The Capitals made a couple more splashes in the free agent pool on Friday afternoon, adding defenseman
Roman Hamrlik and forward
Joel Ward to the mix. Hamrlik signed a 2-year, $7 million deal, while Ward signed a 4-year, $12 million deal with the club, both poised to make an impact with the club.
Hamrlik is considered to be more of an offensive defenseman and will be a huge add for the Capitals, who have had trouble keeping their main offensive defenseman healthy over the last 12 months. In 79 games with the Canadiens, Hamrlik scored 5 goals and 29 assists in 79 games, ranking him 38th among all defensemen.
Ward really came into his own in the playoffs, helping the Predators make it into the second round for the first time in franchise history. He is a third line player, good forechecker and plays a really rough and tumble game, should be able to provide some secondary scoring at the same time. In 2011, Ward picked up 10 goals and 19 assists in 80 games for Nashville, that would be a welcome addition in Washington.
The Capitals took a pretty good leap up the board with these two new signings, as they sit with 20 players signed and one buyout for a projected cap hit of $61.7 million. 11 forwards, seven defense and two goalies should mean they only really need two more forwards on their roster at a maximum cost of $2.6 million.
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