Caps fans can expect to see another familiar face back this season, as the team has decided to bring back Brett Leonhardt as a video coach. Formerly a web producer for the Caps, Leonhart left his position last February to work as a video editor for the NHL.

Photo Credit: ESPN

Leonhardt, known to fans as ‘Stretch’, was more than just a web producer for the team. During warm-ups at home games in Verizon Center, he would play the role of DJ to get the guys pumped and excited to play, as well as entertain the fans who arrived early. He also hosted a podcast for the team, Capitals Report, with Mike Vogel up until his departure. More than likely, though, fans will remember Leonhardt most for being the back-up goalie when Jose Theodore was hurt and Semyon Varlamov was on his way to Washington from Houston after a last second call-up. Leonhardt took part in warm-ups and backed up Brent Johnson until Varlamov arrived.

Leonhardt will be working with Caps assistant coach Blaine Forsythe who manages the video coaching responsibilities. Best of luck, Stretch! (Maybe you can throw a beat or two around, too, for old time’s sake?)

Follow Tara Colison on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/TaraC_RtR

Access Brett Leonhardt's playlists here:http://capitals.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=65109

Photo by Getty Images North America

With the acquisition of Mike Ribeiro in mid June, the Washington Capitals finally plugged a hole in their lineup that they have had since the summer of 2009 – a second prime center.

Ribeiro, 32, is a playmaking pivot who has spent the last six seasons of his career with the Dallas Stars – recording 50 or more points in each and every one of those seasons.  He is, without question, the type of player that Washington has lacked for the last three seasons, and he adds a new depth of scoring to a lineup that badly needed some skill following the presumed (at the time of his acquisition) and now actual departure of Alexander Semin via unrestricted free agency.

As always, the dog days of summer have left most with nothing left to ponder, as almost all free agents have been signed and almost all trades have been made.  And so, fans and media alike have begun to prognosticate – and many believe that Ribeiro belongs on the second line, and that Nicklas Backstrom should return to his post on the top line alongside Alex Ovechkin.

I don’t believe that to be the case, and the reason is simple: Ribeiro playing with Alex Ovechkin could, should, and likely will be better for both players and the entire team.

While in Dallas, Ribiero was a positive puck possession player in all but one year that such statistics have been recorded; that was this past season in which his corsi relative to his teammates was a disconcerting -4.4.  Every other year, however, Ribiero had a positive relative corsi (corsi rel), and those four years averaged to 6.73, an admirable number.  Of course, we all hope that last season was simply an anomaly - but I digress.

Two years in particular stand out when analyzing Ribeiro's numbers: 2007-08 and 2008-09.  Those two seasons, the Quebecois had an average corsi rel of 10.05, easily his best two years – and those came against the weakest relative competition that he faced in that five-year period (combined corsi rel average of -.306 compared to .711 in the other three years).  Not surprisingly, those two seasons also produced the two best point totals of his career: 83 and 78 points, respectively (for more in depth analysis on Ribeiro’s last five seasons from Japers Rink, click here).

So what does this tell us about Ribeiro, and how does that tie in to Ovechkin?

Find out what it means and more interesting facts by clicking here.

The Washington Capitals have announced goalie Sergey Kostenko has signed a contract with the Hershey Bears for the 2012-13 AHL season.  Kostenko, 19, was the Capitals' 7th round draft pick (203rd overall) last month and had an impressive showing at the second half of the Capitals' Summer Development Camp after arriving mid-week from Russia. 

It is unusual fo teenagers to play in the AHL because of the rules surrounding Canadian Major Junior players who are not eligible until age 20, but recent Capitals draft picks John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov both played in the AHL as teens.  This is likely the best thing for Kostenko's development, as Russia is not known for consistently producing technically sound goaltenders.  The last Capitals' Russian goalie draft pick, Semyon Varlamov, stayed in Russia for another year after the draft but hired a Finnish goalie coach to help his technical game. 

It is not clear what Kostenko's role will be with the Bears with Dany Sabourin returning to the team and Philipp Grubauer's expected promotion from the ECHL.  Based on past experience, it is quite likely Kostenko will open the season with the ECHL Reading Royals, which will give him plenty of playing time and give Capitals' goalie coach Olaf Kolzig plenty of time to work with him.  It is likely he'll get a look at the AHL level, and he may even open the season with the Bears if Grubauer has not fully recovered from his surgery by opening night.

This is unexpected news, but certainly good news.  Only time will tell, but the Capitlas may have stolen a forgotten Russian goalie at the end of the Draft and now have convinced him to play in North America next season so he can better develop into a potential NHL regular.

