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All four new members of the Washington Capitals were in attendance for today’s morning skate at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Milan Jurcina, who was reacquired from Columbus just over two months after having been dealt to the Blue Jackets, was not on the ice because he is awaiting surgery to repair a sports hernia. The other three players – forwards Scott Walker and Eric Belanger and defenseman Joe Corvo – were on the ice and will be in the lineup tonight.
The downside of the acquisition of the three new, healthy players is that three very capable Caps – all of whom played very strong and solid games against the Sabres in Buffalo last night, by the way – will not be in the lineup when Washington hosts Tampa Bay tonight. Those three are forwards Matt Bradley and David Steckel and defenseman John Erskine.
Rookie blueliner John Carlson was recalled from AHL Hershey for last night’s game in Buffalo because the Caps needed a fill-in for Brian Pothier, who was traded to the Hurricanes in the deal for Corvo earlier in the day.
Carlson also turned in a good performance against the Sabres, but although he is in the lineup again tonight, he will be returned to Hershey at some point in the next few days. In order to be eligible to play for the Bears in the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs, Carlson must be on the team’s Clear Day roster. Clear Day in the AHL this year is next Wednesday, March 10.
Here’s the pertinent info on Clear Day: “The AHL’s Clear Day deadline, when all 29 teams must submit their 22-man Clear Day lists, is set for Wednesday, Mar. 10, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension.”
It is possible that Carlson could return after a brief visit to Hershey to fulfill Clear Day obligations. The defensive pairs slated to take the ice for the Capitals tonight – Jeff Schultz with Mike Green, Tom Poti with Joe Corvo and Shaone Morrisonn with Carlson – are combos we could see a lot of from here on out. You can also expect to see John Erskine rotated with Morrisonn, and a possible occasional sighting of Tyler Sloan or Karl Alzner, too.
As constituted tonight, Washington’s blueline mix features three right-handed, puck-moving defensemen who are very capable of joining the rush and fueling the attack. That’s a significant part of how Bruce Boudreau likes his teams to play.
“I like the equalization of the righty and lefty and if you look at our forwards,” says Boudreau, “Guys that can move the puck to them as quickly as possible are going to be put in a good position of picking up points because our forwards are as dynamic as any team’s in the league.”
Here are more than a few fun facts that involve yesterday’s Washington acquisitions:
• Walker and Belanger have both been traded for Josef Vasicek at some point in their careers.
• Walker, who was drafted as a defenseman by Vancouver in 1993, was a teammate of Caps pro scout Jason Fitzsimmons – a Dump ‘n Chase favorite – with the Jack McIlhargey-coached Hamilton Canucks of the AHL in 1993-94. Fitzsimmons was among the Washington braintrust in the team’s war room at Kettler Capitals Iceplex yesterday when the series of deals went down.
• Walker was an original member of the 1998-99 expansion Nashville Predators. Among his teammates there were former Capitals Andrew Brunette, Jamie Heward, John Slaney, Jeff Nelson and Rob Zettler.
• Walker holds the distinction of netting the first shorthanded goal (Oct. 24, 1998) in Predators franchise history and the first empty-net tally (Nov. 10, 1998) in Nashville’s NHL history.
• Walker and Corvo were obviously teammates on the 2009-10 Hurricanes. Walker and Belanger were teammates on the 2006-07 Hurricanes. Corvo and Belanger were teammates on the 2000-01 Boudrea-coached Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL.
• Corvo and Pothier – traded for one another yesterday – also passed on their way in and out of Ottawa, respectively, on July 1, 2006. That’s the day Corvo left Los Angeles to sign as a free agent with Ottawa, and the day Pothier left Ottawa to sign as a free agent with Washington.
• Belanger made his NHL debut in Washington as a member of the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 6, 2000. He scored his first NHL goal against the Caps’ Craig Billington that night and assisted on two other Kings tallies, both off the stick of Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille.
• As best as I can tell, Jurcina becomes the 20th two-term Capital in franchise history. His 65-day exile is not the shortest of those 20 players. Trent Whitfield was claimed off waivers from Washington by the New York Rangers on Jan. 16, 2002 and reclaimed from the Blueshirts just over two weeks later, on Feb. 1, 2002. And Glen Metropolit was lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the now defunct waiver draft on Sept. 28, 2001 and reclaimed from the Bolts less than a month later, on Oct. 20, 2001.
