Making Moves: McPhee, Capitals Splash Out in NHL Free Agency

Washington Capitals GM George McPhee didn't waste any time in reshaping the look of the team roster. The widely-believed theory that the Caps would replace Bruce Boudreau as head coach didn't come to pass. Instead, McPhee moved to keep adding to an already talent-rich squad with even more experience, muscle and attitude.

The Caps broke with recent tradition, which has seen them add sparingly to the team via free agency/offseason trades. The acquisitions of F Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward, D Roman Hamrlik, and G Tomas Vokoun fire a massive warning shot to the entire league for next season. Each player makes us even more well-rounded as we continue to supplement a roster that finished first in the Eastern Conference.

The thing is that regular season success is nothing new for the likes of Coach Boudreau, Ovie, Backstrom, Semin, Mike Green et al. Each of these moves are made with the postseason in mind and it will be interesting to see how the team will perform over 82 games with the specter of the playoffs looming in the background the whole time. It's kind of impossible to play a whole regular season feeling as though it doesn't matter, so while these moves definitely strengthen the team, the pressure will be on us even more than it was last year.

Not to be lost in the shuffle was the re-signing of Brooks Laich, whose solid, quiet production and continuity are both essential. Conversely, we also dealt Semyon Varlamov to Colorado for a first and second round pick, which bittersweet though it may be because Varly was a fan favorite, is being reported by hockey experts as a fleecing by the Capitals.

Exactly why the Avalanche gave up a first rounder they didn't need to for a player with just one playoff season under his belt and an injury history way larger than anyone would want for a 23 year old may never be known. Especially when you consider that we already have a surplus of young goalies and that draft pick may very well turn out to be a lottery pick (this was even before we signed Vokoun to a one year, $1.5 million deal. Pure madness).

So for the time being, all this excitement will give way to waiting for hockey season to actually start back up before we can see what any of this means. At least we'll have a lot to figure out while we wait.