An update on Michael Nylander's status plus center Nicklas Backstrom could be in line for a big raise following this season.

WASHINGTON POST: Tarik El-Bashir reports Michael Nylander has NOT been traded and has agreed to report to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins on a two-week conditioning stint, meaning he doesn't have to pass through waivers and his salary still counts against the Capitals cap. El-Bashir suggests this is Nylander's chance to prove he can still play and perhaps facilitate a trade or loan.

El-Bashir also reports Capitals star center Nicklas Backstrom could be playing himself into a big raise at the end of this season. Backstrom becomes a restricted free agent in July and he and GM George McPhee admit having prelimary contract talks although they declined to comment on specifics. El-Bashir suggests Backstrom's new contract could fall between Ryan Getzlaf's five-year, $26.625 million deal with Anaheim and Anze Kopitar's seven-year, $47.6 million contract with the LA Kings. He also suggests the possibility of a long term deal like Mike Richards' 12-year, $69 million contract which would result in a smaller cap hit.

SPECTOR'S NOTE: Whatever Backstrom receives from the Capitals, it'll be an expensive long-term deal in the neighborhood of those examples cited by El-Bashir. The Caps won't allow him to go unsigned by July 1st where he'd become an offer sheet target by rival teams. As for Nylander, I think the window of opportunity to loan him to an overseas team is rapidly closing. The Chicago Blackhawks went through a similar situation last fall with Nikolai Khabibulin and were unsuccessful. That worked out in the Blackhawks favor but the same might not be said about this situation with Nylander.