Caps Draft Recap: Heavy On The D

Not surprisingly, the Caps loaded up on defensemen in yesterday's draft, taking five blueliners in the seven round draft, including packaging their picks #47 and #52 to grab the #27 pick. Here are your newest Caps-to-be:

1. (14th overall) Sasha Pokulok, D, 6'5", 220
2. (27) Joe Finley, D, 6'7", 229
3. (109) Andrew Thomas, D, 6'2", 196
4. (118) Patrick McNeill, D, 6'0", 195
5. (143) Daren Machesney, G, 6'0", 163
6. (181) Tim Kennedy, LW, 5'9", 170 (traded to Buffalo for a 6th round pick in 2006)
   
7. (209) Viktor Dovgan, D, 6'2", 200
   

There's a decent draft-day blog on WashingtonCaps.com that discusses many of the picks, and a very good recap (albeit from the team) here.

There's a nice capsule summary in the WaPo article. Not that anyone at the WaPo has any credibility as far as evaluating hockey talent, but they described the Caps two first round picks as "a surprise" (translation: "they could have waited and taken him later") and "a project," respectively, which is hardly encouraging.

The WTimes draft recap is here.

The Toronto Star recaps the Caps picks here and the entire draft, pick by pick, here.

The Caps' official message board has a thread with an extensive discussion of first pick Sasha Pokulok.

Rink Closed For Maintenance

And just like that, I'm off again. This time I'm going "downy ocean," as we Marylanders say, for a couple of days of R&R. I'll be back Sunday with comments on the future flop that the Caps draft on Saturday.

JP

Goodenow Steps Down

Gee, and he did such a good job for the union. Link.

The New CBA: A Path To Contraction

Scott Niedermayer wants to play for the Canucks. Or the Flames. Or the Pens. Eric Lindros wants to play for the Leafs. Or the Bruins. Or the Flames. Jeff O'Neill wants to be a Leaf. Several "big- name players could seek out [the] Coyotes." What? No one's eager to head to Carolina? Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund want to play together, and you can bet it won't be in Nashville.

This year's free agent frenzy is unlike any the League's ever seen before for obvious reasons, with around 2/3 of all NHL players without contracts as of today, and there seems to be a recurring theme: the players - and not the owners' wallets - are for the most part going to decide who goes where. It only makes sense under the salary cap.

Take Gary Roberts, for example. He made $4.25m in 2003-04. That puts his 2005 value at somewhere around $2.5-$3m, certainly no more than $3.25m (and those numbers are likely quite generous). Assume that teams get in a bidding war for him, with the Leafs offering $2.5m, the Senators offering $3m and a team like Florida going off the deep end and offering $3.25m. Where will Roberts sign? Wherever he wants. For a Canadian-born player at the end of his career, is an extra $250k going to get him to go to South Beach to play for a team that hasn't contended for anything this century other than the top draft pick annually? Probably not.

This is nothing new - players have been able to choose where they want to ply their trade as long as there's been free agency and a willing buyer of their services (the 13th Amendment, along with Curt Flood 200 years later in the sports world, pretty much put an end to the days when a man could be bought and sold and forced to work). But what is new to hockey is the salary cap and, with it, reductions in both the range of a player's value and of what teams can pay for players. Whereas before an owner could try to turn his franchise around by simply opening his checkbook and signing a big-name free agent (or every big-name free agent), now money alone is less likely to land top talent. Whereas before a player agent would try to sell teams on his client, now teams will have to sell players on their organization. For some teams, that will be easier than for others. Watch players fall all over themselves for the chance to play for the Habs or the Leafs, who they'd see every Saturday night on Hockey Night In Canada as a kid. Watch them line up for a chance to win a Cup in cities like Ottawa or Detroit or to play for or alongside Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemiuex in Phoenix or Pittsburgh. But don't expect to see them in Washington. Or Atlanta. Or Buffalo.

The model for the new NHL is the NFL's New England Patriots. Build a team that can afford to lose just about anyone - because you will - but make sure to lock up the one or two guys you can't do without. Easier said than done, of course. Win, you say, and the free agents will beat a path to your door. Maybe. But with the lowered age for free agency, it will be harder for teams to develop (and more importantly to keep) young star players who will be able to walk after their first contract, so the circle of futility for the bottom feeders may well continue.

Which leads me (finally) to my ultimate point. I'm not suggesting that the "old" system was better. Certainly no League in which Bobby Holik makes $9m is sustainable. But the thought that the new salary structure will allow all teams to compete on a level playing field is not realistic. And as floundering teams continue to flounder both on the ice and on the balance sheet and there is no longer a "quick fix" via the desperate seat-filling move, the League will quickly grow tired of sharing revenue with these franchises that can't carry their own weight. At some point, they will cut that dead weight loose.

With The 14th Pick In The 2005 NHL Entry Draft...

Assuming that GM GM doesn't package any picks to move up in the draft, what can Caps fans expect the team to do when its first round pick comes up at #14? The glaringly obvious need for this team is defense. Past Steve Eminger and Shaone Morrisonn, the team doesn't have any prospects that project to be top 4 defensemen in the NHL (though we're sure Jeff Schultz, Nolan Yonkman, Mike Green and Jakub Cutta will all give it the ol' college try).

