the position of defense but are offensive minded guys.  And that starts with the draft instead of drafting a bunch of wingers and centers every year we have the wingers and centers.  This choice of drafting all falls on George McPhee's shoulders.

Yes the Caps did get a defensman in Dennis Wideman, but he is basically another Mike Green and if Mike Green does happen to get healthy again we will have 2 offensive defenseman doesn't sound like a defensive system to me.  Yes Wideman played in Boston with Zdeno Chara, but Chara is a good enough defensive defenseman were Wideman could go play offense and everyone knows that Chara can cover alot of ground with his 6 foot 7 frame.  The argument that there isn't a big name defenseman out there is crap.  As much as I hate to say it look at Shittsburhg, they had multiple injuries, but Ray Shero went out here and got what he wanted to try to keep his team in the playoff hunt and it's working they are still the fourth seed in the east.  The same place the Pens were when Evgeni Malkin got hurt.  This basically shows that the great GM's will go out there and get what they want.  And the past two years George McPhee has not shown that. Whats the problem Georgey? We have the prospects in Hershey to give teams what they want why aren't we doing it?  And I'm sure there is a team out there that would have taken a chance on Alex Semin.

I think if Bruce Boudreau is to be fired, due to another disappointing playoff performance this spring, then George McPhee should go also. I don't see the point of adding Macro Strum then also adding Nick Arnott that's two old guys on the team. Yes they fill the need for a 2nd line center, but why both of them? Makes no sense when McPhee could have gone after a defenseman instead of another second line center.  Yes Arnott is decent as a defensive forward, but he doesn't play defense.  The Caps still have John Erskine to trip over his big feet and freaking Tom Poti, if he becomes healthy, to miss play a puck or two in the playoffs.  Yes, we have Karl Alzner and John Carlson, but they are still young a most likely cant bank on them for the whole playoffs.  If you get another veteran defenseman you pair whoever that maybe with Mike Green  then put Scott Hannan with Dennis Wideman and keep the Alzner Carlson line.  Now that sounds like a defensive unit that could be solid enough to win in the playoffs.  With this 2nd defensive defenseman, you can stop harping on Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin to play defense and just tell them to play offense.

Now I have never played organized hockey, but I think if you put together a formula like this the Capitals can finally when a Stanley Cup and give Washington its first major championship in 20 years.  Who knows though? I could be completely wrong and Nick Arnott and Dennis Wideman may wind up being the final missing pieces for the Caps, but until this plays out I'm going with this stance.  And if there is another early playoff exit McPhee should also be out of DC due to his lack to make the right moves.