Washington Capitals Exceed Cap in Karl Alzner Deal

According to Capitals.com, the Washington Capitals have re-signed defenseman Karl Alzner to a two-year contract, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

The deal is good news for Caps fans as Alzner was the only remaining restricted free agent to be signed from last year's roster. Alzner, who is just 22 years old, will make $1.3 million in 2011-12 and $1.27 million the following year.

Following his new deal, Alzner will remain a restricted free agent deal but will have obtained arbitration rights under the current collective bargaining agreement.

However, the current CBA is set to expire following next season, and the NHL could become the third major sports league in less than a year to experience labor strife.

The Caps seemed to be in a salary cap bind after signing Jeff Halpern, Joel Ward, Roman Hamrlik, and goaltender Tomas Vokoun during the first two days of NHL free agency.

The Caps were left with just $400,000 under next year’s salary cap of $64.3 million to re-sign Troy Brouwer, who they obtained by trading their first-round draft pick during this year's NHL's draft, and Alzner.

Despite the financial stress of the salary Cap, Washington GM George McPhee re-signed Troy Brouwer last week to a two-year contract worth $2.35 million per season. At the time, the deal pushed Washington over the cap number by a little more than $1.8 million for next season. 

Two days later, McPhee recouped his salary cap space by trading Eric Fehr, a first-round draft pick in 2003, to the Winnipeg Jets. By trading Fehr, the Capitals freed up $2.2 million in salary for next season.

The deal also allowed Washington a little breathing room to complete the Alzner deal, as the Caps were now $400,000 back under the cap.

With Alzner's new deal and according to Capgeek.com, the Caps are back over next year’s salary cap maximum of $64.3 million by exactly $890,128.

According to NHL rules governing the salary cap, teams are allowed to exceed the ceiling by 10 percent during the offseason but must be cap compliant by Sept. 1.

The Caps are expected to place defenseman Tom Poti on the long-term injured list to start the season. Poti continues to suffer with problems from his groin and by doing so, the Caps would free up $2.85 million and ultimately allow Washington to start the season under the salary cap ceiling.

Under the long-term injury rule, a player is eligible when he is expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days due to an injury and therefore can be listed as a long-term injury (LTI).

Replacement players can cover any LTI, as long as the replacement salaries do not exceed the salary of the injured player. 

Washington drafted Alzner in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry draft and last season, his first full season in the NHL, he played in all 82 games with the Capitals.

Alzner scored two goals, chipped in with 10 assists and was a plus-14. His 132 blocked shots were third on the team.

Alzner is a very promising young blue-liner for head coach Bruce Boudreau with an impressive junior and minor league resume.

The 6’3”, 206-pound native of Burnaby, British Columbia recorded 117 points (19 goals, 98 assists) in 260 games with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League from 2004-2008 and was named the WHL Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year in 2007-08.

From 2008 through 2010, Alzner appeared in 103 AHL games with the Caps top minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears. He scored seven goals with 34 assists and was a plus-57 while helping lead the team to the 2010 Calder Cup championship. 

“We are pleased to have re-signed Karl Alzner to a two-year contract,” said Caps GM George McPhee. “We feel he’s an important part of our defensive core who logs critical minutes against other teams’ top players.”

The Capitals announced on Wednesday that they also signed center Mathieu Perreault to a one-year, two-way deal. Perreault, 23, played a career-high 35 NHL games with the Capitals during the 2010-11 regular season, recording seven goals and seven assists.