When The Goals Go In The Other Net

Mirtle's got a post up taking a look at who's been on the ice for the most goals against per sixty minutes of even strength ice time (GAON/60) but the flip side of the coin, of course, is who's been on the ice for the most goals for per sixty minutes of even strength ice time (GFON/60), and towards the top of the list we find some very familiar names:

(Top 20, minimum four games played; stats via Behind The Net)

Given the Caps' strong play at even strength so far this season (with the exception of the top line), it's not surprising to see a bunch of D.C. boys high on this list (Alex Semin, by the way, leads the League in even strength points). It is worth noting, however, that Brooks Laich quite nearly makes Mirtle's list for highest GAON/60.

Also, Brian Sutherby? Really?

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Thrash

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Opening Night on a Friday in Atlanta (for the second straight year) with reigning Jack Adams Trophy winner Bruce Boudreau behind one bench and his buddy John Anderson behind the other, the NHL's top two goal scorers from a season ago firing pucks at every opportunity... and likely a bunch of empty seats (limited interest in Becoming One in Blueland?).

As these two teams are tied in the standings for quite possibly the last time all season, let's take a quick look at some of the current Caps' successes that have come at Atlanta's expense:

• Alex Ovechkin has more goals (20), assists (20) and points (40) against the Thrash (in 24 games) than against any other team during his three-year career.
  
• Nicklas Backstrom had 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) when facing Atlanta as a rookie last season (three more points than he had against any other opponent).
• Viktor Kozlov has 34 points in 37 games against Atlanta (including seven points in eight games in 2007-08), his second-highest total against any opponent (he has 37 points in 42 games against the Pens).
• Michael Nylander has 24 points in 23 games against the Thrashers.
  
• Mike Green posted two goals and five helpers versus the Thrash a year ago, more than he had against any other team.
  
• Jose Theodore is 11-4-0 with a 2.22 GAA and .922 SV% against Atlanta in his career, and Brent Johnson has similarly stellar career marks - 7-2-2/2.32/.918 - against the Thrash (even with back-to-backs right off the bat, though, don't expect BJ to get a second consecutive Opening Night start).
  

You get the point. But here's the bigger point - none of that matters much right now. Alex Ovechkin has no goals, Nicklas Backstrom no assists, Alex Semin hasn't fallen down once yet, and Jose Theodore has no wins - the Washington Capitals have no wins.

But there will be wins, stats and moments aplenty to collect over the next six-plus months. And it all starts tonight, at long last.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Brooks Laich was on the Big O and Dukes show yesterday (Segment 6).... Everybody wants to see what AO does for an encore.... Thanks to sk8 for this former Cap update.... Caps prospect Brett Leffler potted a pair of goals in his return from a concussion, but it sounds like his head may not be 100% right quite yet.... Finally, on a personal note, it was four years ago today that my wonderful wife and I said our "I do's." Re-confirming that I made the right decision then, she's totally fine with just watching the game tonight. I'm a lucky man.

If You Want Goals, Go To The Net

In a season full of memorable quotes, perhaps the most unforgettable of post-game soundbites came from Brooks Laich, as he tried to explain his emerging goal-scoring prowess by recalling what a former coach had told him:

"If you want money, go to the bank. If you want bread, go to the bakery. If you want goals, go to the net."

Laich, of course, scored 21 goals last season, and his highly efficient 17.6% shooting percentage would seem to indicate that he scored the bulk of them from in tight (and might also indicate that he's going to have a hard time repeating his 20-goal campaign in 2008-09).

In fact, according to the NHL's play-by-play sheets, Laich did score most of his goals (15 of 21) from less than 20 feet from the goal (to give you a frame of reference, that's the distance at a right angle from the goal line to one of the faceoff dots), and if you totalled the distances of all of his 2007-08 tallies, you wouldn't make it from one end of the ice to the other and back - his 21 goals added up to 396 feet, an average of 18.86 feet per goal. Laich scored five goals from inside of 13 feet and only scored once from more than 28 feet away, a 42-foot "bomb" (the blueline, for reference is 64 feet from the goal line).

Laich isn't afraid to get beaten up in front for a goal, and often reaped the rewards of his hard work, scoring eight times on the power play. Surely, Laich was more proficient in close than, say, Alex Semin, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

The average distance on Semin's goals was actually less than Laich's - 18.58 feet - and 18 of his 26 goals were scored within 20 feet of the net (slightly lower than Laich's percentage), nine from within 13 feet (a higher percentage than Laich's). Semin's speed and cherry-picking afforded him more breakaway opportunities than Laich gets, of course, but the numbers are still somewhat surprising - I'd have expected most of Semin's goals to have come from the 21-to-30 foot range (only five did).

