Pool Outlook for Washington

The Capitals showed off their offensive prowess to the 'enth degree again in 2009, as they were third in the league in goal scoring, helping them to a Southeast Division title. The young skilled forwards of Washington were on display and doing some great things all year, despite a couple injury setbacks. Unfortunately for the Caps, they ran into a strong Pittsburgh team in the playoffs and that ended their good run in the second round.

Alex Ovechkin missed three games this season, due to some family issues, but still managed to come back and score, almost at will. Ovechkin finished the year with 56 goals and 54 assists in 79 GP, second in the league for pool scoring. He continues to keep his name in the debate for the first overall pick in your fantasy draft, as he should. In my fantasy draft this past season, Ovechkin was taken number two, which was a dead on accurate pick. Does he go number one in your draft in the Fall?

There was plenty to be excited about from the other two young superstars up front for the Capitals, as Nicklas Backstrom finished 14th in pool scoring this season and Alex Semin finished 27th. Having three quality forwards in the top 30 of pool scorers means that you are truly onto something. Backstrom avoided the sophomore jinx with 88 points in all 82 GP, while Semin battled injury, but still had 79 points in 62 GP. The forwards from Washington will be a hot commodity in your fantasy draft, so if you want them, you have to be early to get them. Brooks Laich also enjoyed a good season, finisheing fourth among Caps forwards with 53 points in 82 GP, ranking him 114th in pool scoring, 84th among forwards. He certainly isn't a household name, so he could figure into being a good pick for your team if he slides down a ways in the draft. Past Laich, the depth of scoring does drop off a bit, as Viktor Kozlov, Tomas Fleischmann, Sergei Fedorov and Michael Nylander were all around for points here and there, but none really could join the scoring parade at a reasonable click or get themselves on one of the bigger lines for too long.

The Capitals are also quite fortunate to have the league's best scoring defenseman in Mike Green. He finished the year with 73 points in 62 GP, ranking him first among defenders, 42nd in the league overall. At only 23 years old, he has the potential of becoming a high second round pick in fantasy circles, but in the 42nd ranking, he does open himself up for a late second round or early third round pick (to be safe), but could go as high as a late first round pick, for those who are terrible impatient. Unfortunately for the Capitals, the gap between Green and the next defenders is quite large, when it comes to offense. Next on the list was Milan Jurcina, who finished the year with 3 goals and 11 assists in 79 GP, which ranked him 501st in the league, 126th among defenders.

Goaltending in the regular season didn't seem to be too much of an issue, especially if the goaltenders can keep less pucks out of the net than the offense is putting in on the other side. Jose Theodore took the lead in Capitals tending this past year, winning 32 games, shutting out 2 and picking up 3 assists for 71 pool points in the year. He will be mired in a goaltending battle come next season, as Simeon Varlamov, who won 4 games (for 8 points) in the regular season, came in for Theodore in the playoffs and played exceptionally well. Brent Johnson also fared pretty well before an injury, finishing the season with 12 wins and an assist for 25 pool points.

2010 Season Outlook
With Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Green and Varlamov in tow already for 2010, the outlook isn't too bad at all. Of course, the wild card for the Capitals has been injuries, but putting that aside, there really isn't too much concern going into the 2010 season, but I'm sure there are a couple holes that could be filled, hopefully that could improve the team into more of a scoring threat and a playoff contender.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Alex Ovechkin	Mike Green	Jose Theodore
Nicklas Backstrom	Tom Poti	Simeon Varlamov
Alex Semin	John Erskine
Brooks Laich	Brian Pothier
Tomas Fleischmann
Michael Nylander
David Steckel
Matt Bradley
Chris Clark

The Capitals will be going into the summer with a middle of the road number against the cap with 15 guys already signed on for next season. There are a couple young kids signed on, that will likely get a case for a regular job, but for the time being, this is the 15 players that we're going to go with. Currently, with these 15 guys, the cap hit is approximately $46.4 million, which doesn't leave them with a great deal of space for the last 8 spots, but it should help them to find talent where they need it most.

The Capitals free agency situation has a nice mix of UFAs and RFAs heading to market this summer and we'll start with the UFAs for right now. Viktor Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov, Brent Johnson and Donald Brashear, lead the way out to the marketplace, but there have been some rumblings that some of these veterans may still have a place in Washington for next season. Both Kozlov and Fedorov have been good role models for the young Russians on the team and Johnson may still be kept around to be in the fight for a spot on the team in goal.

On the RFA side, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn and Jeff Schultz all found regular (or semi-regular) spots with the team in 2009 and will likely see some good negotiation with the club going forward. No one should be surprised if all five players get new deals right away this Summer.

Possibly, the only thing stopping these free agents from getting a new contract this summer, may be the influx of some new young talent. If Simeon Varlamov gets a full-time job, Brent Johnson should be out. Anton Gustafson could be getting a long look as a third line centre, possibly rendering Boyd Gordon expendible. John Carlson and Karl Alzner could get some looks this Fall, making a couple defenders think about their immediate future. There isn't a lot of sure-fire talent making the jump next season, but there are some names to watch for 2010, especially through training camp.

I know I will have a number of Capitals players high on my list this Fall, but there are a couple that I might put a couple notches down, just so I'm not in a big rush to pick them up. Ovechkin would be my guy, if I had first overall pick in my fantasy draft, as he's pretty much a sure thing. I would also value Backstrom quite high as well, as that tandem is all but a sure thing. Green, I will also value quite highly, but I'm not going to give up on a high producing forward to take him on the back-end. His totals should go up, but that is purely at the discretion of yourself at the time of the draft. The Caps will make some good next year, for sure.