Morrow Washington Bound in Blockbuster Deal

Capitals land Morrow!

Washington Post- (10-26-08) - Washignton Capital General Manager Ken Sviland was not pleased with the effort made throughout the summer in landing a Top 6, maybe even a top line forward; so Sviland pulled the trigger for a game breaking forward, Brenden Morrow. "We talked to Vancouver, made three seperate offers and stood back. He choose Letang and Ryan Kesler and we were OK with it. Brenden is a game breaker. He's a leader to any club and brings a huge amount of toughness" Sviland said. Brenden Morrow is leading the team in points so to speak, but being pushed heavily by fellow co-captain Mike Richards.

With expectations high this year, the lack of a second starting goaltender, a 6th defenseman better then Adam Pardy, who has only seen one game; hurts. "Our expectations are not extremely high, but with players playing beyond their potential right now, anything is possible. Capitals are currently fighting at 6th place, two points shy of tying for 5th place. Yet, Washington might not be done yet. "We have held more talks with other teams on big players. If the right deal comes along, we will offer away a few assets and gain a strong addition to make a strong, yet logical push for a playoff slot. We feel we are fine right now, but after another months or two, we will re-evaluate if we start slipping away and push hard for a player to fill not only a spot this year, but a spot for many years after."

Dont be suprised if you see another Brenden Morrow deal on the horizon. Things are looking up in Washington.

New season underway

Washington Post - October 10, 2008:

Game on! Washington is getting ready for yet another improving season to show the world they mean business. The Capitals a year ago was uncertain of their future or how things would go. Fifteen months ago they just had the first overall pick and selected Patrick Kane; unaware that a year later he could be souted as their top offensive player surrounded by captains Mike Richards and Dustin Brown.

"We have high hopes this year but they are all managable. We were 16th last year and we did not make any huge improvements in the offseason so we are just going with big depth, and a healthy roster this year. We want to be at least 15th this year or lower. We want to improve upon our point total last year as well" Said Sviland. Washington has been in talks for some time and getting a few calls, but nothing has really intrigued enough to pull the trigger. "We have had a little interest in a few kids, but we are not looking at those type of deals the other managers want. We are not going to do whats in the best interest for THEIR team; only ours." When asked about the other plans in terms of adding stronger talent as the rumors have been flying around, Sviland was open to discuss. "We have told the league we are looking for a 4th forward who will challenge for first line spot with Mikey, Dustin and Patty. We want someone who will push them to be better players as well as doing their own job. We will get our player, we always do."

With the plethora of talent in this system, its obvious they have room to deal. Adam Pardy, Lukas Kaspar, Oscar Moller, Michael Frolik were all added to the opening night rosters. Pardy failed to play in the first game and is seen more as a 7th defenseman for the time being. On the other hand, Kaspar in his first game of the season recieved 4 UFHL points. Moller might only be up for 10 games and no one really knows what to expect from offensively skilled star in the making Michael Frolik. "Having Oscar make it only a year after being drafted speaks for itself. He worked hard and just having him in the line up shows we did our job last year for the fans. We almsot had all three top 3 picks from last year's draft make it (Aliu was close) so we are pleased with our drafting progress. As for Michael, he is probably after Patrick Kane the most offensive skilled player in our system. He could be anything from your average up and down inconsistant top 6 forward or your sky-rocketing offensive dynamo who just gets bored because he is so good. We feel that is the reason why he did not blow away the competition in the QMJHL last year; he was bored."

With the season under way, the goals for this year at 15th or better as well as over 8200 points.