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Capitals face challenge in re-signing Karl Alzner

karlalzner

With his 2013 scoring totals hovering around the team lead before Alex Ovechkin really took over, many wondered if the Washington Capitals could keep Mike Ribeiro - and if it would be at the right price. CSNWashington.com’s Chuck Gormley believes that negotiations with Karl Alzner might just determine if the Capitals will bring him back.

It might be tough to properly assess Alzner’s value, however.

The 24-year-old defenseman’s focus has frequently been defense-first (second and last), so determining how much of a raise he deserves from his current $1.285 million cap hit could be a challenge. Gormley lays out the pending restricted free agent’s options; he could opt for a shorter deal with the hopes of cashing in big once he becomes unrestricted or follow fellow young Caps defenseman John Carlson’s lead in sacrificing a bigger payday for more security.

Alzner didn’t sound too stressed about it either way.

“It’ll be fun to see how it all happens,” Alzner said. “You always hope for the best and I’m excited to see how the talks will go, but this summer, I approach every summer the same.”

As with any RFA, there’s at least the mild threat of an offer sheet if negotiations drag on. It’s not something Alzner has really considered much.

“I haven’t really even thought about it, to be honest,” Alzner said. “That would be weird. Like I said, I don’t know anything but [Washington]. It would be strange.”

Contract talks have the tendency to get a little weird here and there, though.