Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2020 Offseason Pt. 3

[John Price]

"McCarthy will work with the defensemen"

Huge get

A unit maligned will now have a new coach. Wonder who else will be coaching.

 

[John Price]

Out of all the assistant coaches the most hated was Reid Cashman who left to coach Dartmouth.

Fans also expressed anger about Blaine Forshyte who was retained. Hopefully the PP unit does well.

 

[HTFN]

That's a big no from me on Arniel but I feel otherwise fine with the group.

 

[Lobodomy]

How much do we have to suck to get rid off Forsythe

 

[Ridley Simon]

How much do we have to suck to get rid off Forsythe

Hopefully we don’t find out

 

[Todd Lazarchick]

Siegs back for 800k

 

[caps4cup]

Siegs back for 800k

That’s a steal. Him and TVR for a combined 1.6mil is really good.

 

[Ridley Simon]

That’s a steal. Him and TVR for a combined 1.6mil is really good.

Agreed. Makes life a lot easier. So how much money do we have for 2F’s?

edit — saw 750k left once Kempny is LTIR’d, but that’s including 12F (not sure who, I need to look).

so one 750k or lower F to round it all out. Looks like we are done unless Jensen gets sent out. And TVR is looking like the 7th. Which is odd. After all of his success in CAR, you’d think he’d get assurances he’s get a regular sweater.

so I think something had to give (and they have LaDue as 7th AND Fever in Hershey as longer term fill in when someone gets hurt)

 

[caps4cup]

Agreed. Makes life a lot easier. So how much money do we have for 2F’s?

edit — saw 750k left once Kempny is LTIR’d, but that’s including 12F (not sure who, I need to look).

so one 750k or lower F to round it all out. Looks like we are done unless Jensen gets sent out. And TVR is looking like the 7th. Which is odd. After all of his success in CAR, you’d think he’d get assurances he’s get a regular sweater.

so I think something had to give (and they have LaDue as 7th AND Fever in Hershey as longer term fill in when someone gets hurt)

With Kempny on LTIR, there’s 750k left with 12F (Pinho as 12th F), 7D and 2G.

 

[caps4cup]

Agreed. Makes life a lot easier. So how much money do we have for 2F’s?

edit — saw 750k left once Kempny is LTIR’d, but that’s including 12F (not sure who, I need to look).

so one 750k or lower F to round it all out. Looks like we are done unless Jensen gets sent out. And TVR is looking like the 7th. Which is odd. After all of his success in CAR, you’d think he’d get assurances he’s get a regular sweater.

so I think something had to give (and they have LaDue as 7th AND Fever in Hershey as longer term fill in when someone gets hurt)

I don’t think TVR would come here if he was the 7th dman. He’s good enough to play every night and I’m sure a few other teams could have offered him that opportunity. LaDue is a solid option for 7D and as you said, Fever will be waiting in the wings. I think Jensen is gone. Which would give the team 4mil to play with, with the 11 returning forwards, 6 D, and 2 goalies.

 

[pman25]

With 11F, 7D, 2G and Kempny on IR we’re just over $80 mil. So they could add Sprong at $725 and another one of the $700k forwards and be under (Carr, Gersich, Sgarbossa, Maillet) That’s the only way I see running 13F

they could also run 12F with just McMichael

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don’t think TVR would come here if he was the 7th dman. He’s good enough to play every night and I’m sure a few other teams could have offered him that opportunity. LaDue is a solid option for 7D and as you said, Fever will be waiting in the wings. I think Jensen is gone. Which would give the team 4mil to play with, with the 11 returning forwards, 6 D, and 2 goalies.

Right. I’m w you. So Sprong and LaDue take up 1.5 total. Which would leave Jensen’s salary slot for a top 9F. Even more if a Hathaway went as well (so more like 3.25 w Hathaway replacement value player at 750k or so).

 

[pman25]

I don’t think TVR would come here if he was the 7th dman. He’s good enough to play every night and I’m sure a few other teams could have offered him that opportunity. LaDue is a solid option for 7D and as you said, Fever will be waiting in the wings. I think Jensen is gone. Which would give the team 4mil to play with, with the 11 returning forwards, 6 D, and 2 goalies.

But who takes Jensen? So many teams are looking to move a contract to either dump or get under the cap. It won’t be easy IMO. I’m thinking they stick with 7D, Fehervary / LaDue in AHL

 

[caps4cup]

But who takes Jensen? So many teams are looking to move a contract to either dump or get under the cap. It won’t be easy IMO. I’m thinking they stick with 7D, Fehervary / LaDue in AHL

I don’t think his contract is outrageous for what he brings. Maybe a little overpaid based on how he played at the beginning of his tenure here, but he’s still a fringe 2nd pairing RHD that is only making 2.5mil. Could also potentially trade him for a 3rd line forward with a similar cap hit. His contract would definitely be harder to move because of the current circumstances, but I don’t think there would be much of a problem if these were normal times.

