(TheFourthPeriod.com) -- Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis stood in his team's Verizon Center locker room after its season finale, fielding questions from a cadre of reporters.

The Capitals had just finished a 28-40-14 campaign, their second straight 70-point season. They had finished 22 points away from a playoff berth; had the Capitals not been 24th in the league in powerplay percentage, Leonsis felt they could have been a hell of a lot closer in the standings.

"I looked up at the [statistics] and I saw that Sidney Crosby had 59 points on the powerplay [this season]," said Leonsis. "I don't think we have a center that has 59 points on the powerplay. You look at our team, and we're 1-and-15 in overtime and the shootout. We need to have better specialty teams, and that comes with having a bit more veteran leadership and maybe some better centers."

One of those upgrades at center has already arrived: Swedish rookie Nicklas Backstrom signed a three-year deal in late May that will finally bring the 2006 first-round pick to D.C.

Backstrom teased the team with coming to the NHL at the beginning of last season, but chose to take the Henrik Zetterberg route and sharpen his skills overseas for a bit. His passing skills have been widely praised by scouts and team officials, making him an obvious consideration for some significant powerplay time.

Leonsis indicated at Backstrom's press conference that "we can see him playing with a player like Alexander Semin and forming the core nucleus of a second line that will be here for a very long time."

So there's your second-line center; but who will lace up the skates in between Alexander Ovechkin and (presumably) Chris Clark (30 goals in 2006-07)?

"I think that we need to add skill and size, and a first-line center is a position everyone is looking for," said Leonsis. "[General Manager] George [McPhee] is going to see what he can bring in either via trade or free agency,"

Leonsis said McPhee has more assets at his disposal than in the past to make a deal: draft picks, cap space (their cap hit for next season before free-agent re-signings is roughly $20 million) and a slew of young players that have seen significant time with the Capitals in the past two seasons.

McPhee said that if Washington doesn't make a splash via free agency, those young players could be packaged for an impact veteran.

"That's been part of the plan," McPhee said. "The year before the lockout, we were trading veteran players. After the lockout, we've been playing younger players and we now know what they can do. The depth will help us be a better team in the future or allow us to make trades.

"We'll do what it takes to make the team better. A splash is always nice, but that's a summertime splash. It doesn't last. It's more about team construction, getting the right pieces."

That's right: He said "pieces."

While the Capitals will focus on bringing in a No. 1 center — with the usual suspects like Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez and perhaps Patrick Marleau all being considered — there are other significant upgrades the team will seek to make in the off-season.

"We need to upgrade our team," McPhee said. "How many things we need to do remains to be seen."

Top 06-07 Performers | Off-Season Needs | Time to step up | Free Agents | Top Prospects

TOP 2000-07 PERFORMERS

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OFF-SEASON NEEDS

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TIME TO STEP UP

Tomas Fleischmann He's been a top prospect for the Capitals in each of the last two seasons, but the 23-year-old forward has 10 points in 43 NHL games. Many of the Capitals offensive concerns for their third and fourth lines could be eased if a player like Fleischmann finally blossoms into a consistent offensive threat.

Alexander Semin It may seem a little unfair to claim that a 73-point winger needs to "step up," but Semin was way too streaky in the second half of the season. For example, he scored just three of his 38 goals in February; the Capitals lost 10 of 13 games that month. Not exactly a coincidence. When he was on, the pressure was off of Ovechkin's line and the Capitals were dangerous. Perhaps the addition of Backstrom will add some consistency to Semin's game.

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KEY FREE AGENTS

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TOP PROSPECTS