Honestly I am glad to see ovie sign for 1 year.  I agree 8.5 is low for him, but not sure what he discussed with the team so maybe he doesnt care.  I agree the Caps appeared to try and address several items they were missing so overall a pretty good off season.  Team could be exciting to watch. definitely improved our scoring possibilities with TUch and Kyrou, and i like the effort of the moves on D, addressing some issues there as well. 
looks like a better roster than what we had last year.  Thompson will be key for sure.
I love that they let TVR walk, and did NOT sign JC back to the squad.
We need PLD and big pro to be difference makers again.  would love to see Lil Pro just continue to improve and have success at the NHL level as well. 
Go Caps

   


Rich, with regard to IPro, I suspect the Caps secretly think they have a huge cornerstone player on their hands.  Think about his circumstances:  He was brought up from Hershey with 4 games left in the regular season, in a situation where the Caps needed to win out to have a chance at the playoffs - and was immediately inserted as the center between his brother and Wilson -- arguably the 2C position.  No moving PLD up and making IPro a lower line center.


IF you believe Strome, PLD, IPro, and Sourdif are the centers, the wings are Tuch, Kyrou, APro, Wilson, Ovie, Leonard, and Jenner as the top 7 of 8.  Alternatively, if you slot Jenner at center, Sourdif is moved to the wing.  That leaves Beauvillier, Frank, Miroshnichenko, and Cristall battling for the #8 wing in the top 20, plus one or two extras.  Last season the Caps went with 13 forwards and 8 d-men, but they could go 14/7 this season, especially until Sandin returns. 

Honestly I am glad to see ovie sign for 1 year.  I agree 8.5 is low for him, but not sure what he discussed with the team so maybe he doesnt care.  I agree the Caps appeared to try and address several items they were missing so overall a pretty good off season.  Team could be exciting to watch. definitely improved our scoring possibilities with TUch and Kyrou, and i like the effort of the moves on D, addressing some issues there as well. 
looks like a better roster than what we had last year.  Thompson will be key for sure.
I love that they let TVR walk, and did NOT sign JC back to the squad.
We need PLD and big pro to be difference makers again.  would love to see Lil Pro just continue to improve and have success at the NHL level as well. 
Go Caps

So, one year for $8.5M.

Also JC gets only 2 year deal at 8.5.  Again more than i would pay, but only two years and less than what was expected.  Wonder what Carolina offered him.  He must not have gotten any real great offers.

Carlson limiting his possibilities to the east coast is what that contract is, mostly. The rest is the inevitable march of time that he’s not prepared to accept.

To respond to Mick's and Rich's posts ......


I saw an article that mentioned that Descharnais was a good skater, but that may have been a Caps article gilding the lily.


He apparently plays a physical game, so he is what is wanted that way.  BUT the article said that his 18 minutes and change average TOI last season was the most average minutes he has played, so he wasn't playing absolutely top pairing minutes, to be sure.  The article also suggested that the Caps might see him as a natural partner/protector for Hutson, which makes some sense.  His average TOI per game on the PK last year was among the top defensemen in the league, so he is I guess seen as a mainstay in that department.


As for Jenner, his help will be in the clubhouse as well as on the ice, and specifically for face-offs - he has consistently been over 50% for the last decade.  THAT will be a help.  He feels like a bridge to if/when Suvanto is ready.   


Regardless of what you think of the quality of the Caps' acquisitions over the past few days, they clearly aimed to address the weak points in the team's performance last year.  None of this "hoping for regression to the mean," or anything like that.  Here's our weaknesses, and these guys (for other clubs) were good in those areas, so let's get them.  Maybe a couple of the guys were older than one might like, but you have to balance capability and availability for acquisition against optimum age when choosing who to acquire.