McPhee Does It Again

Last year George McPhee acquired Jeff Friesen from the Devils for no more than a third round pick. McPhee then flipped Friesen at the deadline to the Ducks for a 2nd round pick.

This year, Richard Zednik is acquired from the Canadiens for a third round pick and today he goes to the Islanders for a second round pick.

This is the second year in a row that McPhee has "upgraded" a draft pick with a player in his contract year that also missed a large portion of the season due to injury. I think talk of a contract extension is/was a smokescreen. Zednik was making more $$$$$ than Dainius Zubrus and I doubt that the Caps were willing to keep things that way. Of those two players, I would rather see Zoobie-Doobie-Doo stay though I do realize that Zoobie-Doobie-Doo has the higher trade value and that his trade value will never be higher than it is right now.

As for the post-mortem on Zednik, he's been mostly a non-factor in his second tour of duty here in D.C. Hopefully all the Zed-head fans who have been crying for years about his initial trade will realize that he's never fulfilled the potential held for him. But just like there are all sorts of catcalls for the return of Peter Bondra, something tells me that the Zed-head fans are never going to let go of this guy either.

Also, the Caps move career AHL Defenseman Lawrence Nycholat to the Ottawa Senators for a 6th sixth round pick and career AHL Defenseman Andy Hedlund. Click here for more information as Hedlund will go straight to Hershey.