Point being, Brooks Laich isn't the only one who knows that if you want goals, you go to the net.

Post script: When I got home from work yesterday, this was waiting for me:

Supersweet.

Wednesday Miscellany

One month from tonight, the Caps will be in Atlanta to open the season against the Thrashers... but for today, you get a link dump.

The National Post wrote the same article that EMac wrote three weeks ago, and in it they referred to Donald Brashear as "a reigning heavyweight champion." Edward Fraser of The Hockey News isn't as easily impressed, as he didn't list The Donald among his ten fighters worth talking about, but Steinz has no problem posting a picture of Lindsay Czarniak talking about the Caps' enforcer (and, of course, neither do I).... Caps prospect Dmitri Kugryshev is adjusting quickly - and very well - to the North American game.... You knew Viktor Kozlov was a stud in the shootout, but did you know that Jose Theodore has the highest career shootout save percentage "among goaltenders likely to be on NHL rosters at the start of the season?" I bet you a nickel no team this season beats him on three consecutive attempts using the exact same move.... Finally, our buddy Pepper at the red skate emailed me yesterday noting a couple of points from my "Thinking Inside The Box" post. In it, I quoted Ted Leonsis as stating that "Our defense is going to be really good in a couple of years with [Mike Green], Eminger, Morrisonn and Schultz," asking, "Can you believe Boston gave us Morrisonn and [the pick that became] Schultz for Gonchar?" and noting that "I really like Laich. He's going to be another Konowalchuk-type guy." That was more than two-and-a-half years ago. Pretty prescient, no?

Putting The "Six" In Top Six

Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Viktor Kozlov and either Michael Nylander or Sergei Fedorov. Those, presumably, are five of your top six Caps forwards on Opening Night. The question is "Who gets that sixth spot?" Let's try to figure out who deserves to be there.

The contenders: Chris Clark, Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich

The stats (all stats are 2007-08 numbers and courtesy BehindTheNet):

• Games Played: Laich (82), Fleischmann (75), Fehr (23), Clark (18)
  
• 5-on-5 TOI/60: Clark (13.21), Fleischmann (10.68), Laich (9.93), Fehr (9.09)
• 5-on-5 Points/60: Laich (1.55), Clark (1.51), Fleischmann (1.42), Fehr (0.57)
  
• 5-on-5 Goals/60: Clark (1.01), Laich (0.74), Fleischmann (0.60), Fehr (0.29)
• Caps 5-on-5 Goals For/60 with Player X on Ice: Fehr (2.58), Clark (2.52), Fleischmann (2.47), Laich (1.77)
  

So far so good? Even though Clark had a miserable season, he was better 5-on-5 than any of the other three, with Laich right behind him, Flash a little ways back and Fehr (individually, but quite the opposite as part of a trio) bringing up the rear. "But wait," you say. "With whom were these guys playing and against whom?" Good question (and I've trained you well to ask it). Let's see:

• Quality of Teammates 5-on-5: Clark (0.53), Fleischmann (-0.15), Laich (-0.15), Fehr (-0.21)
• Quality of Competition 5-on-5: Clark (0.04), Fleischmann (-0.01), Laich (-0.04), Fehr (-0.06)
• Most Frequent Even Strength Linemates: Clark (Ovechkin, Kozlov), Fehr (Laich, Fleischmann), Fleischmann (Nylander, Semin), Laich (Fehr, Fleischmann, edging out Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley)
  

The Captain skated with the best linemates (the best on the entire team, in fact), while the other three skated with the squad's worst (plus/minus-wise, at least). As for the quality of opponents, it was a wash. So Clark produced more thanks in part, no doubt, to his linemates, while the others produced what they did in spite of theirs (that Flash skated most often with Nylander and Semin makes his relative lack of production all the more inexcusable).

But the game is played at two ends of the ice, so let's take a look at that other end:

• Caps 5-on-5 Goals Against/60 with Player X on Ice: Fehr (1.44), Clark (1.77), Laich (2.51), Fleischmann (3.07)

Psst... Tomas... not so good.

Finally, a quick look at 5-on-5 penalties:

• 5-on-5 Penalties Taken/60: Fehr (0.0), Fleischmann (0.6), Laich (1.0), Clark (2.8)
  
• 5-on-5 Penalties Drawn/60: Fehr (1.7), Laich (1.6), Fleischmann (0.4), Clark (0.3)

Obviously, Clark and Flash are on the wrong side of that differential, while Laich and Fehr drew more penalties at 5-on-5 than they took.

