I'm curious who this could be. Only "name" I could think he'd go after is Erskine
Meh. He's just frustrated. None of the Hershey bubble guys in the lineup--Carrick, Wey, Mitchell, Newbury, Conner and Wellman--had much of a chance or had put together an argument coming into this game. It wasn't on them, though. They just weren't collectively ready to play at the pace needed from the very beginning.
Eventually hopefully the Caps will have a coach and GM that once again pay attention to the finer points of possession, support and teamwork with the puck. Maybe then they'll be entertaining again. The thing about last year is they actually ranked lower in 5-on-5 GF/60 (23rd) than GA/60 (20th) and yet there's not much emphasis placed on 5-on-5 offense aside from the "freedom," integrating youth and more aggressive D play. This may be where trades are needed most if no across the board habit improvements can be made.
The disappointing thing with not just Kuznetsov in the preseason but also Vrana in limited action is that you know there's high-level skill and hockey sense that's bogged down and not being displayed for numerous reasons. They still play slow/soft
as a team and for skilled players that thrive on space there aren't many openings to show that off.