Washington Capitals

Free Agency 2012: Capitals Sign Wojtek Wolski

July 11, 2012

The Washington Capitals announced the signing of 26-year-old left winger Wojtek Wolski to a one-year, $600,000 contract.

General Manager George McPhee made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, just one week after announcing the re-signings of centers Jay Beagle and Matthew Perreault.

The Capitals will be Wolski's fifth NHL team since he was drafted as the 21st overall pick in the 2004 NHL draft. He was named the OHL's Red Tilson Trophy winner in 2006 as the league's most outstanding player and achieved career-highs in goals (23), assists (42), points (65), and games played (80) during the 2009-2010 season with the Colorado Avalanche and Phoenix Coyotes.

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Jeff Halpern Agrees to One-Year Deal With The Rangers

July 10, 2012

Kenny Shackelford

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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...

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

July 10, 2012

Carden Hedelt

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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

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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

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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

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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?