The Washington Capitals have continued their transformation to a hard-working, gritty, talented bunch through the signings of Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern. They also added veteran blueliner Roman Hamrlik and brought back Chris Bourque for some depth. Finally, they made a goaltending statement by sending Semyon Varlamov to Colorado and signing Tomas Vokoun. Other than Ward, nobody got more than a two-year deal (Hamrlik).
More and more, GM George McPhee is making it emphatically clear that the status quo is not acceptable and the players will need to be more accountable and adherent to Bruce Boudreau's system.
But there are still a few more questions. For example, who is going to be the second-line center? Will Alex Semin manage to stay with the club, despite the fact he looks more like an outsider every day? And, finally, how will the additions fit into the team's chemistry?
While many of these questions probably won't be answered until the fall, Semin's situation could be addressed sooner rather than later. With Karl Alzner and Troy Brouwer still needing contracts, and the team dangerously close to the salary cap, it seems that McPhee still has something up his sleeve.
My bet is that Semin is shown the door, clearing up $6.7 million in cap space that can be used for Alzner, Brouwer, and any trade-deadline additions. More than ever, the upcoming season is the team's best chance to make a deep playoff run.
The last two Stanley Cup champs, the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, make it evident that grit is sometimes paramount to skill and teams that don't have accountability to each other won't succeed. The Caps are making great strides towards laying the groundwork for that this off-season, but the journey won't be an easy one.
July 4, 2011
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