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(photo by Scott Audette)

After an extended offseason, the Washington Capitals finally returned to action and, much like the 2013 season in general, things didn’t really go according to plan.

The Caps traveled to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning and the game remained competitive for the first two periods. But the Lightning got better as the game went on, while the Capitals struggled to match the play of their divisional rival and dropped the season opener in disappointing fashion, 6-3.

The game was tied heading into the third and final period, but Tampa scored three times in the final frame – twice on the powerplay – to ensure Caps goalie Braden Holtby and friends left town disappointed.

After the game, Lightning coach Guy Boucher said something that really drove home some of my biggest fears heading into this abbreviated season.

“I really believe in game shape and chemistry … we focused so much on it,” he said. “You could feel it at the end of the second period. I really believe that was the difference.”

While Boucher’s comments were intended to focus only on his team, they say an awful lot about the state of the current Capitals as well.

In my season preview, I cautioned Caps fans to lower their expectations for this strike-shortened season.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

I’ve got to admit, I didn’t think this season was actually going to happen for the Washington Capitals.

During much of the lockout it simply appeared there were too many egos and ulterior motives in place to allow hockey’s owners and players to come to any sort of agreement in time to salvage the season.

Owners seemed unwilling to budge on their demands while many of the players were getting their hockey fix elsewhere, so at some point along the way I made peace with the idea that it was going to be a while before the powers that be from my favorite sport would get their collective act together.

At the last possible minute, the owners and the players reached a deal and now the race for the Stanley Cup will be an abbreviated one. Sure, life would be much better if these intense battles actually took place on the ice rather than in some stuffy office building during negotiations, but I can’t help but be grateful that there’s going to be an NHL season at all in 2013.

Hockey has always been my favorite sport, so even though the commissioner and more than a few of the owners did everything they could to ruin a good thing, I’m foolish enough to come running back into their money grabbing hands because I love the sport too much to stay away for any length of time.

And yet, if I’m being completely honest, part of me is dreading the ’13 season — especially when it comes to the Capitals. That’s because I can’t help but worry how this team will fare after learning a brand-new system from a first-time coach without the benefit of a full offseason.

As a player, Adam Oates stood out every time he took the ice throughout his 19-year career. He was an unselfish passer who thrived with the puck in his possession and made his teammates better simply by having them on the ice during one of his shifts.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows when it comes to the Washington Capitals, my favorite player of all time is defenseman Al Iafrate.

Everything about the guy — from his blistering slapshot to his gloriously balding mullet  — made him almost too good to be true. While he played less than four full seasons in Washington, Iafrate remains a fan favorite with the locals all these years later because of just how uniquely gifted he was.

Needless to say, when I heard that his son, defenseman Max Iafrate, was invited to the Caps Development Camp it was only a matter of time before I tracked the kid down to chat with him. Having interviewed his father a few years ago after a Caps Convention, I was interested to learn more about the next generation of Iafrate.

After spending some time with the kid, I walked away impressed with his quiet confidence. He’s young and has a ways to go before we’ll know for sure whether or not he’s an NHL player, but after chatting with him, it’s tough not to want to pull for the guy.

During his time with the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League, the junior Iafrate has been known as a stay-at-home defenseman. While he doesn’t have a problem with his role on the squad, he was eager to show people there’s more to his game during his time at Caps Development Camp.

“That’s what they asked me to do,” he said. “You’ve got Ryan Murphy [the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft] in front of you and the guy puts up 70 points a year, so that was my job. Even if he doesn’t makes the jump to the NHL this year, I think I’ll have an increased offensive role.”

Caps fans who attended the team’s development camp got a glimpse of how many different ways you’re able to contribute. Not only did you drop the gloves twice, but you also showed some offensive flair by jumping up into the play and assisting on Red Team forward Gregory Miller’s overtime winner in a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the White Team during the final scrimmage of camp.

“Yeah, I’m more confident in my skating and stick handling than maybe I’ve been in the past,” said Iafrate, who is listed at 6-foot tall and 220 lbs. “I’ve been working on getting in better shape because I think the better your conditioning, the more enhanced your skills are. It’s definitely more fun out there when you’re making plays because you’re moving your feet.”

What do you take away from an experience like this?

“It helps get you in really good hockey shape. I learned a lot of new stuff in the weight room and I earned an invite back to the rookie camp if there’s no lockout,” Iafrate said. “So hopefully there’s no lockout and hopefully I can learn even more from there.”

What was it like working with coach Adam Oates?

“We talked a lot,” he said. “If they’re not talking to you, then they don’t really care about you, so it was good. He wants me to switch my curve to Mike Green’s stick. That’s never a bad thing when they want you to use the stick of one of the best offensive defensemen out there.”

