I grade McPhee highly for his deadline work. He shipped out the players who wanted out (though arguably he created the situations that caused them to want out), brought in some help at very palatable prices, and didn't overpay for guys who could have upgraded the roster at positions of need, but will likely still be available at the draft for less. In my mind, to be a contender this season, the Caps would have had to add a Ryan McDonagh caliber left-handed defenseman. That wasn't going to happen, so I'm OK with taking a rain check and seeing the prices come draft day.
I 100% agree with everything you say here. 100%
But what, if anything, does this tell you about McPhee's future with the Caps?
In another post I mentioned that, to me, it indicates 100% McPhee (and thereby Oates) will be back next year.
Where have you been? Back to discuss the dying end, are you? George is reaping what he sowed, that's for sure.
Laich isn't himself anymore, playing or not. We got what...half dozen games of him being effective? At 4.5m a pop? That's a terrible waste of cap space. We could have a 5m dman for that, and one that actually contributes night in, and night out, not one that needs 40games to find his groove, then to get hurt again.
If he's healthy, but him out. Spend that money somewhere else (with a new GM making the decisions), and use all of the cap space to the fullest.
We can get a good enough 3C for less, and that actually contributes to the cause on a nightly basis.
Caps need to get rid of their deadwood. "Feel good" players. Laich is certainly one of those.
Or else get used to 11th place finishes in the east.
Being a VIP and all I was all busy and stuff but good to hear from you too Rids! ha
Again Laich is an interesting case. We may not even be able to buy him out based on what I read so who knows there. What I have seen is flashes of his old self. Its not an immediate concern as we have plenty of wiggle room in cap space.
While I like MJ and Brouwer I feel they are going to be gone simply b/c we have to make room for guys like Wilson and perhaps Burakovsky. That will free up even more cap space and provide assets (and I am feeling we'll trade our 1st rnd pick along with them on draft day) to trade for a dman/center or both.
I think the damage to Holtby is going to be irrepairable. GMGM calling him out earlier this year (essentially) and Holtby's aggressive response gave me the sense that it was over for him here. So thats another trading chip.
I sense a big trade in the offseason. MJ/Brouwer/Holtby/1st rnd pick/young dman like Carrick/Schmidt will all likely be gone. That would be another 7 million open so we'd be $20 mil under the cap.
Don't be suprised if we see the likes of Kesler or Erhoff types being Caps next year. The assets I mentioned above would be very appealing to teams like Vancouver or Buffalo.
I forsee:
Burakovsky or Fehr/19/8
Kuznetsov/Kesler/Wilson
Chimera/Grabovski or Fehr/Ward
Brown/Latta/Beagle
Erhoff/Carlson
Alzner/Green
Orlov/Hillen (or handedness fascination acquisition)
Halak
Grubauer
$20 mil to fit in Kesler, Grabovski, Halak and Erhoff (who knows if Laich will be healthy or LTIR)
Book it. We are going to make a big splash roster wise.
