Sprint to the Olympic Break

In case you hadn't noticed, the Vancouver Olympics are just a month away, and now with 30 days until the Capitals part ways for two weeks for the tournament, the schedule gets a lot more hectic until the long break that begins Feb. 13.

Washington has just two breaks longer than a single day until that point, and both those two-day breaks involve at least one day of travel to road games on Long Island and Montreal, respectively.

What makes this year's schedule even more quirky for the Caps is that the last game before the break (Feb. 13 at St. Louis) is also the team's final game before the trade deadline, since Washington doesn't play again until four hours after the deadline passes on Mar. 3 in Buffalo.

This all means that whatever moves the Capitals want to make for a Stanley Cup run - and judging by the cap management put on with the Michael Nylander loan and Chris Clark trade, there will be at least one significant move - will have to be determined before the team resumes action.

Washington figures to make a couple of upgrades, at least one of which figures to be dealing Jose Theodore, as if the team feels Semyon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth can't quite handle the load - and Bruce Boudreau has shown a lot of confidence in both youngsters - the team might opt to get a proven backup and free up the remainder of Jose Theodore's $4.5 million contract. Should the Capitals move Theodore, they certainly could get a prime rental if they choose to move a pick or two, or pick up a couple of solid role players that could make a big impact (see: Guerin, Bill of 2009).

Probably fortunately for the Capitals, most of the team will be resting during the break, as the team has five players representing their nations in Vancouver. Of those, four figure to have ample playing time, with Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin going to be relied on to help Russia try for a gold medal, while Nicklas Backstrom (Sweden) and Tomas Fleischmann (Czech Republic) will look to help their countries go far. Semyon Varlamov, who has been injured the last couple of weeks, might not see a ton of action for Russia in net behind Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, and in theory might be replaced on the roster should the nation's federation feel he's not set to play.

But, for the next 30 days, the Capitals will have a sprint to the Olympic break, not only looking to bury the competition in the Southeast but make a bid for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and figure out what pieces the team will make for what figures to be their best chance to contend for a Stanley Cup in perhaps over two decades of play.