Caps & Jackets Make a Swap

			2009/2010 NHL Statistics			2010 Cap Hit
To Washington	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Years	Per Year
Jason Chimera	Forward	30	39	8	17	3	$1.875 million
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To Columbus	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Years	Per Year
Milan Jurcina	Defenseman	26	27	0	4	1	$1.375 million
Chris Clark	Forward	33	38	4	15	2	$2.633 million

The Capitals and Blue Jackets consumated a deal on Monday afternoon, which saw a few veteran players trade places and almost make more questions than it really did solve them with answers.

The Capitals traded away their captain, Chris Clark (pictured) and veteran defenseman, Milan Jurcina, to the Blue Jackets for another veteran speedy forward in Jason Chimera.

The Capitals gain a really good role-playing forward, who can put some pucks in the net, but is considered to be very responsible in his own end. He should be able to fit in well in Washington, since their system should allow him to skate.

The Blue Jackets addressed a couple of issues with this deal. They added more responsibility in their own end, which both Clark and Jurcina give, while adding more leadership to the squad, which could make the remaining players in Columbus a bit more accountable to their own game.

There is no doubt that this is also a bit of a salary cap hit dump by the Capitals, who might be looking to open the door for another deal to sure up a few of their holes. The numbers are very one-sided going to Columbus in this way, but they have a lot of room and this really does solve problems on both sides.

After this deal, the 2011 season hits look like this at the moment... Columbus will have 19 players on their roster already for a cap hit of $49.3 million, which leaves them a lot of room for some more additions. Washington has 10 players signed on for next season for an approximate cap hit of $35 million. They have plenty of room to fill up their depth spots.

When you look at what has been done in this deal and being a deal between an East team and West team, you would expect both teams to benefit from the deal. That being said, both teams are going to benefit from this deal, the Capitals get some help up front and some cap relief and the Jackets get to shake up their line-up a bit with a couple of additions. It's hard not to like this deal overall, in terms of fairness. The Jackets have immediately gotten better, but the Capitals might need a week or two to feel the immediate benefits of trading away two roster players.

None of the three players are a part of the Draft this year, but things could definitely change. There are still a few weeks for these players to adjust, so keep an eye for the second Waiver Draft.

On the Sheet, Chimera is a member of Box 8, Clark is a member of Box 24 and Jurcina is a member of Box 27. Out of the three players, Clark was taken once in the pool, so there is a bit of an impact on this trade, but not much.