Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap/Lines etc. Part LXXXI -- Will we even care by July 1?

[Raikkonen]

Ovechkin has primary points on 3 of 4 goals Caps scored this series, right? He isn't that bad after all. Tough decisions to made after the season means there is little chance they will make the right ones.

Maybe they should trade Ovi and go to the mediocrity land for good.

 

[ovikovy817]

Ovechkin has primary points on 3 of 4 goals Caps scored this series, right? He isn't that bad after all. Tough decisions to made after the season means there is little chance they will make the right ones.

Maybe they should trade Ovi and go to the mediocrity land for good.

He is the problem. 75% is not good enough. 115% would be better and don't forget while scoring goals and points, he also should be @ .960 SV% in the net

 

[txpd]

Ovechkin has primary points on 3 of 4 goals Caps scored this series, right? He isn't that bad after all. Tough decisions to made after the season means there is little chance they will make the right ones.

Maybe they should trade Ovi and go to the mediocrity land for good.

I think they have made the right decisions with their roster. Unless you think having Holtby as the goalie was a forseeable problem. What did you think of the Shattenkirk deal? Roundly applauded throughout the league. The best piece available. He has been downright bad in the playoffs. Did you see that coming?

They are not losing for style of play or being injury prone. They are losing because they suddenly cant make enough plays. The finish on a scoring chance, a difficult pass for a layup, or a timely save.

 

[Raikkonen]

I think they have made the right decisions with their roster.

Meant strictly the decisions GMBM has to made after the end of this season.

 

[PB12]

Well we all want a rebuild. I'm going to say that before anyone posts it. Doubt it happens though. So lets say the core stays and they decide they want to work with Holtby on his upper net problem. What do we need? It appears that the 2nd and 3rd line is a problem.

 

[Hivemind]

Don't sell low on Holtby. He's been awful this series (and was shaky against Toronto), but a 10 game sample doesn't outweigh what he's done in the past 250+ games.

 

[PB12]

As for a rebuild i'm guessing that happens when both Nick's and Ov's contracts expire.

 

[Ovechkin]

As for a rebuild i'm guessing that happens when both Nick's and Ov's contracts expire.

Te's Take: It's always best to hold onto your used car until it breaks down and will cost more to repair than it's blue book value.

 

[animositynow]

i don't think a rebuild is necessary

we can just take care of business re signing and re tooling the roster. maybe pickup daryl sutter if he is available as coach.

the team is still good and a complete rebuild starting next year would be pointless. we could still win with some of these guys, they just have to play better and get more bounces.

san jose kept underachieving and what they really did was shake up the captaincy a few times. they finally made it to the finals last year.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Well we all want a rebuild. I'm going to say that before anyone posts it. Doubt it happens though. So lets say the core stays and they decide they want to work with Holtby on his upper net problem. What do we need? It appears that the 2nd and 3rd line is a problem.

It won't happen and I doubt they do the rebuild right. I rather Ted put the team up for sale. New ownership, new management, new coach, and a fresh start. I hope McPhee fails in LV too. No way that guy should ever be a GM ever again. As for Laviolette, this team never had a chance to get him. At this point everyone except for Wilson is on my to trade list.

 

[Langway]

They need to start over more or less but they won't. It's why I made the Iginla in Calgary comparison previously. It just doesn't work so stop forcing it. Trotz shoulders a lot of the blame for them not having either cohesion up front or actual depth but the core has had enough chances either way.

They need patience and to build the right way but I have no faith in them having a clue.

 

[peterthegreat12]

i don't think a rebuild is necessary

we can just take care of business re signing and re tooling the roster. maybe pickup daryl sutter if he is available as coach.

the team is still good and a complete rebuild starting next year would be pointless. we could still win with some of these guys, they just have to play better and get more bounces.

san jose kept underachieving and what they really did was shake up the captaincy a few times. they finally made it to the finals last year.

No. No we cannot win with this core. Biggest game of the year and your core (Ovi, Backstrom, Carlson) all had horrible games. This happens every year. They all disappear in big moments.

Time for a re-build.

 

[PB12]

No. No we cannot win with this core. Biggest game of the year and your core (Ovi, Backstrom, Carlson) all had horrible games. This happens every year. They all disappear in big moments.

Time for a re-build.

So who are you going to trust. Kuzy, Bura, Mojo?! Don't exactly trust the sit and wait trio to lead the team either

 

[Hivemind]

This IS the year. They went all in, just as we all asked. They've been steadily bleeding draft picks and prospects for a few years now. The Shattenkirk and Eller trades on top of paying to move Laich have left the cupboard barren. They simply lack the high end prospects and draft picks to restock the system quickly. And heck, even their mid-end draft picks (Gersich, Pinho) aren't guaranteed to sign with the organization.

Like it or not, this is the best chance the Capitals will have for a while.

 

[hb13xchamps]

Plz give back Stephenson and maybe Carey so the Bears can make a run

 

[Hivemind]

Plz give back Stephenson and maybe Carey so the Bears can make a run

Decent odds you don't have to wait past Saturday.

