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Just like any hard core hockey fan I love nothing more than to play the role of general manager. At least when I'm not too busy playing the role of the coach or the owner.
With the NHL free agent market opening on July 1st here's whom I would ideally try to get into a Capitals jersey in order of my preference within a position.
With right wing Viktor Kozlov and center Sergei Fedorov leaving for the luscious green pastures of the KHL retirement community (also a reported destination of the much maligned and sparingly used center Michael Nylander) the Capitals main replacement needs are a first line right winger and a second line center.
Center
Henrik Sedin
By far the best center available.
Mike Cammalleri
By far the second best center available. Just one short of a 40-goal season with Calgary this past season makes him an extremely rare commodity. A bona fide goal scoring center.
Nik Antropov
A rare combination of size and skill, I believe, Antropov has more to give that what we have seen from him so far. I predicted that he'd be a good rental signing for the Rangers at the end of this past season and he did not disappoint.
Reportedly Nik wants a lot of money. If I were to paraphrase the Rangers GM Glenn Sather he asked his agent to come down from the clouds a bit after receiving his first contract extension proposal.
Saku Koivu
Saku is getting a bit long in the tooth and has been injury prone in recent years, but he is the best center out there if the Capitals are unable to sign the top three on this list.
At 34 he can still be very effective as a second line center, which is what the Capitals need with the departure of Sergei Fedorov and Michael Nylander seemingly not figuring in the team's plans.
Stephane Yelle, Michael Zigomanis
The last two on the centers list are players of limited value and are not really someone I would consider candidates for a second line center, but are excellent on face-offs, good checkers and can be had for a bowl of soup in comparison to the ones I listed above them.
Right Wing
Marian Gaborik
While injury prone Gaborik is still one of the most dynamic forwards in the NHL at any position as he proved once again when he rushed his comeback from injury to try and get the scoring challenged Minnesota Wild into the playoffs this past season.
Despite being at only about 85% (according to himself) he absolutely tore it up for 23 points in just 17 games, including 13 goals. If that is what Gaborik can do playing for the Wild imagine what numbers he can put up as a first line right wing alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
He might come with a bit of a discount considering his history of injuries even though this discount will be akin to the discounts you might see at a Hugo Boss store.
Marian Hossa
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