Capitals Re-Sign Steve Eminger, Brian Sutherby

[VodkaFish]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have re-signed defenseman Steve Eminger and center Brian Sutherby, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Eminger, 23, has spent the first four years of his NHL career as a Capital, recording six goals and 35 assists for 41 points and 213 penalty minutes in 192 games. He skated in 68 games last year and tallied one goal while dishing out a career-high 16 assists. Three of his assists were shorthanded, which placed him second on the team and tied for seventh in the NHL. Eminger’s 17 points were second among Caps defensemen and the team was 11-2-2 when he had a point. His ice time average of 18:36 and 83 blocked shots were both fourth best on the team.

A 6’2”, 217-pound native of Toronto, Eminger was the Capitals’ first-round choice, 12th overall, in the 2002 Entry Draft. He played two seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05) with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League (AHL), appearing in 103 games and posting three goals and 21 assists for 24 points and 80 penalty minutes.

Eminger enjoyed a standout four-year career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), appearing in 191 games for the Kitchener Rangers (1999-00 through 2002-03). He was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team in 2002-03. He led Kitchener to the Memorial Cup championship in 2003. Eminger also represented Canada at the 2003 World Junior Championships, recording two assists in six games while helping Team Canada to a silver medal.

Sutherby, 25, finished last season tied for 11th on the team with 17 points and tied for seventh with seven goals. He served as an alternate captain and ranked fourth on the team with 78 penalty minutes. His season was highlighted with three multiple-point games and he notched two assists and was a season-high +3 on Nov. 11, at Philadelphia. Sutherby missed the final nine games of the season after suffering a hand injury on March 16 in a win against Toronto.

A 6’3”, 215-pound native of Edmonton, Sutherby was the Capitals’ first-round choice, 26th overall, in the 2000 Entry Draft. He has been with Washington his entire professional career, playing 254 games and recording 25 goals and 35 assists for 60 points and accumulating 274 penalty minutes.

Sutherby played four seasons for Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League (WHL), 1998-99 through 2001-02, recording 79 goals and 99 assists for 178 points in 208 games. Sutherby also spent parts of three seasons with Portland of the AHL, posting 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points in 64 games.

He helped Canada to a silver medal at the 2002 World Junior Championship. He tied for fourth on the team in points (six) with three goals and three assists in seven games.

[roy36cairns]

Any status on John Erskine? He is an RFA, but I thought I read that July 15 was some kind of deadline for him and the caps....??

[Podollan]

I am pretty sure he was resigned by them...
Sutherby is a tough dude, would take him on my team every day.

[roy36cairns]

"Defensemen Steve Eminger, John Erskine, Milan Jurcina and Jamie Hunt, as well as forwards Brian Sutherby, Tomas Fleischmann, Jakub Klepis, Dave Steckel and Brooks Laich all received the one-year offers before yesterday's 5 p.m. deadline. If the player accepts the offer, those who earn less than $660,000 will receive a 10 percent raise; players who earn more get a 5 percent increase, up to $1 million.
...Players who were qualified have until July 15 to accept the offers. Eminger, Erskine, Jurcina, Laich and Sutherby, meantime, must notify the Capitals by July 5 if they elect for salary arbitration."
http://realgmhockey.com/src_wiretap_..._nine_players/

Not sure what to make of this... Possibly, Erskine did not accept the offer and is now a UFA? I hope Ray Shero is paying attention...

[DaveBrown69]

Sounds good for Cap fans.

[Isles4life]

I like what I've seen from both these guys. Sutherby seems to have a nice little edge in his game too.

[dtdc2k3]

eminger SUCKS...
sutherby is a decent player and can scrap he had a bad year last year player wise but i think he will bounce back this year

and on the erskine front hes pretty low on the todempole. he is are 7th or 8th dman i hope for him to get in the starting roster but i just cant see it happing. he'll get a shot if someone gets hurt.