Cap Set

As expected, the salary cap for the 2008-09 season will come in upwards of $56 million. The exact number is $56.7 million. With the 10% off-season cushion, NHL teams will be able to carry a payroll of as much as $62.37 million between July 1 and opening night.

Caps Qualify Five

The Capitals today issued qualifying contract offers to defensemen Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn and forwards Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon and Brooks Laich. The offers allow Washington to retain exclusive negotiating rights with these players even beyond July 1, when the five would gain restricted free agent (RFA) status if they have not yet come [...]

More Draft Stuff

The 2008 NHL Entry Draft is now a few days into the rear view mirror, but we’re not quite finished with the draft yet. On today’s edition of the Capitals Report (weekly podcast) at washingtoncaps.com, Brett Leonhardt and I will be joined by Capitals director of amateur scouting Ross Mahoney. As has been our custom [...]

Put Cancer On Ice

Dave Fay has been absent from Washington’s hockey landscape for almost a year now, and I still think of him fondly and frequently.
He was in my thoughts constantly as the Capitals barreled down the stretch of the 2007-08 season and squeaked into the playoffs. I thought of him at Alex Ovechkin’s post-hardware party at Teatro [...]

It’s A Wrap

Every team is generally happy with its draft in the moments immediately following the draft’s conclusion. You won’t find a single GM or scouting director who will speak ruefully of “the ones that got away.”
Given that it will take years to make any real sense of the draft and to figure out which teams hit [...]

Day Two

The pace is noticeably quicker here today, thank Jah. We’re almost at the end of round three as I type this, hoping that the flimsy internet connection holds long enough for me to hit “publish.”
The Caps called a time-out as their twin late second-round picks approached. George McPhee told us he was weighing a handful [...]

Belated Blog

Here’s how you can tell you’re at the NHL Draft: the wireless internet doesn’t work. Never does.
 
So rather than update the blog as things occur here on the draft floor, all I can do is write about them as they happen, then go back to the hotel and post this after you’ve all gone to [...]

Draft Blog

Okay. Half an hour away from the start of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. As long as our internet connection holds, we’ll be updating frequently throughout the first round. 

Around the Circuit

A quick scan of the league on draft day morning:
Anaheim — Ducks GM Brian Burke has given defenseman Scott Niedermayer until July 1 to decide whether he is playing another season or hanging up the skates. Ditto for winger Teemu Selanne. Holding the No. 12 pick in the draft, Burke has interest in moving into [...]

No Blue Light Specials on Blueliners

Things are fairly quiet here in Ottawa, for the time being anyway. Round 1 of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft takes place here tomorrow, with rounds 2-7 following on Friday. Talent-wise, it’s one of the deepest drafts of recent vintage. It’s a banner year for defensemen and for smallish but skilled forwards. As a result, [...]