Post-Game Talk: 11/20/19 | #19 capitals @ RANGERS

[Machinehead]

I've talked about avoiding middling players in this cap world where you pay your top guys and bargain the rest of the roster.

Kreider, as much as I love him and think he's a good player, may be playing himself out of being a guy you pay for. On the other side of that same coin, Buchnevich is playing himself into a guy you pay for so far this season.

 

[romba]

Finally seeing a return to the game of the 1980's with better goaltending. Games have been a lot of fun to watch.

Hasek would be a joy to watch in this era. Richter would be a blast too, though he'd be getting lit up left and right (as all stand up goalies would nowadays)

 

[romba]

I've talked about avoiding middling players in this cap world where you pay your top guys and bargain the rest of the roster.

Kreider, as much as I love him and think he's a good player, may be playing himself out of being a guy you pay for. On the other side of that same coin, Buchnevich is playing himself into a guy you pay for so far this season.

MLB moneyball mentality creeping into the NHL?

COLLUSION

 

[Machinehead]

MLB moneyball mentality creeping into the NHL?

COLLUSION

Ironically, the NHL has more motivation for it with a hard cap.

 

[True Blue]

After what we saw last night, Kakko should undoubtedly be stapled to Bread. You have to try that.

Why does he "have" to be? What you saw was on the power play. If there is one thing that this coaching staff has done (by and large) is give young players bigger roles when they earn it and they are ready for it. I am not sure that Kakko has done enough of either to be awarded a spot on the top line.

 

[True Blue]

Strome's doing a good job being Panarin's passenger.

If that is all he can do and do it well and keep his mouth shut, that is a very valuable commodity.

Though I will say that he as been doing it before Panarin and without him as well. And his passing has been excellent. Contrary to popular belief not every one can just do that.

 

[mas0764]

But lets trade him and keep Kreider!

The sooner they trade Kreider the better IMO.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

If that is all he can do and do it well and keep his mouth shut, that is a very valuable commodity.

Though I will say that he as been doing it before Panarin and without him as well. And his passing has been excellent. Contrary to popular belief not every one can just do that.

We've seen guys who have not been able to be a skilled player's "passenger". Remember the jokes about who would get to play with Jagr: Gomez or Drury?

 

[leetch99]

It's called team depth. We need it. Trading him would be stupid. You don't dump players who step up when you need him.

I also don't think he would hesitate to jump in if he figures somebody s taking liberties with Panarin either.

 

[Ola]

This is the guy the Rangers hoped Buch would be when he came over. It’s taken him some time to figure it out but when you go back even to last season. He played a lot of games like he’s playing now. Before he got hurt he was heating up and later in the year when he returned he really turned it on as well.

he’s a bit of a slow starter but his last 10 12 games have been really good. He’s got a very good shot at being a 65 plus point player this year if he stays healthy.

Yeah, many are in such a hurry to write off these kids. Buch supposedly was an embarrassment and a sure fire bust after his first Traverse showing.

You want to see progress, and as long as you can see that there is a lot of reason for hope.

Vesey is another kid who came in at the same time, was a little bit better from the get go, but that never were able to take more steps. Sometimes it’s better the more flawed a kid is, and Buch certainly had a lot of growing potential.

 

[mas0764]

It's called team depth. We need it. Trading him would be stupid. You don't dump players who step up when you need him.

Yeah, but all projections as of the guys we have to sign in the offseason kinda were relying on freeing up Strome's 3m cap hit. If we instead don't clear his $3m hit, but have to give him $3-4m MORE (ie, a $6-7m/year deal, which who knows, might be warranted for a 26 year old PPG player), things are gonna get tight extremely fast.

Which in fairness would be the point all the naysayers were bringing up when it came to signing Panarin and, to a lesser extent, Trouba, to those massive deals: We will be cap strapped until Staal, Smith, Shattenkirk, and Lundqvist come off the books, and it may cost us guys we don't want to lose.

I still say, fine, cost me Kreider and Strome, I don't care, I want Panarin.

But we were saying at the start of the season, we won't be able to give Kreider a $7m/year deal due to Panarin, most likely. That was under the assumption that Strome would simply walk at season's end. Now that he's playing well and Kreider isn't, it's the same math on Strome's deal. I don't know how much of a raise this team could afford to hand out.

 

[mas0764]

I've talked about avoiding middling players in this cap world where you pay your top guys and bargain the rest of the roster.

Kreider, as much as I love him and think he's a good player, may be playing himself out of being a guy you pay for. On the other side of that same coin, Buchnevich is playing himself into a guy you pay for so far this season.

On that topic, kinda glad we didn't give Nikita Gusev a $4m/year deal. Remember the panic over him?

 

[mas0764]

And he's not even close to sniffing the top 10. It's early and regression/sampling should cause many to come back to Earth, but there's been some crazy goal scoring in the league so far. Emphasis on two way defenders and clean crisp breakouts has allowed the stars to really shine and has led to ridiculous transition games for nearly all teams.

Panarin is 13th in the league in scoring, and with less games. Everyone ahead of him has played at least 2 more games. He's gonna be in the top 10 for sure.

But yes, scoring is up league wide.

