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‘Really good pro’ Gomez signs with Caps’ AHL team

Scott Gomez, Erik Gustafsson

Scott Gomez, Erik Gustafsson

AP

Interesting move out of Washington on Thursday, as the Hershey Bears -- the Caps’ AHL affiliate -- signed veteran center Scott Gomez to a professional tryout.

“I think it’s good,” Capitals head coach Barry Trotz said, per the Washington Post. “We’re a little thin there because of the center-ice injuries and call-ups and all of those things, so Scott has been a really good pro in the league for a long time.

“He’s got a real high skill set.”

The deal is AHL exclusive, meaning that -- should they want to bring Gomez into the mix -- the Caps would need to sign the 36-year-old to a deal. American League PTO’s are limited to 25 games, and a player can only sign two per season.

It’ll be curious to see how this plays out for Gomez. Trotz suggested he’ll be in a mentor role for some of the club’s young prospects, like Chandler Stephenson and ’14 first-round pick Jakub Vrana. But it would also seem there’s the potential to catch on in Washington, especially given the club’s fourth-line center situation.

Jay Beagle is currently sidelined after undergoing hand surgery, and it’s unclear exactly when he’ll be back. The team brought in Mike Richards, but there’s no telling if that experiment will work out or not. Michael Latta has manned the position before, but he’s pretty inexperienced (less than 100 NHL contests) and has been playing the wing more and more lately.

Related: Richards: ‘I took coming to the rink and playing hockey for a living for granted’