Washington Capitals

Why Alex Semin is still a free agent—but shouldn't be

July 10, 2012

Now that Zach Parise is off the market and planning how to spend the next 13 years in Minnesota (there’s a broken mirror joke there somewhere), free agent Alex Semin is probably getting a few more phone calls than he was a week ago.

He’s going to be a second prize to a team that was hoping to land Parise. As far as career stats go, he’s about as close a second prize as they come and some team is going to end up with a guy who is not that far removed from a 40-goal season.

But they’re also going to get a guy less further removed from a 21-goal season with 56 penalty minutes, a four-year low for him.

It’s all about ceilings and floors with Sem...

Capitals Announce New ECHL Affiliation With The Reading Royals

July 10, 2012

Kenny Shackelford

0 Comments

The Capitals announced Monday that the eight-year affiliation between the team and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays was coming to an end. The team’s new ECHL affiliate will be the Reading Royals, located in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The decision appears to be made mainly for geographical reasons, with the Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey also located in Pennsylvania. Caps GM George McPhee said in a recent press release that “We feel the proximity to both Washington and our AHL affiliate in Hershey will be beneficial to all three clubs.”

The Royals are a team with a rather passionate fan base, and have a history of ...

Free Agency 2012: Should the Red Wings go after Alexander Semin or Shane Doan?

July 9, 2012

Christina Roberts

3 Comments

With Zach Parise locked up in Minnesota for the next 10 years, the list of remaining free agent power forwards has trickled down to only a handful, and the Red Wings are looking for someone to fill in a gap without having to sacrifice their own players in a trade for a forward still locked in a contract.

Jay Beagle Re-Signs With The Capitals

July 5, 2012

Kenny Shackelford

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The Capitals announced Thursday that forward Jay Beagle has re-signed with the team on a three-year contract worth $2.7 million.

Beagle, 26, is a gritty third or fourth line center. He played in 41 games last season, accounting for four goals and one assist. Beagle also racked up 23 penalty minutes.

Beagle became a favorite of interim coach Dale Hunter down the stretch last year and throughout the Caps' playoff run. It was much publicized that Beagle was getting more ice time in the playoffs than captain Alexander Ovechkin.

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Mathieu Perreault Signs Two-Year Deal With The Capitals

July 5, 2012

Kenny Shackelford

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The Capitals announced today they have re-signed forward Mathieu Perreault to a two-year deal worth approximately one-million dollars per season.

Perreault, 24, was a restricted free agent going into the 2012-13 season. In 64 games last season, he scored 16 goals and tallied 14 assists. On January 24th, 2012, Perreault recorded his first career hat trick against the Boston Bruins.

Perreault was given a reduced role down the stretch of last season, but new coach Adam Oates will surely ask him to step up and help fill the void left by Alexander Semin’s departure. This move is aligned with what General Manager George McPhee said in response to being asked ...

Free Agency 2012: Caps Add Defenseman Jack Hillen

July 3, 2012

Kenny Shackelford

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The Washington Capitals have announced the signing of 26-year old defenseman Jack Hillen to a one-year, one-way contract worth $650,000.

Hillen spent last season with the Nashville Predators, appearing in 55 games and scoring six total points. In his previous two seasons with the New York Islanders, Hillen had 22 and 21 points respectively.

Hillen is the second player added by General Manager George McPhee during the 2012 free agency period, to go along with Joey Crabb who was signed Sunday. Hillen and Crabb were teammates at Colorado College from 2004-2006.

McPhee still has some work to do to fill the holes on the blue line, mainly the one left by Denn...

Free Agency 2012: Capitals Get Joey Crabb

July 2, 2012

Carden Hedelt

0 Comments

The first acquisition for Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee is forward Joey Crabb from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He signed on a one-year deal worth $950,000.

The right winger had 11 goals, 15 assists and 101 hits in 2011-2012, his first full season in the NHL. At 29, he has scored 18 goals and has 32 assists in 144 games with Toronto and Atlanta after being a seventh-round pick in 2002.

Crabb is projected to be a bottom-six guy for new Capitals coach Adam Oates, possibly teaming up with Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle on the fourth line. He could play some on the penalty kill and he's not afraid to drop fists either. He ends up catching m...

Ovechkin's Drop in Points

June 29, 2012

Trenton Latos

2 Comments

Adam Oates had a pretty great day Tuesday being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and getting his first head coaching job with the Washington Capitals. What is he going to have to do to keep that job?

Flames get ahead of the 8-Ball

June 27, 2012

NickSymon

4 Comments

It was a busy day for the Calgary Flames as they traded and signed defenseman Dennis Wideman from the Washington Capitals and re-signed forward Blake Comeau.

Adam Oates hired as Capitals coach

June 26, 2012

Mike Dusak

0 Comments

Former Caps captain Adam Oates was hired by the team as its new coach on Tuesday.

Oates, 49, was most recently an assistant for the Devils for the past two seasons. Before that, Oates spent a year on the Tampa Bay Lightning staff. The Oates hire marks the fifth-straight hire by Caps general manager George McPhee as head coach with no prior head coaching experience.

The former NHL star had spent the last couple seasons helping turn Devils superstar Ilya Kovalchuk into a two-way player. He is said to pay extreme attention to detail and is credited with helping Zach Parise along in the past few seasons.

Former teammates have said that Oates will be a "...