It's almost bottom line time, but before we get there, a couple of points. First of all, it should be abundantly clear by now that Tomas Fleischmann - unless he had a tremendous transformation this summer - does not belong in an NHL lineup.

Second, Brooks Laich may currently be suing a Led Zeppelin biographer, claiming that Hammer of the Gods is the trademarked name of his hockey stick, but he has not been a great 5-on-5 hockey player to this point in his career, as his -0.74 goal differential demonstrates (though I did thoroughly enjoy his work with Semin and Backstrom in the Philly series).

Which leaves us with Clark and Fehr. Clark is a more known commodity, as he has put up points when skating with playmakers and snipers, and certainly lends some defensive responsibility to any line on which he skates, but his penalty ratio last year was bad and the year before was nearly even.

Fehr, on the other hand, has yet to show he can produce at 5-on-5, but some of the signs are there - his penalty ratio was very solid, and he proved to not be a liability, as his 1.14 goal differential showed (even better than Clark's 0.75, though both samples were somewhat limited, of course), all despite playing with some of the Caps' weaker forwards. In fact, he had the second-best 5-on-5 goal differential on the team two years ago as well. And, of course, he's scored at every level before getting to the NHL.

Alright, as promised, bottom line time: give the kid a playmaker and a dangler/sniper and see what he can do.

Oh, and pitch Flash in the Atlantic.

H/t to Gorilla Crouch on the inspiration for this post

One For The Bunnies

This clip is just substantive enough that I can get away with posting it under the guise of something other than "Brooks Laich got a haircut":

Or not.

Laich-ing The Chances Of Another 20-Goal Campaign?

Now that Brooks Laich is locked up for the next three years (a little longer than I'd have liked, but presumably the Caps didn't want to risk losing in arbitration and being forced to choose between a larger cap hit this year and walking away from a player that is one of the squad's emerging young leaders, especially with Chris Clark still not at 100%), let's take a look at what to expect from him (on the ice) in 2008-09, specifically his goal total.

Laich's breakout 2007-08 saw the former sixth-round pick crack the 20-goal barrier for the first time since juniors and finish third on the team in lamp-lighters. The keen observer will note that Laich's 17.2 shooting percentage was 13th in the NHL, which is nice, but unlikely to be repeated. How unlikely? Of the top ten shooting percentages of players scoring between 20 and 39 goals (inclusive) in each of the first two years since the lockout (parameters which would place Laich in sixth this past season), the average decrease in shot percentage in the following year is 6.72%, and every single one of the players had at least a 2.64% decline.* Along with the dip in shooting percentage, these players saw their goal totals drop by an average of 8.4.

Using the past performance of a small sample to predict an individual future outcome is pretty lousy statistics, but let's have at it any way. Assuming that Laich has an average (6.72%) drop in his shooting percentage and takes the same number of shots in 2008-09 as he did in 2007-08 (a rather generous assumption, considering both the potential return of Cap'n Clark and the fact that Laich didn't miss a game last season), he'll score 12.8 goals. If he equals that smallest drop off (2.64% - Alex Tanguay from 2005-06 to 2006-07, incidentally), he'll score 17.8 goals. To get all the way back to 21 goals, Laich would have to fire 201 shots in the first scenario and 145 in the second (and the most shots on goal he's ever had in a single season as a pro is 150 with Portland back during the lockout).

If you're starting to get the feeling that Laich isn't going to be back in the 20-goal club next year, this might seal the deal for you - thirteen of Laich's 21 goals last season came in a 26-game stretch from early February through April Fool's Day, a span during which he had just 50 shots on goal for a 26% shooting percentage. Take away that hot streak and Laich scored 8 goals on 72 shots, which is a sustainable 11.1% (coincidentally right around his 17.2% minus the 6.72% average drop off and also Bryan Smolinski's career shooting percentage, for a point of reference), and just under a 12-goal pace for a full season. Of course, take away any player's hot streaks and his numbers are going to look pretty awful, so consider those to be the basement floor... or not.

The point of this whole exercise certainly isn't to bash Laich (who brings a lot to the table other than goal scoring) or to piss in your Cheerios if you're excited about the signing (which I certainly am), but rather to be realistic in our expectations. Either Laich made "the leap" after Groundhog Day, or he'll regress some in the goal department. My bet? Well, since we're talking about betting and 21 (and his 21 goals), I'll say that the dealer holds on 16.

* Why between 20 and 39? Any fewer gets a bit more fluky and any more and you're undeniably in legit goal-scorer territory. Also worth noting, neither Chris Clark's nor Steve Sullivan's 2007-08 totals were included due to so few games played.

Fedorov, Laich Signed

TSN is reporting that the Caps have resigned Sergei Fedorov to a one-year, $4 million contract.

