The NFL has long been a year round proposition, but the league continues to improve the off-season marketing and presentation to keep the sport center focus, despite what the calendar says traditionally. Free Agency "pre-game" is underway, a three day period where clubs can "tee up" potential targets and gain momentum for the start of the NFL calendar year this week. Not only does free agency open up full steam, but teams may trade or announce, or make official deals that had been negotiated behind closed doors. (Alex Smith deal is an example)

Labor strife several season ago necessitated the league hold free agency prior to the NFL draft. Well, everyone liked the new order of battle so much that it has become annual standard procedure. I like having free agency first as it really gives you a full view of what your roster looks like prior to the draft. The make believe General Manager that I am likes the idea of taking a chance on that high risk/high reward draft pick knowing I have the reliable veteran I already secured during free agency to mentor the rookie and also serve as a fallback plan.

The Redskins used to dominate free agency to the extent that t-shirts were printed up to celebrate the off-season successes. Vinny Ceratto is gone and the owner doesn't "meddle" anymore, leaving a pair of seasoned veterans in Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan to make informed personnel decisions. The days of Jeff George, Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, Dana Stubblefield, Mark Carrier and the rest are as distant a memory as ridiculous parking fees to attend Redskins training camp.

Make no mistake, its great to have an owner with deep pockets. I don't know a single fan that would prefer a tight wad paying salaries (or not) for their favorite franchise. Despite cash to burn and the willingness to do so, Dan Snyder and his managers are facing their own form of sequestration, imposed upon the team by fellow owners. Flickers of a final challenge to the cap penalties linger, but it appears another $18 million hit is a near certainty.

The good news? Unless the team restructures too many of the wrong contracts and back loads tons of cash into next season, Washington should be in great cap shape moving forward following the two years of austerity. With the penalties ending, the team will enjoy roughly $20 million more to spend in 2014. Next year is also the final payment (1st round draft pick) in the Robert Griffin investment, so if management plays their cards right, they may well be positioned to take another big step forward as a franchise.

Projecting the draft is a tough task, projecting both free agency and the draft is a nearly impossible dynamic. With player moves "official" beginning on Monday, we will take an advance look, a preview of the decisions the 'Skins are facing on both offense and defense. It's no secret that what really is going to shape the 2013 Burgundy and Gold is which of the clubs own free agents can, and will be retained. When you have nearly 20 of your own needing a deal and you are already right at the cap limit, many changes are in store. While the government is faced with self-inflicted deductions, currently without flexibility, that is where the Redskins situation differs. While the $18 million dollar is a hard number, the Skins have plenty of wiggle room in how and who they keep. 

Up next, we will provide an overview of what free agent decisions Kyle Shanahan is facing on offense.

The Florida Panthers came into Verizon Center and started the game off with the first four shots on net.  The Capitals got the next 8 shots on net including 4 first period goals, all coming in the first  eight minutes and ten seconds of the game. 

Of the four first period markers, two came from bombs from the blue line.  John Erskine ripped a shot and put it past Jacob Markstrom for his third goal of the season.  That's right, his third of the season.  That is a classic luck goal, as Erskine ripped it and it just went through the legs of Markstrom.  It was a gift the Caps will take.  The Erskine bomb was assisted by Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson.  A little over one minute later, Wojtek Wolski scored for the second time in consecutive games, with a warp around tally that chased Markstrom to the bench, just 3:10 into the game.  Steve Oleksy picked up his second assist in his second career game.  Mathieu Perreault added a helper as well.  

A little over two minutes later, the Caps got their third goal of the first period, another tally from the blue line, this one fired by Carlson.  It was Carlson's 4th of the season and was assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and Troy Brouwer.  The final marker of the first period was scored by Mike Ribeiro, fed by a perfect pass from Alex Ovechkin behind the net to the front.  It was Ribeiro's 9th goal of the season and Ovi's second assist of the game.    Washington ended the first period with a 4-0 lead and out shot the Panthers 12-8. 

The second period saw the caps pad their lead by one to 5-0.  Tyson Strachan leveled Jason Chimera with a cheap shot elbow to the head early in the second period that resulted in a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct.  With the Caps on a five minute power play, Alex Ovechkin scored his ninth goal of the season and his third point of the night.  Ribeiro and Brouwer assist on the Ovechkin power play marker.  It was his fifth power play goal of the season.  The first period was all about caps offense.  The second period was more about the solid goal tending of Braden Holtby.  Holtby bailed out the Caps numerous times in the second period with some nifty net minding.   The Caps took a 5-0 lead in to the second intermission.  They were out shot by the Panthers 12-4 in the second period.  