Jack Johnson will undoubtedly be taken in the first five picks, perhaps as high as second to Anaheim. The next highest-ranked defensemen are Marc Staal (#7 by ISS, #8 by Bob McKenzie), Luc Bourdon (#11, #11), Ryan Parent (#15, #16) and Brian Lee (#16, #14) [click on player's name for his Hockey's Future profile and on the second ranking in the parens for Bob McKenzie's take on the player] . A darkhorse (no pun intended... really) non-D pick is LW Kenndal McArdle, since GM GM is known to have a soft spot for WHLers. And, of course, anyone who falls dramatically would be an obvious choice.

We can't imagine that Staal will be there at 14, but Bourdon very well could be, so for the moment he's Japers' Rink's "It" Guy (though we're not terribly impressed yet). A few notes on him:

• 6-2, 205 lbs; shoots: left
• Played for Val d'Or in the QMJHL last season, scoring 13 goals and adding 19 assists and 117 PIMs in 70 games
• Talent analysis: "Bourdon is a very good two-way defenseman who plays very well in his own zone and can contribute offensively, as he showed this season with 13 goals and 32 points. He makes the appropriate first pass and has a good, hard shot. It is easy to look at Bourdon’s -39 rating and assume that it indicates poor defensive play. However, in this case, it is reflective of the fact that Bourdon averaged 30 minutes of ice time or more on a weak team. Bourdon can be a physical force and hits hard, both along the boards and in the open ice. His positional play is good, but sometimes he is too aggressive, resulting in penalties." [Hockey's Future] (emphasis added)
• "Played exceptionally well at the Under-18 world championship in the spring and has all the physical tools (size and skating) to be a good one, though some question his decision making. Still, it's difficult to imagine him dropping out of the top 15. He's a candidate to crack the top 10." [TSN.ca]

As more information becomes available as to how the Caps might be leaning, we'll be sure to post it here.

UPDATE: TSN.ca has a mock draft up here in which they have the Caps reaching for some Finnish goalie whose name sounds more like a character from Star Wars - Tuukka Rask. With Maxime Daigneault (21 years old) and Rat Stana (25) already behind Maxime Oullet (24) and Olie Kolzig, I don't see the Caps taking a goalie, but I guess we'll wait and see.

UPDATE: FoxSports.com has a mock draft up here in which they also have the Caps taking Rask, noting "The Capitals do not have a premier goaltender in their system that will excite the fans and Rask has the potential for greatness. The next great Finn goaltender is a potential superstar who has the poise and mentality of a veteran. He sees the play development quickly, anticipates well and makes saves look easy. He is tremendously athletic and has the ability to carry his team on his back." Ever hear of Oullet? Drafting a goalie still makes little sense to me.

Hockey's Future has a mock draft up here in which the Caps take American-born d-man Brian Lee with Luc Bourdon still available. Now at least we're making some sense, though I can't remember the last time the Caps spent a high pick on an American (so I looked it up - it was Pat Peake, who scored all of 28 career NHL goals, with the 14th pick in 1991).

UPDATE (7/28): Hockey's Future has a Capitals 2005 Draft Preview up in which they're sticking with Brian Lee as the Caps' pick.

Wednesday Evening News & Notes

I couldn't 'til morning. Good Lord, do I love hockey. Anyway, just a handful of notes to pass along.

• Check out the Markus Naslund slurp-fest going on in Vancouver. It's pretty pathetic, but I guess Canuckleheads, like The Temptations, ain't too proud to beg.
• Bob McKenzie has an interesting article on how the Flyers handled negotiations with prospects Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. As brave as the first man to try an oyster was, so to was the first GM to negotiate a deal with a rookie under the new CBA. Kudos to Booby Clarke for not caving.
• The Sens re-signed Dominik Hasek, the Kings re-signed Luc Robitaille. The two are a combined 79-years-old. The Caps will probably not skate a single line combination all season that is that old.
• The Panthers traded Darcy Hordichuk to Nashville. Florida? Check. Phoenix? Check. Atlanta? Check. Now if Darcy can just hit Carolina and Tampa, he'll have played for every team in the League's Crap Belt.
• Worst Idea Ever? Theo "L'il Sparkplug" Fleury has signed with the Belfast Giants. Theo Fleury. In Ireland. That's the hockey equivalent of a Catholic Priest being assigned to a Boyscout jamboree.
  

Back In The Saddle Again

That was NOT fun. But it's over (for the next six months, at least, until I have to take it again). In any event, I'll be back tomorrow morning with some hockey-related news and speculation. For now, there's a tw'ack of Schlitz with my name on it.

Rink Closed For Maintenance

Time to shut it down for a couple of days so I can take (and G-d willing pass) the Maryland State Bar Exam. I'll leave you with this.

See you back here in a few.

- JP

And They're Off!

From TSN.ca:

"The summer rush begins today as the compliance buy-out period officially begins. All 30 teams also have the chance to negotiate and sign their 2003 draftees, extend qualifying offers and negotiate with their own restricted and unrestricted free agents.

"The deadline for exercising club or player options for 2005-2006, signing 2003 draftees and making the required bona fide offers is Thursday, while the deadline for buyouts is 5pm et/2pm pt on Friday."

