Good return for him. Novotny is another high-risk guy. Lots of skill, questions about his effort and potential development. The low 1st rounder is nice, hopefully it can be packaged with some of those other picks during the offseason.
It's sad to see Zubie go, I'm a big fan. He should be able to help the Sabres during the post-season. Hopefully the Caps can bring him back as a UFA during the offseason.
Another trade is upcoming for the Caps, I believe, there were a bunch submitted for approval right at the finish line.
This offseason will be most crucial. I will not be satisfied with just simply drafting players, trading picks for picks to draft players, etc. I want the team to be involved in some major deals. We have needs, and you're not going to convince a lot of fans to buy tickets if you're going into next season with basically the same team again.