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Dennis Wideman eager to play after suffering hematoma

Chicago Blackhawks v Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: Dennis Wideman #6 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Verizon Center on March 13, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

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Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman skated with in an informal practice with teammates on Friday. The workout marked the first time he’s been able to skate with the team since he was injured at the end of last season. He suffered a hematoma in the final weeks of the regular season—an injury that is finally in his rearview mirror.

So what in the world is a hematoma?

A hematoma is when there’s blood in a soft tissue space—like a muscle. It’s caused “by a break in the wall of a blood vessel.” For Wideman, he experienced a break in the wall of his blood vessel when Ruutu’s knee made contact with his thigh in a March 29th game. That’s all it took to prematurely end his season. It’s taken longer than Wideman would have liked, but he’s finally feeling like he’s ready to go for the 2011-12 season.

Katie Carrera caught up with Wideman after the workout:

“I’m 100 percent as far as skating and everything goes. I’m 100 percent. There’s still a little bit to catch up on, in just getting the response that you’d like to see out of your leg but I’m pretty close. I’m able to play and everything — I’m just pretty close to exactly where I’d want to be at this time.”

It would be nice for Wideman to make fewer headlines this season. Since playing the 2009-10 season with the Boston Bruins, the Capitals are his third team in a little more than a year. The Panthers acquired him last offseason—only to trade him at the deadline to the Washington Capitals for a pick and prospect. The Caps hoped he would be able to add some offense from the point down the stretch of the regular season (and even the playoffs), but he only managed to play in 14 games before he was lost for the year. Still, in his 14 games with his new club, he scored a goal and 6 assists showing signs of the offensive defenseman GM George McPhee hoped he had acquired.

The Caps will hope he can continue the success from last season that saw him net 10 goals and 40 points in 75 total games. When healthy, he’s shown that he’s the type of defenseman that can net double-digit goals in the NHL. However, he’s also shown that he can look like a forward trying to play defense in his own zone as well. The Capitals were willing to take the good with the bad at the deadline last season—there’s no reason to think anything has changed.

Wideman enters the season in the last year of his 4-year contract that pays him almost $4 million per season. He’s the second highest paid blueliner on the Caps—a team that has as many as eight NHL defensemen on their roster. They’ll still have seven NHL bodies for six roster spots even if Tom Poti is unable to come back. The luxury of having such a deep defensive corps is that Washington will be able to put Wideman into a position to succeed. He won’t be asked to do the heavy lifting; but he will be asked to help create offense from the backend.

As long as he can avoid Tuomo Ruutu’s knee, he should fit nicely on the Caps blueline next season.