Caps got on the board again in the third period on an Eric Fehr power play goal at the 15:50 mark.  Fehr's 6th goal of the season was beautifully fed by Wojtek Wolski, who sent the pass to Fehr through two Panthers defenders in front of the net. Florida got one back at the 10:49 mark by Jack Skille, breaking up another shut out bid by Holtby.  Mathieu Perreault added insult to injury with the Caps seventh goal of the game, a beauty shot as Perreault was falling forward to the ice.  Perreault's tally was unassisted. 

With the Caps 7-1 win over Florida, they move two points ahead of Florida and will be guaranteed to move into a tie with either Winnipeg or tampa Bay, which ever loses in their game between each other tonight.  With a Carolina Hurricanes loss tonight, the Caps move to withing 6 points of the Southeast Division lead.  The win also extends the Caps winning streak to four straight at the Verizon Center. 

Multi-Point Scorers:

Troy Brouwer, 2 assists

John Carlson, 1 goal, 1 assist

Alex Ovechkin, 1 goal, 2 assists

Mike Ribeiro, 1 goal, 1 assist

Wotek Wolski, 1 goal, 1 assist

Mathieu Perreault, 1 goal, 1 assist

Streaks:

Eric Fehr extended his point streak to three straight games and has scored in consecutive games.   Rookie defenseman Steve Oleksy has assists in consecutive games.  Alex Ovechkin has extended his scoring streak to three games.  He has 5 points in his last 3 games.  Mike Ribeiro extended his scoring streak to three consecutive games and has also scored a goal in three straight games.  Wolski, who struggled at the start of the season, has scored in two straight and has three points in last two games. 

For the second time in as many weeks, the Washington Capitals have recalled rookie goal tender Phillip Grubauer from the AHL Hershey Bears. 

Grubauer made his NHL debut on Feb. 27 against the Flyers and stopped all 14 shots.  Grubauer came in relief of Braden Holtby.  He has recorded a of 8-4-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage in 14 games with Hershey.

Grubauer's return to Washington.  Caps backup goaltender Michal Nuevirth was not on ice this morning.  Meanwhile, Holtby is slated to make his 11th consecutive  start tonight.  

The rivalry between fellow NL East Division rivals, Washington and Philadelphia, continues to grow and again took root in a simple Grapefurit League game yesterday.  Stephen Strasburg hit the Phils' Chase Utley with a pitch in yesterday's spring game.  Bottom of an inning later, Phil starter Roy Halladay threw behind Nats OF/1B Tyler Moore.  Halladay acknowledged after the game that the ptich slipped, but did say protection of his guys is not out of the real.  The heated exchange between the division rivals dates back to last season when Phils' pitcher Cole Hamels hit Nats OF Bryce Harper.  Hamels was suspended five games after admitting the pitch at Harper was intentional.  You can chalk it down to sore losing.  Phillies are used to being mandhandled the way the Nats mandhandled the divison last season. 

Strasburg did take the loss, allowing 5 hits and 2 runs over 3.2 innings.  He also fanned 6 Phillies.  Fernando Abad and Cole Kimball also allowed 2 runs out of the bullpen.  Erik Davis struck out the side in the final inning for the Nats. 

Offensively, Carlos Rivera was 2 for 2 with a run drive in.  Micah Owings, a pitcher attempting to land a roster spot as a position player, also drove in a run.  What would be a spring game recap without the mention of Anthony Rendon's bat.  He did it again yesterday.  Rendon went 1 for 3 and smacked his team leading third home run.  Overall, Rendon is now batting .400 as he is 8 for 20 fromt he plate.  Of the 8 hits, 6 hits are for extra bases, including 3 doubles and 3 home runs.  Although Rendon will not crack the 25 man roster, because the Nats want him putting in a full season at the minor league level, he likely is playing himself onto AAA Syracuse, rather than AA Harrisburg. 

On Strasburg, Wash Times notes that four of the six strikeout ptiches came on Strasburg's change up.

The Washington Wizards went into Minnesota trying to get their first sweep of the Minnesota Timberwolves since 2008-09, but they fell short without rookie guard Bradley Beal, who missed the game due to a badly sprained ankle he suffered in the fourth quarter of Washington's last game. The Wizards committed a season-high in turnovers and went cold in the final three quarters of the game to lose a closely-fought game 87-82. The loss drops Washington's record to 19-40.

