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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 3:30 PM

Kudos to McPhee in D.C.

Eric Duhatschek

Smart, if subtle, move by Washington Capitals’ general manager George McPhee, who let tough guy Donald Brashear go to the New York Rangers (who ridiculously paid him $2.8-million over two years) and replaced him on his roster with Mike Knuble, a 27-goal scorer with Philadelphia last season, for $5.6-million over two years. So for a few dollars more, McPhee gets what he needs – someone other than Brooks Laich to go to the front of the net on the Capitals power play – and provide a little grit for a highly skilled Washington team. Knuble was third on the Flyers last year, with 11 power-play goals and is just the sort of tweak the Capitals need to move their group forward next year.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, the expectation is that both Claude Giroux and Darroll Powe will play far greater roles next year, with Knuble and Joffrey Lupul (sent to Anaheim in the Chris Pronger deal) no longer in the organization. Lupul was a 25-goal scorer last year, so the Flyers have effectively subtracted 52 goals from the team that lost in the opening playoff round against Pittsburgh.

By the way, there was a thought in some quarters that the Flames would not offer Jay Bouwmeester more money than Dion Phaneuf in their negotiations with the unrestricted free agent this week.

In fact, they did just that. Bouwmeester’s contract breaks down this way: five years, $33.4-million, with $7-million in the first year and then four years at $6.6-million. Officially, Bouwmeester’s salary-cap charge is $6.68-million, which is No. 2 on the Flames’ list behind team captain Jarome Iginla at $7-million.

Altogether, the Flames’ cap charge for their top eight players (Iginla, Bouwmeester, Phaneuf, Miikka Kiprusoff, Olli Jokinen, Daymond Langkow, Robyn Regehr and Cory Sarich) is $43.43-million, leaving about $13-million for however many players they want to carry next year.

Shifting their farm team to Abbotsford, B.C. suggests the Flames may play with 20 or 21 players next year, two down from the minimum of 23.

If they run into injury issues – especially of the short-term variety – the Flames may find themselves in a salary-cap bind, same as last year, although Darryl Sutter continues to deride everyone who raises that as a possibility.

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Globe On Hockey Contributors

David Shoalts

David Shoalts, a native of Wainfleet, Ont., joined The Globe in 1984 as a layout and copy editor in the sports section. He attended the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. After graduating from Conestoga with a journalism diploma in 1978, Shoalts worked at the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and later the Toronto Sun.

In 1986, Shoalts went back to the writing side of the business. He was the CFL reporter for The Globe for four years and then switched to hockey. He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL ever since and became a hockey columnist in 2003. Among the most memorable events Shoalts has covered are the final hockey game at the old Chicago Stadium (between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks) and the men's and women's gold-medal hockey games at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He is also the author of a book of humour, Tales From The Toronto Maple Leafs, and co-author with retired Globe columnist William Houston of Greed and Glory, The Fall of Hockey Czar Alan Eagleson.

 
Allan Maki

Allan Maki

Allan Maki joined the Globe in 1997, after spending 19 years as a reporter and columnist at the Calgary Herald. Born in Thunder Bay, Ont., Maki graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1977.

A past president of the Football Writers of Canada, Maki has covered every Grey Cup since 1980. He's been to seven Olympic Games and covered everything from rodeos to the World Series to the Super Bowl.

A regular commentator on radio and television, Maki hosted a sports program for two years on CBC Newsworld. He has won several awards for his writing and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 1995.

 
Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.

A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. Most recently, he was appointed as the newest member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.