Screenshot: Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals weren’t heavy players in the opening hours of free agency as in years’ past, however the team added two notable players via the open market and trade in forward Max Pacioretty and Joel Edmundson. The latter met with the media today for the first time since being dealt to Washington.
The 3o-year old, 6’5″ blueliner brings a lot of qualities to the backend, including a hard-nosed presence in front of the net which he hopes will benefit Capitals goalies Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren next season.
“Just being solid in front of the goalie, making sure he can see the puck”, said Edmundson of his playing style, “I love to use my stick to my defense, cross-checks, and just make the opposition’s night miserable. I think that’s what got me to this point in my career.”
While his physicality is an asset, he believes leadership and experience can help the Capitals after a season in which they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“I just want to be a good guy in that locker room” Edmundson said, “I hear they have a fun group in there, so I just want to go in there and be a leader in my own type of way.”
The Caps’ blueline has a number of young players who will be vying for playing time next season, including Martin Fehervary and Alex Alexeyev (both left-handed). While an established veteran such as Edmundson might feel pressure, he sees it as an opportunity to benefit from.
“They’re skilled guys, they’ve got some good patience. Maybe they can teach me a thing or two also. I want to be a guy they can lean on. I’ve been in the league, going into my ninth year now and I’ve had a lot of good teammates.”
“I’ve had a lot of good mentors in my career so I just want to be that guy for those guys.”
While having played in the Top-4 and elsewhere in his career, Edmundson says he will play wherever is necessary to help the Capitals win this season.
“That’s not really a main focus for me right now…for me it doesn’t matter if I’m first, second, or third pair, I just want to be a guy that’s reliable.”
By Michael Fleetwood
I like his size and his physicality…Caps need someone to clear the crease or, as he said, make someone’s night miserable if they try to set up shop in front of the Caps goalies. Too many times last season the other team did just that, set up shop in front of Lindy and Kuemper. Just hope the guy stays healthy
Chase Priskie just signed 2-way with Caps. Don’t get scooped!
… and something must have inspired Chase Priskie to return to the Caps after being spurned some years back. Flushing the Reirden-Lavi disaster days and replacing it with Newcoach Carbery and a breath of fresh air … maybe Priskie liked this development. Anyway, it’s a good week as prospects are flocking to GMBM and AGM Ross baby. The Caps look like “intelligent life” to an aspiring prospect, at least a lot more than they did 12 or 18 months ago
The Caps’ blueline has a number of young players who will be vying for playing time next season, including Martin Fehervary ???
Seriously ? That was written About Fehervary
He sucked last season.
The Caps’ blueline has a number of young players who will be vying for playing time next season, including Martin Fehervary
This was seriously written by someone who informs About Capitals re Fehervary ?
Like really ?
In my opinion Capitals can only hope he will play full 81 games and pray for his health daily and someone writes this ?
No brainer !
Fehervary is by far our best left D but OK
Fehervary did not have a great year last season. Any competition is good competition.
He did get injured (the hit by Milan Lucic) and that probably slowed him down a lot. Plus I thought he had some back injury too he was struggling with. I expect him to have a good rebound as long as he stays healthy