The Washington Capitals overhauled their defence, by paying huge money to a pair of former Pittsburgh Penguins. Discount Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys . Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. The Capitals Get: D Matt Niskanen and D Brooks Orpik. Niskanen, 27, picked a terrific time to have the best year of his career, scoring a career-best 10 goals and 46 points while playing a career-high 21:18 per game. He was also a career-best plus-33, which is all well and good, but he was one of six regular defencemen (minimum 62 games played) to have a combined on-ice save percentage and on-ice shooting percentage (PDO) at 5-on-5 of 103.0 or better. An on-ice shooting percentage over 10.0% is difficult for any defenceman to sustain, but Niskanens 10.32% was the third-best of his career; basically, its the kind of good fortune that shouldnt be expected, but its not out of the realm of possibility from season to season for Niskanen. Where the puck luck really stuck with Niskanen last year, was that he also had a .928 on-ice save percentage during 5-on-5 play, so getting favourable percentages at both ends of the ice during the same year contributed to that strong plus-minus. That shouldnt diminish the evaluation of Niskanen entirely, though, because he has consistently been on the right side of the puck possession ledger, and that makes him an asset to any team that acquires him. While Niskanen hasnt typically played hard minutes, and in some years has been excessively sheltered, hes likely to face more difficult matchups now that hes the highest-priced defenceman on the Capitals roster. Signed for seven years and $40.25-million, Niskanen landed the biggest free agent contract of the year. There was probably an element of paying for the good fortune that Niskanen experienced last year, and it is a gamble that Niskanen is going to be able to live up to the money involved in that contract, but if a team is going to swing for the fences on a free agent defenceman, doing so on a guy with consistently strong possession numbers is at least a reasonable foundation on which to make that investment. Which brings us to Brooks Orpik, a 33-year-old who has made his bones as a physical, hard-hitting defenceman, registering more than 200 hits in five of the past seven seasons. The unfortunate part, however, is that Orpik in position to hit so much -- particularly in recent years -- because his team doesnt have the puck as often when hes on the ice and the problem with a defensive defenceman who is already on the wrong end of the possession game is that hes certainly not likely to get better as he gets older. For example, in the 2013-2014 season, there were seven defencemen that were over 35 and scored fewer than 20 points (as Orpik has in every season of his career, except one). Its an okay list, some useful players, but six of the seven were 35 or 36. Orpik is signed through his age 38 season and the only -- the only -- NHL defenceman that played more than 60 games without scoring more than 20 points last season was Tampa Bays Sami Salo, who has never played the kind of physical, banging style that characterizes Orpiks game, in part because Salo was always hurt anyway. This doesnt offer much encouragement that the Capitals wont have massive regrets about the Orpik signing; the only question is how soon will those regrets occur? Can he give the Capitals a couple of solid years, maybe facing lower-calibre of competition than he did in Pittsburgh? Thats probably the best hope, but its a longshot that the last two, maybe even three years, wont have the Capitals paying big money for a spare part on their blueline. Orpik is signed for five years, at a cap hit of $5.5-million per season. Big money, long term. Pittsburgh anticipated that they would lose both Niskanen and Orpik and, in addition to having an opening or two for some prospects, they also signed Christian Ehrhoff to add stability to their defence. Its entirely understandable for the Capitals to make a move to upgrade their defence. They allowed 33.5 shots per game, ranking 27th in the league, last season, so the defence needed to get better. Ultimately, the Capitals are better today after adding Niskanen and Orpik, but that should never be up for debate when committing close to $11-million annually to two players. What has to matter is how much better they are, whether the money spent is worth it and what the fall-out will be. The Capitals dont have to make any moves --- they are under the $69-million salary cap -- but they have $28,762,500 committed to their defence, according to Cap Geek. The only teams spending in that neighbourhood for their defence are Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, who have Chris Pronger and Mattias Ohlund, respectively, on long-term injured reserve. St. Louis and Chicago are spending in the $24-million-to-$25-million on their respective bluelines right now, so its hard to imagine that the Capitals maintain the status quo, leaving a hole at second line centre while sticking with the most expensive defence corps in the league. We will see what other moves the Capitals have in mind this summer but, right now, it appears that they spent a lot of money to get better in the short-term; signing deals that appear to have more downside risk because of the long terms involved. 