Morrison

Upon seeing that the Capitals had “signed Morrison for 1.5 million dollars,” this hockey fan was delighted that Washington had locked up their reliable stay-at-home defenseman for another year. That move would take some of the pressure off the team for fellow blue-liner Milan Jurcina’s pending arbitration hearing. Still, I was surprised that as reliable a source as USA Today had left the second “n” off the end of Shaone Morrisonn’s last name.

Great news: it wasn’t a typo! The Caps now pose a difficult spelling test for their fans: they’ve signed center Brendan Morrison to a one-year contract. Morrison — with one “n” — wasn’t really on anybody’s radar as a second-line center for the Caps, but he’s played just that role throughout most of his career, and there’s a good chance he’ll overtake Michael Nylander and Brooks Laich to play it again in Washington next season.

The Caps have done well in free agency already, replacing Viktor Kozlov with the meaner, equally consistent Mike Knuble. That move was the consensus first priority all over the team’s message board, even before the Philadelphia Flyers traded for Chris Pronger, messing up Philly’s salary-cap structure and leaving Knuble available.

Since then, the hockey world has been scratching its head as to how Washington will ice a competitive second line this year. We expected call-ups from Hershey would play a big role. Some fans have even been desperate enough to suggest trading superstar left wing Alexander Semin to bring back any two or three talented players to fill out the lineup. Hopefully, with a credible — if slightly over the hill — second line center here, that noise can stop.