The Washington Capitals made another move this week, shoring up one of their leading scorers for the next decade. Nicklas Backstrom was signed to a 10 year $67 million deal. Backstrom had his best season ever scoring 33 goals and 68 assists. His 101 points in 2010 was good enough to place him 4th in the league in scoring.

Spending this kind of money on one of the best centers in the league, who is only 22 years old, is a smart move by the Capitals. Not only did they ensure that they will have two of the best players in the world on their roster for the next decade, Ovechkin is signed for 10 more years as well, they are getting a very durable player at a reasonable price. Backstrom has yet to miss a game over three NHL seasons.

Many Capitals fans might be worried that the team is overspending and committing too much money to just two players in Backstrom and Ovechkin considering their team was just upset in the first round of the NHL playoffs by 8 seed Montreal. While I do not blame some fans for thinking this way I do not agree with it however. Whenever you get the chance to lock up two players who combined for 210 points, easily making the top scoring teammate duo in the league, you have to make sure you do so. With the signing of Backstrom the Washington Capitals appear that they will be competitive for many years to come.