Read Alex DeYoung's scouting report on Kostenko here.

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When free agency began on July 1^st, many Capitals fans hoped that GM George McPhee would make a splash in free agency, as he has almost every year in his tenure.  However, in the days and weeks following the opening of free agency, McPhee has filled his roster with low-risk signings that have potential.  One of these signings with an especially high potential reward is winger Wojtek Wolski, who was signed to a one-year, $600,000 contract on July 11.

Wolski, 26, was born in Poland but has spent the majority of his adolescent life and entire career in North America.  After playing major junior with the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League, for which he holds 11 franchise records and shares another, he began his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche, who picked him 21^st overall in 2004 – the same draft that saw Washington pick Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, and Jeff Schultz selected in the top 30.

Standing 6’3” and weighing over 200 pounds, Wolski is a big, skilled forward who has the talent to immediately help the Caps fill the void left by Alexander Semin’s presumed departure.  Though he did not expressly say it, McPhee hinted at this when asked about Wolski on the final day of the Caps’ annual summer development camp.

“A former first round pick that’s had some real productive years in the League, then sort of fell off,” he said.  “I get seduced by talent from time to time.  I like it, and we have a good group of forwards that are big and play hard and this is an opportunity to add some talent in there.  We like the move and hope that it works out for him and for us.”

Unfortunately, Wolski’s last couple of seasons have not been up to par for a former first round selection.  The 26 year-old winger has been on five different teams since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, and both of his last two campaigns have been derailed by injuries.

“Last year was a lost year for him,” McPhee added.  “But here’s a guy with some ability, and there’s an opportunity here.  The ability is there, and I think the commitment is there as well.”

Read more about what Wolski could contribute here.

Monday afternoon, the Washington Capitals announced that they had signed defenseman Mike Green to a three-year contract worth $18.25 million.  The deal, which covers two summers of unrestricted free agency for Green, has an annual salary cap hit of just over $6.08 million.

“It’s been a long process,” the defenseman said on a conference call Monday.  “With the setback of the injury, we were going to wait.  It’s been pushed back, but I think that obviously I wanted to be in Washington and they wanted me back.”

The Capitals should have wanted Green back, because they needed him.  As I wrote just hours before Green was signed, he is one of their best defensemen and, when healthy, is one of the best puck-moving rearguards in the entire NHL.

"Since Green signed his four-year contract before the 2008-09 season, only five defensemen have collected more points than Green's 180 – Nicklas Lidstrom, Dan Boyle, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, and Zdeno Chara.  Only one, Weber, has scored more goals.  That is without doubt elite company, and though Green is by no means in the same class as these defensemen at this current moment, it shows just how good he has the potential to be.

His defense is improving.  Not only has Green visibly been better at blocking shots, holding coverage in his own zone, and making plays on the body, but he has been the Capitals’ best possessor of the puck on the blue line each of the last four seasons – despite the fact that his offensive zone start percentage decreased in each of those four seasons.  That is definition improvement, and even if you don’t believe in 'fancy stats,' he has yet to have a plus-minus season in the red since becoming a regular.  He’s not great defensively, but he is better."

Still, the signing is undoubtedly a risk.  A big risk.  When you look at the last two season’s of Green’s career, he has suffered with bad injuries – a bum ankle, a concussion, and an abdominal injury, to name a few.  Committing this type of money and term to a player with that type of recent injury history is scary.  But for his part, Green feels as though he is through with consistently being hurt and is ready to work harder than ever to return to his old form – that of one of the premier offensive defensemen in the NHL.

“I think they [the Capitals] know what I’m capable of,” he added.  “It’s been unfortunate the last couple years that I’ve suffered from injuries but I think I’m over them now, I think I’ve got them all out of my system.  I think that as happy as I am that they’re happy and they know that I’m committed to the hockey team and doing whatever I can to be the best that I can. “

Read more on Green's contract here.

The Washington Capitals announced they have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Mike Green to a 3-year, $18.25 million contract.  He will earn $6 million over each of the next two seasons and $6.25 million in the final year of the deal.  This contract represents a raise over his previous contract, a 4-year deal worth $21 million ($6 million in 2008-09 and $5 million in each of the last three years).  Green had recently rejected the Capitals' one-year qualifying offer of $5 million, a deal that would have made him an unrestricted free agent after next season.  This may seem like a lot of money for a player with just 31 points in 81 games over the past two seasons, but it is a good reflection of Green's true value to the team. 

