For those of you who are shocked Sideny Crosby didn’t win, the same applies. I’ll do you one better, Crosby didn’t even belong on the ballot.

How John Tavares didn’t capture the Hart Trophy this season is something I will not understand for some time.

And I’m a Rangers fan.

Plain and simple, when this season started, there was no scenario where the New York Islanders made the playoffs, none. Find me the reputable hockey source who picked the Islanders to make the playoffs; and I’ll show you a leprechaun riding a unicorn.

The Hart Trophy is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Read that again. Now imagine I put “his team” in italics. Am I emphasizing my point enough?

Let’s look at the numbers:

Alexander Ovechkin: 48 GP, 32 G, 24 A, 56 PTS, +2, 16 PP

Sidney Crosby: 36 GP, 15 G, 41 A, 56 PTS, +26, 3 PP

John Tavares: 48 GP, 28 G, 19 A, 47 PTS, -2, 9 PP

Now some more numbers:

Washington Capitals: 48 GP, 27 W, 18 L, 3 OT, 57 PTS, 3rd place finish in Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh Penguins: 48 GP, 36 W, 12 L, 0 OT, 72 PTS, 1st place finish in Eastern Conference.

New York Islanders: 48 GP, 24 W, 17 L, 7 OT, 55 PTS, 8th place finish in Eastern Conference.

For my money there are only a couple of elements to this discussion that are of merit. First, Sidney Crosby missed 12 games, and his team didn’t miss a beat. Second, if Crosby plays those games, he blows Ovechkin out of the water in terms of production. Third, Tavares produced all season long, and if he doesn’t produce at a point-per-game pace, his team misses the playoffs.

Here’s why those are the three main points to discuss.

If you refuse to accept that the award goes to the player most valuable to his team, then the production quantity is the key element. If Crosby plays a full season he decimates Ovechkin in that category. You can’t hold Crosby breaking his jaw against him, if anything, his production equaling Ovechkin’s in 12 less games is all the more reason to vote for Crosby.

If you are capable of accepting the award’s definition, then you’re probably going to argue about the correlation between Ovechkin picking up his rate of production and the Capitals winning games. This marks the one and only possible counterargument to Tavares I’ve heard. Yes, in terms of the award’s definition, at first glance, the former correlation in addition to his level of production over Tavares makes him a clear choice.

Only at first glance though.

Tavares plays on a really bad team. They are so bad, that they had to put Tim Thomas on the payroll so they could meet league regulations. For those of you who don’t know, it was widely known before the 2013 NHL season that Thomas would not play.

Funny right?

In addition, JT’s cash-scrapped team also allowed PA Parenteau (he had 67 points with Islanders in 2011-2012) to walk in free-agency. Apparently, the $4 Million a year against the cap he incurred for the Avalanche was too much money for Long Island in 2012-2013.

Parenteau had 43 points in 48 games for Colorado this past season.

Long Island allowing Parenteau to go is the subject of another rant for another article. The point of all this is simple: Tavares’ supporting cast decreased before this season started.

It didn’t matter.

Night after night Tavares brought his A-Game (Icon SMI)

Night in and night out Tavares was a factor. He maintained the point-per-game pace he set last season even without Parenteau, and the Islanders made the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

For Ovechkin, there’s no doubt he’s a great player and the cornerstone of the Capitals’ success.

Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Ribeiro, an Mike Green are all tremendous players in their own right. Having that kind of talent on the roster forces opposing teams to make a decision, who do you account for? Obviously Ovechkin is the guy you focus on, but you have to worry about the rest of those guys.

With the Islanders, there’s no such dispute. You lock down Tavares, there’s a good chance you walk away with a win.

They’ve done well for themselves recently, but opposing coaches don’t lose sleep at night over the likes of Matt Moulson or Brad Boyes.

In the end, only one logical conclusion can be drawn about this year’s Hart vote: Name recognition won out. Ovechkin just barely edged out Crosby with a total of 1,090 points to 1,058.

