Caps Briefing: Laich, Fedorov Returning
The Capitals have agreed to terms on a one year contract with former MVP Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov has won three Stanley Cups while playing center, wing and defense. He has also been voted the NHL's best defensive forward. He reportedly had many contract offers from teams throughout the NHL and Russia's new KHL, but he took a 33 percent paycut from last season to stay with the Caps for $4 million.
This could have something to do with Fedorov's newly formed friendships and great on-ice chemistry with Caps stars Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. Fedorov and the Alexes played together on the Caps' power play at the end of last season, after the Caps acquired Fedorov in a deadline trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The three contributed heavily as the Caps took the Flyers to seven games in the opening round of the playoffs, and maintained their chemistry as the top line on the Russian team at the World Championships of hockey.
Fedorov was one of the NHL's biggest tragedies a year ago, buried in obscurity on the Blue Jackets' third line. Today he is one of the league's brightest stories, as he brings limitless knowledge, leadership, offense, defense and tenacious competitiveness to help the Capitals emerge as one of the greatest teams of the very near future. More than that, if the Capitals are going to win the Stanley Cup this season, they'll probably have to face the Red Wings to do it. Fedorov played with and helped train most of the Red Wings' best players, and only he can teach the Caps to beat them.
Brooks Laich is a young player with a bright future ahead of him for the Capitals. He has played center in defensive roles throughout most of his time with the club. Last season he broke through as a wing on an offensive line. He quickly attracted widespread praise for creating traffic in front of his opponents' goal on the power play, deflecting shots past goalies and looking for rebounds on those that didn't get by. This strategy helped him rack up 20 points in the last 22 games of the regular season.
If Laich continues to play an offensive role, and keeps scoring close to a point per game, his three-year, $6 million contract will be one of the most affordable in the NHL. In addition, these deals leave the Capitals with as much as $2.5 million to sign restricted free agents Boyd Gordon, Eric Fehr and Shaone Morrisonn. That may not be as much as they'd like for those deals, but with Laich headed to arbitration and Fedorov receiving so many competitive bids, it could certainly have been much, much worse.