The Washington Capitals have added Mike Ribeiro in a trade with the Dallas Stars, sending Cody Eakin and a second-round pick in the draft this season back to Dallas.
One of the struggles the Capitals had last season was a lack of depth at center. It was especially evident when Nicklas Backstrom went down. Obviously the addition of Ribeiro is supposed to help with that issue down the middle.
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Surrendering Eakin, who was up and down with the Caps all season long and at most seemed to have a ceiling as a third-line center, along with a second-rounder next season isn't a bad price for Washington. The second-rounder is always a crapshoot. All in all, it's the price that GM George McPhee had to pay to shore up one of the holes on his team
For the Stars this season, Ribeiro had 63 points (18-45=63) and has been rumored off and on all season long to be leaving Dallas. When he's going well, he's certainly still an above average player who is capable of being a top 6 guy.
Ribeiro has one more season on his contract that carries with it a $5 million hit.
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