 

[Machinehead]

On that topic, kinda glad we didn't give Nikita Gusev a $4m/year deal. Remember the panic over him?

He's been disappointing for sure

 

[Levitate]

Devils as a whole have been disappointing. I suspect they'll fire their coach here in a bit and they'll get a dead cat bounce for awhile, but will eventually end up playing a bit better for the rest of the season.

Gusev, etc, will likely do better

 

[Machinehead]

Ah shit I better slow myself down.

Imagine if 100k comes during a Senators game

 

[mas0764]

Devils as a whole have been disappointing. I suspect they'll fire their coach here in a bit and they'll get a dead cat bounce for awhile, but will eventually end up playing a bit better for the rest of the season.

Gusev, etc, will likely do better

Also hope so, because they don't need any more top 5 picks.

 

[True Blue]

But we were saying at the start of the season, we won't be able to give Kreider a $7m/year deal due to Panarin, most likely. That was under the assumption that Strome would simply walk at season's end. Now that he's playing well and Kreider isn't, it's the same math on Strome's deal. I don't know how much of a raise this team could afford to hand out.

I think that the math was that if Strome walked, you could trade Buchnevich and thus come up with the money for Kreider. The math still works the same way, I guess. But now it is Kreider and Buchnevich that get traded and Strome is resigned. Though I would have two cautions here. 1) I still feel that given the comfort and trust that Strome found with a franchise and a coaching staff, he may well sign for less. Especially if playing on a line with Panarin. 2) Strome still needs to show over the course of the year, that he would indeed be worth an increase in pay.

Currently, I have no feelings about it aside from watching it all unfold. I will say that I believe that Strome is making quite an effort to make himself a part of the family photo. I also believe that more than likely it is only one of those three that is coming back, with the possibility of two if Strome signs something like a $4x4 deal. But his play is currently exceeding all expectations. Let's see how the year unfolds.

 

[mas0764]

I think that the math was that if Strome walked, you could trade Buchnevich and thus come up with the money for Kreider. The math still works the same way, I guess. But now it is Kreider and Buchnevich that get traded and Strome is resigned. Though I would have two cautions here. 1) I still feel that given the comfort and trust that Strome found with a franchise and a coaching staff, he may well sign for less. Especially if playing on a line with Panarin. 2) Strome still needs to show over the course of the year, that he would indeed be worth an increase in pay.

Currently, I have no feelings about it aside from watching it all unfold. I will say that I believe that Strome is making quite an effort to make himself a part of the family photo. I also believe that more than likely it is only one of those three that is coming back, with the possibility of two if Strome signs something like a $4x4 deal. But his play is currently exceeding all expectations. Let's see how the year unfolds.

Yeah, but who'd really want to trade Buchnevich to keep Strome? Feels like Buchnevich might actually be the more valuable piece.

Ultimately, yeah, just have to see how it plays out. And if someone were to blow me away with an offer for Strome, I think I'd have to do it, because of the pending cap issues.

Not moving him for Rykov and a 2nd, but if someone gives me a Nash or McDonagh-like return, well, I'm listening.

 

[Rongomania]

Why does he "have" to be? What you saw was on the power play. If there is one thing that this coaching staff has done (by and large) is give young players bigger roles when they earn it and they are ready for it. I am not sure that Kakko has done enough of either to be awarded a spot on the top line.

Point per game over the past 8 + what we saw those two do last night screams: "Staple Kakko to Bread and see what happens." On the PP or not, you have to see if they can find success 5v5 as well. Don't see it hurting the kids development.

Not the largest sample size but the kid has only been trending upward.

 

[n8]

in the poll, i wanted to vote for the goal post.

 

[Pizza]

Milbury is such a hack

They're all a bunch of hacks.

Giving Hank credit on a nice save seems like it's cancer for Doc.

I try to wear it like a badge of honor.

Anyway, F them all to Hell.

 

[egelband]

I've talked about avoiding middling players in this cap world where you pay your top guys and bargain the rest of the roster.

Kreider, as much as I love him and think he's a good player, may be playing himself out of being a guy you pay for. On the other side of that same coin, Buchnevich is playing himself into a guy you pay for so far this season.

For me they’re becoming quite similar to me. Both players have “keeper” upside but both hibernate for stretches. Which is probably a deal-breaker for me. Though they’re both legit NHL top sixers.

 

[ohbaby]

My late to the party 3 stars of the game.

1- Crossbar
2- Power Play
3- Puck Management

Only kidding, but not really. Our puck management and puck support was the best so far this year. Playing D is so much easier when you are not on your heels and controlling the puck. Our passes were sharp, and we had strength in numbers around the puck. We couldn't have played a better game within a structure. As a team, we made very smart decisions with and away from the puck. Except for that one time the Caps scored on the PP. Kuznetsov walked in on Skjei 3x before he finally scored. Did Skjei have a mental lapse there? But other than that, we played a great game. Had plenty of O zone time due to our fantastic puck management.

>>>Caps have won 13 of their last 16 coming into this.
>>>Lemieux leads the league in PIM. And it doesn't seem like he takes that many penalties.

With games like this, doesn't seem so unrealistic to have a winning season.

 

[wafflepadsave]

Also hope so, because they don't need any more top 5 picks.

Not betting against that. NHL has favorites.