WASHINGTON: The Washington Capitals looked like a team ready to book mid-April tee times in a 5-0 loss Monday night to the injury-depleted Carolina Hurricanes. Yet they are still only two points shy of the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets for first-place and the Toronto Maple Leafs for eighth place in the East.
At the beginning of the season, the Capitals were expected to challenge for the top spot in the East. Now, they're fighting just to make the playoffs. GM George McPhee could go in several different directions in the next few days.
"Believe it or not, there’s still a compelling case to be made for being a buyer come Monday," writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.
"But an equally strong argument can be made for the Capitals shedding salary at the deadline, too, and getting a jump start on a team that obviously needs retooling."
The third option would be to stand pat, and hope Nicklas Backstrom can return from a concussion in time to help save the season. If McPhee does want to add but doesn't want to place Backstrom on long-term injury reserve he has less than $1 million in acquisition space, so any deal will likely have to include a roster player going the other way.
If McPhee decides to punt this season and start the reloading process for 2012-13, El-Bashir lists a few key players who could be on the move. They included pending UFAs Alexander Semin, Dennis Wideman and Mike Knuble, as well as restricted free agent Mike Green.
"There was a certain chemistry that defined previous incarnations of this club. This season’s team is missing that cohesion," writes El-Bashir. "If rebooting is the route McPhee chooses, other team’s draft picks, prospects and young players are available. Why wait until the offseason?
"It just might take some gutsy decisions."
Read full story here By Corey Masisak - NHL.com Staff Writer
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