Auf gefrorenem Blog

Mike Grün hat und empfangene Minuten top-4, viel zur Freude der Mannschaft und seine Ventilatoren erworben. Shaone Morrisonn, known for his steady play, has battled strange periods of inconsistency, especially recently. Thus far Brian Pothier has been worth his contract and his assigned playing time, and being paired with John Erskine has settled Steve Eminger down. Erskine has shown that with controlled ice-time he can be a moderately effective defensive presence, though speedy forwards going to the outside can cause problems.

The Caps’ other two options at defense, Jamie Heward and Bryan Muir, have had up-and-down seasons to this point. Both will be UFAs at the end of the season Ć¢ā‚¬ā€ whether or not they will be in the Caps’ plans past this season is a pertinent question.

Of more immediate concern is the sixth defensive spot, however. With a top pairing of Morrisonn and Pothier, and a third pairing of Eminger and Erskine, a solid, mobile defensive presence to pair with Green would go a long way to addressing the defense.

That said, the problem is that those kinda guys don’t grow on trees, and they cost assets (money, prospects, picks, players) to acquire. GMGM said that in every trade he made during the fire sale, he tried to get a defenseman back, and in the end could only pry Shaone Morrisonn away from Boston Ć¢ā‚¬ā€ a move the B’s probably wish they could undo. There may just not be a viable alternative out there that the Caps deem affordable in terms of what it would take to acquire him.

The Caps are where many predicted right now: gamely battling for the eighth spot in the East, and improved overall. The level of improvement hasn’t been dramatic, but it has been noticeable, though the team still lives and dies by its goaltending. A step in the right direction, to be sure, but there is still a ways to go.