New Era begins in Washington
- Updated: August 20, 2015
A feeling of excitement and hope was in the Verizon Center air as newly signed defenseman Mark Giordano was introduced and named captain to the Season 20 edition of the Washington Capitals.
This was the first time the Washington fanbase had reason to celebrate since that fateful day two seasons ago when Alexander Ovechkin was traded to kickoff an immanent rebuild/retool that had been rumoured to be on the way. The result has been two seasons without playoff hockey.
The move came as a bit of a shock to not only Washington fans but to the entire DHL universe as the Capitals were expected to spend at least one more season in mediocraty while they waited for a few of the young guns to step up. GM Todd Westacott had other ideas though.
“We really didn’t expect to be able to bring Mark in and made a Round 1 bid as somewhat of a tactic to both gauge the market and at the same time ensure that another team was not going to acquire a star defenseman at a discount price. When we were informed at the end of Round 1 that we had the leading bid and that Mark was very interested in coming here we saw a rare opportunity to add a star player for the next 4 years at what we considered to be a very reasonable price.” said GM Todd Westacott.
“When we went to UFA we knew that we were looking for a 4 year deal with an organization that was in a position to compete. We listed the teams with enough funds and cap space to make that happen. Washington stuck out as an organization that might not compete yet but that we felt were on the brink of competing. The possibility of playing with a defense partner like Victor Hedman and a goaltender like Brayden Holtby was enough for us to say lets sit down and see where they are at and what their plans are.” said Giordano
“When we had a face to face with Giordano and his people after Round 1 there were just so many different things that just seemed to fit. We went back to the War Room and almost immediately came to a consensus that if we could add this guy and maybe another low risk high reward kind of guy in this years UFA then we would really be setting ourselves up to compete for playoff spot this season.” said Westacott
“So after the sit down with Washington, and looking at guys like Hedman and Holtby that we would be playing with, and then seeing the number of young guys like Nino, Palmieri, Fowler, Granlund, Lazar, Bjorkstrand, Henrique…. We just had this feeling like this was the beginning of something special and that if one or two of those guys could have a break out year then this was a playoff team. We knew right there that this was where we wanted to be” said Giordano.
“The hope going forward is that maybe we can another piece through UFA. Maybe a high risk low reward kind of situation. Then we can compete for a playoff spot and come back here to UFA next year ready to add another cornerstone and really start making a push to contend. Mark really gives us a 4 year window now to piece this all together and really make a run.”
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