Captain, Salary Cap and Goalies, Oh My!

The Caps are going back to Cali today with lots of their mind. The three most important topics:

* The Next Captain: The list of contenders seems to be restricted to three: Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble.

- While Knuble certainly has the credentials, he does not appear to be a long-term solution because of his age (37) and his tenure (or lack thereof) on the team.

- Ovechkin is certainly the most popular choice, but perhaps Coach Bruce Boudreau was hinting at something when he said after last night's game, "You don't slap a 'C' on someone else. You take your time, out of respect for him and to make the right decision. Because, for me, your captain is a very important part of your team." That's not to say Ovechkin won't have the option to make the call, but it might not be as automatic as some might think.

- Laich would be my choice for several reasons. One, he fits the mold of the kind of captains the Caps have employed: Chris Clark, Dale Hunter, Rod Langway and even Steve Konowalchuk. He's not the most skilled player on the team, but he's certainly the most versatile. And, according to Caps Today, he's already welcomed newcomer Jason Chimera to the team by giving him a ride to Dulles Airport for the charter flight to San Jose. Sounds like a captain-esque thing to do.

* The Extra Salary Cap Room: Many assume that the Caps will go out and use their extra cap room and trade for a big-name player (Ilya Kovalchuk anybody?) but consider this: what if the Caps use some of that money on a long-term extension for Nicklas Backstrom? The Caps' third-year center clearly is one of the team's centerpieces and already has surpassed the 200-point plateau in his young (201 career games) NHL tenure. So he's going due a lot of money -- maybe north of $6 million per year for 4-6 years, at least. So GM George McPhee needs cap space to fit Backstrom in there for many years to come.

On top of that, Alex Semin's $6 million deal for next season already eats up space -- and, if GMGM keeps Semin around beyond that, it will further reduce the amount of money the team has to spend. Finally, some part of management probably is still burned by the big-money deals that haven't worked out (Michael Nylander being the most recent example) and is a little trigger-shy on some of those. Chimera is the kind of guy that McPhee will pursue -- and those players don't warrant the salaries that the team could dole out with their new-found space.

* The Goalie Situation: Before the season started, it was apparent that this was Jose Theodore's last season donning the red, white and blue. After another dud last night, the question now is whether he'll even make it to the playoffs. Unlike last year, when Theo sat while Semyon Varlamov shined, McPhee won't just put $4.5 million on the bench for the postseason.

If he and Boudreau decide that Varlamov is ready -- and, maybe more importantly, Michael Neuvirth is ready too -- then Theo might be on a seat almost as hot as Jim Zorn's. Varly and Neuvy make approximately $1.7 million combined, so getting rid of Theo would free up another $3 million or so -- depending on what comes back in return via trade. That's another way for McPhee to strengthen the team while shedding salaries.

While it's quite possible that the Caps have more questions than a team with one of the best records in the league should, it's obvious that the 2009-10 season is shaping up to be one of the best ever in franchise history -- and it's only the end of December.