You might want to bookmark TSN.ca's Team-By-Team Tracker and Daily Transaction Log to keep current on the latest roster moves. Of course, we'll also note the significant transactions here at the Rink.

Let the mayhem begin!

UPDATES:

• ESPN.com is reporting that the Flyers (to the surprise of no one) have bought out John LeClair and Tony Amonte. For those of you keeping score at home, LeClair was to make $9m this year under the old CBA, $6.84m after the 24% rollback in the new CBA, and was bought out for $4.56m. Amonte (who was one of the players who voted against the new CBA) was to make $5.61m, $4.26m after the rollback, and was bought out for $2.84m. [Philadelphia Inquirer] Rough.
• The Stars have bought out Pierre Turgeon (for just over $3m) and the Coyotes have bought out Brian Savage (for just under $1.9m). [Slam!]
• The Wings have placed Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty and Ray Whitney on waivers, meaning that once they clear, the team will spend just over $6m to pay the three to not play for Detroit this year. [The Fourth Period, SportsNet.ca]
• The Habs will not be exercising the team option on defenseman Patrice "Breeze By" Brisebois, making him a UFA. [TSN.ca]
  

Sunday's Rumors

Today's rumors start off close to home, so let's have at 'em:

• The Caps will not be buying out Olie Kolzig and plan to bring back veterans Dainius Zubrus, Jeff Halpern and Brendan Witt. Owner Ted Leonsis also expects to spend some money on blueliners, but don't expect the free-spending Leonsis of years past. As the article points out, the Caps' plan "can be summed up in two words: young and inexpensive." [Washington Post]
• Kings young gun Alexander Frolov may stay overseas this year. Says Frolie, "I signed a one-year contract with Avangard Omsk [for 2005-2006]. The club's management offered me very good compensation, and I doubt that the LA Kings would eb able to match this offer. So, most likely, I will spend this season in Russia." Not good for LA and another example of what Alexander Ovechkin gave up to come to play in the NHL.
• The Habs are going to be in touch with Pittsburgh to see if there's any chance the Pens would be willing to trade the #1 overall pick. [Montreal Gazette] Actually, there are two chances...
• Speaking of El Sid and the Montreal Gazette, writer Pat Hickey asks, "What can the Pittsburgh Penguins expect from Sidney Crosby in his rookie season?" and answers "not much." We here at The Rink ask in reply, "What can readers expect from a sour grapes writer who identifies Ilya Kovalchuk's team as the 'Atlanta Flames'?" and come up with a similar answer.
• Man, these Canadian sites really are bitter that a Canadian team didn't win the draft lottery.
  
• Flyers defensemen Mattias Timander and Marcus Ragnarsson will stay in Sweden this year, and winger Radovan Somik also will stay in Europe. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Steve Yzerman apparently will be back for one last year in Hockeytown. [Slam!]
  

Uncle Teddy On The Radio

FYI - Washington Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis will appear on DC101's Elliot In The Morning Program on Monday, July 25, at 8:30 am and on WJFK 106.7's Sports Junkies program on Tuesday, July 26 at 10:30 am.

I Think I Just Threw Up In My Mouth

The statistics said there was a 93.75% chance that this wasn't going to happen, but my gut said otherwise (insert JP's gut joke here). And there, for all (who have digital cable) to see, was Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing the Pittsburgh Penguins as the winners of the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes. All of the sudden 3-1 playoff series leads start disappearing in my head and Petr Nedved's wrist shot reappears and is replayed on a loop. How did a team that has had a top-2 pick in the last two drafts land the #1 pick this time around? Isn't there a limit of one savior per franchise? Should we have seen this coming after the success of that "March of the Penguins" documentary? It's just... not... fair.

But I should look on the bright side - imagine how I'd feel if Alex Ovechkin had decided to stay in Russia.

Update: A post on the Caps message board shows the winners and losers of the draft lottery based solely on 2003-04 standings (the Caps got screwed third worst overall).

Friday Rumors

Thanks to Spe for his first of hopefully many great posts. Now, onto the rumors (look for updates to be added throughout the day):

• In Buffalo: Max Afinogenov might stay in Russia, the team has no plans to move one of its three goalies (yet) and might not tender an offer to RFA Miro Satan, but is interested in resigning UFA defensemen Alexei Zhitnik and James Patrick (that makes sense). [Buffalo News]
• The Sens, Ducks and Panthers are interested in Gary Roberts. [Ottawa Sun]
• The Blackhawks may not tender RFA Jocelyn Thibault a qualifying offer. [Toronto Star]
• And this is possibly the least reliable and least likely to be true rumor we'll ever post here, but also the most perfect, if true. There's a report out of Prague that there is a "60/40" chance that Jaromir Jagr will stay in Russia this year to make more money. The summary (available here) notes

  "Now that first-overall draft pick Alex Ovechkin has stated he'll leave [Omsk] Avangard to play for Washington this season, there's more money for Omsk to spend on Jagr, who (according to Blesk) has lost a lot of money through his businesses lately."

