THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010


Without flash, Gordon is ready


Capitals prospect toils for a spot on opening night roster


BY KATIE CARRERA


columbus, ohio — Andrew Gordon admits he’s not the flashi- est player.Hewon’t try to beat an opposing teamby himself, or look to put on intricate skating dis- plays as he out-maneuvers defen- semen. He prefers a simple, reli- able style. “I dump the puck in the corner


a lot, I go after it,make someplays where I can and go to the net and collect a lot of rebounds,” Gordon said earlier thisweek. “I think the simplicity of my game and just howuncomplicatedit ishas really helped me have success as I’ve gone up the ladder to this point.” The Halifax, Nova Scotia, na-


tive now hopes that those traits, combined with his affable nature andworkethic,willhelphimhave a shot at cracking theWashington Capitals’ opening night lineup. Gordonis inaunique situation


whereifhewouldbereassignedto the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears, he would have to pass through waivers, and the 6-foot, 195-pound right wing has enoughupside that it’snothardto imagine another NHL teampick- ing himup. But theCapitalsalreadyhave12


players signed to one-way NHL contracts (not counting Michael Nylander) and are committed to adding another center, likelyMa- thieuPerreault orMarcus Johans- son, to that group.That leaves one more forward spot open, given Washington’s intent to carry only seven defensemen this season, under the league-maximum ros- ter size of 23. Gordon, 24, refuses to worry


about any of that, though. He understands that even a breakout AHL season, like the one he had last year in Hershey when he tal- lied 71 points and 37 goals in the regular season and another 20 points and 13 goals in the Calder Cup playoffs, doesn’t guarantee much. “This is the first year that


there’s really been even a remote opportunity for an opening for me” inWashington, Gordon said. “A good year in the American league doesn’t mean you’re NHL ready. Guys like [Keith] Aucoin and [Alexandre] Giroux, they score 100pointsayearandthey’re still trying tomake lineups [inthe NHL]. “I feel like I’ve worked hard


KLMNO HOCKEY


EZ SU


D3 CAPITALSNOTEBOOK


Team signs Neuvirth to two-year extension


The first group was the line-


BY KATIE CARRERA AND GREG SCHIMMEL


The Washington Capitals on


Wednesday signed goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a two-year extension worth $2.3 million. The 22-year-old Czech will earn $1.15millionperyear,beginning in 2011-12, under his newdeal. “When I found out I got the


offer itmeant a lot tome,” Neu- virth said. “It took me about a month to get the deal done and I’m glad that’s over. I can put that behind me and just focus on hockey now.” Neuvirth, who will earn


$765,000 this year, was set to becomearestrictedfreeagentat the end of this season,when his entry-level contract runs out. He said that after weighing his optionswhen hewas presented with the extension about a month ago, he decided it was a good idea to ensure his future with the Capitals. “Iwas thinkingwhat todo for


abit,”he said. “Butme,my agent and my family decided it’d be nice to sign for another two years with Washington. There are great and high expectations here. Their goal is to win the Stanley Cup and that ismy goal. I feel like I have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup here. That’swhy I took the deal.” Coach Bruce Boudreau said


he expected the deal would boost Neuvirth’s confidence as he takes over starting duties alongwith SemyonVarlamov. “There’s always pressure be-


cause he’s young enough [that] he’s going to want another con- tract,” Boudreau said, “but if anything [the new deal] gives himthe peace ofmind of know- ingthefaiththatwehaveinhim, and he can focus on being a great goaltender like we know he is.”


TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST


AndrewGordon, shown in 2008, is aiming to join the Capitals’ right wing corps.He played just fewer than 16 minutes inWednesday’s preseason opener but did not record a point in a 6-2 win over Columbus.


enough to earn an opportunity, but it’s a numbers game.” Of all non-Capitals regulars in


this training camp though, Coach Bruce Boudreau said Gordon is “as close toNHLready as there is.” With Washington’s roster rather full at right wing though, Gordon must continue to produce and try to outperform the others in the mix. Gordon played just fewer than


16 minutes in Washington’s pre- season opener on Wednesday, a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets,butdidnot recordapoint. What remains in Gordon’s fa-


vor, however, is that in recent seasons he’s learned how to use his strengthinfrontof thenet and


has transformed from the pure energy player he was early on in hisHershey career to an expected contributor. Boudreau compared Gordon’s


successwith that ofMike Knuble, who became a 20-plus goal scorer his seventh year in theNHLwhen he began making the opposing crease his office. “It dawns on these players that


this is pretty good, I’mgetting all these goals and I don’t have to shoot the puck that far. He did that last year,” Boudreau said, adding that Gordon’s elevated successwasn’t necessarily a prod- uct of his linemates – primarily Aucoin and Giroux – during the 2009-10 season.


