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Moving swiftly to give Alex Ovechkin help at the defensive end while raiding a rival, new Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan signed Pittsburgh Penguins free agents Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik on Tuesday to deals totalling more than $65 million. The 27-year-old Niskanen, the more offensive-minded of the pair of defencemen joining the Capitals, got a $40.25 million, seven-year contract. "Its a very big commitment from Washington. Thats no small thing. Youre talking a seven-year commitment for a very substantial amount of money," said Niskanen, who got married Saturday. "Im excited for that challenge." The 33-year-old Orpik, more of a stay-at-home blueliner who had spent his entire career with the Penguins, was given a $27.5 million, five-year package. "Ive got to be honest: Up until this year, I never really envisioned myself leaving Pittsburgh. As everyone knows, theres been a lot of changes there. It really was a perfect time," Orpik said. "The past year, there was such strong expectations for the team, both internally and externally, and I think we had a really tough time handling those expectations." The Capitals got off to a fast start on the first day of NHL free agency, also adding Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Justin Peters on a $1.9 million, two-year deal, while re-signing centre Michael Latta to a $1.15 million, two-year contract. Last season, three-time NHL MVP Ovechkin and the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, leading ownership to make changes. George McPhees contract was not renewed after he spent 17 seasons as the teams GM, while Adam Oates was fired with a year left on his three-season deal. MacLellan was promoted from assistant general manager to replace McPhee, while Barry Trotz was hired as the new coach. Washington also has added assistant coach Todd Reirden, who was hired by the Capitals after the Penguins fired him last week. "Hes been huge," Niskanen said. "Todd helps young defencemen get better." And in one more Penguins-to-Capitals transaction Tuesday, Washington signed right wing Chris Conner to a one-year, two-way contract. He has 22 goals and 28 assists in 178 NHL games, including 19 with Pittsburgh last season. As for all those people moving from Pittsburgh — which also recently changed its GM and coach — to Washington, Niskanen said: "It would seem odd, wouldnt it? But its professional sports. ... If the Caps call, youve got to listen." Speaking about the Capitals, Orpik said: "Ive played against that group enough to know what the potential of that group can be. ... I think they needed some direction, and I think Barry will provide that." Niskanen, 27, led NHL defencemen with a plus-33 rating last season, when he set career highs with 10 goals and 36 assists. The 6-foot, 209-pound defenceman has 35 goals, 132 assists and 266 penalty minutes in 491 career NHL games for Pittsburgh and Dallas. The 6-foot-2, 219-pound Orpik has 13 goals, 119 assists and 734 penalty minutes in 703 career games. He is a two-time U.S. Olympian and was an alternate captain for the Penguins since 2008. The 27-year-old Peters went 7-9-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage for the Carolina Hurricanes last season. "When the head coach on the team looks you in the eye and tell you he wants you to be there, that goes a long way," Peters said. He said that he wasnt told how hell be used with the Capitals — strictly as a No. 2 behind Braden Holtby, or splitting time in the top goalie spot — but added that he thinks it will "work itself out." ___ AP Sports Writer Joseph White contributed to this report. Marcus Smart Jersey .A. Happ? Happs seven wins are second on the staff to Mark Buehrles 10. Win-loss record is an antiquated stat, sure, but win total is generally an indication of a pitchers ability to work deep into games, enough to be personally affected by the result. 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Terry Rozier Jersey . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million.While the results of this season are obviously disappointing for the Vancouver Canucks -- disappointing enough to cost GM Mike Gillis his job -- this isnt necessarily a team in a terrible position. In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. This isnt to say everything is just fine, but there are teams in far worse situations than the Canucks. A look at some of the positives: Despite this season going off the rails, the Canucks ranked ninth in Fenwick Close, a measure of puck possession. Among the top dozen teams in that metric, only the Canucks and New Jersey Devils (who are an impossibly terrible 0-11 in shootouts) are not in playoff position. So why is that a positive? The Canucks arent going to the postseason, in large part, because theyve been terribly unlucky around the net. Their 7.2% even-strength shooting percentage is ranked 25th in the league this year after it was middle of the pack -- 15th (8.0%) and 