Capitals Sign John Erskine

[Thrillhouse]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Capitals have signed free agent defenseman John Erskine, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Erskine, 26, is a seventh-year professional who split last season between the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders, recording one goal and 161 penalty minutes in 60 NHL games. He appeared in 26 games with the Stars before being acquired by the Islanders, where he played 34 games, including each of the season’s last 25 contests. Erskine has played 141 games over four seasons in the NHL, posting three goals, two assists and 336 penalty minutes.

Erskine was originally selected by Dallas in the second round, 39th overall, of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. The 6’4”, 219-pound native of Kingston, Ontario, was named the Ontario Hockey League’s best defenseman in 1999-00, his third and final season with the London Knights. He was also a first-team OHL all-star that season.

[Thrillhouse]

Urgh...lets spread the enforcers around a bit, especially in a weak division.

Good for the Caps though, tough team they have.

[steg1989]

Brashear + Erskine = No more messing with AO!

[wellzy]

good sign for the caps, their gettin better and tougher all the time. got a good defenseman and a good fighter out of this.

[KolMartin229]

Well the Caps have Brashear and Erskine to protect Ovechkin, this should make for some fun Pens vs Caps games.

[NJDevils17]

capitals and canes play 8 times. there will be scoring from staal and ovechkin and fights by peat, boulerice, brashear, and erskine. even though i doubt peat and boulerice would both ever be dressed for the same game.

[paint huffer]

For those of you who follow the Caps on a regular basis, do you think these two will ever be in the lineup at the same time? Or will one of them always be scratched/in the A?

[NJDevils17]

Originally Posted by paint huffer

For those of you who follow the Caps on a regular basis, do you think these two will ever be in the lineup at the same time? Or will one of them always be scratched/in the A?

i don't think they'll scratch brashear because he's the 5th highest paid player on that team and makes 1 mil. erskine will also be in the line up since he has improved a lot and will get better.

[bengino]

i doubt either of them would get scratched seeing as brash is a forward and erksine a d-man.

i think that this proves the caps willingness to have a tough lineup.

[BGDDYKWL]

Good to see him finally signed, though I have no idea why it took this long. As for both him and Brash being in the lineup at the same time, I'd say that's pretty likely. I don't see Brash ever sitting, as someone mentioned, they're paying him too much. As for Erskine, the Caps are thin and relatively soft on D, so I'd expect him to be in their top 6. Probably would have to say the Caps have the best 1-2 in hockey now.

[jkidd]

****er!

At least we get to play the Caps this year...

Good pick up by the Caps. Never have enough tough guys.

[Lars24]

I'm not to surprised to see the Caps toughen up this season. Look who the GM is and that says quite a bit. AO should be able to do what he wants now.

[Humpzilla]

Damn, the Capitals are going to be TOUGH this season! Its just too bad they've got pussified teams like Florida and Tampa Bay to play against....

The thing I want to know though is whether or not this signing will effect how many games Mitch Fritz see's this season. I hope really hope it does...

[Fletch]

A suprise signing for the Capitals. Good for them! I really like John Erskine. If Brash decides to work on "other" parts of his game while he plays for the Caps, you know Erskine is right there to step in and do the dirty work.

[dipandmitts]

wow brash and erskine,cool, this should mean that the canes keep somebody around too .