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Paid for speed? Caps extend Jason Chimera for two years, $3.5 million

Washington Capitals v New York Rangers - Game Four

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 20: Jason Chimera #25 of the Washington Capitals controls the puck against the New York Rangers in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 20, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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What would a player who averaged 13:15 time on ice per game last season and netted 10 goals and 26 points be worth to you as a pretend general manager? For Caps GM George McPhee that’s worthy of getting Jason Chimera to stick around for two more seasons at $3.5 million.

Sound iffy to you? Yeah, it’s a bit strange for us as well but the Caps have done their part to add that kind of gritty, get-your-uniform-dirty type of player to their roster to make them tougher in the playoffs. The Caps additions of Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer are good examples of that and having Chimera out there with the likes of Matt Hendricks hammers that home as well.

A roster with lots of these guys makes Washington a pain to play against, but is this the sort of money that should be paid out for a guy like that? Chimera is essentially a third line winger who is asked to be a pain to opposing scoring forwards and to lend speed and tenacity to the lineup. That kind of player has a value to a team looking to win, but is that value worth a $1.75 million cap hit for two years? That’s questionable.

In this case, the Caps are paying for what Chimera does on the ice and the character he brings to their locker room. Again, those are good things to have but overpaying for it just a bit seems risky in a salary cap world, especially one where the new CBA might alter the salary cap landscape again.