Tavares finished third.

If you’re still not convinced of the name recognition travesty that was this year’s Hart vote, consider this: Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t even make the ballot.

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Casey DeMarco

I work for Bleacher Report's video department as a producer and also appear on camera to talk hockey on a regular basis. I write soccer related content for the site and the occasional hockey piece here and there too.

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Surely, McPhee won’t be able to have everything a Capitals’ fan wants this summer. Ribeiro should easily get close to six million if he re-signs, leaving a tight fit to get Alzner under the salary cap. Hendricks is likely to walk and Johansson should get a small deal. The Hockey Writers breaks down Washington’s key RFA’s below.

Karl Alzner

Alzner is Washington’s top shutdown defenseman and one of the best in all of hockey. He plays a simple and effective game for the Capitals, moves the puck out of the zone efficiently to the forwards and doesn’t make very many mistakes in the defensive zone. He was paired with Mike Green at the end of this season, helping out Washington’s top offensively skilled defenseman to complete a balanced number one defensive pairing.

He started in the offensive zone only 46.1% of the time, fifth for Washington defensemen that played over 20 games this year. While he only put up five points in 48 games this year, that’s not where his talent lies. He’s a top penalty killer for the Capitals and will be paid as such. Expect a multi-year deal in the range of 3-4 million dollars per season.

Marcus Johansson

A versatile 22 year old forward, Johansson hits restricted free agency for the first time in his career following the third year of his entry level contract. He posted 22 points in 34 games for the Capitals during the regular season, along with a goal and an assist in Washington’s first round series exit against the New York Rangers. He held a cap hit of $900,000 his first three seasons under contract, and should get a raise just over one million in a short term deal.

(Clyedorama/Flickr)

Tomas Kundratek

This former New York Rangers defenseman saw significant and unexpected playing time in Washington this season, but found himself playing where he started the year during the Capitals playoff run, with Washington’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. He’s an offensively minded defenseman, but needs to work a lot more on building his frame to face skilled NHL forwards. Kundratek also must work on his defensive game if he ever wants to reach the NHL for a sizeable amount of time, and stay there.

However, he is a very valuable player to have in the system. Offensively skilled defensemen don’t grow on trees and with the new CBA; McPhee would be wise to lock up a key piece of the Capitals future. I’d expect a two year deal worth close to 1.5 million annually.

Stay tuned at THW for more info as the Capitals offseason gets underway.

You can follow Matthew on twitter @m_speck and email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Matthew Speck

Matthew Speck is the Washington Capitals writer for The Hockey Writers. He also is a credentialed AHL writer, covering the Hershey Bears for Inside Hockey. You can email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Ovechkin and company have not celebrated like this very often come playoff time. (THW)

Enter Adam Oates.  After a poor regular season showing in 2011-2012, and another first-round exit last year, the Caps are looking to add some grit to a group of guys that generally are considered to be more finesse players.  Pick number 23 in the Entry Draft usually is not the place where a team will find an immediate contributor, especially one that is going to make a significant impact.  While the Capitals are going to need some veteran toughness this coming season to take the team to next level, they will also need to stock up on youth to maintain their strong regular seasons.

So who will they choose?  Let’s take a look at their needs and recent history.

Team Needs

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin won the Maurice Richard trophy last season for scoring the most goals and he always sits high on the league leaders list.  Washington scored the second most goals in the Eastern conference and third in the league overall (tied with Montreal).  The core of forwards on their roster are in their mid-20s and are in the prime of their careers.  Though highly ranked prospect Filip Forsberg was traded away, 2009 first rounder Marcus Johansson made has made his mark on the roster and two other top picks are waiting in the wings.  Evgeny Kunetsov is playing well in Russia and Canadian Tom Wilson had his NHL debut in this year’s playoffs.  6^th round pick Riley Barber is also making an impact, having a great showing in this year’s World Junior’s, as well as receiving accolades from the CCHA on his season.  The Caps frontline appears to be in good shape for the future, but they still lack strong two way role players.

