WASHINGTON (CP) - While six-foot-two left-winger Alexander Ovechkin is widely considered a cinch to be the first player selected in the NHL entry draft next weekend, Washington Capitals GM George McPhee insists he has yet to decide.
McPhee, who has the No. 1 pick, met with Ovechkin at the recent scouting combines in Toronto that were organized by the league. But six-foot-three centre Evgeni Malkin didn't attend and McPhee says he wants to talk to the teen rated No. 2 before making up his mind.
"The process has not finished and we have more interviews to do and the list will take the final shape the day before the draft," McPhee told NHL.com. "That's why our process is not complete.
"There are some real good players on the top there and I do not think it will help us to disclose who we will take." While McPhee remains coy, the independent International Scouting Services is sure Ovechkin will become a Capital.
"It would be an absolute bombshell if they didn't select Ovechkin," says ISS.
It is no secret that GMGM keeps secrets and tells non truths better than anyone I have ever come across. So why would this be any different? I never felt it was a sure thing that Ovechkin would ever wear a Caps jersery.
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If you can't play with the big dogs,stay the hell on the porch
On how long McPhee will have a job if he fucks this draft up?
And another..would the Caps even want someone as good as Ovechkin when money is the be-all,end-all here (can't pay someone rooke salary forever)...unless Ted is thinking of selling to someone with semi-deep pockets.We couldn't even afford Bondra!
7/11/01-1/23/03.
"This is America! And in America, if something sucks, you're supposed to be able to get your money back."-Stan Marsh
"Say what again! Say what again! I dare ya. I double dare ya mutha*****! Say what one more goddamn time!"-from "Pulp Fiction"
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I've seen quite a few posts on these boards lately suggesting that the Caps are all about money these days and I beg to differ. I don't think Ted has ever indicated that the team would not spend money on players. I think what they've said is (1) they screwed up in adding one "star" player to a grinding team, (2) the team as constituted these past few years was too top heavy and wasn't performing in a manner commensurate with payroll, so we're going to scrap it and start over, and (3) we're going to build from within rather than bring in expensive top end free agents who may or may not gel with the team concepts we're building. Just my two cents.
Yeah, but at the rate the Caps lose money every year I would be shocked if we ever got up into the upper percentiles in the league with respect to salary ever again. Something tells me we're going to go more in the way of the Oilers and Penguins.
I would tend to agree with you, although I think the team is banking on the imposition of some sort of salary cap to ensure that we can be competitive in terms of salary range without losing a ton of money. That said, I don't know that the Caps are losing that much more than other teams are and, more importantly, I don't really think it's about the dollars themselves, but how those dollars are spent. Right now, that translates into a really low payroll, since we've basically jettisoned most of the expensive players in favor of a rebuild. I'm not at all convinced that that means the team won't be willing to pay its home-grown players competitive salaries to keep them as they mature over the coming years.
With the first pick in the 2004 National Hockey League entry draft, the Washington Capitals select . . . Alex -- wait, we have a trade . . . The Capitals send their first pick, first overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for the Blackhawks' first selection in this draft, the Blackhawks' first pick in the 2005 entry draft, Anton Babchuk, Brent Seabrook, and Mark Bell.
And the Caps' switchboard explodes with STH's seeking refunds on the deposits they just made.
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Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