 

[artilector]

This IS the year. They went all in, just as we all asked. They've been steadily bleeding draft picks and prospects for a few years now. The Shattenkirk and Eller trades on top of paying to move Laich have left the cupboard barren. They simply lack the high end prospects and draft picks to restock the system quickly. And heck, even their mid-end draft picks (Gersich, Pinho) aren't guaranteed to sign with the organization.

Like it or not, this is the best chance the Capitals will have for a while.

On paper, yeah. But I can see how the team can actually be better next year -- or at least, not much worse. I mean, for example, if they were to lose Alzner, Orpik, Shattenkirk, their current level of contribution may not be hard to replace at much cheaper cost, IMO. And then Bura, Wilson, Kuz, Orlov, Schmidt can still improve significantly. Most of the older guys still have some decent years left, if kept.

It's true that cap-wise, this was the best year. But unfortunately, a lot of the actual players they fielded have not played well. So if you subtract them to fit under the cap, the actual drop off may not be significant, if it's there at all.

On the other hand, if the Caps lose guys like Schmidt, Mojo/Oshie then yeah, they'll get worse. We'll see....

 

[MrGone]

Don't sell low on Holtby. He's been awful this series (and was shaky against Toronto), but a 10 game sample doesn't outweigh what he's done in the past 250+ games.

Sure he has been great in the regular season and that's what we need. And you can save the states and just list the times he stole a game in the playoffs.

 

[Hivemind]

Sure he has been great in the regular season and that's what we need. And you can save the states and just list the times he stole a game in the playoffs.

2016 Game 6 against Philadelphia
2015 Game 3 against the Islanders
2015 Game 1 against the Rangers
2015 Game 3 against the Rangers
2015 Game 4 against the Rangers
Basically every Caps win against the Rangers and Bruins in their previous series as well.

 

[Caps8112]

not getting crazy. very calm about what happened last night and have accepted they will most likely lose. Still holding out hope but have moved on to outdoor drinking season. That said players Im done with.

Carlson (not a true number 1 D and dont really have one at all)
Backstrom (wont lose you the game but sure as hell wont win it for you in the playoffs)
Orpik (I know we are screwed)
Winnik (good 4th line guy that gives you absolutely nothing in the playoffs)
Kuzy ( hes probably been our best forward in this series but he is a perimeter player and
going to want a lot of money, not sure what the caps should do)
Shatty (useless)

Players for the right money

Oshie ( going to want a lot of money, 50/50 wanting him to stay)
Alzner (any kind of a raise and he is not worth it)

 

[OV Rocks]

No. No we cannot win with this core. Biggest game of the year and your core (Ovi, Backstrom, Carlson) all had horrible games. This happens every year. They all disappear in big moments.

Time for a re-build.

We don't have enough picks for a decent rebuild anyways

 

[RandyHolt]

I was concerned that during our monster scoring run, Ovi largely did not partake - you'd think he had hat tricks galore looking at the final scores. We had a few weeks of the old him hitting before the season ended. 16ESG in 82 games. Feb 1 - End of the regular season 1ESG. Playoffs, 2ESG so he is trending up. But 3ESG in 40+ games is bad news for any forward, not to mention your premier goal scorer.

If we need picks, I am curious what Ovi would fetch in a trade in a massive change of direction. His contract makes it tough to value him. Yes, I know Ted will never sign off. I assume if we exposed him George would take him. Assumption is also the mother of all screw ups.

 

[hb13xchamps]

There's no way they go the rebuild route at this point. Any rebuild starts and ends with an Ovechkin trade and Ted won't do that unless Ovechkin requests it.

They can try and recoup some assets by trading impending UFAs for some picks in the offseason but even then their hands are tied because of the million stipulations on the Shattenkirk deal

 

[OV Rocks]

I was concerned that during our monster scoring run, Ovi largely did not partake - you'd think he had hat tricks galore looking at the final scores. We had a few weeks of the old him hitting before the season ended. 16ESG in 82 games. Feb 1 - End of the regular season 1ESG. Playoffs, 2ESG so he is trending up. But 3ESG in 40+ games is bad news for any forward, not to mention your premier goal scorer.

If we need picks, I am curious what Ovi would fetch in a trade in a massive change of direction. His contract makes it tough to value him. Yes, I know Ted will never sign off. I assume if we exposed him George would take him. Assumption is also the mother of all screw ups.

If the Caps exposed Ovi George would take him in a heartbeat and the Caps will have lost the best goal scorer of all time for nothing. That would be the worst player transaction in the history of sports, followed closely by the Erat trade. Can't even consider exposing him

 

[SpinningEdge]

People can blame Ovy - but what about Eller? Carlson? Orpik? Holtby? Alzner???

A lot of players have played GOD AWFUL for us and way underachieved. Ovi hasn't been great, but he has done a lot more than a lot of the players that completely fell flat on their face AGAIN these playoffs.