Washington Capitals: 2010 post-season transactions

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Caps could chase top-six center
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The Washington Capitals may look for a second-line center in free agency, but there's also a possibility GM George McPhee fills this hole in-house.

He tells the Washington Post that there are youngsters who are ready to take on big NHL roles: "We think we have centers that are ready to go. There's Mathieu Perreault who's fairly close, if not ready to go. We like what we've seen from [Marcus] Johansson. A year from now [first-round draft pick Evgeny] Kuznetsov might be ready to play. Cody Eakin might be ready to go in a year. So we want to be really careful not get drawn into any long-term deals at that position."

But none of those guys may be able to step into the pivot role alongside Alexander Semin, so the Post's Tarik El-Bashir thinks the Caps will try to bring in a veteran center who is willing to sign a short-term deal -- maybe Saku Koivu or Matt Cullen. But they don't have too much money to spend, and they're also looking at blueliners, so it's possible McPhee truly is prepared to go with an inexperienced player next to Semin.


Gare Joyce
Kutznetsov's ETA: 2011
"George McPhee is pretty emphatic that he can get Kuznetsov and that the Russian pivot needs only another season (almost certainly in the KHL) in development before skating into the Capitals' lineup."