The Caps are reporting that Brooks Laich has re-upped for three years. Terms were not disclosed (update: Laich will earn $1.7 million, $2.1 million and $2.4 million for a cap hit of $2.07M per year). From the Press Release,

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have signed forward Brooks Laich to a three-year contract, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. In keeping with club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Laich, 25, established career highs in goals (21), assists (16) and points (37) in 2007-08 and was one of four Capitals to play in all 82 games. He finished third on the team in goals and seventh in points, with a team-high two shorthanded goals.

A 6’2”, 210-pound native of Wawota, Saskatchewan, Laich finished his third full NHL season with 12 goals and 20 points in the final 22 games as the Capitals made their late-season run to the Southeast Division title. He recorded three two-goal games, a four-point game and seven of his eight power-play goals on the season during that stretch.

Laich led the team (among players with at least 20 games played) with a 17.2 shooting percentage and led all Capitals forwards with 56 blocked shots. Laich scored more than half of his goals in the first period and scored the Capitals’ first goal of the game nine times.

Laich tied for fourth on the team with six points (one goal, five assists) in seven playoff games, including points in each of the last five games of the series. That matched the longest point streak in the NHL in the first round of the 2008 playoffs.

A three-year veteran of the Western Hockey League with Seattle and Moose Jaw, Laich was acquired by the Capitals via trade with Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2004. He has played 233 career NHL games, all but one with Washington, recording 36 goals and 41 assists (77 points). In 2006 Laich helped lead the Hershey Bears to the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup championship, recording 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 21 playoff games.

A Little Bit Mo' On Mo

As you know by now, Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn filed for salary arbitration ahead of the Saturday deadline for doing so, removing the possibility of either Restricted Free Agent signing an offer sheet with another team (I guess GMGM's threat worked).

Should either case actually go before an arbitrator, here's what you need to know about the process, here's a more detailed look (including a truly interesting read - the Dmitri Khristich/Boston Bruins arbitration decision), and, as another interesting point of historical perspective, here's Vogs on Laich's arbitration hearing from last year. But most of the time when a player files for arb (24 of 31 times last year, in fact) the team and the player reach an agreement before the scheduled hearing date and the parties avoid the often awkward and contentious meeting (recall, for example, the Rangers' description of Sean Avery in their brief).

We've talked a bit about Laich lately (as has Corey), but there hasn't been much chatter on Mo, so let's put him under the microscope. Here are "The Good" and "The Bad" from his Rink Wrap:

The Good: Morrisonn was tied for third among Caps blueliners in hits and tied for second in takeaways. He skated the second most shifts per game on the team, was fourth in average ice time and still managed to cut his penalty minutes by more than 40% from last year, despite playing against opponents' top lines. As tough as they come, Mo played all seven games in the playoffs with a broken jaw and a separated shoulder. Oh, and he tied for the regular season team lead in percentage of faceoffs won.

The Bad: Morrisonn had only 47 shots on goal and an atrocious 2.1 shooting percentage, but when you're Mike Green's partner, it's not your job to score - it's your job to cover his butt. Still, Mo's offensive numbers declined for the second consecutive season on a team whose goal totals have risen at even strength (but declined on the power play) over that span, and he had the fewest points per minute of ice time on the team, as well as his personal career low in points per game (not including his 11-game 2002-03). Mo was second on the team in minor penalties, and got jumped by Vinny Lecavalier in his one fight of the year (which isn't necessarily bad on Mo, but I wanted to mention it, so there it is).

So what's Morrisonn worth? Arbitrators use a pretty narrow definition of "comparables," but we're going to assume that no arbitrator will ever hear this case and so we'll be a little more liberal in our comparables. We'll also only use guys who have signed this year.

One guy that jumps out is Kurt Sauer, who recently signed with the Phoenix Coyotes. Keep in mind that Sauer was an unrestricted free agent, so his situation was a bit different than Mo's, but let's look at some numbers anyway:

• Drafted: Sauer (3rd round, 2000); Morrisonn (1st round, 2001)
  
• Sauer, Career: 288 games played, 4 goals, 22 assists, -15, 214 PIMs, 170 SOG
• Morrisonn, Career: 278 games played, 6 goals, 39 assists, +24, 278 PIMs, 167 SOG
• Sauer, 2007-08: 54 games played, 1 goal, 5 assists, +17, 41 PIMs, 28 SOG, 18:41 average TOI per game
  
• Morrisonn, 2007-08: 76 games played, 1 goal, 9 assists, +4, 63 PIMs, 47 SOG, 20:16 average TOI per game
  

Morrisonn has a higher all-around upside than Sauer, is nearly two years younger than the 'Yotes blueliner, and even though numbers alone don't tell you much about guys like Mo and Sauer, the latter provides a decent example of what those numbers might fetch on the open market. Sauer signed with Phoenix last week for four years at $1.75 million per year (a steal in Mirtle's eyes).