 

[tenken00]

But who takes Jensen? So many teams are looking to move a contract to either dump or get under the cap. It won’t be easy IMO. I’m thinking they stick with 7D, Fehervary / LaDue in AHL

Well I guess if anything, at least GMBM has time. Don't have to be cap compliant until the official start of the season and who even knows when that will be at this point.

Maybe an injury or another situation will be open in the coming months (years ) and that's when we make our move.

 

[pman25]

Well I guess if anything, at least GMBM has time. Don't have to be cap compliant until the official start of the season and who even knows when that will be at this point.

Maybe an injury or another situation will be open in the coming months (years ) and that's when we make our move.

Yeah perhaps, luckily they’re not really in a position where they have to move anyone, but can be patient if a deal comes along closer to the season. They can make the numbers work regardless, but they could absolutely roll with TVR/LaDue/Fehervary on that 3rd pair

 

[Kalopsia]

I don’t think TVR would come here if he was the 7th dman. He’s good enough to play every night and I’m sure a few other teams could have offered him that opportunity. LaDue is a solid option for 7D and as you said, Fever will be waiting in the wings. I think Jensen is gone. Which would give the team 4mil to play with, with the 11 returning forwards, 6 D, and 2 goalies.

TVR was the #6 in Carolina, playing less than 15 minutes a night and being a healthy scratch about 1/4 of the time. When Skjei was acquired and Vatanen returned for the playoffs he was the #8. Factoring in the flat cap and the loaded RHD market, I don't think he had the leverage to hold out for a guaranteed top 6 spot. LaDue was 12th in games played by a defenseman on the Kings last year, so I don't think he's a solid #7 either.

I'd bet that the Caps are finished. Sprong at 3RW, Pinho at the 13F, TVR as 7D, LaDue as 1RD in Hershey to give Fehervary a decent offensive defenseman to pair with. With Siegs coming in at 800K, that team slides under the cap with 25K to spare.

 

[Ridley Simon]

But who takes Jensen? So many teams are looking to move a contract to either dump or get under the cap. It won’t be easy IMO. I’m thinking they stick with 7D, Fehervary / LaDue in AHL

You may be right. It wouldn’t be a bad strategy to go into the season as is, as see where they are.

Thru literally are 9 deep with what could be considering NHL capable/ready D-men, and that’s a huge commodity to carry onto the season. Injuries and poor play will be everywhere in the NHL, so the Caps can wait it out and take advantage in season (or at during camps) to gauge the value of any d-man not named Carlson, Orlov, Dillon (and probably Schultz....$igh).

They should have enough offense w their currently signed players.

that said, let’s see what wizard BMac does.

 

[Ridley Simon]

TVR was the #6 in Carolina, playing less than 15 minutes a night and being a healthy scratch about 1/4 of the time. When Skjei was acquired and Vatanen returned for the playoffs he was the #8. Factoring in the flat cap and the loaded RHD market, I don't think he had the leverage to hold out for a guaranteed top 6 spot. LaDue was 12th in games played by a defenseman on the Kings last year, so I don't think he's a solid #7 either.

I'd bet that the Caps are finished. Sprong at 3RW, Pinho at the 13F, TVR as 7D, LaDue as 1RD in Hershey to give Fehervary a decent offensive defenseman to pair with. With Siegs coming in at 800K, that team slides under the cap with 25K to spare.

All very logical. This may be spot on.

 

[caps4cup]

TVR was the #6 in Carolina, playing less than 15 minutes a night and being a healthy scratch about 1/4 of the time. When Skjei was acquired and Vatanen returned for the playoffs he was the #8. Factoring in the flat cap and the loaded RHD market, I don't think he had the leverage to hold out for a guaranteed top 6 spot. LaDue was 12th in games played by a defenseman on the Kings last year, so I don't think he's a solid #7 either.

I'd bet that the Caps are finished. Sprong at 3RW, Pinho at the 13F, TVR as 7D, LaDue as 1RD in Hershey to give Fehervary a decent offensive defenseman to pair with. With Siegs coming in at 800K, that team slides under the cap with 25K to spare.

Meh. He was the #6 on one of the NHL’s deepest D corps and played 49 out of the 61 games he was heathy for. I think he is certainly good enough where a number of teams would want him on the 3rd pair at 800k, even factoring in the flat cap. I’m not saying teams were drooling over the thought of signing him, but I would be very surprised if he didn’t have a few teams that wanted him on the 3rd pair at that price tag.

LaDue has 18 points in 69 career games to go along with some very strong analytics. From 2016-2019, out of all LA defensemen with over 500min at 5v5, LaDue ranked 4th in CF%, 1st in GF, and 3rd in xGF%. He’d be perfectly fine as a #7 fill in, and the true #7 would likely be Fever anyways, as he’d be the one that gets the nod if a spot opens up for any extended period of time.

They very well could be done but I’d be somewhat surprised if they don’t try to add a middle 6 forward as I think Tarik had mentioned before. Whatever happens, I like what they’ve done with the defense and Laviolette will be a massive upgrade over TR.

