Why I'm Starting to Doubt GMGM

This story goes back to 2006, when the Capitals acquired a first round draft pick from Nashville for Brendan Witt, their first round pick in 1993.

With that first round pick the Capitals selected goalie Semyon Varlamov 23rd overall. It was their second pick of the round after picking center Nicklas Backstrom third overall.

In the 2009 playoffs, Varlamov was stellar, and started to cement his eventual place as the starting goaltender for Washington. However, with the rise of Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby, the Caps decided to trade Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche for a first round pick in the 2012 draft. With that pick, the Caps chose forward Filip Forsberg 11th overall.

Forsberg was regarded as one of the best prospects in the world, but at the 2013 trade deadline, the Caps sent him to Nashville for Martin Erat and Michael Latta.

All of you know the rest of the story. Erat received 4th line minutes and has requested a trade. With him having only scored one goal since coming to Washington, his trade value has plummeted.

So in summary, the Caps sent Brendan Witt, a former first round pick and one of Washington's highest scoring defensemen of all time for in essence a third round center and whatever the Caps can get for Erat.

I'm seriously starting to doubt GMGM.

What to be Thankful For

The Caps are in their 39th year in the NHL. In honor of Thanksgiving, the Caps have had a lot to be thankful for during their time. Here is what I, as a Caps fan, am thankful for:

• Thank you, Rod Langway, for helping to keep the Caps in DC
• Thank you, Dale Hunter, for the most important goal in Caps history
• Thank you, Peter Bondra, for being the best darn 6th round pick there is
• Thank you, Olaf Kolzig, for 15 awesome years
• Thank you, Joe Juneau, for giving the Caps a shot at glory
• Thank you, NHL, for not letting the Florida Panthers pick Alex Ovechkin in 2003
• Thank you, 2004 draft lottery, for giving the Caps the number one overall pick
• Thank you, Sergei Fedorov, for helping the Caps to a series win
• Thank you, Joel Ward, for knocking out the defending champs
• Thank you, Adam Oates (and Mike Milbury), for sparking the best player in the world again
• Thank you, Washington Capitals, for 39 amazing years
• And thank you, Caps fans everywhere, for being the best fans in the world year-in and year-out

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

How Erat-Less Caps can Survive

The Capitals will probably be trading away winger Martin Erat within the next few weeks/months. GMGM has all but guaranteed that Erat will be traded, although the price remains unknown.

Assuming the Caps don't receive any important forwards in this trade, here is how the Caps can survive  this loss on the short and long-term.

Short-Term Lineup:

Johansson-Backstrom-Ovechkin
Chimera-Grabovski-Ward
Laich-Fehr-Brouwer
Volpatti-Latta-Wilson

Funny how much of a difference one player makes, huh? This squad does not look as strong as one with Erat in it. Still, even using Adam Oates's handedness preference, the Caps can still put up a strong short-term lineup.

Long-Term Lineup:

Johansson-Backstrom-Ovechkin
Andre Burakovsky-Grabovski-Fehr
Chimera-Evgeni Kuznetsov-Riley Barber
Laich-Latta-Wilson

Assuming Johansson can continue to play as well as he has so far this year, he could/should stay on the top line. For the second line, Burakovsky would end up the best of a weak left-wing position for the Caps, unless they can add another good prospect or a good player in trade. Fehr deserves some time in the top-6, or he may want out of DC as well. For the third line, assuming Kuznetsov comes over and Riley Barber continues his solid play, that would be a solid line, although Stan Galiev could take that spot. The fourth line looks a lot the same as now, and we may even be able to see Volpatti switching off with Laich. Notably, no Troy Brouwer or Joel Ward, who were left out on a strong right-wing side.

What do you think? How do you think an Erat trade would affect the Caps? Tell me in the comments.

P.S: Here is another sample trade that would help the Caps:
To Calgary- Martin Erat (RW), Troy Brouwer (RW)
To Washington- Sven Baertschi (LW), Patrick Sieloff (D)
The Flames seriously lack good right wingers, and here the Caps can send them two who need a change of scenery. The Flames still have talented left wingers behind Baertschi, although they may prefer to send Johnny Gaudreau instead. This gets rid of some un-needed right wingers and brings in players where the Caps need it.