Looking strictly at RFAs, here are two more names that provide a couple more points of reference when thinking about putting a dollar number on Morrisonn's value:

• Mark Stuart (BOS) - Has 5 goals, 6 assists, a +8 rating and 105 PIMs in 114 NHL games... had 4 goals, 4 assists, +2, 81 PIMs, 60 SOG in 15:22 average TOI per game in 2007-08... signed a two-year deal worth $1.3 million per season as an RFA.
• Tim Gleason (CAR) - Has 7 goals, 46 assists, a -4 rating and 239 PIMs in 262 NHL games... had 3 goals, 16 assists, +5, 84 PIMs, 98 SOG in 18:38 average TOI per game in 2007-08... signed a four-year deal worth $2.75 million per season as an RFA.

Of the three players listed here, Gleason is probably the best fit as a comparable, given that he's forty days younger than Morrisonn, was drafted four picks after Mo, and signed his new deal as an RFA. His offensive and defensive numbers (including hits and blocked shots) are somewhat better than Morrisonn's to date, but Mo played tougher minutes and more of them.

So did the 'Canes overpay on Gleason? My guess is that in four years, that deal's going to look very good for Carolina. More importantly, though, one wonders how (if at all) that deal might impact the Caps' negotiations with Morrisonn. Mo is probably not worth $2.75 million per season right now (Jeff Finger deal aside). But if the team takes a "wait and see" approach by either letting an arbitrator decide on a one-year deal for Mo or signing him short-term themselves, they'll find themselves in a similar position one year from now and they run the risk of missing out on potentially large savings in the out-years to save a few bones in the present.

Shaone Morrisonn is 25 years old. He's steadily getting better defensively and is the franchise defenseman's security blanket. And while I think that his defensive abilities are a little over-rated by many Caps fans, there's a very low risk at this point that he flops (much lower, you'd think, than the chance that Laich does). It's not my money, but if it were, I'd lock him up to a three- or four-year deal at up to, say, $2.5 million per year - the value in three or four years would likely be worth the present day investment.

If this Capitals team is going to compete for a Cup in the next few years, they'll likely need a handful of favorable contracts to go along with the mega deals handed out to guys like Green and Alex Ovechkin. Morrisonn could - and should - be one of those deals, and the time to pull the trigger on it is now.

A Look At Laich

"Here's hoping Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey and agent Don Meehan have settled the monetary portion of Andrei Kostitsyn's contract, because the Philadelphia Flyers have set the bar a bit higher for forwards who score 53 points.

The Flyers and Jeff Carter have reportedly agreed on a three-year deal worth $15 million. Carter, a centre, had 29 goals and 24 assists last season and was a plus-6, while Kostitsyn had 26 goals and 27 assists and was plus-15."

That excerpt is from Saturday's Montreal Gazette, and while Habs fans no doubt winced at the Carter deal in light of what it might mean in terms of their team resigning the elder Kostitsyn brother (or "Big Tits," as we're going to call him from now on), Caps fans probably are wondering what it might mean for their team's top RFA forward, Brooks Laich.

A quick look at the career and 2007-08 numbers:

• Carter: 225 career games played, 66 goals, 66 assists, -1; 82 games played, 29 goals, 24 assist, +6 in 2007-08
• Laich: 233 career games played, 36 goals, 41 assists, -15; 82 games played, 21 goals, 16 assist, -3 in 2007-08

It should be noted that Laich got 14:02 of ice time this past season, 1:18 of which was on the power play, while Carter played 18:50 per night, 2:26 with the extra man. As Corey let us know the other day, "[t]here was only one player in the entire NHL (Colorado's Marek Svatos) who scored more goals with less average ice time" than Laich. Of course, the ice time argument cuts both ways - if Laich were really such an integral part of the team's on-ice fortunes, it could be argued, he'd be getting more shifts.

To be clear, Brooks Laich isn't Jeff Carter. But when you have neutral third parties pegging Laich's salary in the $1.3 million or $1.75 million range and then word of the Carter deal comes in, you can see why the Caps and Laich haven't been able to reach an agreement yet. Is Brooks Laich worth, say, half as much as Jeff Carter? Reasonable minds might disagree on that, but you can bet that the player and his agent think so, and if the Caps don't, someone else very well might. And if that salary is the difference between keeping Mike Green and letting him go, I think you'll be bidding adieu to Laich.

