(Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

The Capitals overall staffing plan became a little more crystallized yesterday (Wednesday) after word broke Caps GM Brian Maclellan was working hard to close deals with both RW Eric Fehr and Jay Beagle.  Both players were previously straddling the line of uncertainty as far as their future with the Caps were concerned.  The Caps intended direction for the remainder of the team seems to be somewhat clear, as far as who the team is intending to sign, and who they were going to part ways with.  All with the exception of one player, Marcus Johansson.

GM MacLellan stated in his exit interview immediately following the season that the primary players they looked to sign were Holtby, Kuznetsov, Johansson and Schmidt.  Has something changed in the way the team is thinking?  Probably not, but things have been eerily quiet on the MoJo front, nonetheless.

A quick estimate shows the team has approximately $20 million to sign all remaining players.  If you estimate Holtby and Kuznetsov coming away with a total combined  of $10 million, and assuming Fehr and Beagle get modest bumps in pay, that would equate to $4 million in cap space.  That leaves approximately $5 million to sign any remaining pieces.

Caps management may be considering letting MoJo walk, if they are in need of saving $2 million in order to sign a higher tier forward.  They could also be moving MoJo down the priority list, to see how things shake out with Holtby and Kuznetsov.