This should be good news for both Bonneville and the Caps who have enjoyed a very healthy relationship. Ratings for the team both on TV and radio have been among the best in all of sports on a local basis.

I expect that “The Iceman” Steve Kolbe will be back for his lucky 13th season as the voice of the Caps along with his color analyst partner Ken Sabourin.

So this should be good news for Washington Capitals fans.

Things are starting to line up now the Wizards have made the move to 106.7FM The Fan.

The Nationals will likely wait until the end of the season to make any moves. But they will now go into full blown “what can you do for me?” mode.

We have the two all sports stations both with great interest in landing the Nationals. The 162 game baseball season presents some very attractive programming options for both ESPN 980AM and their chief competitor 106.7FM The Fan.

Both stations also get access to players, management and broadcasters along with attractive promotional options that come with a Major League Baseball contract.

The two all sports outlets have options should there be conflicts.

ESPN 980AM could offer the Nationals either WTNT-AM or WWRC-AM . Meanwhile CBS has a number of FM options to place either the Wizards or Nationals should there be early season conflicts.

We also have Bonneville which has been the home of the Nationals since they moved here from Montreal. Clearly they could keep the Nats on WFED but they would have to do much more team related – year round programming to keep the team away from either ESPN 980AM or 106.7FM,

Don’t rule Bonneville out however they do have a strong signal and a good track record with the team.

If the Caps and the Nationals remain at Bonneville, they will have to find a place to air either the Nationals broadcasts or Capitals Stanley Cup Playoff games. Those games could end up on WTOP or maybe on a Clear Channel station. There are a few options but they won’t be back on WJFK since they are now home to the Wizards who will likely be in the playoffs at that time.

So the next move belongs to the Nationals. Will they move or will they stay? Stay tuned but now both the Caps and the Wizards are set for the 2009-10 season.