Friday Open Thread

Because Happy Hour happens, you're getting an open thread today.

Did Mike Green get his phone call(s) last night? Did Brooks Laich? Does Jose Theodore's decision to test the free agency waters impact Cristobal Huet? Is it good to know that the Caps aren't the only team that Don Meehan is playing around with (here's a mostly full list of his clients)? And what if Alex Ovechkin had this incentive plan in his contract?

So many questions, so few hours until the weekend. I'll leave you with this, in the event that you're undecided as we head towards November:

Forget Article II of the Constitution - the right to elect Brooks Laich is the 28th Amendment.

H/t With Leather on the incentives link and to Dunzy on the vid.

Most Everybody's Qualified (For Something)

In a series of largely procedural moves that come as a surprise to absolutely no one, the Caps have extended qualifying offers to all of the team's NHL-level Restricted Free Agents: Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Mike Green, Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn. The team did not, however, tender offers to Stephen Werner or Jamie Hunt, who will now become unrestricted free agents (recall that last year the team qualified everyone except Jiri Novotny, Kris Beech and a bunch of farmhands).

The qualified players can now accept their qualifying offers, negotiate other deals with the team or test the RFA waters and hope to get offers from other clubs.

[Thanks to Dick Dillman Award winner Paul Rovnak for passing along the news.]

Update: Tarik's got more on RFA process (key dates, who has arbitration rights, etc.), and Corey has a must-read analysis on Brooks Laich's situation. I've said it before here and elsewhere that re-signing Laich might become the toughest decision among these RFAs and Corey, being smart, seems to agree with me.

2007-08 Rink Wrap: Brooks Laich

From Backstrom to Steckel, we're taking a quick look at and grading the 2007-08 season for every player* who laced 'em up for the Caps during the campaign (and is still with the team) with an eye towards 2008-09. Next up, Brooks Laich.

Contract Status: RFA; 2007-08 salary of $725,000
Age (as of October 1, 2008): 25
NHL Seasons (including 2007-08): 3+
2007-08 Regular Season Stats: 82 games played, 21 goals, 16 assists, -3, 35 PIMs
Key Stat: Laich was one of three Cap 20-goal scorers.
Interesting Fact: Superman wears Brooks Laich pajamas. So does Gary Roberts.
Where to Find More Brooks Laich Facts: Here.

The Good: Laich's breakout 2007-08 featured his highest single-season goal total since juniors, tied his single-season high in points as a pro and set a personal best in assists in an NHL season, but didn't really kick into high gear until February, as he had 13 goals and nine assists in the season's final two-plus months (including a span of ten goals in 12 games from February 20 through March 14). He was one of four Caps to play all 82 games, was third on the team in goals and power play goals (with 8), led the squad in shorties (with 2) and was tied for second in game-winners (with 4), all thanks in no small part to a team-best 17.2 shooting percentage and despite taking the fewest shots per game of any season in his NHL career. Laich protected the puck well, posting the fourth best giveaway-per-minute ratio on the team, was 17th among all NHL forwards in blocked shots, and was the only forward on the team other than Sergei Fedorov to average a combination of more than ten even strength minutes, two-and-a-half shorthanded minutes and one power play minute per game. He finished strong, too, with a goal and five assists in seven playoff games. Oh, and Laich doesn't read books - he stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

The Bad: Laich had the third-worst plus/minus per sixty minutes of ice time of any forward on the team (fourth worst overall) and won just 47.1% of his 596 faceoffs. Opposing teams had more shots on goal per sixty when Laich was on the ice than when any other forward other than Chris Clark or Matt Cooke was (and you question how much those guys' numbers should even count here), and he's such an intimidating force that it took thousands of fans more than half the season to summon up the courage to go see him play live (a fact reflected in the team's game-by-game attendance numbers).

The Vote: Rate Laich on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Questions: How much (dollars and years) would you be willing to give Laich to keep him in D.C.? What role do you see Laich playing on the 2008-09 Caps? What will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

If you've missed any of the previous 2007-08 Rink Wraps, click here, get caught up, and vote - polls will stay open for a while.

* And by "every," we mean every one who played more than just a handful of games.

Friday Roundup/Penguins 4, Caps 3 (OT)

[AP Recap - Box Score - Super Stats]

Well that sure was a punch in the gut.

