Time for McPhee to Make His Move

The Caps might not have trouble winning the Southeast Division for the fourth consecutive year, but the team certainly has bigger goals -- and, in that quest, the road isn't going to be easy.

Just in the division, the Tampa Bay Lightning have added Simon Gagne to an attack that already includes Rocket Richard Trophy co-winner Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. New GM Steve Yzerman also added defenseman Pavel Kubina and goalie Dan Ellis.

The New Jersey Devils, meanwhile, signed Ilya Kovalchuk, provided they can agree on a deal that the NHL doesn't reject, who joins earlier additions Henrik Tallinder and Anton Volchenkov.

And those are just two examples.

The silver lining is that there are still teams (such as the Chicago Blackhawks) who need to rid contracts to get under the salary cap and the Caps could swoop in for some decent players at little or no cost in a trade. And there are still plenty of players looking for work who might sign for cheap (such as Bill Guerin and Paul Mara).

Yes, the Caps won the President's Trophy going away last season and probably don't need to change anything to win their division. But to win the Stanley Cup, the Caps certainly need to make some alterations because the competition's getting a lot stronger.