  First of all, "his businesses" is a nice way of saying gambling. But wouldn't it be great if Ovechkin's decision to come play in the NHL had the added bonus of saving the Caps millions of dollars on Jagr, while at the same time fully exposing Jagr as the whore that he is? Brilliant. Btw, I like the bolding of players names. I think I'll start using it.
• "According to NHL sources, commissioner Gary Bettman will announce next week that [Todd Bertuzzi] will receive an additional 10-20 games for his March 8, 2004 sucker-punch attack on Colorado Avalanche centre Steve Moore." [Vancouver Province] Good. The longer they keep that animal off the ice, the better.
• Don't forget that the Caps have Ottawa's 2nd round pick this year, so in addition for holding our breath for a high pick for the Caps this afternoon, let's hope for a very low pick for Ottawa (since the draft snakes from round to round this year, like a fantasy draft. Mmm... fantasy draft...).
• Darren Pang has signed on to be the color analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes, noting that "[he doesn't] think the NHL will be back on ESPN next season." [Northwest Herald]
• The League is likely to cancel the 2006 All-Star Game to give players a longer break so they can compete in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. [CBS Sportsline]
  

The Kid Stays in the Picture

When summoned I aim to please the masses...

While Ovechkin's impending signing with the Caps is certainly great news for Beltway hockey fans (ha!), it's even more encouraging news for the League. Make no mistake, this was a seminal moment in the life a newly formed NHL. Call it NHL Part Deux. More on that later. First, some background on how we got here.

In the beginning, both sides brought economic models to the negotiating table each deeply rooted in their vision of the future of the game. What both failed to realize, however, was the fact that no one theory would survive without the other. Ideally, the League runs an acceptably profitable business while players earn market-competitive compensation. However, this entire feud had little to do with reality. Negotiations were made in a vacuum and had little to do with the actual marketplace for the sport. In the end, some theories proved more right than others. Where these two ideas meet, you have the CBA. Without putting too fine a point on it, that's why we lost a year. The Players biggest mistake was assuming that NHL markets are perfectly competitive. In short, supply vanquished demand. The CBA seeks to correct these market ineffeciencies and much else that ills the NHL.

So now, everything you know about the game and all that at most 5% of this country has come to love about the game is about to change. Both on the ice and off. [This will not be a discussion of vanishing red lines, anorexic goalie equipment, or bloated goal nets]. More important than cosmetic changes, the League is on the threshold of operating under a new economic model. Teams can no longer recklessly throw money at their rosters in order to pack the house or in the run-up to the Cup. Fiscal responsibility will rule the day (inasmuch as paying Dale Purinton anything can be described as responsible). Excess from the top will flow down to the bottom. Teams in the middle are better positioned to navigate the new structure if for no other reason than decreased stimulus to the bottom line. Teams will be expected to maintain performance with fewer resources. Will the Devils, Flyers, and Avs turn into losers? Likely not. But, scouting and GM'ing will become a talent industry again.

And yet, before the Ovechkin announcement there was much consternation concerning the viability of the League even AFTER the CBA. And by "much" I'm referring to mine. Even as the lockout approached resolution and most on either side agreed a cap and cost certainty was the prudent course, no one could say with confidence how these twin stabilizers would impact the game. Now that teams would be forced to reconsider who they can afford and who they can't, would the NHL, the greatest aggregator of talent in the world find themselves competing with overseas leagues?... I would ask myself... Put simply, the CBA was necessary, is it sufficient?

So, with these questions marinating comes the Ovechkin news. What does this mean for the League and its fans? It confirms players who have an opportunity to enrich themselves would rather make less and play for Columbus than drink Stoli and be the leading scorer for Dynamo Kiev. It's an endorsement of and a commitment to rebuild the NHL as an institution from the ground up. In that respect, the news is highly embarrassing for the Union bosses. Yet, there is still much to do. Oveckin is one player and hardly representative. Strictly speaking, for the short-term there needs to be another universally applicable, ex-economic incentive to join the NHLPA. What would it portend about the future of the game if Ovechkin took a pass (albeit temporarily) on the League to earn more elsewhere? What about next year's Ovechkin? What about all the under 23 players already under contract? If the NHL can't "out-market" the Russian and European leagues in that respect, they should shutter immediately.

Either way, this year we will witness the first steps of NHL Part Deux. For now, it's a clean slate.

Caps Under Contract, Restricteds And Unrestricteds

OK, so who's still a Cap? Olie Kolzig? Yes (for now - buyout rumors are everywhere, though I tend to doubt them). Peter Bondra? No. Jason Doig? Maybe. Bobby Carpenter? Hell, he could be. Here's the list from the Caps site.

But here's the list of most of the team's current status. As of right now, the Caps have $7,045,000 committed to salaries for 2005-06 after the 24% rollback (though that number does not include around $150,000 that Darcy Verot's salary will be bumped up in accordance with the new League minimum). And for that money, they have the following players under contract:

Olie Kolzig
Alexander Semin
Boyd Gordon
Darcy Verot

In case you're wondering, that trio of forwards accounted for 11 goals and 19 assists at the NHL level in 2003-04 in 130 games. In 2004-05, Semin had 19 goals, 11 assists in 50 games for Tolyatti Lada (second on the team to Viktor Kozlov); Gordon had 17 and 22 in 80 games for Portland in the AHL (fourth on the team behind Whitfield, Willsie and Mink); and Verot had 1 assist and 189 PIMs in 36 games for Portland.