“WhenAndrewGordonmissed


the first two, three games of the playoffs [with a lower-body inju- ry], Aucoin and Giroux did noth- ing,” Boudreau said. “It made us think Andrew Gordon is more to that line than those guys making Andrew Gordon . . . We’re defi- nitely going towant to take a long look at him.” Capitals notes: Matt Hen-


dricks scored a hat trick in Wednesday’s victory while Tomas Fleischmann (two goals, one as- sist) and Alexander Semin (three assists) each had three points. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov


did not allow a single goal, stop- ping all 20 of the shots he faced. carrerak@washpost.com


BASEBALL THOMAS BOSWELL


Kasten’s time with Nats may have come to an end


boswell from D1


free agency. Now, he’s changed his tune. “This is the time to act,” he


said this week. “We are close. This is how it felt in Atlanta just before we turned it around. Once you’ve laid the groundwork and improved the farmsystem, you need to add some pieces. That’s where we are now.” If the Lerners, with their


gradually rising payroll of $66 million, took the decisive step toward the kind of $85million budget thatmid-market teams in new parks typically can afford, would Kasten stay to see his plan evolve? After all his success with the


Braves, it would be out of character for himto leave a job that remains so unfinished: 24th-best record, 23rd in attendance, 22nd in payroll. But, according to those closest to him, his frustration at his lack of effective influence on the Lerners, as well as a desire to get back to his family in Atlanta, will probably end his D.C. days. If Kasten leaves—even if he


soft-pedals his departure, praises his handpicked GMMike Rizzo and crows about the futures of Stephen Strasburg, BryceHarper, Danny Espinosa and the rest—the Nats’ reputation will take a hit within the industry. And they will have a hard time replacing his broad


skill set. My preference for the Nats’


sake:He stays.My firmopinion: He’s gone. InWashington, Kasten is seen


as caustic with themedia and a symbol of baseball’s second- worst record over the last five years, ahead of only the Pirates. Since he arrived in 2006, just four of 30MLB teams have failed to have a winning season. This week, Nationals Park had its smallest crowd ever: 10,999. Moreover, Kasten is seen by many as the guy who invited all those insulting Phillies fans to invade his own team’s opening day.Maybe he knew Atlanta inside out, they argue, but he has proven tone-deaf in the Washingtonmarket. Throughout baseball,


however, as well as the NBA and NHL, where he has run teams, Kasten is still viewed as one of themost successful and versatile sports executives of his generation. At 57, he still has time for onemore big run. But probably not here. “There’s a different rumor


every week,” Kastenmuttered of scuttlebutt concerning which team, or even which sport,might be his eventual destination if he left the Nats. Or does Kasten actually provoke that buzz and use it to getmore leverage in Natstown? At the core of Kasten’s


frustration is the Nats’ inability to “brand” the franchise during


But it can be done. If you can convince him, he’ll go along with you.” Good luck convincing himhis


payroll is $20million short. As Kasten faces his decision,


he claims he is proud of the Nats’ current foundation, even if it tookmuch longer than he thought. “And it all happened by accident,” he says sardonically. His first hire, the day the


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Stan Kasten, left, talks with principal ownerMark Lerner beforeNationals Park opened in 2008.


a unique window with a new ballpark on tap.When Kasten and the Lerners arrived—a competence-plus-local-money matchmade by Commissioner Bud Selig that has been square- peg-round-hole fromthe start— the Nats’ average attendance in their second year in old RFK Stadiumwas 26,580. Now, despite that new park, average attendance was 22,715 last year and is 23,011 in ’10. “The Twins did it the right


way in their new park this year,” one Nats insider said. “They raised payroll [from$65million in ’09 to $98million] tomake sure they put a good teamon the field their first season. That’s what Stan recommended. It didn’t happen.” Instead, the Natsmoved to


