General manager George McPhee just addressed the media and here is some of what he had to say:
* Brian Pothier has been sent to Hershey on a conditioning assignment. This is the next step in his comeback process. McPhee said he could be with the Caps by the end of the year or the playoffs.
SEE RELATED:
* Staffan Kronwall has also been sent to Hershey.
* Simeon Varlamov is expected to play for Hershey this weekend.
* Karl Alzner has not been added to the Caps roster, but McPhee called it “an option.”
Oh yeah, the trade stuff:
* McPhee said he talked to Anaheim about Chris Pronger, but the asking price proved to be too high. He said that names like Simeon Varalmov, John Carlson and Karl Alzner came up in a lot of his talks, and he wasn’t willing to move any of his “6-8 Grade A prospects” or his first-round pick in any of the deals he discussed.
* He also said the Caps were not in on Jay Bouwmeester, Niclas Havelid or Jordan Leopold. He did talk to Phoenix about Derek Morris, but not seriously. He said having Karl Alzner and potentially Pothier played a big part in shaping the trade talks concerning defensemen.
* McPhee said he did not get involved on Keith Tkachuk or Erik Cole, but there were discussions with another team about a veteran forward.
* Finally, as far the goaltending situation — GMGM said the Caps could have Brent Johnson back by the playoffs and Varlamov could be a factor as well, so he didn’t want to give up assets to add a backup goalie when they might have two ready by playoff time.
