Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Lepisto Gets the Call

The Washington Capitals have called up Sami Lepisto from the AHL Hershey Bears today. The move to bring up the 23 year old, former third round pick from the same draft that produced Alex Ovechkin, Jeff Schultz, Mike Green, and Chris Bourque, signals one of three things -- and perhaps all three.

First, John Erskine has not played since being involved in a fight with Carolina's Wade Brookbank two games ago. The injury would leave the Capitals with only six healthy defensemen: Green, Morrisonn, Poti, Schultz, Jurcina, and Eminger. With Disney On Ice in town at the Verizon Center for the next week, the Capitals are on the road for the next three games and need someone with the team ready to suit to up in case of injury. That player will most likely be Steve Eminger, so Lepisto will have his shot at the big time.

Alternatively, the move could just be performance based. Lepisto has been the best defenseman in Hershey all season long and one of the best in the entire AHL. He has led the Hershey Bears in plus/minus all season long and is second best in the league with a +25 rating (ten higher than Andrew Gordon who is second on the Bears.) His 27 assists are seven more than anyone else on Hershey and is fourth among all AHL defensemen despite playing at least eight fewer games than any of the top three. (His assists per game ratio would have him leading the league had he played as much as the leaders.) Most of all, the guy is simply on a roll. He has an eight game point scoring streak during which he has a goal and 12 assists along with a +12 rating. He has seven assists in his last three games alone. Performance based callup? Why the heck wouldn't it be?

Lastly, with the trade deadline looming two weeks away, might the Capitals be looking to see if Lepisto is ready to fit into their long term plans? If so, it would give the Capitals more maneuverability at the deadline. Lepisto is the type of offensive minded, puck moving defenseman that Eminger was touted to become. With Emmy due to become a RFA at the end of the season, he could certainly be on the way out. Even more interestingly, the Capitals might be setting themselves up for a blockbuster deal. Sure George McPhee says he'll stand pat, but just about every GM in this league would say that, then pull off a move the next day. If Lepisto is ready, could a guy like Jeff Schultz be packaged with one of our goaltending prospects and a high draft pick or two (the Caps have a first and three second-round picks in the upcoming draft) for a big name like Marian Hossa or Mats Sundin? Both the Trashers and Maple Leafs are thin in prospects on the blue line and in goal, so why wouldn't they be interested in such a deal?

The call up of Lepisto might be for any mixture of the above thoughts, but regardless of the why, the Capitals will potentially be witnessing the emergence of a defenseman who may be starring on the blue line for years to come.  Washington has used some combination of the same eight defenseman (counting Brian Pothier, of course) for all 57 games this season.  Only a handful of teams have used so few.

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