The Wizards got off to a 29-24 lead after one quarter, thanks to a hot start from John Wall, who had 10 points on 4-4 on FG and 2-2 on FT in first quarter. However, things went south from there, with Washington shooting just 4-15 [26%] shooting in 2nd quarter. The Wizards managed only 14 points in the second quarter, while Minnesota outscored the Wizards18-8 in the last few minutes of the 2nd quarter and took a 48-43 lead into halftime. 

Washington got only 3 points from the bench in the first half and only John Wall's 12 points and Trevor Ariza's 16 points kept the game close. 

Unfortunately for Washington, Ariza didn't score a point in the second half and Wall would miss 8 of his last 11 shots, finishing 7 of 15 for 19 points. Wall racked up 7 assists, but also 6 turnovers and did not respond well to the harassment he received from Ricky Rubio and JJ Barea.

The Wizards committed 12 turnovers by halftime and would equal that amount in the second half, easily the biggest reason Washington lost to an injury-devastated Timberwolves team that had lost 6 straight coming into tonight. After the game, a disgusted Wizards coach Randy Wittman said: "We just don't value the ball at all... Almost half their points were off turnovers." 

Things seem to turn around somewhat for the Wizards in the third quarter, as they outscored Minnesota 20-17 and hardly turned the ball over at all. After three Minnesota's lead had been shaved to 65-63. 

Wiz scored first 10 points of fourth quarter to take a 73-65 lead before the Timberwolves came storming back with a free throw and then a 3-pointer by Barea. Wizards turnovers allowed Minnesota to narrow the gap to 73-71 before Martell Webster responded with a short 7-foot bucket. However, the T-Wolves came back and scored again and then forced yet another turnover by the Wizards and drew a foul, converting the two free throws to cut the lead to 75-74. 

Kevin Seraphin came back with a shot at the top of the key -- I would have thought it out of his range -- to put the Wiz up by three, but JJ Barea hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 77 with 5:15 to play. However, Seraphin hit a short jumper to put the Wiz back up by 2. Seraphin had now hit his first four shots of the game. On the other end, Barea drove around the key and angled toward the basket for the layup, but Seraphin responded by shifting over to protect the hoop and he swatted Barea's shot into the first row behind the basket. However, Dante Cunningham scored moments later and the game was tied at 79. 

Seraphin missed a mid-range jumper from the corner and Barea came back with a layup off the glass to put the Timberwolves up by two. On offense, Minnesota trapped Nene in a double team and he committed an offensive foul to get free, turning the ball over. It was Washington's 23rd turnover of the game, a new season-high. Seconds later, Nene picked up his fifth personal foul on defense with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter. Derrick Williams hit both free throws to put Minnesota up by four and they seemed to be pulling away on an 18-6 run during that five minute stretch. On the other end, Minnesota's terrific defense forced a travel by Okafor. That was Washington's 6th turnover of the fourth quarter and 24th of the game. 

A minute later Okafor got a dunk off a loose ball to cut the leadto 83-82. The Wizards forced a miss by Dante Cunningham, but Nene missed a shot from the top of the key. The ball sailed out of bounds and the ball was originally awarded to the Timberwolves, but a second ref asked for a replay, which clearly showed Dante Cunningham as the lats player to touch the ball before it went out of bounds. The call was reversed and Washington retained possession. However, Wall missed a wide-open 3-pointer and the T-Wolves had the ball with less than a minute to play. 

Rubio's layup attempt was blocked by Okafor, but Barea stripped Wall of the ball at midcourt and layed the ball in for a 3-point lead, 85-82. 

The Wizards got to this point by playing sloppy ball due to pressure from Minnesota guards and nothing changed on the next possession. Rubio disrupted a pass, almost leading to a turnover. The Wizards did not have to have a three point attempt at that point, but Ariza put up a completely hopeless, no-look desperation 3-pointer with 11 seconds left on the shot clock. The ball missed everything and Nene leapt up to smack the ball out to a Wizards player, but he hit the ball too hard and it sailed out of bounds. 

From that point it was just a matter of Minnesota hitting a couple of foul shots to seal the win 87-82. The Wizards looked to be in control of the game early in the fourth quarter, but they went back to sloppy ball-handling and lost the game as a result, getting outscored 22-9 in last 8 and a half minutes of the game.

Just six days after acquiring rugged winger Aaron Volpatti off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks, the Washington Capitals lost a player of their own to the waiver wire, as defenseman Roman Hamrlik was claimed by the New York Rangers.

