Belanger Inks Deal with Phoenix, Gives Exclamation Point to Awful Offseason for the Caps

Heading into the trade deadline last season, Washington saw two weaknesses: defense and penalty killing. They needed defensemen and a center. They brought in defenseman Joe Corvo and center Eric Belanger (along with Scott Walker and Milan Jurcina, but neither made much of a contribution) to try and fix the problem. Yet, these two failed to completely fix the problem and as a result the Capitals were sent home in the first round in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NHL. Rather than continue to address these needs in the offseason, the Capitals have sat back and now appear to be no closer to winning the Stanley Cup.

In the playoffs last season, the Caps dressed Joe Corvo, Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Jon Carlson, Shaone Morrisonn, and Tom Poti. They also had Tyler Sloan, Karl Alzner, and Jon Erskine as backups. Joe Corvo went back to Carolina. Hard to fault the Caps for that one, there was no question he was leaving. Green, Schultz, and Poti are back. Carlson established himself as ready for a full time slot and he will be back. Despite being one of the best true defensive players on the team, for some reason the Caps let Morrisonn sign with the Islanders. Alzner will be brought onto the roster this season. This means that the Caps defense will be Green, Schultz, Carlson, Poti, Alzner, and Sloan and Erskine will battle for the last spot. I think Sloan has potential if he continues developing, but any system that promises Erskine extended playing time does not work. He is useless. As a fighter, he has become popular among some fans, but ask yourself if he would have a spot on this team if he could not fight. The answer is no. He either commits a penalty or gives up a big play every game. It is unacceptable. So compare the two lineups. Which one is better? Granted a lot of the players are young and will continue to develop, but the Caps are in desperate need of a DEFENSIVE star. Not a Mike Green, a Carlson, or a Corvo, but a DEFENSIVE defenseman. Instead of fixing that, the Caps have a lineup that will give Erskine playing time. Fail.

While the team has an abundance of offensive talent, they have few true centers. Centers are not only important in the offensive game, but they are VITAL on the penalty kill. For the playoffs the team had Nicklas Backstrom, Eric Belanger, Brendan Morrison, and David Steckle. Morrison is old and expensive. It is not surprise he was on his way out. Steckle is great on the faceoff, but he has fourth line talent at best. Now Belanger is gone. So the team has Backstrom and Steckle. They also have this fantasy of putting Marcus Johansson, a bright young prospect, on the second line. I've seen him play. He would be great on the third line, but he doesn't fit on the second line and this is simply way more playing than he's ready for.

Now the team is talking about how it shows the organization has faith in the team. Absolutely false. There have been rumors about trade talks throughout the offseason. The reason why Belanger is contemplating legal action against the team is because they agreed to a deal weeks ago, but the team said it was contingent on a trade the team was working out. The Capitals could not convince players to come to DC despite the incentives of playing for a contender AND playing with the best player in the world. When it comes to trades, George McPhee is like the cautious poker player. He can win a few chips here and there, but he will never win the pot without pushing more chips into the center. Unless he is willing to put real value on the table, the team will never be able to pick up the players they really need.

So here's the timeline. The team says they need defensemen and centers and bring in players at the deadline. The team enters into the offseason far too soon and lose all the players they brought in at the deadline. They also lose defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and center Brendan Morrison. They try to make deals to fix these problems, cannot make any, and then tell the team that it is because they have faith in them all. Now they are left with holes to fill and only prospects to fill them with. Oops.