When I talked to Iafrate at the conclusion of development camp, he was clearly in a good mood. Between getting invaluable time with an NHL club and doing well enough to earn another trip back to Washington, he was pretty content with everything. The experience had to be even more gratifying considering he was one of the highest-rated prospects in the 2012 NHL Draft who failed to hear his name called.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

For the second year in a row, the Washington Capitals made their biggest splash of the offseason by trading away a draft pick for a veteran player.

Last season, the Caps sent their first-round pick to Chicago for forward Troy Brouwer, who picked up 18 goals and 15 assists for 33 points in his first season in Washington.

This time around, Washington finally landed a true second-line center that the team has lacked — acquiring 32-year-old Mike Ribeiro from the Dallas Stars for undersized forward Cody Eakin and a second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

While shipping off high draft picks in consecutive seasons for established players could be viewed as risky business, these moves show that general manager George McPhee clearly feels his team needs to win sooner rather than later. He’d never admit it publicly, but waiting two or three years for the next wave of talent to crack an NHL roster doesn’t appear to be a luxury GMGM can afford these days.

“We wanted to add a little bit of skill to our lineup,” McPhee said. “I just didn’t like the way we played in the playoffs. We’ve got some big gritty forwards and we just wanted to put another skilled guy in the middle of it to see if it helps. I think it makes our team immediately better.”

Which is why McPhee had no issue pulling the trigger on a deal to acquire a playmaking center with the abilities of Ribeiro. GMGM admitted after the deal was complete that Ribeiro was someone he had targeted for a while and was someone he hoped to pry away from Dallas back at last season’s trade deadline.

“I had been after this player for a while, so we got it done,” he said. “We gave up a real good kid in Cody. He’s going to play a real long time in this league, but Ribeiro will come in and play much higher in the lineup right away.”

Price tag aside, the Capitals were able to add a 12-year-veteran who picked up 407 points in 461 games with the Stars and, just as importantly, has thrived as a first- or second-line center throughout his entire career.

“As you saw last year when Nicky [Backstrom] went down [with an injury], we got thin there,” McPhee said. “Thankfully, Brooks Laich stepped in and played really well and Matty Perreault stepped in and scored 16 goals for us. I just wanted more depth at that position because it’s nice to have a couple of top playmakers there in Backstrom and Ribeiro.”

Over the weekend, Caps fans and the local media got their first chance to meet Ribeiro during the team’s development camp at Kettler Iceplex. During his first media session, Ribeiro said the trade didn’t really come as a surprise.

“I actually kind of knew I was probably going to get traded, I just didn’t know where,” Ribeiro said. “We changed coaches twice and we didn’t make the playoffs the last four years so you figure that the next thing they may do is trade the top salary or the top player, so I was waiting for it and just didn’t know where I was going.”

Once the deal was finalized, Ribeiro said he was excited to land with the Capitals. And while it might take a little time to adjust to playing on a new team with a first-time coach and unfamiliar players, Ribeiro had little trouble envisioning himself in Washington.

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(photo by Clyde Caplan)

The Washington Capitals inked defenseman Mike Green to a three-year, $18.25 million contract extension, the team announced Monday afternoon.

The signing comes just 24 hours after Green declined the team’s qualifying offer of a one-year contract worth a reported $5 million, and signifies a commitment to an oft-injured player who was once hailed as a building block for the rebuilding franchise.

“We are pleased to re-sign Mike Green to a new contract,” said McPhee. “Mike is one of the best young defensemen in the National Hockey League and is just entering his prime. He will continue to be a key part of our team moving forward.”

Via the press release sent out by the team:

The Calgary, Alberta, native has collected 251 points (82 goals, 169 assists) and a plus-62 rating in 398 career NHL games, all with Washington. He is one of just two active defensemen (Erik Karlsson) in the league to have registered a 70-point season and is the only active defenseman to have recorded two seasons of 70 points or more. Since the 2007-08 season, Green ranks fourth among NHL blueliners in points (236), second in goals (79) and his 0.77 points per game lead the league.

The 6’1”, 207-pound defenseman is a two-time member of the NHL First All-Star Team and is a two-time Norris Trophy runner up. He was named to his first NHL All-Star Game in 2010-11 and was a finalist in back-to-back years (2010 and 2011) for the NHL Foundation Player Award, which is given to the player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community.

Green currently ranks seventh all-time in points by a Capitals defenseman and sixth in goals. His six overtime goals rank second all-time in Capitals history behind only Alex Ovechkin (12) and his plus-62 rating ranks tied for 12th. He is one of only three Capitals blueliners to have recorded 70 or more points in a single season (Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher and Scott Stevens) and one of just two defensemen to have scored 30 or more goals in a single campaign (Hatcher).

Look, even Green’s most vocal critics have no issue admitting he’s been one of the league’s most productive offensive defensemen. Anytime he steps onto the ice — especially on the powerplay and/or in overtime — Green is capable of putting the puck in the net.

But Green is a polarizing player because a.) critics view him more as a forward lining up as a defenseman that a capable and dependable blue liner and 2.) over the years he’s had more and more trouble staying in the lineup on a consistent basis.

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