Hamrlik, a 38-year-old Czech blueliner signed as a free agent last summer, had struggled to break into the Caps lineup this year, appearing in only four games and being surpassed in the depth chart by Hershey Bears call-ups Tomas Kundratek and Steve Oleksy.

Hamrlik's $3.5 million salary will be cleared off the salary cap, which will open more room for the Caps to make a roster move, should they so desire.

The Rangers play the Caps at Verizon Center on Sunday. Hamrlik is expected to be in the lineup.

When ILB London Fletcher, the captain, as well as heart and soul of the defense of the Washington Redskins, signed a 2-year contract in the 2012 offseason, I think most fans hoped he would play both seasons of that contract before retiring. However, at Fletcher's age, 37, retirement is a possibility every single year. 

Fletcher struggled with hamstring and, more persistently, an ankle injury, most of last season. Perhaps for that reason, as well as age, he had the worst season since he became a Redskins, maybe the worst of his career. Apart from missing more tackles than any inside linebacker in the NFL, he seemed to be out of position more often and had more trouble in coverage and in fighting through trash near the line of scrimmage. 

The question that has hung in the air since the season ended is whether or not Fletcher would be back for another one. Well, now we know Fletcher's ankle injury is serious enough that he's having surgery to correct the problem. The surgery might cost Fletcher some OTA time, but that stuff is meaningless to a player with Fletcher's experience and work ethic. More importantly, the surgery should not prevent Fletcher from being healthy and ready to play when training camp rolls around in late July. 

After hedging for weeks about whether he would return in 2013 or not, Fletcher now says he plans to play one more season -- assuming the injury heals properly. Just a few days ago Head Coach Mike Shanahan was asked by Redskins Nation host Larry Michaels if he thought Fletcher would return. Here's Shanahan's reply: 

The Washington Nationals continue plowing (an appropriate term for the mid-Atlantic today) through the Spring Training calendar.  Yesterday, the Nats pummeled Bo Porter's Houston Astros 7-1.  Porter, the former Nats third base coach, is in his first season as the Astros skipper. 

In his second spring start, Dan Haren threw 3 innings and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 run, while fanning 2 batters.  Haren retired six straight before falling into problems in the third inning.  The game also featured the debut of Nats new closer Rafael Soraino. Soriano was impressive, throwing the 7th inning and allowing 1 hit, but no runs and fanned one.  In his debut, Soriano only three 12 pitches to end his inning of work.  Zack Duke (1-0) continued his nice spring, throwing 3 shutout innings and allowing just 1 hit and striking out 2 Astros.  Duke has racked up 4 strike outs in 3.2 innings of work this spring. 

At the plate, Danny Espinosa was 2 for 3, stole a base, drove in 2 runs and scored a run to lead the Nats offense.  Espinosa is having a fine spring, batting .364 in 22 plate appearances.  You can credit that to his new offensive approach.  Pinch hitter Chad Tracy added a two run double.  Corey Brown and Jayson Werth added RBI. 

Game Recaps:  Yahoo Sports, Games notes from the Times, Wash Post, More notes from Bill Ladson,  Nationals Prospects,

MUCH MUCH MORE.  CLICK CONTINUE READING.

In case you misssed it or just want to see it again, here is a video of the overtime goal by Eric Fehr last night that led the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 OT win against trhe Boston Bruins.  What an amazing goal, as Fehr split the Boston defense and scored on his way down to the ice.  It was a young Ovechkinesque type marker. 

The best sport for fantasy is back!  Below you will find overall rankings for fantasy baseball.  These rankings take in to account ESPN and CBS projections, last year's point totals and position scarcity.  They are tailored to a league I run (16 teams, 26 roster spots, point based, split week schedule (each team has two games a week, one game runs Mon to Thurs, the second game runs Fri to Sun)) but can be a good baseline for any league.

Position player scoring: AB -1, Single 4, Double 6, Triple 8, Home Run 10, RBI 1, Run 1, BB 2, HBP 2, GIDP -1, SAC 1, SB 2, CS -1

Pitcher scoring: Game started -1, IP 3, Hit allowed 1, Walk allowed -1, Earned run -1, Strikeout 1, HBP -1, Win 12, Loss -3, Save 8, BS -2, Hold 3, CG 6, Shutout 6, No-hitter 6, Perfect game 10

Position Rankings

SEE THE REST OF THE RANKINGS.  PLEASE CLICK CONTINUE READING.