We have come a long way as a franchise and as a fan base.

We now can draft, develop, and sign here for a long period of time some of the very best players in the NHL.

It started with Alex Ovechkin. He loves it here. He trusts us and he signed a mega deal. He will be here for a life time it seems!

And now Nick Backstrom has signed a ten year deal. Nick and Alex are certainly 2 of the 10 best players in the entire league and form the basis of our core. And they like and respect and trust one another.

And let us NOT forget that Mike Green. He signed a 5 year extension too. He is a first team All star. Make that 3 of the 10 best players in the NHL here for a long, long time.

These young players all want to be here. They love it in DC and love playing for our fans. They all deserved to be rewarded with long term deals and with our support.

I would much rather commit to young players that we have grown to know and trust than players on other teams that come to us as free agents.

That is our commitment. That is our plan. We want players who want to be here and want to help us to win a championship in DC. That is all that Nick Backstrom talks about. He “gets it”. He is a wonderful, reliable and productive player. He is a great team mate and leader. He has never missed a game and he is exactly what we want to build around.

We thank Nick and his family for their belief in what we are trying to do here in DC. We now have secured a big part of our future, together.

We also know that Nick will be a fantastic mentor for our new rookie “Viking” and we are excited to have two young, talented centers signed and announced all in one day. Let us all welcome Marcus Johansson to DC as well. We are all excited about his potential to become a wonderful two way center.

I bet these two young players form a strong center ice for us for a long, long time.

Thank you — Go Caps.