Washington Capitals

The New York Rangers announced Monday night that they had reached an agreement with free agent center Jeff Halpern on a one-year contract worth $700,000. 

Halpern spent last season with the Capitals, appearing in 69 regular season games, scoring four goals and tallying 12 assists.  He played in just two playoff games for the Caps, as then coach Dale Hunter preferred Jay Beagle as the fourth line center.

The biggest facet of Halpern’s game is his ability to win face-offs.  Even as a fourth-line center getting limited minutes, Halpern was second on the Caps in face-off wins with 365 during the 2011-12 season.  Only Brooks Laich...

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 ...

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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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...