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The Washington Capitals completed a trade on the second day of the NHL draft. It's just not the one they had hoped to swing when the weekend began.

General Manager George McPhee sent prospect Sami Lepisto to the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday in exchange for a pick in next year's draft. But the Capitals left Bell Centre without making a trade to fill their biggest void: a second-line center.

"There wasn't a lot of [trade talk] that went on here," McPhee said. "There may be more of that next week and closer to camp. We're not going to force anything. The season doesn't start until October."

With the departure of veteran forwards Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov this month, McPhee said he plans to monitor the free agent market, which opens next Wednesday, and will sign someone "if it makes sense." But he quickly added that he's not feeling intense pressure to do so because he feels there are players on the roster capable of replacing them.

"We feel Brooks Laich can play [second-line center], and he might be able to play it very well," McPhee said. "He did it a lot last year when Sergei was injured."

McPhee added: "Chris Clark scored 30 goals [as a first-line right wing] a couple of years ago. We've got guys internally who can do it. We'll just see what's out there. If there's a player out there that can help our club, we'll be interested. Just don't expect us to go out and commit to a big or long-term deal in free agency. We've seen that movie before."

McPhee also said he does not expect to replace Donald Brashear with another heavyweight enforcer if, as expected, he does not return.

"Do you take a page out of Detroit's book and throw as much talent at the other team as you can?" McPhee said. "If people want to screw around, you beat them on the power play. Nobody is going to intimidate [Alex] Ovechkin, [Nicklas] Backstrom, [Mike] Green or Laich or any of those kids. Some teams you have to have it, some teams you don't."

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Mcphee, you homo. Ovechkin will take a two hander to the face next year without a legit guy to protect him.