Erskine Extends in Washington

The Washington Capitals announced that they have signed veteran defenseman John Erskine to a new 2-year contract extension on Friday. Erksine was originally brought to Washington in 2006 and has been helping to solidify the Capitals blueline since.  The deal is reportedly worth $3 million, which works out to be a $1.5 million cap hit per season, which is a slight raise from the 2-year extension he signed in 2008.

In the 2011 season, Erskine has played in 31 games for the Capitals, scoring 3 goals and adding 4 assists for 7 points, which is good enough for 409th in league scoring, 86th among defensemen.  His positional rank keeps him on the outside of this season's 20-team draft, seeing as though there are four defensemen per team, but with long-term injuries and missed opportunities, he could be featured in the second waiver draft.

As for the salary cap for the 2012 season, only 14 regular players are signed on for next season and it comes in at a fairly reasonable annual cap hit of about $38.1 million.  By the 2011 season's standards, that would leave the Capitals with about $21.3 million in cap space for nine players.  Among those players headed to unrestricted free agency in the Summer include, Alex Semin, Brooks Laich, Mike Knuble and Scott Hannan.  You have got to know that their playoff performance this Spring will go a long ways to deciding who stays and who goes.