Boyd Devereaux, C, 27 Extremely speedy role player. Forechecks well and can chip in the odd goal. Not a big game player but could be strong alongside clark
2005-06 78 8 14 22 -13 44

Jeff Hamilton, C, 28-smaller player, with a nose for the net..given real minutes he could surprise. his size is an Issue.
2005-06 13 2 6 8 0

Yanic Perreault, C, 35-Yet another small Player that can be overmatched easily in the corners. But he is a top Face off man(something the caps have missed since 2000)and when on top of his game is a top flight set up man. Older and likely could be had for cheap.
2005-06 69 22 35 57 -3 30

Jan Hrdina, C, 30 a few years back he was a 40-50 point guy. Times have changed. and has been hard pressed to score more than 30 points. he's better suited to be a depth centermen at this stage of his career. Could add a little relief to A.O. line and also could be had for cheap.
2005-06 75 10 23 33 -8

anyway Im sure there are other players out there but just a few I thought might be able to help out the caps.

Unless, improbably, the Devils lose arbitration on Gomez, sign him and trade him to the Caps, and we're willing to take on that salary. But I'm going to stop thinking about that

Getting somebody to center the third and fourth line would basically be admitting that our checking centers are ready/worth a darn. We clearly want to have enough money stored in the cap so that we can easily resign the players we want to keep.

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Everybody Wang Chung......

Please load brain before shooting off mouth.™

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What we need is a top line center. The team believes Backstrom is that guy, but he won't be here until next year at the earliest. So what do we do? If we go out and get a top line center, he has to have no longer than a two year contract, one would be the most preferable because would make him more attractive on the trade market at the deadline.

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That makes sense, should we be confident that 07-08's Caps down the middle will be, lines 1-4, Backstrom, Zubrus, Sutherby, Laich. Is that sufficient for a contending team?

Zubrus has always seemed more suited to a right wing position to me, Suts I think has established himself as a good checking line center, and Backstrom is still the great ? with tremendous upside.

I think we still need a center for the 1st or 2nd line (wherever Backstrom falls) who can skate hard, make tape to tape passes, have a good quick wrister, and win oh, say, 55% of the draws. And I don't think he's in our system anywhere.

Zubrus has always seemed more suited to a right wing position to me, Suts I think has established himself as a good checking line center, and Backstrom is still the great ? with tremendous upside.

I think we still need a center for the 1st or 2nd line (wherever Backstrom falls) who can skate hard, make tape to tape passes, have a good quick wrister, and win oh, say, 55% of the draws. And I don't think he's in our system anywhere.

Agreed, that's where the Caps have flexibility. Zubrus is a perfectly good center, but he likely won't be an All-Star at that position. He could at wing. If the Caps have the opportunity to get a top 2 line center somehow in the next year or so, they'll have the flexibility to move Zubie over to make room, and no one will be annoyed.

Let's Go Caps!
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