Washington Capitals: A Look Back At The 2003-2004 Season

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals are beginning their 41st season as a franchise in 2015. To honor Washington Capitals teams of the past, we will be reviewing each season that the Washington Capitals have spent in the nation’s capital. Today, we remember 2003-2004; a cringe-worthy season that ultimately brought a tremendous amount of upside to the Washington Capitals future roster by ending the season with much needed salary cap room, several high round draft picks and the opportunity to grab the generational elite prospect talent Alexander Ovechkin with the first overall pick in the following season’s draft.

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By virtue of his September 17th birthday, Ovechkin narrowly missed 2003 NHL Entry Draft eligibility by mere days, so instead of being scooped up by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the #1 pick in 2003 (they selected Marc-Andre Fluery), the Washington Capitals captain became the gem of the 2004 draft. I shudder to think what the 2015 Pittsburgh Penguins would look like with Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and free agent acquisition Phil Kessel.

In 2003, a gallon of gas averaged at $1.83, Bad Boys II was playing in the box office and Jeffrey “Ja Rule” Atkins still had a rap career somehow. The season started, as Dave highlighted in his earlier piece, with one of the worst drafts former General Manager George McPhee has ever conducted. The Washington Capitals had six selections and grabbed now pending UFA Eric Fehr from the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings in the 1st round with the 18th overall pick and then precipitously dropped off the cliff from there in their selections.

The Capitals were coming off a successful 92 point campaign in the 2002-2003 season led by former Blackhawks defensemen turned first year NHL coach Bruce Cassidy and opened the 2003-2004 season with a feel good home opener 6-1 drubbing of the New York Islanders. The Capitals had stacked the roster with several high-priced veteran all-star players in preparation for another playoff run, but in a theme that may sound all too painfully familiar to Washington Sports faithful; it did not go as planned.

The Capitals lost in 7 of their first 8 games and 24 out of 38 before the year’s end. McPhee had traded away fan-favorite Steve Konowalchuk and a third round pick to Colorado for Bates Battaglia and Jonas Johannson by October. Caught in a quagmire of losing, Cassidy (8-16-1) was replaced by Assistant Coach Glen Hanlon who would finish 23-46-10-3 for 59 points and out of the playoffs by a long shot.

With a team that was being regularly outscored by their opponents after putting up a meager 1-2 goals per game, it was painfully evident that GMGM’s plot of acquiring hockey’s biggest names had gone belly up. Most notable in the pricey acquisition flops was Jaromir Jagr who had signed on from Pittsburgh two years prior at the record-breaking, bank-busting $77 million deal over 7 years with an option for an eighth. That season, Jagr netted only 16 goals during 46 games with the club before being traded in January 2004 to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter (who was then promptly traded to the L.A. Kings). Despite retaining $4 million of Jagr’s salary, the amount saved against the salary cap gave the club some much needed financial wiggle room.

Center Robert Lang, who sported a mean-looking mullet, led the team in all scoring categories with 29 goals, 45 assists and 74 points over 63 games but was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings on February 27th for Tomas Fleischmann, a 1st rounder in 2004 (#29, which turned out to be Mike Green) and a 4th rounder in 2006 (#122 which turned out to be Luke Lynes).

Before that trade though, the Washington Capitals would deal away their heart and soul; five time all-star 35 year old right winger Peter Bondra who had amassed 21 goals and 35 points in 54 games before being traded to the Ottawa Senators on February 18th in exchange for current fourth liner Brooks Laich and a 2nd round pick in 2014. Bondra had spent 14 seasons with the Washington Capitals and was noticeably choked up at his farewell press conference to join the playoff-bound hopeful Senators, who would later become bounced after a first round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Prolific defenseman Sergei Gonchar would be traded by March 3rd for Shaone Morrison, a 1st rounder in 2004 (#27, Jeff Schultz) and a 2nd rounder (#62, Mikhail Yunkov) and the purging would continue. Michael Nylander was traded for a 2nd rounder (#35, Francois Bouchard) and future considerations the next day and fresh arrival Anson Carter, who had suffered a shoulder injury requiring surgery was traded for Jared Aulin of the Kings, but would never play in a Washington Capitals sweater. At the trade deadline, Mike Grier packed his bags for Buffalo in exchange for Jakub Klepis who would only play with the Washington Capitals for 66 games, but would go on to ultimately score the game seven series-winning goal for Dynamo Moscow in 2012 to win the Gagarin Cup. Shucks. I really like series-winning goals.

Despite the pin-pulling by McPhee on the club’s roster, there were several bright spots which would go on to form the core of players for years to come. A 19 year old Alexander Semin showed off plenty of dazzle in his debut season. 19 year old Boyd Gordon also showed promise along with 20 year olds Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrison. Dainius Zubrus, the first Lithuanian to play 1,000 game in the NHL knotched 12 goals and 27 points in 54 games and Brendan Witt collected 123 penalty minutes. Toronto Maple Leafs fan-favorite, Randy Carlyle spent the second of his two year tenure as an Assistant Coach, but was shown the door at season’s end.

While the 2003-2004 Washington Capitals didn’t give fans much more than a bit of heartache through 82 games, they did something that the 2015-2016 Edmonton Oilers can truly aspire to: provide the spark to change their franchises’ identity by acquiring a player that only comes across once every decade or so – often times even less. By finishing in last place in the Southeast Division and next to last in the Eastern Conference (but hey, still better than the Penguins), McPhee and management got the undisputed first shot to grab the Great Eight.

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Next: Reviewing The 2004 NHL Draft

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