Read on.

Throughout his career in the NHL, Mike Green has been somewhat of an unjustified whipping boy for Washington Capitals fans, a person to blame the team’s failures on.

He’s a playoff choker.  He doesn’t play defense.  He’s soft.  And because he is supposedly these things, there are a significant portion of fans that want him off the team.

This summer, Green is a restricted free agent – something he hasn’t been for four years.  The last time he was, coming off an 18-goal, 56-point season, Green was rewarded with a four-year, $21 million contract.

Last month, the Capitals extended their qualifying offer to Green in order to keep his rights – which was valued at one year and a little more than $5 million.  It would have given the Capitals, and Green, a full season to judge where each other were before either hammering out a new contract or going their separate ways.

But as you probably know by now, Green declined the offer, allowing it to expire at 5 PM Sunday afternoon.  That means that for Mike Green to remain a Capital, (and all signs point to this being the case), he needs a new deal.  And that’s good.

Because the Capitals need Mike Green.

Read on about why the Capitals need Green here.

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Photo by Chris Gordon, RMNB

ARLINGTON, VA - On the final day of Development Camp, General Manager George McPhee addressed the Washington media for the first time in two weeks.  McPhee, who has been the subject of harsh criticism this off-season for not signing a big name free agent to replace Alexander Semin, spoke highly of Wojtek Wolski, whom he signed to a one-year contract earlier in the week.

“A former first round pick that’s had some real productive years in the League, then sort of fell off,” McPhee said.  The general manager also noted that he feels Wolski will be motivated after such a poor year last year.  “Last year was a lost year for him, but here’s a guy with some ability, and there’s an opportunity here.  The ability is there, and I think the commitment is there as well.”

I tweeted about this when he was signed, but this is what you do in thin markets.  At $600,000 for one year, this deal for a potential top-six winger is a great move.  You’re not going to find bargains on standout players in this type of market, but you can hunt for talented guys coming off bad years.

“I get seduced by talent from time to time,” McPhee added.  “I like it, and we have a good group of forwards that are big and play hard and this is an opportunity to add some talent in there.  We like the move and hope that it works out for him and for us.”

McPhee also addressed the signing for 2012 first-round pick Filip Forsberg to a three-year, entry-level deal on Friday.  He said that it was important to get Forsberg signed by September 15 so that at the end of his season in Sweden he could come over and get acclimated to the North American game in the best developmental league in the world, the AHL.  Dmitry Orlov did something similar in the spring of 2011, and it helped accelerate his development.

In addition, McPhee made sure to note how impressed he was at Forsberg’s play in camp, along with fellow first-rounder Tom Wilson.

“I like him a lot,” the GM said of the Swede.  “Really competitive kid, strong on the puck, and certainly got some development to do, he and Wilson.  They have the intangibles, they want to be out there, they want the puck, and for 17 years old, they are doing really well.”

It does not seem likely that either Forsberg or Wilson see NHL time next year – both because it would force them to burn a year of their entry-level deals, which are very valuable, and also because they may not be ready, especially Wilson.  McPhee said when he drafted Wilson that he needed some serious development to get to the type of player he wanted him to become, and one week at Camp does not change that.

Read more on the final day of camp here.

These scouting reports were compiled by Alex DeYoung based on practices and scrimmages on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sergei Kostenko
5'11, 187, Catches: Left
Born: 9/17/92 in Novokuznetsk, Russia
Drafted: 7th Round, 203rd overall, by Washington in 2012
Last Season: Played in Russia for Kuznetskie Medvedi of MHL (Russian development league)
Scouting Report:
Has a wide butterfly, sometimes leaves gap in his five hole.
He has great lateral movement and footwork
Doesn't have a very aggressive stance, stays tall.
He seems very jet lagged.
He doesn't go down into butterfly all the way, he leaves the leg of the side the shot isn't on up.
It seems while he's moving laterally, he follows the shooter and not the puck.

See the reports on all 5 goalies.

Photo by Getty

The Washington Capitals have signed forward Filip Forsberg to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced on Friday.  Forsberg, 17, was the 11th overall pick in June's draft despite being the top-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting, and has been participating in the team's annual development camp for the last week.

It is important to note that this contract does not mean that Forsberg will start his North American career this upcoming season.  Still under contract with Leksands in Sweden, he will play for them next year before attending Camp again and then making a decision.  The contract does not start until he plays in ten NHL games or turns 20 years of age.  When it does begin, Foppa will receive an annual salary of $832,500 at the NHL level and $70,000 at the AHL level.