The team has a healthy number of key restricted free agents, including:

Josef Boumedienne
Jason Doig
Jared Aulin
Steve Eminger
Jeff Halpern
Stephen Peat
Matt Pettinger
Brian Sutherby
Trent Whitfield
Brian Willsie
Brendan Witt
Dainius Zubrus

Finally, the following are unrestricted free agents, most of whom have probably played their last game in a Capitals (and, for some, NHL) sweater:

Bates Battaglia
Jean-Luc Grand Pierre
Craig Johnson
Kip Miller
Brad Norton
John Gruden
Sebastien Charpentier
Matthew Yeats

These lists obviously do not include Ovechkin or many minor leaguers (Ouellet, Fehr, Morrisonn, Laich, etc.), but it's plain to see that GM George McPhee will have his work cut out for him, starting this weekend.

Tie Domi: Moron

Tie Domi apparently went off recently with the following:

"This deal is going to benefit guys like Sean Avery and Manny Legace - who wasn't here," Domi said before leaving Thursday. "It's easy to knock things, especially when things are getting settled, and that's the only thing I had an issue with.

"Speak your mind but don't do it when you haven't even played 100 games in the league. It just wasn't the time for any of those guys to speak up. If Manny Legace had some issues, where was he last night to speak about it? I give Sean Avery credit for being here.

"Manny Legace? I didn't know him, the only thing I knew about him was that he played 10 games when Dominik Hasek played 72 and they won a Stanley Cup. All of a sudden (Legace) is in the headlines for something he said."

Despite Domi's devastating lack of grammar, cripplingly limited vocabulary and stunning innaccuracy on facts (Manny Legace has played in 146 regular season games, including 20 in the Wings' last Cup season, in which Dominik Hasek played in 65 games; Sean Avery has played in 163), does he have a point? Of course not. The only reason we lost an entire season of hockey is because over-priced, over-the-hill veterans ignored the good of the game in some ridiculous quest to increase their investment portfolios. As in any union, all members are entitled to competent leadership and representation, whether they've been in the union twenty years or twenty minutes.

But maybe Domi sees the writing on the wall and knows that the NHL is headed towards becoming a League of talented hockey players and not cowardly thugs. Or maybe he's just scared of the new no-steroids drug policy. I wonder why he'd be worried about that...

Beyond Crosby: The 2005 Draft

Believe it or not, the 2005 NHL Draft is scheduled to be more than one pick long. So here are International Scouting Service's Top 15 prospects (with two darkhorses thrown in for good measure) and here are Bob McKenzie's top 30 prospects. The two sources have a similar top 6 (same players, slightly different order after #1) and then things get a little funky.

We'll bring more draft coverage as the information becomes available, and once we know where the Caps will pick maybe we can guess as to who will be available and who would make sense to draft.

Update: Apparently ESPNews is going to show live segments of the NHL draft lottery between 4 and 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday.

Update: Hockey's Future has a great "2005 Draft Center" with tons of great resources. Those guys really do a good job.

Ovechkin Has Chosen... Wisely

Alexander Ovechkin has exercised his option to void his contract for this season with Omsk of the Russian Super League, meaning that little stands between him and signing with the Caps. It was reported first by TSN.ca here, then soon thereafter on the Caps' official site here, by the WaPo here, and by the WTimes here. My favorite line from the TSN article:

[I]t's difficult to imagine any scenario where the talented forward isn't wearing a Capitals' uniform this season.

This is obviously great not only for the Caps, but for the NHL as well. I'll let Spe elaborate on what it means for the League, if he wants to, and I'll write a couple of words on what it means for the Caps.

Quite simply, this is the most exciting news in Capland since... well, since they traded for Jagr. However, there are several reasons to expect this to turn out better than that did. For one, Alex Ovechkin is not Jaromir Jagr. By backing out of his contract with Omsk, Ovechkin in one fell swoop showed that he a) is not all about the rubles, b) is not worried about being away from home, and c) wants more than anything to prove himself against the best competition in the world. Jagr, on the other hand, cared primarily about money, pouted because when he came to Washington it was the first time he ever lived by himself (seriously - he lived with his mother in Pittsburgh), and he had no motivation because he had already proven himself.

Will Ovechkin sell tickets? It's hard to say. More than anything what will sell tickets is lower prices and a winning team. I'm hopeful for the former in this upcoming year, but not kidding myself as to the latter. Still, the Caps saw about a 1,000 seat bump in attendance in Jagr's first year in DC, then slipped back to just above pre-Jagr levels in 2002-03 and were in the crapper by the time Jagr was shipped out in the Great Fire Sale of '04. And sure, a Russian kid who speaks broken English at best is not nearly as marketable as a guy like Sid Crosby. But people pay to see Ilya Kovalchuk, and they'll pay to see Alex Ovechkin. I will, at least.

On the ice, Ovechkin, generally regarded as the best European prospect in the history of the NHL Draft, gives the Caps a dynamic all-around scorer and physical presence and is most frequently compared to Peter Forsberg, but with more scoring ability. Read the HF Player Profile of him and, if you're a Caps fan, you'll feel it move, guaranteed.

