Earlier this morning, rumors relating to the availability of Washington’s Roman Hamrlik surfaced, suggesting that common manager George McPhee and the Capitals have turn out to be somewhat of a seller in the days leading up to the trade deadline.
Over the summer, Hamrlik was signed to a two-year, $ 7 million deal and was supposed to bring stability to a Capitals blue line that was light on postseason experience. Rather, Hamrlik has been one of the Caps’ most inconsistent and unreliable players on the back end, even being relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch on some nights.
If the Caps are indeed attempting to move the 37-year-old rearguard, it signals an admission of fault on the part of McPhee, who now realizes he overpaid for the services of an aging defenseman who appears to be increasingly restricted in the mobility department.
Assuming McPhee is intent on parting approaches with Hamrlik, who is on pace on for the worst offensive season of his career, there are a number of potential suitors in the marketplace for a defensive defenseman.
1 possibility is the St. Louis Blues, who have reportedly been scouring the market for a remain-at-homer, but the remaining year on Hamrlik’s contract worth $ 3.five million is an high-priced price tag tag for a player who isn’t most likely to play 20 minutes on a nightly basis.
Even though the Blues do have the cap space to absorb Hamrlik’s deal, it’d nevertheless be somewhat surprising if the Capitals had been in a position to locate a team willing to take on his cap hit with no sending a player back in return.
What remains unclear is what the Caps are hoping to get in exchange for Hamrlik, as a quantity of other teams have been acquiring great value for veteran defensemen. Nashville parted methods with Blake Geoffrion and a second-round pick in order to get Hal Gill Pavel Kubina fetched Tampa Bay prospect Jon Kalinski, a second-round choose and a fourth-rounder.
It is been a attempting season for 37-year old Roman Hamrlik, who has just two goals and ten points on the year.
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Though Hamrlik has undoubtedly underperformed this season, the Caps ought to be thinking that if Kubina and Gill every single brought back returns of at least a prospect and a second-rounder, Hamrlik should be worth at least that to another team.
Another club that could be interested in bringing in the former Olympic gold medal Winner and 3-time All-Star is the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, at the moment with out Adam Larsson and Henrik Tallinder and Kurtis Foster on the back finish, have been linked to Johnny Oduya, but if the Jets are asking too much in return for the Swedish Olympian, they have the cap space to bring in an expensive veteran like Hamrlik.
If New Jersey or St. Louis are not interested in Hamrlik, a single a lot more common manager that may inquire about his availability is Peter Chiarelli, as the Bruins have just six defensemen on the roster with far more than ten games of NHL expertise, which doesn’t leave Boston with any margin for error if 1 of their leading six goes down with an injury.
At this stage, McPhee realizes that if the Caps are going to make the playoffs, it is unlikely that Hamrlik will play any kind of top role in the method, which is why he’s becoming scratched from tonight’s game against Ottawa.
Going forward, if the Caps get the kind of gives they’re looking for, which will most likely contain a second-round pick and a mid-level prospect, Hamrlik will be on his way out of Washington prior to the Feb. 27 trade deadline.
