That George McPhee is a Wily Dealer

Posted on March 4, 2010 | No Comments

This is a guest post from Eric McErlain, long-time hockey blogger who hails from the Washington, DC area. Eric gives us some perspective from the land of the Capitals, who sit on top of the NHL standings. You can follow Eric on Twitter.

Here in Washington, whenever we head into the trade deadline, we’ve long since figured out that there’s little use in trying to divine the intentions of Caps General Manager George McPhee. Known as GMGM in these parts, McPhee has developed a reputation during his 11-year tenure in Washington for keeping his operation locked as tight as a drum when it comes to the press, a habit he picked up from one of the men McPhee admires most in the NHL, New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello.

Two years ago, there were no signs at all that McPhee was planning anything major at all, and then he turned around and acquired a trio of players — Sergei Fedorov, Matt Cooke and Cristobal Huet — that helped drive the team to its first playoff appearance in since before the NHL lockout. Last season, when everyone was anticipating the acquisition of a power forward or a shutdown defenseman, McPhee stood pat, allowing the deadline to pass without moving anyone or seeming to care that he had missed out on the annual frenzy.

But while it’s a fool’s errand to try to predict what McPhee will do, it’s very easy to understand the why behind what he does when he does it. Overall, McPhee plays the long game, spending more time worrying about making consistent and incremental improvements over time that have both the added and multiplicative effect of turning his team into a contender. It’s not quite so simple as the classic buy low and sell high. It’s more like, buy at a bargain, sell while you can still get a decent return and bank the rest for a rainy day.

For those of you who would like to point to the disastrous trade that brought Jaromir Jagr to Washington, it’s well known around these parts that McPhee and team President Dick Patrick fought owner Ted Leonsis on the deal, arguing that it would disrupt an orderly rebuilding program that was desperately needed. Let’s just say that time has proved McPhee right, and he more or less has the maneuvering room that he needs to make the hockey decisions.

That’s more or less what McPhee did in 2008 when he acquired Fedorov, Cooke and Huet. Fedorov was had for the rights to a defenseman who still hasn’t finished college. In his 1+ year with the team, Fedorov served as a steadying influence with both Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, while also potting the goal that put away the Rangers in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. When his contract demands got too high thanks to a huge offer from the KHL, the team wished him well and let him go.

As for Cooke, he was gotten for winger Matt Pettinger, a player who had run out of future in Washington anyway. Huet, who backstopped the team down the stretch and steadied the goaltending situation when Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson proved not to be up to the job, was acquired for a second round pick McPhee had obtained earlier in the season in exchange for Brian Sutherby when he was shipped to Anaheim.

When you look at it that way, the moves McPhee made after Wednesday’s deadline make a lot of sense. Snagging veteran winger Scott Walker was something of a no-brainer, especially when he was be gotten for something as cheap as a seventh round pick. He’s not just a hard worker who has some offensive upside, he’s also the kind of player who can supply the sandpaper. That wasn’t necessarily the case at the start of the season, when Matt Bradley seemed to be the only player on the roster who could provide that kind of jam. But combined with the earlier acquisition of Jason Chimera from Columbus, Washington has turned a weakness into a strength heading into the stretch run.

That was also the case with the acquisition of center Eric Belanger from Minnesota for a second round draft pick. For most of the season, the team has been looking for someone to seize the job as second line center behind Nicklas Backstrom. At the start of the season, it looked like free agent acquisition Brendan Morrison was going to fit the bill, but he faded offensively. For a time, it looked like converted winger Tomas Fleischmann might fill the role, especially since the Czech Republic wanted to use him at the position at the Winter Olympics. But the youngster, who is in the midst of something of a breakout season, seems better suited to playing on the wing. That would seem to leave the job open for Belanger, one of the best face-off men in the league.

The movement on the blue line cold prove to be a bit more problematic. For several seasons, observers of the team have said the Caps needed to add the sort of defenseman who can clear a crease, and as another deadline has passed, they once again failed to make that deal. Still, grabbing Joe Corvo from Carolina in exchange for Brian Pothier, minor leaguer Oskar Osala and a second round pick has to be considered something of an upgrade. Corvo is more of a puck mover, and will get some time on the league’s best power play, more than likely giving fellow defender Mike Green some rest. As for the re-acquisition of the injured Milan Jurcina from Columbus, there’s every expectation that he’ll return to the lineup by the end of the season, providing some needed depth on the back line.

So yes, while McPhee didn’t get that banger on the blue line, he likely did the best he could without dealing any critical parts that could derail the franchise a couple of years down the line. For Washington, that means keeping defenders Karl Alzner and John Carlson in the fold. Recall again that last season how Washington couldn’t find a power forward at the deadline, allowing Bill Guerin to go to Pittsburgh for a fourth round pick. But in the ensuing offseason, McPhee addressed the need when he signed Mike Knuble to a reasonable free agent contract. Look for McPhee to follow that same pattern once the playoffs are done.

If there is one criticism you could level at McPhee, it’s that he might be too conservative. There are plenty of folks who believe that letting Guerin get away a year ago was a fatal mistake, but an understandable one when considering the team’s precarious cap position at last year’s deadline. That certainly wasn’t the case this time, as McPhee cleared all the cap room that he needed to am all of these deals possible on Wednesday. The result: the Caps haven’t looked this good at the deadline since 1998, the first year in McPhee’s tenure and the only time the team made a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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