by Adam GretzFiled under: Capitals, NHL Free Agency
After a quiet start to the offseason, the Washington Capitals have reportedly signed free agent center Eric Belanger to a one-year contract worth $1.875 million. The deal with Washington was originally reported by James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail Thursday morning, while the Washington Post also reported it Thursday night. Belanger spent 17 games with the Capitals last season after being acquired at the trade deadline from Minnesota for a second-round draft pick. With the Capitals and Wild he recorded 15 goals and 26 assists for a career-high 41 points. He's also one of the best face-off men in the NHL, winning 56 percent of his draws last season, good enough for the ninth-best mark in the league. That, of course, gives the Capitals two of the best centers in the league in the circle, as Dave Steckel was second in the league winning over 59 percent of his face-offs. He's also proven to be capable of performing amateur dental work on himself, pulling his own tooth on the bench during a playoff game.
Earlier in the week Belanger told French language newspaper Le Soleil that he had signed with an NHL team, but could not announce it until the team made another roster move (expected to be a trade). On Thursday, Mirtle reported that one of the players Washington could be looking to move is fifth-year forward Tomas Fleischmann, who is coming off a career-year that saw him score 23 goals in 69 games. Unfortunately for the Capitals, he was a complete no-show in the playoffs, recording just one assist in six games during the team's opening round loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
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