Sports
Potomac Native Jeff Halpern Signs with the Washington Capitals
Halpern, an 11-year NHL veteran, inked a one-year contract with Washington during NHL free agency. The 35-year old grew up in Potomac and attended Winston Churchill High School before transferring to, and graduating from, St. Paul's School in Concord, NH.
When NHL free agency began July 1, Jeff Halpern hoped to, unlike last year, avoid a long, dragged out process.
Last year, the veteran Halpern, a Potomac native, had to wait until September, just a month before the start of the season, before finally coming to terms with the Montreal Canadiens.
This year, however, Halpern didn’t have to wait nearly as long to find a new team, inking a one-year, $865,000 contract with the Washington Capitals during the first day of free agency.
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Signing with the Capitals gives the 35-year old Halpern a chance to return to the team with which he started his career as well to near the area where he grew up. Halpern spent the first six seasons of his NHL career, 1999-2006, with Washington before playing for the Dallas Stars (2006-07), the Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-10), the Los Angeles Kings (2010) and the Canadiens (2010-11) during the ensuing five seasons.
Halpern’s agent, Mike Luit, referred to signing with the Capitals as “a natural fit” and a “pretty logical place for him to come back to.”
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“Last year was a difficult year for Jeff in terms of free agency,” Luit said, “but this opportunity with Washington came about rather quickly, and it’s a natural place for him to go to. Jeff wants to win, and the Capitals have a team that can, obviously, compete. There’s also a natural story there for Jeff, being that this is where he grew up, his family still resides in the area and he started his career in Washington.”
Luit said returning to Montreal was also a consideration for Halpern, and that the Canadiens were interested in bringing him back, but that “their process was a little bit slower” than the Capitals because of having other players, both internally and as free agents, that they wanted to look into before re-signing Halpern, and that, “as a player in his mid 30’s,” Halpern didn’t want to wait.
Halpern tallied 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) with Montreal last season, and has recorded 342 points (142 goals, 200 assists) during an 11-year NHL career. He racked up a career-best 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) with Washington in 2003-04.
The Capitals finished last season 48-23-11, but fell short in their quest for a Stanley Cup, eliminated by the Lightning, in a four-game sweep, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Luit feels Halpern, who has represented the United States in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey as well as five World Championships (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008), could help Washington get over the hump.
“He’s a very good add for the Washington Capitals, for what he does on the ice, what he does off the ice and where he is in his career,” Luit said. “He’s an intelligent player that’s a good face-off man, he’s very good defensively and he can still score points. On top of that, you get to your mid 30’s and you’re looking for a Stanley Cup, and you bring a sense of energy and urgency to a team, and I think the younger players will feed off that.”