With Ovechkin and Alexander Semin up front and Maxime Ouellet in goal (to say nothing of other solid prospects like 2003 first round pick Eric Fehr, who had a monster year in the WHL this past year, forward Boyd Gordon and defensemen Steve Eminger and Shaone Morrison) and there is a bright future for the Capitals. With the injury-prone Dainius Zubrus centering the two Alexes, you have as exciting a top line as any team in hockey. Add some grit and occassional scoring from young veterans like Jeff Halpern, Brian Sutherby, Matt Pettinger and Brian Willsie and the corps of forwards is, well, serviceable for now. The defense stinks out loud, and it will make Olie Kolzig (or whoever's in net) look worse than he is, but here's the beauty of adding a stud forward like Ovechkin - the Caps can now spend their money shoring up the defense.

My dream scenario before opening night? Re-sign the key free agents, add another veteran forward or two (paging Peter Bondra), then spend the rest of the money under the cap on defensemen and the Caps should be a team that competes for a playoff spot.

Well, I've gotten far off topic, and there's plenty of time to talk about this in the days and weeks ahead. For now, let's just revel in how one kid's decision to come across the ocean has brightened the skies in Washington, hopefully for years to come.

Fight Night

This is a pretty decent compilation of some hockey fights and cheap shots. Not exactly the stuff that's going to appear in the NHL's next promotional campaign, but some nice KOs, including Nick Kypreos getting almost killed at the very end.

Deadline Day On Ovechkin And Other News & Rumors

TSN reports here,the WPost here and the WTimes here. It doesn't sounds encouraging, Caps fans, though I question whether we'll actually know today if he has chosen to play in the NHL, since the Caps can't technically sign him until the CBA is ratified on Friday. I assume there would be an announcement that the sides have "agreed in principle" or something to that effect, but since they can't sign him until Friday, perhaps they won't announce anything until then. Of course, if Ovechkin backs out of his deal with Omsk today, it'll be a pretty good indicator.

The NHL is certainly a tougher sell now. Think about how ready you'd have been at 18 to travel half way across the world to a country where you don't speak the language, all so you could get paid less than half as much as you would make if you stayed at home. As the WTimes notes, "[t]he new CBA caps rookie pay at $850,000 a season for four seasons, with hard-to-achieve incentives available. Playing for Omsk, Ovechkin would make $1.8 million, be supplied with a car and a condo and pay no taxes." The Caps would still retain Ovechkin's rights for another year, but that's cold comfort. Anyway, on to other quick hits...

• The Panthers like Markus Naslund (who doesn't) and may have the cap room to sign him. [Canada.com]
  
• For some reason, the Isles are supposedly interested in Brian Leetch as well as a sniper (Alexei Kovalev, Ziggy Palffy or Peter Bondra) to play on Alexei Yashin's wing. [Newsday]
  
• Possibly "in" in Detroit: Nikolai Khabibulin, Glen Murray and former Wings Chris Osgood (?) and Martin Lapointe. Possibly "out" in Hockeytown: Hatcher, Whitney, McCarty, Chelios. [Detroit News]
  
• Jeff O'Neill wants to be a Leaf. [TSN.ca]
  

Japers' Rink Wants You!

Or, more accurately, your favorite hockey links. In an attempt to become the hub of your online hockey experience, we'd like to provide a link from this site to any hockey site you frequent (of course, feel free to keep your secret fantasy sources to yourself... you know you've got them...). Be it media, fantasy or otherwise, post a link in the comments to this post or email them to Japers.Lounge@gmail.com and we'll add them to the links on the right.

And no, there's not a mouse in my pocket. Writing "we" just reads better.

Rumor du Jour And More 411

SLAM! is reporting that the Kings are interested in trading for Chris Pronger.

TSN.ca has a list of each team's current contract obligations for the upcoming season, as well as their restricted and unrestricted free agents.

ESPN.com details some key dates in the days and weeks ahead.

We all know that Sidney Crosby will go #1 in the July 30 Entry Draft. But who's next? Bob McKenzie gives us his top 30 draft prospects.

Finally some good news for the Caps - it looks as though the portion of Jaromir Jagr's contract for which they are still on the hook will not count against the Caps' salary cap total, according to the N.Y. Daily News.

The Caps today named former Cap (news to me) Dean Evason as an assistant to head coach Glen Hanlon. Whoopty-flippin'-doo.

CBA Anomaly #1

As part of the new CBA, the NHL Entry Draft has been reduced from nine to seven rounds (for this year at least). So what? Well, at last year's draft Columbus traded their 2005 eighth-round pick to the Kings for L.A.'s ninth-round pick in last year's draft. Since there is no eighth round in the 2005 draft, how does that deal get completed? Maybe our Kings insider can help us with an answer.

On a side note, the Blue Jackets used that pick, #271 overall, to pick Clarkson University defenseman and Worst Name In Hockey nominee Grant Clitsome.

The Draft Lottery, By The Numbers

Much has been made about the draft lottery formula that will determine who will get the chance to draft Canadian phenom Sidney Crosby (left). I even bitched about it (shocking). But a closer look at the numbers make clear what we already knew - that whoever wins the lottery will have had Lady Luck on their side and a horseshoe up their arse. Consider:

• The four teams with the best chances of landing the #1 overall pick - Buffalo, Columbus, N.Y. Rangers and Pittsburgh - each have only a 6.25% chance of doing so. Compare that with the last draft in which Pittsburgh (the team with the fewest points during the regular season) had a 25% chance of winning the lottery (and of course didn't).
• Put another way, Pittsburgh had as much chance of winning the lottery in the last go 'round as the top four teams combined do this year.
• In fact, the sixth-worst team in '03-'04 had about a 6.2% chance of nabbing the #1 pick, the same odds as this year's "Most Likely To Succeed".
• There is a 93.75% chance that the Rangers will not win the draft lottery. Huzzah!
  