Nationals Park with a payroll $9 million less than what it was in 2006, whenMLB ran the team. In baseball, the theory is that


you spend so the fans will come. The Lerners wanted to wait for the fans to come, then spend. The Lerners opened their new


park with 102- and 103-loss seasons. The Nats’ No. 1 overall draft picks—Strasburg, now out with elbow surgery, andHarper, just 17—will have to bemighty good to justify the public image damage of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In all his years running the


Braves, and eventually the NBA’s Hawks and NHL’s Thrashers for owner Ted Turner, what Kasten recommended generally became law. InWashington, his views, especially in the Lerners’ first


three years of ownership, were greeted as if he were just another hired hand with an opinion. In part, thatmay be because


the quick-witted Kasten loves to provoke and argue, a sarcastic style unlikely to work smoothly with Ted Lerner, 84, the team’s managing principal owner who came up the hard way and got his law degree in night school at GW, not at Columbia. Lerner and Rizzo, son of a


career scout,may be a better match. Both are brush-cut, immune to style, fanatic workers. Rizzo is deferential, the only approach that has a prayer, but also dogged. “You have to prove your case


to him,” Rizzo said. “Lay it out point by point.He’s very logical.


Lerners became owners, was Rizzo, whose scouting-and- developmentmethods now define the team. Lastmonth when the Nats signedHarper, Kasten celebrated in a way that now feels like a changing of the guard. As Rizzo soberly explained the deal, Kasten snuck up behind his GM, splashed a pie in his face as if he’d hit a game-winning home run, then rubbed the last of the whipped creamon Rizzo’s bald head. The team-buildingmentor


and pupil had reached graduation day. In the previous 18months, they had convinced ownership to extend Ryan Zimmerman’s contract for $45 million, to offer Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman $25million, to sign both Strasburg andHarper to record deals, to hire for 11 additional front office slots and to sign free agents, including JasonMarquis,Matt Capps and Ivan Rodriguez, tomarket- priced contracts. On that cream-pie night, the


Nats resembled a normal team, even if each of thesemodest hills had required aMount Everest climb. “There’s a future in place here


now,” Kasten said. The next fewmonths will


reveal whether he is still part of it.


boswellt@washpost.com JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST


“I feel like I have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup here,” goalieMichalNeuvirth said. “That’swhy I took the deal.”


Stevenson’s still here After practice Tuesday, the


Capitals’ coaching staff posted three lists of players onthewall.


up for Wednesday’s preseason game, the second groupwas the playerswhowouldbepracticing but not playing, and the third group was the players who would be reassigned to the mi- nor league Hershey Bears or back to juniors. Defenseman Dustin Steven-


son didn’t expect to see his name in the second group, but was thrilledwhen he did. “Itwas shocking forme,” said


Stevenson, who played Tier II junior hockey in northern Sas- katchewan last year. “I guess I shouldn’t say shocking, because thatwasmy goal, but Iwas very excited and it gave me more confidence going forward.” The 6-foot-5, 207-pound 21-


year-old is still just one of sever- al defensemen fighting for a spot with Hershey, but the fact that 14 players were sent down and he wasn’t came as a pleas- ant surprise. “I think he’s handled himself


quite well,” Boudreau said, “oncehe got over all the [awe] of where hewas.” Stevenson, the Saskatchewan


Junior Hockey League’s player of the year and playoffMVP last season, had committed to play college hockey at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York this year, but the Capitals lured himaway with a three-year, en- try-level contract inApril. Stevenson said the team


hasn’t talked to him about spe- cific plans, beyond telling him he should work to stay here as long as he can. He will likely continue his


development either with Her- shey orwith the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL before long. But for now, he’s enjoying


practicingwith the Capitals. “It’s been quite a learning


experience,” Stevenson said. “I’mjust trying to learnasmuch as possible and take as much fromthis camp as I can.” carrerak@washpost.com schimmelg@washpost.com


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