Defense

Dmitri Orlov is a typical pick for the Capitals–European and offensive minded. {www.russian prospects.com}

The blue line is where the Caps appear to be lacking in grit and talent.  Washington was -8 during the 2011-2012 regular season in goal differential.  The goaltender situation in the District seems to be settled (more on this later) and the statistics show the problem does not lie between the pipes.  Dmitri Orlov is the best prospect ready to make an impact (2009 2^nd round pick), but he is more of an offensive threat than a true defenseman.  However, he does have the winning pedigree Washington is looking for with three World Junior Championship medals, capturing a gold medal in 2011.  A strong defensemen or two, “energy guys” preferably, is what the Caps are most in need of.

2010 4th round pick Philipp Grubauer is listed as the third keeper on Washington’s roster. All starters are currently under 25. (M. Richter-Capitals Outsider)

Goaltenders

Adam Oates announced that Braden Holtby would be his starting goalie going into his inaugural season.  Rightfully so.  Holtby was tied for second place in wins with 23 and held a .920 save percentage.  Former starter Michal Neuvirth is 25 years young and 2010’s fourth round pick Philipp Grubauer round off a talented young group of keepers.  The problem seen in the goalkeeper stats is a high goals against average, which means these guys are seeing too many shots.  This goes back to the point above:  the Caps need defensive help.

First Round Pick Prediction

Since the 2008 season, the Capitals have picked three Swedes and one Russian in the first round.  Washington also has a strong history of picking European players in early rounds and North Americans with their later picks.  The roster is young and full of scoring talent.  Unfortunately, defensive minded players are not the sexy pick in the first round.  Yet, with the Caps having the 23^rd pick, picking up someone that can bring some energy to the team should not be much of a reach.

Author’s Pick:  I think Washington will pick a strong two-way player with number 23.  I also think Washington should take a player that plays the (stereotypical) North American style, especially to offset the European scorers sitting on the roster now.  Top end defensemen Seth Jones and Darnell Nurse will be long gone.  If Swede/North American Mirco Mueller slides down, the Caps will probably pick him up.  However, with his offensive skill set, he will likely be gone as well.

The best pick for team needs, if available, should be for the Caps taking Chris Bigras (D, Owen Sound Attack).  With Oates at the helm and a team history of a offensively focused top pick, we should not be surprised if management looks overseas and grabs a player in the ilk of Mueller or Orlov.

Other Sites Picks:

Bleacher Report:  Bo Horvat, C – London Knights (NHL Prospect rank #15)

Yahoo! Sports:  Josh Morrisey, D – Prince Albert Raiders (NHL Prospect rank #27)

Josh Morrissey is a popular choice for the Caps from other hockey mock drafts. [photo: David Chan]

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Tim Bourcier

My name is Tim Bourcier and I am contributor for the Washington Capitals and hockey in Europe. Prior to working with The Hockey Writers, I worked with a professional hockey club in Budapest, Hungary. I also wrote articles for the MOL Liga and international hockey tournaments. While I love writing, my passion is in analytics. I am near a PhD in Economics and I have eight years work experience as a statistician. You can check out my previous work, new stuff and wonky analysis over at my blog: bourciertm.wordpress.com

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This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

There are some major question marks surrounding Washington as the offseason gets underway at the end of June. Does Washington re-sign talented center Mike Ribeiro? What’s the price tag for restricted free agent defenseman Karl Alzner this summer and will Jeff Schultz be traded or bought out? The Capitals have only about six million dollars in cap space heading into what should be an interesting summer, with questions regarding their defensive core and the toughness of their forwards moving forward.  The Hockey Writers takes a look below at Washington’s unrestricted free agents below and gives a prediction as to who General George McPhee should let go or keep and why.