The Caps came into last night's game tired, having played the night before. The Pens entered the game rusty, having not played since before the Christmas break. Predictably, the game was ugly. Equally predictably, the tired team got more tired and the rusty team got less rusty. And while it's difficult to pin a loss like this on a coaching decision, you've got to question Bruce Boudreau sending Brooks Laich out to take the defensive zone faceoff at the end of the Pens' power play late in the third. Laich was 1-for-4 in his faceoffs up to that point (48.1% on the season entering the game) and lost the draw to Erik Christensen that Darryl Sydor sent bouncing off Milan Jurcina and into the goal to tie the game. The right call would have been to call a timeout and send Boyd Gordon back back out there for the draw. It would have meant Sidney Crosby in the dot for the Pens rather than Christensen, but Sid was only at 42% for the night and, more importantly, 0-for-3 against Gordon. The result may very well have cost the Caps a point and handed the Pens two, and the Caps simply can't afford a three-point swing like that in the Conference.

Some more thoughts on a heartbreaking loss:

• Initial reports had Alex Ovechkin out for a week with a cut on his inner thigh, but GMGM said he won't miss a game. We shall see.
• Brent Johnson is out two-to-four weeks. Maybe the Caps should sign this guy to back up Olie Kolzig for the next stretch.
• Sergei Gonchar giveth, and Sergei Gonchar taketh away. Classic Gonch.
  
• Nicklas Backstrom is so... effing... good (despite his misplay at the point that led the the Jeff Taffe goal).
• Thanks to our buddy Hooks Orpik for passing along this vid of his pregame ritual. Good stuff.
• From the "Stats can be misleading" file, Viktor Kozlov led the team with a plus-two rating.
• Donald Brashear had a very effective night overall, as did Olie in relief of B.J.

Frankly, it's a hard recap to write after that game, so feel free to throw your thoughts out there on the game and where the team goes from here (other than "Ottawa").

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Even fancypants political commentators know that Wednesday night's crowd was awesome.... Sidney Crosby needs help. Clearly.... Vote Weagle!

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ville Koistenen (Game-winning goal, 2A, +3, 7 SOG)
• Ross: Eric Belanger, Ilya Kovalchuk, Ville Koistenen, Marek Zidlicky (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Ville Koistenen (Game-winning goal, 2A, +3, 7 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Niklas Backstrom (W, 46 saves on 48 shots against)
  
• Richard: Ilya Kovalchuk, Joffrey Lupul, Bill Guerin, Valtteri Filppula, Nathan Horton (2G each)
  
• Calder: Nicklas Backstrom (2A, 67% faceoffs won, 3 takeaways, 0 giveaways)
  
• Aiken: Miikka Kiprusoff (L, 5 goals allowed on 20 shots against)
  

Thursday Roundup/Panthers 2, Caps 1 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]

Well, the initial adrenaline rush that accompanied the coaching change has worn off leaving the same Caps team trying to learn a new system. The result? What we saw Wednesday night. A few thoughts on the game:

• If Tomas Vokoun catches with his left hand, the Caps win that game. Period.
• He doesn't, and they didn't. Period.
  
• Neither Chris Clark nor Alex Semin were available for the shootout. Semin's injury would appear to be that same ol' ankle, and he's day-to-day, and Clark's malady wouldn't seem to be significant.
  
• Both Vokoun and Olie Kolzig were awesome through overtime but beatable in the shootout (I wonder what the highest combined total in a shootout is).
  
• It was awfully nice of Brooks Laich to wear the #21 in honor of Sean Taylor. It was nicer still to see Shaone Morrisonn honor Taylor by hitting everything that moved early on.
• Speaking of Laich, if you want to see what his shootout move looks like when it's successful, it's #6 here (and I could easily go another 35 games without seeing the Caps in one of those skill competitions).
• Last word on Laich - he's always a good guy to talk to, and last night was no exception. Check out his post game interview (warning: MP3).
  
• It took the Caps more than ten minutes to get their first shot of the second period, meaning that in the other 55 minutes of hockey, the team fired 33 shots on goal (11 of which came off Alex Ovechkin's stick).
• The Caps won a paltry 44% of the game's faceoffs, with Nicklas Backstrom going 0-for-8 and Viktor Kozlov only slightly better at 1-for-6.
  
• If only David Steckel could lift the puck.
• Another 30+ minutes of ice time for Tom Poti, and a hair over 30 for AO as well.
• Why can't the Caps get players like Richard Zednik?
  
• Finally, if a picture's worth a thousand words, this one that KB took in the locker room post game says it all:

Next up, the Hurricanes in Raleigh on Friday night. Then the Panthers. Again.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Michal Neuvirth was named to the Czech World Junior team.... Happy 58th birthday to #7, Yvon Labre.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Mike Knuble (G, 2A, +2, 3 SOG)
  
• Ross: Mike Knuble, Pat Kane, Milan Hejduk (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Andrej Meszaros (2G, 4 blocked shots)
  
• Vezina: Tomas Vokoun (32 saves on 33 shots against in shootout win)
  
• Richard: Andrej Meszaros, Martin Havlat (2G each)
  
• Calder: Pat Kane (3A, +2)
  
• Aiken: Johan Holmqvist (3 goals allowed on 10 shots against in just 40 minutes of work)
  

Caps Cut Clymer, Sign Flash, Demote Pollock

Earlier today the Caps signed Tomas Fleischmann (a formality we all knew was coming, and a potentially great deal at $495,000 for this season), sent Jame Pollock to Hershey (no surprise) and also demoted Ben Clymer to Chocolatetown.