• It is more likely that one of Detroit (109 points in '03-'04), Tampa (106) or Boston (104) will win the top pick than that Chicago (59) will, and an equal chance that one of San Jose (104), Ottawa (103) or Toronto (102) will win the lottery as there is that Columbus (62) will.
• There is a 21% chance that the team that wins the lottery has made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and the same odds that the team that wins the lottery had 100+ points in '03-'04.

Bottom line? If the fix is in for the Rangers to win it, so be it - better Crosby end up in New York than on a team that's already stacked. The weighted lottery should, in fairness, be weighted a little more heavily towards the League's weaker teams. Why penalize only the teams that have won the draft lottery by removing a ball (à la Lance Armstrong)? Why not then take half a ball away from a team that's gotten the 2nd pick and a quarter for the 3rd? It seems somewhat arbitrary, but at the end of the day really makes no difference. More to the point, under the new deal, who's to say which team is "weaker" as between Detroit (who has 16 players under contract for a whopping $38.2 million) and Buffalo (9 players under contract for just over $9 million)?

It's just a shame that a player like Crosby has to come along when the League's house is in such disarray and a player that could change the sport might end up on a team or in a market that really doesn't need him. Personally, besides obviously wanting to see Sid centering Alex Ovechkin in Washington, I think the kid would look great in black and purple - send him to Hollywood (4.16% chance).

Rumors

Is there anything better than a good trade rumor? Sure there is. But trade (and free agent) rumors are still pretty sweet. Here are some:

• The Leafs are interested in Glen Murray
• The Blues may not pick up their option on Chris Pronger, making him a UFA
• More players who might be bought out: Patrice Brisebois (MTL), Darius Kasparaitis (NYR), Ray Whitney and Derian Hatcher (DET), Bryan Smolinski and Greg deVries (OTT), Donald Brashear, Danny Markov and Eric Desjardins (PHI)
  
• Alexei Yashin might not be bought out by the Isles, as he has six years left on his deal. Ouch.
• Martin Gelinas hopes to return to the Flames, but they likely don't want him.
• Gary Roberts, last with Toronto, might be headed to Anaheim
• Ottawa might be looking at Rod Brind'Amour (hockey's second ugliest man - sorry, but Mike Ricci wins)
• UFAs who won't be back in Toronto: Brian Leetch, Ron Francis, Bryan Marchment, Alexander Mogilny
• The Leafs may look to add Scott Niedermayer or Adam Foote. Maybe even Eric Lindros.
• The Flyers are also very interested in Niedermayer and may also have interest in Mike Modano if the Stars can't re-sign him
• Hurricanes rumors - in: Gary Roberts, Jason Allison and/or Adrian Aucoin; out: Jeff O'Neill, Pavel Brendl, Marty Murray
• Finally, Markus Naslund may not be back in Vancouver (yes, I made you read rumors about Marty Murray and Donald Brashear before dropping Naslund on you)
  

WaPo's Caps Beat Writer Chats

It probably speaks volumes of what the Washington Post (and, presumably by extension, its readers) think of the Capitals and of hockey in general when they assign heretofore unheard of Tarik El-Bashir to the Caps beat. But he's certainly no worse than Jason LaCanfora or Rachel Alexander, his immediate predecessors. And if you can wade through the constant Tony Kornholer and Michael Wilbon hating on hockey to find El-Bashir's columns, they're usually fairly insightful.

In any event, El-Bashir held an online chat this afternoon. Most of the chat was pure speculation, as opposed to the following "highlights" that are only partly speculative. Pretty worthless chat, all in all.

Arlington, Va.: Do the Capitals still get to keep the rights to Ovechkin?

Tarik El-Bashir: Yes. The Capitals will still own the rights to Ovechkin whether he plays here this season or not. How long they keep his rights depends on the new CBA, which virtually no one has seen.

...

New York, N.Y.: The other day Don Meehan, Alexander Ovechkin's agent, indicated that Ovechkin may remain in Russia because he can make more money there and his family is there. Is there any indication from the organization, or in general, about AO's thinking this coming season?

Tarik El-Bashir: From everything I've been told, Ovechkin has indicated to the Capitals that he wants to play in the NHL next season. He knows he can make more money in Russia, but he wants to prove himself against the best players in the world.

Innovator, Member of NINE-teen FORT-y Rangers, Dies

Alex Shibicky, the first player to use a slapshot and a member of the New York Rangers' 1940 Stanley Cup team, has died. He was 91. More here.

No confirmation yet whether Als Iafrate and MacInnis will attend the funeral.

Ovechkin Update And Work To Be Done

According to today's WaPo, the CBA doesn't need to be finalized before wunderkind Alex Ovechkin can sign with the Caps:

"Ovechkin's agent, Don Meehan, said Thursday his client has until Wednesday to back out of that contract and sign with the Capitals, and that his decision is not contingent on the NHL having a completed collective bargaining agreement by that date. However, Meehan said he would need to know the precise language of the CBA before he would advise Ovechkin to void his Russian deal."

