Washington Capitals: Top 5 Free Agent Signings Since 2000
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Until fairly recently, the Washington Capitals have not been the type of team to rely heavily on free agency. The Washington Capitals, throughout their history, have tended to rely more on trades and the draft to get effective players than free agency.
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However, the Washington Capitals have done quite well in getting bargain players in free agency and have even signed quite a few productive ones in the 21st century.
While it is far too early to determine if the signings of Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen and Justin Williams were good, the Capitals surely hope that they’ll be on this list by the end of their respective tenures with the Caps.
Before we begin, let’s look at some of the honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions
Tomas Vokoun was a very underrated signing by the Washington Capitals. His presence allowed young goaltenders Michael Neuvirth and (more importantly) Braden Holtby to develop. With the Caps, Vokoun had a 91.7% save percentage and a 2.51 GAA.
He led the Caps to a 25-17-2 record. A lot of his value came not from his stats, but by acting as a bridge to Holtby and Neuvirth.
Ulf Dahlen was another underrated signing by the Caps. Technically he signed in 1999, but I include him because he was that good. In 217 games with the Caps, he largely played a third line role.
However, he was still productive with 138 points. He scored 53 goals and had 85 assists. It’s appropriate that he was underrated with the Caps because he was underrated for a vast majority of his career as a defensive forward.
Without further ado, here’s our list of the Washington Capitals best free agent signings of the 21st century.
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Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Best FA Signings: Mikhail Grabovski
Mikhail Grabovski signed with the Washington Capitals during the 2013-2014 off-season. He signed a one-year deal worth $3,000,000. He essentially signed with the Caps to rebuild his value after being amnestied by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was on a mission to prove his value and the Washington Capitals are lucky that he chose to do it with them.
On paper, he had a pretty good season. He had 35 points in 58 games in a second line role with the Caps. He was fourth among Caps forwards in even strength points per 60 minutes with 1.78. He finished the season with 23 even strength points (sixth among forwards).
However, most of his value came as being a driving force in terms of puck possession. Despite having a barely positive relative zone start percentage (0.29%), he led the Washington Capitals in even strength CorsiFor% (51.00%).
In fact, among Caps forwards with at least 200 minutes at even strength, he was the only one to end up with a CF% of over 50%.
The one thing that I’ll remember about Grabovski was his description of what it’s having Alex Ovechkin drive him around.
Q: How’s Ovi as a driver? Grabovski: Whoooeeh. [Exhales.] Like in the game, you know? Always machine. I put seatbelt all the time. – Washington Post
Classic.
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Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Best FA Signings: Viktor Kozlov
Viktor Kozlov, like Dahlen, was a very underrated signing for the Washington Capitals. He signed a two-year deal with the Caps before the 2007-2008 season. Kozlov would play primarily on the first forward line with Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
He would score 40 points at even strength in 2007-2008 (third among Caps forwards) and 54 points overall (fourth on the team, third among forwards). He was also third among Washington Capitals forwards with at least 250 minutes played at even strength in even strength CF% (58.32%).
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Kozlov saw his first line duties replaced by Alexander Semin in 2008-2009, but he still had a productive season for the Caps. He had 41 points and finished sixth among forwards with a 56.47% even strength CF%.
Kozlov was a productive forward for the Capitals and did better than he gets credit for.
He wasn’t fantastic, but he was a darn good signing. After the 2008-2009 season, Kozlov would sign with a KHL team and hasn’t played in the NHL since then.
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Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Best FA Signings: Mike Knuble
Coming in at number three on our list of the five best Washington Capitals free agent signings of the 21st century is a fan favorite: Mike Knuble. Knuble signed a two-year deal with the Caps before the 2009-2010 season.
He joined the Caps from the Flyers, out to prove that he wasn’t too old to produce. With the Caps, he proved that in his first season with the team.
In the 2009-2010 season, Knuble scored 29 goals to go along with 24 assists. He split first line minutes with Semin and had success playing alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom. He added six points in seven playoff games.
He brought to the Caps a hard-nosed style of play that the Washington Capitals had lacked previously. He was not afraid to go to the net and took countless sticks to the face. He probably had things done to him that he’ll never forget. However, he scored like a mad man, so I’m sure he doesn’t care.
After the 2010-2011 season, Knuble re-signed with the Caps. During the 2011-2012 season, he played in his 1000th NHL game.
He led the charge up the ice that led to Joel Wards‘s game winning goal that allowed the Washington Capitals to eliminate the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.
Knuble was a blue collar player and Washington Capitals fans appreciated him for that.
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Mandatory Credit: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Best FA Signings: Eric Fehr
Coming in at number two on our list of the best Caps free agent signings of the 21st century is another fan favorite: Eric Fehr. Fehr re-signed with the Caps after the Jets chose not to extend him a qualifying offer.
He re-signed with the Caps just before the start of the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season. It was a one-year deal worth under a million dollars. He turned that into a contract extension.
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Fehr has always been an underrated forward. Despite mostly being a bottom six forward for a majority of his career with the Washington Capitals, Fehr has produced at the rate that one would expect a top six forward to produce.
He’s underrated defensively and has always been a possession driver.
To further prove Eric Fehr’s worth to the Washington Capitals, he has more goals in outdoor NHL games than anyone in history. Yes, that includes this impressive list of players.
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Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Best FA Signings: Joel Ward
Joel Ward is the best free agent signing that the Caps have made in the 21st century. That’s quite ironic because when he was signed, then general manager George McPhee admitted that he probably overpaid for Ward because of his playoff performance. As it turned out, Ward was a very good player for the Caps.
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Despite being a bottom six forward, Ward was one of the most consistent players for the Caps during his tenure with them. He really turned the corner in 2013-2014 and carried that momentum over into 2014-2015.
The reason why Ward was worth his contract: he was clutch in the playoffs for the Caps.
Yup, Ward had a nose for goals, and it showed in the playoffs. We’ll all miss Ward.
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