"When Washington re-signed Karl Alzner to a two-year, $2.57 million deal the most stunning part of the contract was how cheaply it was and with how few years it came attached with it. Capitals GM George McPhee chalked it up as another cap management victory this summer and those watching things around the league were left amazed for a couple of reasons. Not only was McPhee able to keep one of his young stud defensive stoppers, he was able to do it without outside interference in the form of an offer sheet.

Last year we saw one restricted free agent signed to an offer sheet as Sharks GM Doug Wilson tried to take advantage of the Blackhawks poor salary cap situation by signing Niklas Hjalmarsson to a four-year $14 million offer sheet. The Blackhawks didn't blink at the Sharks move and matched it before they ultimately parted ways with Antti Niemi. While there were no hard feelings between Wilson and Hawks GM Stan Bowman, it makes us wonder why a similar poaching move wasn't made on Alzner this summer. After all, the Capitals were up against the salary cap and the seemingly small deal they got Alzner locked up to put them over the cap just slightly by over $800,000.

As it turns out, the Caps and Alzner were never too far apart in what they wanted. Katie Carrera of The Washington Post finds out from Alzner's agent J.P. Barry that the framework was solid between both sides all along.

Barry explained that the team initially cited comparables in a $1.2 million to $1.4 million range for the second year while he sought something in a higher range closer to $1.9 million to $2 million. They ultimately agreed to $1.75 million for the second year, which was combined with the qualifying offer of $826,895 and then spread out over the duration of the deal, Barry said."