matthew
/ March 4, 2010hey look i dont pretend to know what mcphee is thinking or what he sees when he makes deals but in my honest opinion getting rid of pothier was a horrible and dirty thing to do he is a great defense man more consistent then many of our other guys and to trade him now after we stuck by him while he healed from that concussion is just wrong, i personaly dont think it was a wise move no matter how good corvo is and he is good im not doubting him but imagine if we had found a different way to claim him and keep pothier maybe deal shoane morrison who always seems to take very untimely penalties and has done much in the way of the score sheet, i believe that would have been a much better move then the one chosen by george. and if im correct which i might not be corvo is a free agent at the end of the season anyways so there is no garuntee that we will be able to hold onto him where as im sure pothier would have been more then willing to make a new deal to stay with the caps im just over all disapointed in the choice to deal Brian and it wont likely sit easy with me till next season if ever
Rob
/ March 5, 2010I feel the same way as you matthew. Let’s see where this takes us. I’d love to see Pothier’s name on the Stanley Cup. But McPhee put this team together and we’re one of the best Caps teams ever. I’m trusting his decisions for now. We lost 1 defenseman and got 4 veterans while giving up draft picks. Not too shabby. Brian will be missed though.
nathaniel
/ March 6, 2010just a side note rob……….if the caps win a cup this year (fingers crossed), pothier’s name would still be on the cup even though he’s been traded because he has played enough games during the regular season. 41 reg season games on cup winning team required. brian pothier would qualify.
imo, as much as i like pothier and agree with wanting to keep him……..i think it was a good move. last year we had a d-core decimated by injuries and it wore us down over that pens series. pothier has shown he’s a very good player, but has also shown reason for some concern on injuries. he’s missed over 20 games this season alone.
the idea of 10 defensemen eligible for a long playoff run sounds like a wise idea to me………green/shultz, poti/corvo, and any combination of shamo, erskine, alzner, carlson, jurcina, and sloan rotating on bottom two or filling in for injuries. depth, in theory, would help keep fresh and healthy legs for a deep run in post season.
as far trading shamo instead…? it’s a nice thought, i’d rather that, too. but then again….if you are the gm for the other team, you are going to probably want more value in order to give up your player. you have to give up value to get it. a pick, a prospect, and a third pair (15min per game) d-man traded for a d-man that was playing top pair minutes (25+ min per game) is a pretty fair trade for both sides.
olivia
/ March 6, 2010i read the requirement is 41 regular season games or 1 stanley cup final game, but it was unclear whether the player has to be on the roster of the winning team. anyone know?
i’m sure mcphee and managment had their reasons. what gets me is one of the guys we got is injured (not that i have anything against jurcina, i was sorry to see him go too). i dunno, it’s ironic. i hope this isn’t karma…
and not to disservice the rest of players or anything or to say that any one guy makes a team, but when carolina is in town i’m going to have a hard time choosing a side to root for.
i’m just sad. brian pothier will be missed greatly.
Cathy W
/ March 7, 2010Regarding the Clear Day roster, I seem to recall that individuals who were playing for the Caps, and not the AHL team, were included in the Clear Day roster. I seem recall Semin going to Portland after the Caps season ended but he had not played in Portland before then. So I am confused as to why Carlson would need to go back to Hershey before the Clear Day roster is submitted. But if Carlson makes the Caps better for their playoff run, I’d rather have him with the Caps then Hershey. Make this the year!
Rodney Hammett
/ March 7, 2010I just wanted to congratulate the Caps on the trades for Scott Walker and Joe Corvo. I live in Raleigh, so my son & I are Canes fans, but of course our second favorite team is the Caps and my son has the Alex Ovechkin big head up in his room. Scottie has proven with his first game the kind of “clutch” player that he is and Joe is a SMART defensive player. We are cheering on the Caps to get the cup and one reason is that these guys are very deserving of the cup and ring. We hope that these guys will still consider Raleigh as a home for their families, but play hard for the Caps!
Eddie
/ March 7, 2010Unlike other general managers and coaches on other teams in DC, McPhee and Coach B have earned the right to get the benefit of any doubt on these tough trade calls. I am sure they would like to keep Pothier but let’s face it, the guy has a history of being fragile, is a free agent at the end of the year and they were able to get Corvo for him. As Coach B puts it, Corvo was a #1 ice time defenseman on a few good Carolina teams. It’s obvious Coach thinks highly of him. I don’t think anyone wants a good guy to leave the team, but the team needs a boost. I think we all know there are risks in disrupting team chemistry, but like the year they added Fedorov et al, winning cures everything. I don’t know about you all, but to my untrained eyes, Brendan Morrison has been looking slower and less part of the game lately. Maybe he is nicked up? I think getting Belanger is more of a move to either get him going or replacing him. Walker is a character guy with a bit of attitude and scrappiness that a teams third or fourth line can always use. It wouldn’t surprise me if all three of these guys are here next year.