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. Authentic Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys China . Gorges is believed to have suffered the injury while blocking a shot with a hand during Montreals win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Canadiens added to their defensive depth this week by acquiring veteran Mike Weaver from the Florida Panthers. http://www.cheapchargers.us/ . FLIP SAUNDERS (Timberwolves): Im not the least bit surprised that he appointed himself as head coach after his search concluded.CLEVELAND - David Blatt likened his first NBA exhibition game to a one-on-one matchup in the backyard.A family affair.If youve got a brother and you go to play outside, youre dying to beat him, Clevelands rookie coach said. But if you do, you feel (bad). There was no way to really win that game.LeBron James scored 12 points before resting in the second half and the Cavaliers gave Blatt an emotional win over his former team, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 107-80 on Sunday night.For Blatt, the matchup with Maccabi, a club he coached for six seasons and led to several championships, was a challenge from the start.I was nervous before the game, but not because it was the first time I coached in the NBA, he said. I was playing against my friends.The Cavs wore down the defending Euroleague champions, who were within 15 at halftime but couldnt stay with a team expected to contend a€” if not win a€” an NBA title this season.Following the game, Blatt hugged his former players and Maccabis coaching staff, a group he considers his brothers.James, who rested his iffy back as a precaution, sensed how much the game meant to Blatt.He was very nervous, excited, uptight a€” and rightfully so, James said. He has a lot of ties to that team, a lot of ties to that community, that city, that country and his first real game is against his former team. So I dont know how much he slept last night.James is being smart with his back. He was kept out of a practice Friday, and after discussing things with Blatt, decided to sit out the second half. The superstar spent the last 24 minutes on the bench watching his teammates pull away from one Europes best squads.Kyrie Irving added 16 points and Kevin Love 11 rebounds for the Cavs, who held a 64-36 rebounding advantage.Sylvan Landesberg scored 23 and Jeremy Pargo 18 for Maccabi.Blatts focus is on getting the Cavs ready for their Oct. 30 season opener against the New York Knicks. Theres work to be done.Clevelands ball movement was fluid from the start as players unselfishly made the extra pass hoping to get a better look at the basket. Cheap Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Online. But there were some uncertain moments offensively as well as the Cavs get better acquainted with each other.Defensively, there are some issues.Maccabis players, running a system Blatt taught them, were able to get easy baskets in the first half. Landesberg, who played at Virginia, scored 12 in the opening half and Alex Tyus added 10.Cleveland made an adjustment at halftime and the defence was much closer to Blatts high standards in the second half.The Cavs showed some of the new weaponry that will make them so difficult to defend.On a baseline inbounds play late in the first half, James alertly passed the ball up top to Love, who knocked down a 3-pointer. Love, not known for his defence, then drew a charging foul as the Cavs took a 59-44 halftime lead.With James on the bench a€” Shawn Marion started for him in the second half a€” the Cavs outscored Maccabi 28-16 in the third quarter. Dion Waiters had 12 in the period.Blatts arrival in Cleveland was met with some skepticism as to whether he would be able to adjust to the NBA, its players and handle the pressure to win a€” especially with James being back.But Pargo, who played one season for the Cavs, said Cleveland is in good hands.He doesnt look at you like coach to player or you are beneath him, Pargo said. He looks at you as a man and he talks to you. Thats one of the greatest things about him. And from a coaching standpoint, he has ways of managing personalities and managing games. Hes unbelievable. Hell be very successful in the situation hes in.Before tip-off, several dozen protesters, many of them waving Palestine flags, gathered outside Quicken Loans Arena to object to the Israeli teams visit.Holding signs that read: Hold Israel Accountable and Boycott Israel, the protesters peacefully chanted behind barricades set up across the street from the downtown arena. Cleveland police, including several on mounted horseback, kept a watchful eye as fans made their way into the building. 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