[Dirtbag59]

Capitals' will sign a center
12:05
PM ET
Washington Capitals Top Email

The Washington Capitals have their top-line center role taken care of, as they signed Nicklas Backstrom to a 10-year extension recently. But they'll likely look to fill the second-line center role this offseason in free agency.

The top centers on the market are Patrick Marleau and Tomas Plekanec, but it's very unlikely the Caps go after those guys. As CSN's Corey Masisak writes, the best fit might be Matthew Lombardi, who "has the wheels to keep up with Laich and Semin."

Another option is New York Rangers' vet Vaclav Prospal, but it's tough to project how much money he'll demands because he made just $1.1 million with the Rangers this season after being bought out by the Lightning while he was on a $3.5 million year. So he'll command more than that $1.1 million, but Masisak writes ,"how much will determine if Washington could become a possible destination."

The last option is retaining either Brendan Morrison or Eric Belanger, but the Caps do want to upgrade from those two. So this may be their last option.

A lot of this will come down to money, because there's buzz that the Caps will sign defenseman Anton Volchenkov on July 1 for about $5 million a year. That would significantly cut down on their center options.