Capitals Insider

The Caps just announced the schedule for development camp (a.k.a. your mid July hockey fix.)

Here are the details:

Mike Green has received an invitation to Canada's National Team orientation camp, making him one of 16 defensemen battling for a spot on Canada's Olympic team that will compete next year in Vancouver.

Whether Green secures one of those coveted spots, though, is far from certain. Green is coming off one of the best points producing seasons for a defenseman in more than a decade. But there are question marks surrounding his game after his struggles in the playoffs, caused, in part, by a bum shoulder that's still bothering him.

Wrong colors, buddy. (Getty Images)

The Caps made a solid offseason acquisition yesterday, signing gritty veteran winger Mike Knuble to a two-year, $5.6 million deal. Knuble, who can play on both the power play and the penalty kill, has scored at least 21 goals in each of his last six seasons.

"We just felt we needed someone else, a player on [the top] line in particular with [Alex] Ovechkin and [Nicklas] Backstrom, that will go to the net," General Manager George McPhee said. "Mike's made his living there. He was the right guy for us, and we got what we felt was the right deal for him. We replaced a 13-goal scorer [Viktor Kozlov] with a 27-goal scorer, and the team is better as a result."

As expected, 37-year-old enforcer Donald Brashear did not re-sign with Washington. In need of a heavyweight, the New York Rangers picked up tough-guy Brashear for two years at $1.4 million per season to replace Colton Orr, who left for a four-year deal with the Leafs.

From the New York Post:

"I think Brashear gives us a couple of other qualities," [GM Glen] Sather said. "He's quicker, he can get in on the puck a little faster.

"Under our style, I think he'll be more effective for us."

Brashear, of course, is the fellow who delivered a blindside blow to Blair Betts' head in Game 6 of the playoffs, concussing the center while breaking his orbital bone, violence for which he was suspended five games. Now Brashear will walk into the room Betts as vacated as a free agent.

"I think our players will be excited to have him in the room," Sather said. "They know he's The Man."

More on Knuble and the Caps:

Here's an early look at Tarik's story for tomorrow's paper:

The Washington Capitals acquired precisely the type of player they've lacked in recent seasons, signing rugged veteran Mike Knuble to a two-year contract in the opening hours of free agency.

Knuble, who spent the past four seasons playing for the rival Philadelphia Flyers, is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound winger who muscles his way to the net, sets up there, then uses his deft touch to slip rebounds past the goaltender. He has scored at least 21 goals in each of the past seven seasons, including reaching the 30-goal plateau twice, and is also considered a locker room leader.

"We just felt we needed someone else, a player on [the top] line in particular with [Alex] Ovechkin and [Nicklas] Backstrom that will go to the net," General Manager George McPhee said. "Mike's made his living there. He was the right guy for us and we got what we felt what was the right deal for him. We replaced a 13-goal scorer [Viktor Kozlov] with 27-goal scorer, and the team is better as a result."

Knuble, who turns 37 on Saturday, will earn $2.8 per season, the same amount he earned last season in Philadelphia.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Given the Caps' signing of Mike Knuble earlier today and their proximity to the salary cap ceiling, it sounds like the team may be done signing free agents.

Asked if that were indeed the case, GM George McPhee said moments ago: "Probably. I said yesterday that we're probably not going to do a lot in free agency unless there was something there that made sense. We did it."

But that doesn't mean McPhee won't be working to improve the team (by adding a second line center or veteran defenseman) via a trade.

"We'll spend the next couple of months talking to clubs and seeing what other things can be done out there," he said. "If there are other things to do, we'll do them."

I've just been informed that the paperwork is complete and that Mike Knuble is officially a Washington Capital. GM George McPhee is set to speak to reporters around 4 p.m. and I'm also hoping to hear from Knuble himself. So check back later for everyone's thoughts on the move.

My initial reaction is that Knuble, who turns 37 on Saturday, is exactly the player the Caps needed to land. They've got enough fancy passers and guys with pretty shots. Knuble is a big, gritty, reliable winger who will park himself in front of the net and bang in some of the rebounds off those pretty shots.

It also seems to be a reasonable deal, considering he made $2.8 million last season in Philly.

The Caps have acquired the net presence they've lacked in recent seasons, signing veteran winger Mike Knuble to a two-year deal, according to various reports. Those reports are that the 36-year-old former Flyer will get $2.8 million per.

Knuble skated in 82 games in three of the past four seasons, posting 27 goals last season.

Waiting on confirmation from the Caps.

Various reports also suggest that enforcer Donald Brashear has signed with the Rangers, who, of course, were calling for the tough guy to be suspended for his hit on Blair Betts on two months ago. Brashear will replace Colton Orr, who signed with Toronto earlier in the day.

I'll have more on the Knuble signing soon.

Barring a trade (or two) to clear space under the salary cap, the Caps don't figure to be big players when the free agent market opens at noon tomorrow.

It's just math, really.

When you add up all the salaries of the players under contract (Ovechkin, Nylander, Semin, Clark, Backstrom, Laich, Bradley, Fleischmann, Steckel, Green, Poti, Pothier, Alzner, Erskine, Theodore and Varlamov), then add up the salaries of the restricted free agents (Fehr, Gordon, Morrisonn, Jurcina and Schultz), and factor in the Clymer buyout, that leaves the Caps with 11 forwards, eight defenseman, two goaltenders and roughly $3 million under the salary cap ceiling of $56.8 million.

That doesn't mean the Caps won't be active tomorrow. It just means they probably won't be in the hunt for any of the big names, a sentiment echoed by GM George McPhee this afternoon.

"Don't expect us to do big money deals or long-term deals," McPhee said. "Those just haven't worked around the league. For the last several years, there have been lots of players that have signed big money deals and you'd be hard pressed to find a handful that were any good. It seems that six months after those deals are signed, GMs are trying to move that same guy."

"So we're going to be prudent tomorrow and see if there's anything makes sense for our club. If there is, we'll be involved and try to sign somebody. But if doesn't make sense, we're not going to do anything right now. No deal is better than a bad deal."

"If it's the right player at the right money, we'll be interested," he added. "But it's not going to be big money. The teams that have done that regret it. Don't be surprised if we sit this one out."

Here are some other highlights from the interview:

As promised, here's a video of Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau hitting the links at Congressional Country Club a few weeks ago. Check it out:

And here's Dan Steinberg's story -- which will appear in Thursday's special AT&T National section -- on the highly entertaining outing:

By Tracy A. Woodward - TWP

As part of a preview for the upcoming AT&T National, we followed Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau around Congressional Country Club as he, son Ben and club pro John Lyberger played a round of golf. Dan Steinberg's story and an accompanying video will be online soon, but in the meantime, here's a preview from the D.C. Sports Bog:

"That's as far as I can hit it," Boudreau said, after unloading on a ball.

"That's your long drive?" Ben asked, with a smirk.

"Yeah, that's my long drive," Boudreau confirmed. "I knew you were gonna say that, whippersnapper."

Ben teed off. At about a 65 degree angle to the right.

"Good drive!" Boudreau said to his son. "If you don't mind being behind some trees."

("He starts to talk trash, I'm coming back at him," the coach explained.)

Read the whole thing here, and check back later for much more. (Hey, it's the offseason -- gotta get some golf in.)