According to Tarik, Eric Fehr has accepted the qualifying offer extended to him by the Capitals.

Don’t quote me on it, but my understanding of the restricted free agent/qualifying offer situation is that Fehr was in the range where a qualifying offer consists of a ten percent raise, in Fehr’s case a salary increase from $800,000 to $880,000 (assuming the figures given by Sporstnet.ca are correct). UPDATE: Tarik is now reporting that Fehr’s contract is worth $735,000; all the figure here have been changed to reflect that.

If that’s the case, and the numbers on nhlnumbers.com are accurate, the Capitals have about $330,000 $475,000 in cap space counting Brian Pothier salary about $2.83 $2.98 million in cap space excluding Pothier’s salary. Is $2.83 $2.98 million enough to get both Shaone Morrisonn and Boyd Gordon (who George McPhee says is close to signing) under contract? Or will an expendable part, perhaps John Erskine, Tomas Fleischmann or Fehr have to be moved before opening night? The answer to that question likely rides on the result of Morrisonn’s arbitration hearing.

Suddenly July 24th has become the most important date for Caps fans for the rest of the summer.

A pair of Caps signings were announced today: Brooks Laich has signed a three-year contract worth $2.067 million per year and Sergei Fedorov has signed a one-year, $4 million dollar deal.

While each signing makes sense in terms of the fairness of the dollar value, the additional 6.067 million dollars in salary cap space puts Washington in a salary cap crunch situation: according to nhlnumbers.com, the Capitals are now just $1.18 million below next season’s $56.7 million cap - and Shaone Morrisonn, Eric Fehr and Boyd Gordon are all without contracts for the 2008-09 season.

Obviously there’s no way Morrisonn, Fehr and Gordon will all fit under the salary cap given the team’s current salary structure. In fact, as is it’d be unrealistic to expect to even get Morrisonn alone re-signed without exceeding the cap.

The wild card in this situation is Brian Pothier, who is still recovering from a serious concussion suffered as the result of a body check by Boston’s Milan Lucic. According to George McPhee, Pothier is expected to start new season on the long-term injury reserve list, which would prevent his salary from counting against the salary cap as long as he was physically unable to play. If Pothier is unable to play at all next season the team will find itself with an additional $2.5 million in salary cap space. Under these circumstances, the Capitals would have approximately $3.7 million in cap space to devote towards signing their remaining restricted free agents. Even then it may still be a tight squeeze for the team. Just how close a squeeze depends on what kind of contract Morrisonn ends up signing or being awarded, should he wind up going to arbitration.

What makes the most sense for the Capitals to do at this point is to make an effort to get Morrisonn under contract for $2 million or less, which would probably still afford the team enough cap space to re-sign both Gordon and Fehr. Should they be unable to come to an agreement with Morrisonn, the team would be best served to take a “wait and see” approach and wait until Morrisonn’s July 24th arbitration hearing, determine what impact his salary for next season has on their plans and move forward from that point.

If Morrisonn’s arbitration decision makes it infeasible to re-sign both former first round draft picks, it is most likely Boyd Gordon will be the odd man out. The signing of Fedorov means that the Capitals already have three top-flight centers (Nicklas Backstrom and Michael Nylander being the others). That, plus the fact that the Capitals have a effective checking line center and penalty killer already under contract for next season in David Steckel, suggest Gordon would struggle to find much playing time on the team. Additionally Fehr is two years younger, has more offensive upside, is a more physical presence and plays what is arguably the forward position with the least depth for the Capitals.

Should the team still find itself in salary cap trouble if Gordon is dropped, or if McPhee and his staff decide they want to keep both Gordon and Fehr, it is possible a veteran could be waived or bought out to free up space, with John Erskine being the player most likely to be deemed expendable. It is also possible the Capitals could become involved in the trade market, but most of the Caps young talent is going to be off limits and most of the team’s veterans are worth more than what they would bring in via a trade. Thus if any trade were going to occur, it would likely be of the rights to either Fehr or Gordon.

This makes me feel smart:

After the failed Joe Motzko and Chris Bourque experiments, Washington has moved to a new option for their first line right wing. Per Tarik, the Capitals have recalled Eric Fehr and he’s practicing with the first line and as part of the reshuffling the Capitals have moved Viktor Kozlov to the second line and have him playing center.