Outside of signing AO, the Caps have plenty of work to do. Only nine players are under contract, and those that aren't include key veterans Jeff "Everything I Know About Hockey I Learned From Playing With Mike Spero" Halpern, Dainius Zubrus and Captain Brendan Witt. Obviously the top priority is Ovechkin. Once that deal gets done, I'll be able to exhale.

The Deal Gets Done

As we all know by now, there is an agreement in principle to a new CBA. Specifics are all over the internet, so I'm not going to bother noting them generally.

ESPN has a rundown of where each team stands in light of the new deal. So does TSN. It doesn't look good in Capland. However, since they were the second worst team in the League in the last year that they had an NHL season, they should have a good shot at a decent draft pick, no? No. Based on the League's ridiculous formula they have the same chance that the best teams in the League have (look for the fix to be in for the Rangers to be able to grab Sid Crosby). The Caps' chance is halved by the fact that they won the draft lottery last year and got to take a guy (Alex Ovechkin) who was, by many accounts, a toss up with the number two pick, Evgeni Malkin. To top things off, my understanding is that they must sign Ovechkin by July 20 or he will be locked into his contract in Russia, but the Caps can't sign him until the CBA is officially signed, which will take "a week or so" according to most accounts. Do the math. Things may be going from bad to worse to disaster for the Caps.

[Update: Dave Fay seems to be equally pessimistic about the Caps' Ovechkin situation in this morning's WTimes.]

Unrestricted Free Agents Everywhere And Not A Dime To Spend On Them

According to sources, when the CBA is finally signed, sealed and delivered one of the provisions therein will allow teams to purge themselves of some of their sillier signings. The provision will permit teams to buy out two players each at 2/3 of their projected (post 24% rollback) salary. The result will likely be more unrestricted free agents than ever before, and, with the new cap, less money to spend on them. It should be interesting to see how it all shakes out. Here's a list of some of the more likely buy outs or, put another way, some of the more ridiculous contracts around the League (all salaries are pre-rollback):

• Bobby Holik, NYR (2 more years at $9m per year)
• Alexei Yashin, NYI (6 more years at $10m per year)
• John LeClair, PHI (2 more years at $9m per year)
• Tony Amonte, PHI (1 more year at $6m per year)
• Keith Tkachuk, STL (2 more years at $9m per year)
• Bill Guerin, DAL (2 more years at $9m per year)
• Owen Nolan, TOR (1 more year at $6m per year)

Source: The Hockey News

Today Should Be The Day

The day after the Major League Baseball All-Star game is perrenially the worst sports day of the year. No baseball. Football training camps still a couple of weeks away. Is there MLS soccer or WNBA hoops? Probably. And some French bike race. Point being that today is the day the NHL should announce the end of its lockout and, for one day in July, be the lead story in sports. If the League is going to get any "bounce" from an announcement ending the lockout, you'd think it would be maximized today.

But it won't happen. Because, like at every other time in the game's recent history, hockey is going to miss a golden opportunity. TSN reports that the deal is not done yet, as the sides enter their 10th straight day of marathon sessions. One wonders why it took until mid-July to begin these marathon sessions (what were they doing, say, last August?), and I'm sure both sides are trying to wrap things up as quickly as possible (after all, only high-paid lawyers stand to benefit from this thing dragging out... wait a second...), but it sure would be nice to turn on SportsCenter tonight and have good news from the hockey world as the top story. Instead, we'll wait a few days and maybe hockey fans will get word in between Tigers/Royals highlights and logrolling clips from the Great Outdoors Games.

[UPDATE: Or will today be the day? Both TSN and ESPN are reporting that the deal could be announced today. We shall see.]

Save The Red Line

Picture it: late in a tie game, the the puck rolls into the corner to Olie Kolzig's left. Two skaters from each side converge on the biscuit, kicking and poking at it while fighting each other off with elbows and backsides. Suddenly the puck squirts loose and Josef Boumedienne emerges with it. At the same time, Dainius Zubrus slips away from the opposing defenseman who was paying little attention to him near the point. Boumedienne and Zubrus make eye contact and as Zubrus breaks free at his own blue line, Boumedienne launches a crisp saucer pass half the length of the rink. Unfortunately, it's about 10 feet too long for Zubrus and, after an easy icing touch-up, the puck comes back to Kolzig's left for a defensive zone face-off.

Get used to it. The NHL is considering eliminating the redline [bonus points on that link for the girl in the cowboy hat in the left column] for purposes of allowing two-line passes. Suddenly every blueliner will think he's Paul Coffey and the game will slow to a snail's pace as bad pass after bad pass leads to icing after icing. Quite simply, most NHL defensemen do not have the skill needed to take advantage of such a rule change, but that won't stop them from trying.

The other thing that canning the redline will do is it will eliminate any forechecking and neutral zone pressure. Teams will lineup on their own blueline so as to not get burned by a long pass if they try to pressure the puck. The game will turn into dump-and-chase every time down ice, and that doesn't make for interesting hockey either.

Bottom line: keep the two-line pass. The game could use more speed and action, but eliminating the red-line isn't the way to do it.