The story there is obviously Clymer, who had to (and did) clear waivers. Should the Caps recall him, he'll have to go through re-entry waivers and any team claiming him would only be responsible for half of his contract (which pays him $1 million this year and $1.1 million next year).

It's certainly worth noting that Clymer has given a lot to the Washington Capitals - and during often difficult times - and should be saluted for his professionalism and leadership both on and off the ice. Whether it was his willingness to accept a return to the blueline at the beginning of last season or the way he handled his frequent healthy scratches during the second half of that same campaign, he has been exactly what the Caps needed him to be, and hopefully some other team needing that role filled will take a look at him and give him a chance. Unfortunately for Ben - but fortunately for the Caps and their fans - that role is no longer needed on this team.

With Clymer and Pollock out of the picture and Jakub Klepis unlikely to be signed, the Caps still have one more player to shed before tomorrow's roster submission deadline. Since David Steckel, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz can all be sent to Hershey without having to go through waivers, any one of them could provide a short-term solution as the team works on trade possibilities and hangs on to veterans like Matt Bradley and Brooks Laich for at least a little longer. Of course, an injury (real or otherwise - John Erskine?) could land someone on the IR to start the season and that would take care of this whole "too many bodies" problem as well.

Wednesday Roundup

USA Today has an article on Michael Nylander's return to D.C., Tarik takes a look at Ben Clymer's "weird situation," Corey profiles Mike Green as he tries to make the team, Vogs chats with and about Brooks Laich (and colorfully describes Matt Pettinger's work ethic), the Sens will be skating most of their veterans against the Caps tomorrow night, and AO drops by a couple of schools - traditional and otherwise.

Laich Signed

The arbiter has ruled and Brooks Laich has signed on the dotted line - one year, one way, $725,000.

Next up - Milan Jurcina (or any of the other three remaining RFAs, Tomas Fleischmann, Jakub Klepis and John Erskine).

Laich Heads To Arbitration

The dog days are officially upon us, friends, but luckily only in a "there's not a whole hell of a lot of hockey news" way and not in a Michael Vick sorta way.

There is some news, however, regarding one of the Caps' remaining restricted free agents. Barring a last minute deal, the Caps and forward Brooks Laich will be before an arbitrator today, presenting their respective cases for what the Saskatchewan native's 2007-08 salary should be.

Frankly, I'm not sure what Laich (who came to Washington in exchange for Peter Bondra back in the Spring of '04) hopes to achieve in arbitration. Sure, his goal total increased 14% this past season over 2005-06... but that bump took him from seven to eight - not exactly a breakout season. And he did prove his versatility while improving both his plus/minus and his fauxhawk. But with less-than-gaudy numbers on a team with far more options than spots on the bottom two lines and with Brian Sutherby (who has a 14-goal season under his belt and wore an "A" last season) signing for $800,000 just last week, how much can Laich really be asking for?

Previously: Jurcina, Laich Elect Arbitration

Update: The Forechecker has a good preview of what the hearing might be like.

Update: If I'm Laich, maybe I walk in with this video teed up to #6...

Jurcina, Laich Elect Arbitration

Milan Jurcina and Brooks Laich, both restricted free agents, have elected to take the team to arbitration, meaning that in each case, both sides will lay out their case before an impartial third party who will then decide the compensation for the player (that is, of course, unless the team and the player agree to a deal beforehand).

Given the salaries we've seen this past week and what Jerky and Laich have accomplished to date as NHLers, what do you think they're worth?

Update: About.com has a great explainer on how the process works, including this:

The evidence that can be used in arbitration cases:

• The player's "overall performance" including statistics in all previous seasons.
• Injuries, illnesses and the number of games played.
• The player's length of service with the team and in the NHL.
• The player's "overall contribution" to the team's success or failure.
• The player's "special qualities of leadership or public appeal."
• The performance and salary of any player alleged to be "comparable" to the player in the dispute.

Evidence that is not admissible:

• The salary and performance of a player who signed a contract as an unrestricted free agent.
• Testimonials, video and media reports.
• The financial state of the team.
• The salary cap and the state of the team's payroll.