14th (7.8%) -- in the previous two seasons. Its very difficult for a team to stray too far from the average over a longer period of time and while this doesnt mean the Canucks can just assume that they will score more next season, its pretty easy to forecast better luck for this group. As low as the team shooting percentage is at 5-on-5, having the likes of Alexandre Burrows, Chris Higgins, Ryan Kesler and both Sedins, their big minute forwards, all under 8.0% makes it likely that there will be some recovery towards more typical production, particularly because the Canucks top forwards still had strong seasons in terms of puck possession and as long as they are controlling play, the odds are in their favour that more pucks will end up in the oppositions net. Add a bona fide scorer to the mix and the odds of recovery would be even better. The Canucks have a solid group of defencemen. The top four of Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Alexander Edler and Jason Garrison is more than capable of anchoring a playoff team. Garrisons possession numbers took a dive this year but, on the whole, this group isnt a primary issue. Even better, they have relatively economical options Chris Tanev and Ryan Stanton to round out the top six. Tanev is also a viable candidate to move into the top four if one of those named above is convinced to waive a no-trade clause in order to upgrade elsewhere. There was a lot of talk around the trade deadline about Edler being available and, while it must be with the understanding that Edler was the unluckiest of Canucks blueliners this past season in terms of percentages going awry, he would be a top pair defenceman for quite a few teams and, since those arent made available often, he ought to bring a significant return. Also, as I noted on Twitter, the Canucks were on a 106-point pace through the first half of the season, but as January rolled around, they had some overlaapping injuries.dddddddddddd At some point, it was either Edler, Burrows, Roberto Luongo and/or Henrik Sedin missing time and they didnt have the depth to make up for those absences. That lack of depth brings us to some of the concerns that the new management will need to address. One, their core is older. Among the top six forwards in average ice time, 28-year-old Mike Santorelli, an unrestricted free agent coming off shoulder surgery, is the only one that wont be 30 by the time next season starts. On defence, Edler (27) and Tanev (24) are younger, but Garrison turns 30 in November and Bieksa and Hamhuis are already beyond. This doesnt mean that the moment a player hits 30, that they cease to have value, but age makes professional athletes a declining asset at a certain point and, by age 30, the vast majority are declining assets and most of Vancouvers core is in that neighbourhood now. Their goaltending situation, not-so-long-ago enviably deep, is decidedly suspect. 26-year-old Eddie Lack has had an okay rookie season, though if he had played well in January (1-5-2, 2.95 GAA, .908 SV%), that might have prevented, or at least slowed, the teams fade from contention and then his first couple weeks following the Luongo trade (.882 SV% in 8 GP) were a little rough as well but, on the whole, Lack has given the Canucks more than they had any right to expect from him coming into the season. Lack has played well enough to have a shot at competing for the starting job next year, with a veteran added to the mix to provide stability. There are free agents ranging in experience (Ryan Miller, Jaroslav Halak, Jonas Hiller, Brian Elliott, Ray Emery, Thomas Greiss) or a trade option like James Reimer that could upgrade the position from its suddenly subpar standing and an above-average possession team with stable goaltending is most of the way towards the playoffs. There is also the matter of Ryan Kesler reportedly asking out of Vancouver prior to the trade deadline. If that holds true, then there would be at least one blockbuster move to take care of this summer, but Kesler recently indicated that he intends to return to Vancouver next season. Even if they are capable of returning to the playoffs in short order, and thats possible, the Canucks need to beef up their young talent throughout the organization so that, even if the Canucks arent necessarily Cup-bound in the next couple years, that they have enough to be competitive as the core moves on. Young roster wingers Nicklas Jensen and Zack Kassian still have some potential to explore but may not ultimately be top-six performers. Bo Horvat and Brendan Gaunce, first rounders the past two seasons, could provide solid two-way play when they are deemed ready to play, but the Canucks need more. These are the challenges that come with the job for anyone running a hockey team and, given the Canucks above-average core, they have some easier issues to deal with than some other non-playoff clubs that dont have that foundation in place. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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