After an impressive trade deadline day, the Washington Capitals are ready to contend again.
The Washington Capitals have gone from Stanley Cup favourites to probative disappointments to Cup favourites once again.
The Caps, who have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league this season, made three significant moves at the trade deadline in an effort to take a run at the Eastern Conference championship.
It wasn't the most thrilling deadline day in recent memory, thanks to the number of significant deals that were made throughout the week prior to Feb. 28. Still, the day had its moments.
Washington got things rolling when they claimed veteran winger Marco Sturm off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. Early on deadline day, the Caps made their splash by acquiring defenceman Dennis Wideman from the Florida Panthers for Jake Hauswirth and a third round draft choice in 2011.
The team later stole the show when they acquired centre Jason Arnott from New Jersey for David Steckel and a second round draft choice. Arnott was getting nervous as the deadline approached, but told sportsnet.ca that he was thrilled to be going to Washington. Wideman should help the Capitals sputtering power play, which is 25th in the league. In 61 games with Florida, the defenceman had eight power play goals.
The Arnott deal came down at the last minute, mainly because Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello was hesitant to move the big centre with his club making a miraculous playoff push. New Jersey is 13th in the Eastern Conference but the team is only nine points out of a playoff spot. Now, the Devils may be hard pressed to keep up the pace without Arnott.
The Capitals, meanwhile, are fifth in the East and have not remotely looked like a championship contender. They keep insisting they are working to become a better defensive team, but the transition has come at the expense of the team's dynamic offence. Even Alex Ovechkin has not been the player we've been accustomed to seeing in the past. Ovechkin has just five power-play goals this season.
Sturm, Wideman and Anott should help jumpstart the Capitals in their attempt to take on the powerhouse Philadelphia Flyers, not to mention the Tampa Bay Lightning, the revamped Boston Bruins and the injured, but still talented Pittsburgh Penguins.
While Washington was in add mode, the Florida Panthers blew things up. Over the past week, the Panthers got rid of Wideman, Bryan McCabe, Cory Stillman, Chris Higgins, Bryan Allen and Radek Dvorak. General manager Dale Tallon resisted the temptation to trade centre Stephen Weiss, but has a massive rebuilding job ahead of him.
The one trade rumour that hung around all day, but eventually fizzled out, was centre Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars going to the New York Rangers. At the end of the day Richards got his wish and remained in Dallas. It will be interesting to see if the Stars can re-sign him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, also retooling after a horrible first half, made some great moves to give their long-suffering fans hope for the future. Brian Burke moved veterans Francois Beachemin, Tomas Kaberle and Kris Versteeg and received a couple of first round picks, good prospects in Jake Gardiner and Joe Colborne as well as veteran winger Joffrey Lupul. All in all, Burke had an excellent trade deadline week.
