MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Could it be anyone other than LW Alex Ovechkin? He had a spectacular season and figures to win the Hart Trophy, given to the player voted the league MVP. He answered every challenge and finished with 65 goals and 47 assists for 112 points to lead the league in goals and points. Best of all, from the Caps' perspective, he signed a long-term contract to stay in town.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Steve Eminger couldn't seem to get out of either Glen Hanlon or Bruce Boudreau's doghouse. He had a tendency to make mistakes at the wrong time and played only 20 regular-season games. But he was very good in the playoffs, getting more and more time in the five games he played against the Flyers and finishing plus-2. Can he do that next season?

FREE AGENT FOCUS
The Caps have two unrestricted free agents in goal in longtime Cap Olie Kolzig plus Cristobal Huet. Kolzig lost his job to Huet, who went 11-2-0 after coming over from Montreal and was nothing short of spectacular. Kolzig appears to be gone, but will Huet return? He's sent signals that he's interested in coming back, but time will tell. And if he leaves, who gets the job? Sergei Federov, Matt Cooke and Matt Bradley also are free agents. Federov was a huge late season acquisition, a great leader in the locker room and a great steadying influence on the team's young Russian stars, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. Matt Bradley and Matt Cooke both are good players who help the Caps in a number of ways and were strong in the late season run.

PLAYER NOTES

--RW Alexander Semin got off to a slow start because of injuries but caught fire in the last half of the season and was great in the playoffs. Semin could become an offensive force in Alex Ovechkin's neighborhood and by putting both of them on different lines, the Caps will be that much tougher for other defenses to stop.

--C Nicklas Backstrom -- how good can he be? This is a question that won't be answered for a long time. For a rookie to become that much of an offensive force in his first year is impressive, and Backstrom showed he can pass with the best of them. But if he can become more of a scoring threat, Backstrom would truly be one of the top offensive players in the NHL.

--C Chris Clark had a tough and disappointing year for the captain, sitting out most of it with a painful groin problem that just wouldn't get better. But hopefully he'll be ready to go in the fall, as the Caps really missed his help, especially in front of the net. Clark knows what to do there, something the Caps needed in the playoffs.

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