Category Archives: Washington Capitals
Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray examines trade market
While the Senators are determined to go with what they’ve got to fill the void left by the back surgery to centre Jason Spezza, Murray likely couldn’t make a deal unless he was willing to give up a top prospect to get something in return.
Roberto Luongo could help Caps, others
There was hardly even time for fun speculation, Washington Capitals GM George McPhee made sure of that. On Sunday afternoon, both Vancouver GM Mike Gillis and Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman were in Washington, D.C., among those scouting the matinee game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Capitals. When asked what brought the two executives so far east, especially in a season in which the Canucks won’t have to face either team until the Stanley Cup finals, Gilman smiled. Just watching some hockey.
Roberto Luongo trade rumors: Would Canucks deal with Capitals?
The issue for the Capitals is whether adding Luongo, at his age and cap hit, makes sense this season and in the immediate future. They are already behind the eight-ball in the Eastern Conference, and the Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Mike Green core hasn’t contended since 2010.
Players Gillis could be interested in: young defenseman Dmitry Orlov and prospect Filip Forsberg. If he’s looking for immediate help along the second line, though, the Capitals don’t have much to offer.
John Erskine faces disciplinary hearing for elbow
Capitals defenseman John Erskine will have a supplemental discipline hearing with NHL Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan at 2 p.m. Saturday for hitting Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds in the head Friday night.
With 1 minute 51 seconds remaining in the first period of Washington’s 3-2 win over the Flyers, Erskine elbowed Simmonds in the head as both players pursued a loose puck along the left-wing boards in the Philadelphia zone.
No penalty was called on the play. Simmonds had a bloody nose and was able to head to the bench under his own power, but he never returned to the game.
Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren said after the game that Simmonds has a “head injury” and “probably a little bit of whiplash” but that he would be reevaluated Saturday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Is it time for a change of scenery for Ovechkin?
You have to wonder if Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis found any relief from Alex Ovechkin’s first road goal of the season.
Ovechkin blew a wrist shot past Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer on a power play at 2:38 of the second to put the Capitals up 2-1, a lead that would hold through the period before Toronto eventually picked up its first home win of the season, 3-2, on Thursday night.
Ted Leonsis says Alex Ovechkin ‘needs to play better’
Whether or not the biggest problem for the Caps thus far has been Nicklas Backstrom’s lack of production, or Brooks Laich’s injury, or adjusting to Adam Oates, or poor special teams, the headline will always be “Ovechkin has just one goal through six games.”
So it was that owner Ted Leonsis was asked about his team’s, and his captain’s, slow start on WTOP Wednesday morning.
“Well, we’re concerned too,” Leonsis said. “I’m not so sure that [team] scoring’s gonna be an issue, but it has been to date. And Alex is off to a slow start….He’s having to get integrated into this new system….He needs to play better. I don’t have the answers. Obviously I’m not running the hockey operations. If I knew what to do, I would go see George and Adam, but I don’t, so they’re gonna have to work it out.”
Leonsis said when he talked with Ovechkin during the first few days after the lockout, they mostly discussed the winger’s offseason engagement to tennis star Maria Kirilenko. But Leonsis said he also asked Ovechkin about his biggest concern transitioning from the KHL back to the NHL, and Ovechkin mentioned the significant difference in rink size.
“He gets double-teamed all the time [in the NHL], so he has to keep moving,” Leonsis said. “And that’s the one thing I’ve noticed: when he doesn’t have a good game, he seems to be more stationary, and video coaches show him that.”
Washington Capitals GM George McPhee feeling heat after slow start
For 14 years, McPhee has been GM of the Capitals. But many around the NHL are wondering if the pressure on him from owner Ted Leonsis has ever been greater than it is right now because this isn’t the start that was scripted.
The Caps had a gutsy effort in a 3-2 OT loss to the New Jersey Devils Friday, but the reality is all they did was squander another point. Oates tried struggling Alex Ovechkin on the right wing and moved him back to the left after three losses.
Mathieu Perreault: “Trade me if I’m not a part of your plans”
Sometimes life as a hockey player can be frustrating (well, life in general can, but stay with me here). Whether it’s your team losing, you personally struggling, or your coach not giving you the opportunity to succeed, you occasionally find yourself a little bit pissy after the final buzzer. Washington Capitals’ centre Mathieu Perreault is currently feeling a bit of option C there, given his scant usage since Adam Oates took over as head coach.
The Caps have struggled so far, and Oates hasn’t gone soft on those who he feels are responsible, including giving top-6 forward Marcus Johanssan a mere 50 seconds of ice in the third last night.
Russian Machine Never Breaks had the story on Perreault’s frustration last night. Here’s what Perreault had to say:
“Whomever the coach is, every year it is the same story, and the GM doesn’t seem willing to change anything,” Perreault told Godin as translated by friend-of-the-blog Lindsey Novak. “Trade me if I am not part of your plans.”
“It’s hard on my morale,” Perreault continued. “I try to stay positive, but I do not want to endure it for two more years.”
Perreault, who played for IFK Helsinki of the Finnish SM-liiga during the lockout, received more than 20 minutes of ice time per game overseas. ”I come back and it’s not like I’m even part of the team,” said Perreault. “I’m just asking for a little more ice time.”
http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2013/01/24/mathieu-perreault-trade-me-if-im-not-a-part-of-your-plans/
good possibility the Capitals trade Alex Semin’s rights
Far from newsbreaking, but, good possibility the Capitals trade Alex Semin’s rights.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 27, 2012
Penguins Acquire Goaltender Tomas Vokoun
The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2012 seventh-round draft pick, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.
The Penguins then signed Vokoun to a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $2 million. Vokoun’s contract begins with the 2012-13 season and runs through the 2013-14 campaign.
Vokoun, 35, recently completed his 13th NHL season with Washington, posting a 25-17-2 record, 2.51 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and four shutouts in 48 games. One of Vokoun’s shutouts was a 30-save performance in a 1-0 victory over the Penguins on Jan. 11 at the Verizon Center.
A native of Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, Vokoun’s 25 victories this season marked the ninth-straight season he has surpassed the 20-win plateau. During that span, Vokoun has topped 25 wins seven times, including three seasons when he has posted 30-plus victories.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Vokoun enters the 2012-13 season ranked sixth among active netminders with 287 career victories – leaving him 13 shy of becoming just the 31st goaltender in NHL history to reach 300 career wins.
Vokoun has appeared in 401 games since the NHL returned from the lockout in 2005-06, the eight-highest total during that span, while also posting 36 shutouts – an average of 5.1 per season. Over the last four seasons, the two-time NHL All-Star (2004, ’08) has posted a .923 save percentage.
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=633707&cmpid=pit-twt-pghpenguinshttp://
Agent: No talks with Caps about Theodore
It appears the Caps are prepared to make a change in net next season.
The agent for goaltender , who just completed his second season in Washington, said there have been no discussions regarding an extension for the 33-year-old unrestricted free agent to be.
“They haven’t communicated with me at all,” Don Meehan said this morning from his Toronto-area office.
Johnson claimed by Caps
Brent Johnson has been claimed from the waiver wire by the Washington Capitals off the Vancouver Canucks.
in hindsight, this COULD be a good move for the Caps, but that might mean that once again young gun Maxime Ouellet will be forced to play in the minors.