Extreme makeover: Capitals

Starting with the Philadelphia Flyers' bold trades just before the NHL draft, the league's landscape has undergone some significant changes this offseason. For the next five weeks, Insider contributor Neil Greenberg will examine, in detail, five of the biggest summer renovators -- the San Jose Sharks, the Minnesota Wild, the Los Angeles Kings, the Washington Capitals and the Flyers -- to see what we can expect from their remodeled rosters. The series continues with a look at the Capitals.

"We have done all that we said we would do this offseason. And perhaps even more," said Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, referring to the changes intended to strengthen a roster that has been good enough to finish first in the Eastern Conference the past two seasons but has fallen short in the playoffs each time.

Gone are last season's trade rentals, blueliner Scott Hannan, winger Marco Sturm and center Jason Arnott. Goalie-of-the-future Semyon Varlamov and oft-injured Eric Fehr were traded away for draft picks, while established forwards Boyd Gordon and Matt Bradley moved on in free agency.