McPhee Hits the Mark

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee had a clear mission today: trade for a bonified second-line center and, if possible, add a defenseman. He did well on both counts, much better than he did at this time last year.

Center Jason Arnott, formerly of the New Jersey Devils, heads to the nation's capital in exchange for center David Steckel and a 2012 second-round pick. Arnott, although not the same player he was in 2000, when he led the Devs to a Stanley Cup, still has enough left in the tank to make a significant impact. Some were calling for Sergei Fedorov 2.0, and I would argue that Arnott might be better than the legendary Russian was when he joined the Caps a few years ago.

Although Arnott has just 13 goals and 11 assists this season, he's a proven two-way center who can excel both on the power play and penalty kill and has plenty of playoff experience. Additionally, he's extremely familiar with the Eastern Conference teams -- especially the New York Rangers -- that have haunted the Caps recently.

Dennis Wideman, the new defensemen, will be especially valuable now that Mike Green is out for at least two weeks. Wideman, although somewhat offensively minded, also can play well in his own end and be an asset on special teams. He's just 27 and spent three seasons in Boston before this one where he learned a lot from all-world defenseman Zdeno Chara.

He's also adept at the Caps' style of play and should do much better than Joe Corvo last season. Wideman is signed for next season, but that's another story for another time. McPhee sent a third-round pick this year and prospect Jake Hauswirth to Florida for Wideman.

Wideman's teammate with the Bruins last season, Marco Sturm, joins the Caps off waivers from the L.A. Kings and, if he can stay healthy, will provide a nice offensive boost. Sturm notched 22 goals and 15 assists with Boston last season and boasted consecutive 27-goal seasons earlier in his career with the Bruins. He's got the tools; he just needs to stay healthy.

All these three players cost McPhee and the Caps from the active roster was Steckel, a great faceoff man but somebody with limited offensive tools. As the Caps try to improve their offense and provide a major jolt to their power player, the three newest Caps should help that endeavor.

Arnott should skate on the second line with Alex Semin and possibly Sturm or Brooks Laich, while Wideman might be paired with Scott Hannan or Jeff Schultz. If Sturm drops to the third line, he'll most likely skate with a reinvigorated Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera.

Coach Bruce Boudreau likes to shuffle lines and the extra three players will give him options. But it won't be the overkill they had last year and the troops this time around are better and more suited to the Caps' style of play.

McPhee, in my opinion, did all he could do to put the Caps in position to make a deep playoff run. It's now time for the players to perform on the ice -- starting with tomorrow night's tilt with the New York Islanders at Verizon Center.