The Washington Capitals have been busy since late June, adding four players (Tomas Vokoun, Roman Hamrlik, Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern) via free agency and re-signing forwards Troy Brouwer (acquired at the draft from Chicago) and Brooks Laich to multi-year extensions.

Those moves, however, pushed the Capitals above the $64.3 million salary cap for next season by more than $1.8 million.

Teams are allowed to go above the cap during the off-season by up to 10 percent, but must be below when the new season begins.

The Capitals also have to re-sign defenseman Karl Alzner and while they do have sufficient space to do so and remain under that 10 percent, they’ll still need to free up cap space before October.

If defenseman Tom Poti (groin) and right wing Eric Fehr (shoulder) remain sidelined by lingering injuries to start the season, the club could place them on long-term injury reserve. That would provide some cap relief, though they’d have to be prepared to clear cap space should either player return.

Another solution is a trade, which team owner Ted Leonsis recently suggested on his blog is a possibility.

No word as to who could be a potential trade candidate, but the names of left winger Alexander Semin ($6.7 million) or defenseman Mike Green ($5.25 million) will once again pop up in the rumor mill.

The pair were mentioned as possible trade bait by pundits and bloggers following Washington’s early playoff exit this spring. The longer the Capitals remain above the salary cap, the more trade speculation will grow.