Mike Ribeiro

While many Capitals’ fans that I’ve talked to have advocated for Washington’s second line center and power play specialist to stay in D.C., retaining Ribeiro would hinder the future of the Washington Capitals. With only around six million in cap space without even re-signing RFA’s Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson, keeping a 33 year old veteran with almost no even strength ability would be a bad idea by McPhee.

The former Dallas Star should easily earn close to six million per season on a multi-year deal when he hits the open market this summer. With the hopeful arrival of Capitals prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov to Washington’s lineup at some point next season and a potential stop gap of Mathieu Perreault at second line center for the first part of the year. Ribeiro would take away playing time from players like Kuznetsov that McPhee’s been waiting a long time for. Washington’s General Manager could also look at some buy-low free agent centers till Kuznetsov arrives, including veteran center Matt Cullen.

Matt Hendricks

A fan favorite, Hendricks has a 50-50 shot to return to the Capitals. Unfortunately, performance from the past two years isn’t on his side at the negotiating table with McPhee. After signing a two year deal following a 25 point campaign during the 2010-2011 season, Hendricks managed only 17 points in the next two seasons, playing in a combined 126 regular season games.

(Tom Turks / THW)

Only forwards Aaron Volpatti, Mike Ribeiro and Jay Beagle had a worse On-Ice Corsi rating than Hendricks (-6.74), proving his lack of point producing has been made by being dominated by other lines he faces during even strength play. He finished second for Washington in penalties taken per sixty minutes (1.5); only Jason Chimera had a higher rating for forwards with over 30 games played. One of the more shocking things that I found after reviewing Hendricks season was his offensive zone starts. He started in the offensive zone for the Capitals 48.7%, sixth for Capitals forwards with over 30 GP, higher than Martin Erat and Troy Brouwer, but reaped almost no benefits offensively.

Hendricks could stay in Washington, but likely only a one year deal worth less than one million annually. With gritty forwards like Jay Beagle, Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr filling out the bottom two lines, there’s not much need for an aging Hendricks.

Poti, Crabb and Wolski Gone

In what was expected news, the Washington Post reported than defenseman Tom Poti and forwards Wojtek Wolski and Joey Crabb won’t be returning to the Capitals next season.  Poti was a reclamation project following injury, but Washington just had too many bodies to fit him in the lineup.

Tom Poti (Bridget Samuels/Flickr)

“I definitely won’t be back in Washington. I was never really in Oatesy’s plan,” Poti told the Washington Post after the season. “I’m just going to continue to train and work out this summer, my agents will be working the phones so I can get a new contract for next year and find a place for me to play.”

Wolski, like Poti, joined Washington following injuries in hopes of stabilizing his career. McPhee signed the former Florida Panthers forward to a one year deal this summer, but it never worked out.

Crabb, like Wolski never really found his niche in Washington. He earned a spot on the team due to his penalty kill and fourth line reputation, but never earned a solid amount of playing time.

“The Caps haven’t shown any interest in resigning Joey but I think he wouldn’t have any interest in signing back there either,” Crabb’s agent Kevin Epp told The Hockey Writers this week.

Stay tuned at THW for news on Washington’s unrestricted free agents along with a future article on their RFA’s.

You can follow Matthew on twitter @m_speck and email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Matthew Speck

Matthew Speck is the Washington Capitals writer for The Hockey Writers. He also is a credentialed AHL writer, covering the Hershey Bears for Inside Hockey. You can email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Riley Barber (Jeff Sabo/Miami University)

Riley Barber: A Few Questions

The Hockey Writers caught up with Riley and asked him a few questions about his freshman season, the lifestyle at Miami University of Ohio and his future with the Washington Capitals.

THW: What was the experience like playing in World Juniors like? Have you kept in touch with your teammates from the event?

Barber: “It was an unbelievable experience and something I’ll never forget, it was something really special and it doesn’t hit you until you start thinking about how rare it is to win.”

“Yes I have, a lot of my teammates are very good friends from past teams and I try to keep in touch as much as possible.”

THW: How do you plan on spending your summer as you prepare for next season and what parts of your game would you like to improve?