 

[tenken00]

Yeah perhaps, luckily they’re not really in a position where they have to move anyone, but can be patient if a deal comes along closer to the season. They can make the numbers work regardless, but they could absolutely roll with TVR/LaDue/Fehervary on that 3rd pair

I agree that as is, they don't have to make a corresponding move and that they are actually sitting pretty if they are currently content with the roster. I meant that if they (as in the front office + Lavi) really did want to do something with the bottom 6 (like a lot of people here on HFCaps have been clamoring for), then we could make something happen now still and deal with the cap situation at a later date since we have plenty of time right now. We could be looking at a Jan-late Feb opening day.

I do know that GMBM does like some wriggle room to make mid-season transactions.. or at least likes the thought of wriggle room. I think 750K is about where we were at cap space wise at the start of last year before we traded Stephenson in Dec? Maybe a little more or little less.

Edit: actually as stated above, using Sprong as the last forward gives us 25K wriggle room.

Either way, a trade might be necessary not just for wriggle room this year, but to open more options to decide what to do with next year's cap conundrum as well.

 

[Kalopsia]

Meh. He was the #6 on one of the NHL’s deepest D corps and played 49 out of the 61 games he was heathy for. I think he is certainly good enough where a number of teams would want him on the 3rd pair at 800k, even factoring in the flat cap. I’m not saying teams were drooling over the thought of signing him, but I would be very surprised if he didn’t have a few teams that wanted him on the 3rd pair at that price tag.

LaDue has 18 points in 69 career games to go along with some very strong analytics. From 2016-2019, out of all LA defensemen with over 500min at 5v5, LaDue ranked 4th in CF%, 1st in GF, and 3rd in xGF%. He’d be perfectly fine as a #7 fill in, and the true #7 would likely be Fever anyways, as he’d be the one that gets the nod if a spot opens up for any extended period of time.

They very well could be done but I’d be somewhat surprised if they don’t try to add a middle 6 forward as I think Tarik had mentioned before. Whatever happens, I like what they’ve done with the defense and Laviolette will be a massive upgrade over TR.

The free agent market is pretty much dead right now, and there are still 9 UFA RHD available who played at least 15 minutes night last season. Five of them are comparable to TVR as 6/7th defensemen who can chip in on the PK (Bowey, Stone, Holzer, Rutta, and Goloubef). There are gonna be starting caliber D settling for tryout contracts. TVR's better than the typical #7, I'm not disputing that, but I really don't see what's so special about him that he could demand guaranteed playing time in a market like this. Also, the Caps obviously know that Schultz is a major injury risk at this point. It makes sense to keep Jensen around and add TVR as a contingency plan.

As for LaDue, again, this is a guy who played 25 minutes last season. The Kings apparently weren't all that impressed by his xGF%. He seems like the new Aaron Ness, the guy who'll be 9th on the depth chart and run Hershey's power play.

 

[pman25]

I think it’s a good thing to have some depth! We should also take into account the possible condensed schedule this coming season. Guys are more likely to get hurt or need a night off, so 7D or even 8D is the way to go. Wouldn’t be shocked to see some teams carry 3 goalies

 

[Hivemind]

I think TVR is good enough to be a Top 6 D on a lot of teams, but he's being paid like a #7 and there's no real RDs of note in Hershey. So, to me, all signs point to TVR being the 4th RD on the depth chart, aka a #7.

LaDue is a non-factor in this equation. He's the replacement for Lewington as organizational depth and RD in Hershey.

 

[caps4cup]

The free agent market is pretty much dead right now, and there are still 9 UFA RHD available who played at least 15 minutes night last season. Five of them are comparable to TVR as 6/7th defensemen who can chip in on the PK (Bowey, Stone, Holzer, Rutta, and Goloubef). There are gonna be starting caliber D settling for tryout contracts. TVR's better than the typical #7, I'm not disputing that, but I really don't see what's so special about him that he could demand guaranteed playing time in a market like this. Also, the Caps obviously know that Schultz is a major injury risk at this point. It makes sense to keep Jensen around and add TVR as a contingency plan.

As for LaDue, again, this is a guy who played 25 minutes last season. The Kings apparently weren't all that impressed by his xGF%. He seems like the new Aaron Ness, the guy who'll be 9th on the depth chart and run Hershey's power play.

I’m not saying there’s anything special about TVR but he’s a very good 3rd pairing defensemen according to most metrics. He’s
much better than any of those defensemen that you mentioned and there were a lot of similar/worse dmen that signed around the time he did.

Schultz is an injury risk to be sure, but then why even sign TVR if Jensen is staying? In case of short term injury call up LaDue as 3RD and move Jensen to RD. If long term injury, call Fever up instead.

The Kings fans were actually very high on him a few years back so it would be interesting to see what happened there. His results have been pretty good, and I’m not saying he’s some gem or anything, but they show he would be perfectly adequate as a 7D and much better than a guy like Chorney who had that role in the past.