OK ... before people totally lose their minds over the Carlson contract - breath, pump the breaks and think for a minute. First off, Carlson has been pretty consistent in getting better for the Caps. He's not a goon but he is good, if not damn good, in about all aspects of the game. And lastly, look at the market. He just finished a season that had him lead the entire league in points - both regular season and playoffs. And while not great comparisons (b/c they all play different games) he will be making less and a 200K more than Hedman or a million more than Doughty's old contract (and if you don't think Doughty will make more than 8 million on his next contract, you're fooling yourself). The duration is merely a "you're ours until you retire or we sell you like we did Orpik". Would I have like 7mil/6yrs ... of course, but that's just not reality. And with this contract, we only had to dip into the budget for one million ... leaving a good deal for the rest of the guys we need/want to resign and maybe a solid UFA.