Barber: “I’m spending 6 weeks here at Miami training with the team and then I go back to my trainer. One thing I’d like to improve on is my quickness, I think you can always improve on all aspects and I’m going to continue to work on my shot because I think that’s a huge aspect of my game.”

THW: Are you excited for the new conference and playing against tougher teams?

Barber: “Yeah I’m extremely excited and I think playing in this conference will be a great test for our team, and great exposure.”

THW: Discuss your decision to play college hockey as opposed to the junior level. What led you to choosing Miami over other schools?

Barber: “I just always knew that there is a long life after hockey and understood the importance of getting a good education. When I first visited Miami I guess you could say I knew right away. From the coaches to the school to the atmosphere I knew it was the right fit for me.”

THW: What are your future plans with Miami and the Capitals? Do you think staying all four seasons could be an option?

Barber: “Yeah I believe anything could happen and I’m just focusing on next year with Miami.”

THW: What’s the experience like playing at your home building? Seems like an exciting atmosphere.

Barber: “It’s something really special and it definitely gives our team a boost anytime we’re at home. The fans are great and it’s an unbelievable arena.”

Stay tuned at THW for an interview with his head coach Enrico Blasi in the near future.

You can follow Matthew on twitter @m_speck and email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Matthew Speck

Matthew Speck is the Washington Capitals writer for The Hockey Writers. He also is a credentialed AHL writer, covering the Hershey Bears for Inside Hockey. You can email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.

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Jeff Schultz, right (Tom Turk/THW)

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee will have executive decisions to make this off-season, as any GM around the National Hockey League does, especially when it gets closer to the start of Unrestricted Free Agency, scheduled to begin on July 5th, 2013.

From a defensive standpoint, veteran Tom Poti’s contract has an expiration date this summer and it’s likely the 35 year old will be seeking employment elsewhere, if in fact his health, permits.

Defenseman Karl Alzner is set to become a Restricted Free Agent and will most likely work out a new deal with George McPhee, keeping the Burnaby, British Columbia native, in DC for the long haul.

That would leave the Parent Capitals blue-line with seven contracts on the books for the start of the 2013-14 campaign. However, if long time Red Shirt Jeff Schultz has anything to say about it, he will be wearing a different colored sweater, per his request.

The veteran defenseman has requested to be traded following several frustrating seasons, with playing time on the decline.

“My agent and I thought there has got to be somewhere else where a team needs a player like myself and I can be utilized a lot more then I was here,” Schultz told the Washington Media. “It was like I was a young first year player again with them.”

The 27 year old had previously asked to be moved at this years trade deadline, due to finding his way down the depth chart of the Capitals blue line.

“It was hard to see, when you’re not playing, guys get called up and play in front of you,” Schultz said. “You’ve been in the league for a certain amount of years and this is their first year, it’s just kind of frustrating. I guess they want to get some experience, but I felt like I could do more than them.”

A part of the frustration lies with Head Coach Adam Oates and former head Coach Dale Hunter in their approach with him and not fully explaining the reason for decreasing his playing time.

“Jeff would love to be there, said Schultz’s agent Jarrett Bousquet. “He loves his teammates and the Capitals have been good to him over the years when they drafted him. It’s just that now it’s to the point where playing in the National Hockey League takes precedence over not playing for the Caps. We feel for Jeff if he’s not going to be utilized in Washington that there are other teams that can utilize his talents elsewhere.”

Schultz, drafted by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL entry Draft, has played in 399 career regular season games, all with the Washington Capitals, compiling 11 goals and 75 points.

Follow me on Twitter @DarrenCoslov

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Darren Coslov

Darren is the Washington Capitals correspondent. He spent the 2010-11 season covering the Atlanta Thrashers and the 2011-12 season covering the Columbus Blue Jackets. Feel free to contact him @ DKoz256@yahoo.com. You can also follow him on Twitter. DarrenCoslov

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.