With five goals in their last three games (four by Alex Ovechkin; the other assisted by him) this move is an attempt by the Capitals to get at least two of their lines scoring again. Alexander Semin and Tomas Fleischmann have been ineffective since Michael Nylander went down for the season with his rotator cuff injury, and oftentimes the pair has looked downright lost. By moving Kozlov to the second line, the hope is that a more offensively inclined center can get Semin and Fleischmann rolling again.

This is a good move for the Capitals for a number of reasons. It has become pretty clear that the second line wasn’t going to produce offensively the way the team would want with Brooks Laich, Boyd Gordon or David Steckel as the pivot and this move lets the Caps try a more offensively-inclined player at that spot without giving anyone up. Playing Fehr with Backstrom and Ovechkin has the potential to be a very good fit since Fehr is primarily a goal scoring forward, giving Backstrom (a pure playmaker) another option and making the opposition’s defense have to focus on someone other than Ovechkin. The timing is also good - getting Fehr back at this point is, in many ways, like making a trade without giving up any players and the Capitals can now asses the impact Fehr can have on the team, while still giving George McPhee time to make a trade for another top six forward if that becomes necessary.

I haven’t kept up the prospects update like I’d wanted to when I published the first one in November, but I still think it’s worth taking a look at how some of the Capitals’ top prospects are faring:

Karl Alzner (Defense, Calgary Hitmen, WHL)- many Caps fans probably already know that the 5th overall pick in last year’s draft was the captain of Canada’s gold medal winning World Juniors team. Alzner is playing his junior hockey for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL and having an impressive season in just about every facet with 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists) in 41 games. Alzner is also +21 and has just 11 penalty minutes.

Francois Bouchard (Right Wing, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL) - while not producing at quite as a prodigious rate as last season Bouchard is putting up good offense numbers with 71 points (26+45) in 52 games and looks poised to lead Baie-Comeau Drakkar in points for the third straight season.

Chris Bourque (Right Wing/Left Wing, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Bourque made his NHL debut this season, getting in three games without scoring a point. In Hershey (AHL), Bourque has 14 goals and 15 assists through 40 games.

Eric Fehr (Right Wing, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Fehr has made an impressively quick comeback from a back/hip injury that at one point looked to threaten his career. Though he’s only played nine games so far this season, picking up a goal and four assists, don’t be shocked to see Fehr in a Capitals uniform by season’s end.

Joe Finley (Defense, North Dakota Fighting Sioux, WCHA) - with two goals and eight assists in 25 games for the Fighting Sioux, Finley has actually exceeded offensive expectations (he had one goal and nine assists in 83 games in his collegiate career coming into 2007-08). Finley is a defensive defenseman however, and he has shined in his own end as - his whopping +19 rating is the highest on the North Dakota team.

Josh Godfrey (Defense, Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, OHL) - Godfrey is shaping up to be a good draft pick for the Capitals. Thought to be a bit of reach in the secon round of last year’s draft Godfrey has had an impressive season this year, making the Canadian World Junior team and putting his 99 mile-per-hour shot to good use, racking up 15 goals and 21 assists in 41 games for the Greyhounds. Godfrey is also +16 and has 49 penalty minutes.

Michal Neuvirth (Goalie, Oshawa General, OHL) - Neuvirth has been traded twice already this season, first from the Plymouth Whalers to the Windsor Spitfires and then from Windsor to Oshawa, and has performed well at every stop. For the season, combined amongst all teams, Neuvirth is 13-5-2 with a 2.67 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Mathieu Perreault (Center, Acadie-Bathurst Titans, QMJHL) - the Capitals’ scouting staff must have known something that no one else did because the team was able to nab Perreault in the sixth round of the 2006 draft, after a season which Perreault put up 52 points (18+34) in 62 games, and watch Perreault put up 119 (41+78) points in 67 games last season. This year Perreault has 69 points (24+45) in 43 games.

Sasha Pokulok (Defense, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Pokulok’s numbers this season aren’t particularly impressive (no goals, five assists, 35 PIMs, +6) but the fact that the big defenseman has been able to make it through the first 31 games of this season without a serious injury and shown some improvement is a good sign

Keith Seabrook (Defense, Calgary Hitmen, WHL) - Seabrook has found his stride somewhat but the 2006 second round pick still has just three goals and eight assists in 39 games for the Hitmen.

Semen Varlamov (Goalie, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl , RSL) - as with most players (and especially goalies) in the Russian Super League it was difficult to find statistics on Varlamov, but I was able to dig up that he is 23-10 and has a GAA of about 2.40.

Eric Fehr did indeed return to action last night with the Hershey Bears and had a very good game, registering an assist 40 seconds in and finishing the game with the one point, a +1 rating and four shots on goal.

More on Fehr’s return from the On Frozen Blog team here.

Two articles of interest for Capitals fans are making their ways through the internet today:

1. Eric Fehr may play tonight for Hershey (my thoughts on a Fehr’s return).
2. Former Head Coach Glen Hanlon has been offered a job as a scout for the Capitals.

It could have easily and understandably been missed, a short paragraph in the notes section at the end of Tarik’s Washington Post writeup from last night’s game, but it potentially has significant ramifications for the Capitals:

Prospect Eric Fehr, who has been out since February because of a mysterious hip ailment, recently has begun ramping up his rehabilitation with Hershey (Pa.) of the American Hockey League. General Manager George McPhee said last night that Fehr, a 2003 first-round draft pick, could play as soon as next month, though he likely would play in Hershey first. . . .

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I’m hoping to make this a regular feature where we take a look at the Caps best prospects and how they’re doing at their respective levels. This is far from being a comprehensive scouting report; I’m not a pro scout, not do I aspire to be be. Rather it’s just a way to keep keep Caps fans aware of what the future may hold.

Karl Alzner (D, Calgary Hitmen, WHL). The 5th overall pick in the 2007 draft has 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) and is +10 through 19 games with the Hitmen. He has also been named the team’s captain. With what young defensemen like Jack Johnson and Erik Johnson have been able to do I’m hoping we could see Alzner in Washington as soon as 2008-09.

Francois Bouchard (RW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL) is doing his best to continue to tear up the Q. After posting 227 points over the last two seasons Bouchard has seven goals and fourteen assists in sixteen games for Baie-Comeau. Since the start of the 2005-06 season Bouchard has put up 85 goals and 163 assists (248 points) in 153 games. The knock on Bouchard is supposed to be his skating, and it may be suspect, but it’s hard to put up that many points in the Q without a lot of offensive skill.

Chris Bourque (C, Hershey Bears, AHL) is off to a solid start in Hershey, with three goals and two assists through the team’s first seven games.

Eric Fehr (RW, Capitals, IR) has racked up 47 goals over the last two years in Hershey but has missed all of this year with a back/hip injury. I’ve had trouble finding too much information on the nature of the injury but from what I can gather there’s a decent chance Fehr may be out for the season and his career may be in doubt.

Joe Finley (D, North Dakota Fighting Sioux, WCHA) is big (6′7”, 252), mean and physical (think of him as what Jeff Schultz could be if he were aware the NHL is not a non-checking league). He has three points (a goal and two helpers) through seven games with the Sioux this season, although he really is a stay-at-home defenseman. Finley is +3 so far on the year.

Michal Neuvirth (G, Plymouth Whalers, OHL) is off to a pretty good start for a team that isn’t supposed to be all that good this year. Neuvirth, who was drafted 34th overall in 2006 went 26-8-2 with a .932 save percentage this year. It could be tempting to chalk his success up to a strong Whalers team if it weren’t for Neuvirth’s .925 save percentage so far this season.

Keith Seabrook (D, Calgary Hitmen, WHL) is supposed to have a lot of offensive upside I’m told, but he has only one point (an assit) in eight games so far this year. On the defensive side he is -8.

Semen Varlamov (G, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl , RSL) is playing the Russian Superleague, where I believe he is the starting netminder for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. I had trouble finding stats for the RSL but it looks like Varlamov was 15-7-6 with a 2.12 GAA last year and is 8-3-0 with a 2.41 GAA this year. An interesting scouting report can be found here which says his save percentage last year was “well above 90%”.