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

[hb13xchamps]

My criticism of their drafts isn't the players they've selected, but how many times they've traded up in the draft. GMBM has done it 8 times already. He's done it at least once in 5 of his 7 drafts. Trading up in specific scenarios for select targets would be fine, especially in the earlier rounds. But it's become a habit at this point, and the lack of picks is hurting their prospect pipeline. I've written about it in more detail in various draft threads.

Looking at this draft day trades:
1) Vitek Vanecek - Meh, could be on the NHL roster at the start of the season. Took longer to develop than most other goaltenders have in Hershey over the course of the past 10+ seasons but IMO could be a decent NHL backup
2) Nathan Walker - Obviously bad looking at it now. He’ll forever be heralded for being the first ever Australian to play in the NHL and scoring a “goal” during his first ever game. Also had that sweet assist to help finish off Pittsburgh during the cup run so there’s that at least.
3) Steve Spinner/Eddie Pasquale - Who cares. Dumped a 6th and two 7th rounders for a project college player who didn’t pan out. Also got the organization a goaltender when they desperately needed one. Unfortunately Pasquale hurt himself and didn’t pan out.
4) Jonas Siegenthaler - Traded up for Siegs who has been in the organization for quite some time and has played meaningful minutes. I’d call that a win
5) Alex Kannok-Leipert - Traded two 6th rounders to move up 20+ spots to draft him. Didn’t offer him a contract. I guess you can call this bad? The two picks used to move up didn’t amount to anything either and don’t appear to be NHL bound at this stage
6) Aliaksei Protas - Jury still out, but it’s looking like a solid pick
7) Martin Hugo Has - Traded two 7th rounders for a guy who looked good at the WJC. Jury still out
8) Hendrix Lapierre - If his injury is fully healed this has the potential to be a very, very solid value pick.

So if you count Vanecek in the negative column, he’s 4/8 on trade up opportunities (so far) which seems just about average. A lot of the draft capital he has traded has been 6th or 7th round picks and the likelihood of those hitting is very, very minimal

 

[Calicaps]

Looking at this draft day trades:
1) Vitek Vanecek - Meh, could be on the NHL roster at the start of the season. Took longer to develop than most other goaltenders have in Hershey over the course of the past 10+ seasons but IMO could be a decent NHL backup
2) Nathan Walker - Obviously bad looking at it now. He’ll forever be heralded for being the first ever Australian to play in the NHL and scoring a “goal” during his first ever game. Also had that sweet assist to help finish off Pittsburgh during the cup run so there’s that at least.
3) Steve Spinner/Eddie Pasquale - Who cares. Dumped a 6th and two 7th rounders for a project college player who didn’t pan out. Also got the organization a goaltender when they desperately needed one. Unfortunately Pasquale hurt himself and didn’t pan out.
4) Jonas Siegenthaler - Traded up for Siegs who has been in the organization for quite some time and has played meaningful minutes. I’d call that a win
5) Alex Kannok-Leipert - Traded two 6th rounders to move up 20+ spots to draft him. Didn’t offer him a contract. I guess you can call this bad? The two picks used to move up didn’t amount to anything either and don’t appear to be NHL bound at this stage
6) Aliaksei Protas - Jury still out, but it’s looking like a solid pick
7) Martin Hugo Has - Traded two 7th rounders for a guy who looked good at the WJC. Jury still out
8) Hendrix Lapierre - If his injury is fully healed this has the potential to be a very, very solid value pick.

So if you count Vanecek in the negative column, he’s 4/8 on trade up opportunities (so far) which seems just about average. A lot of the draft capital he has traded has been 6th or 7th round picks and the likelihood of those hitting is very, very minimal

Important facts here about what those traded picks ended up as. The scouts know their options. If they think getting Guy X is more valuable than Guys Y and Z, then you trade Y and Z for X. How hard is this to understand? They know what the later rounds/picks are likely to offer, and folks can piss on the Kannok-Leipert move all they want, but maybe the guys available in round 6 all just sucked so why bother picking them.... This isn't happening in a knowledge void.

 

[Langway]

I don't know if it's accurate or fair to base whoever was picked in their original spots as relevant. It should be more about the field generally than who another team picked. Who knows who the Caps would have picked. Their record on trading up has mostly been bad but as a strategy I don't think it's poor per se. It may suggest that their rankings lack subtlety and rigor to so easily feel it imperative to move up. Some of the cases are different than others. I think the Walker & Kannok-Leipert trades were mostly sentimental rather than about pure ability. Those are the more dangerous ones. It was under a different GM but they also traded up for Sanford and that one was justified.

This is pretty far down the list of MacLellan's weaknesses IMO. Communication and the ability to get the most out of his coaches has been a bigger issue. It seems like there's always been some reservations and an inability to get on the same page. Hopefully that changes with Laviolette on a more fundamental level. MacLellan kind of hangs back and lets them be who they are rather than really work with them on a micro level, which works when if great people are hired. He's an open, blunt personality but with Laviolette we need to see a real partnership going forward, a patient investment in the process and a willingness to make changes if certain things aren't working. Whether it's empowering PL to hire the best staff or just being flexible bringing in the right players--and, perhaps more importantly, moving the wrong ones out--there needs to be cohesion in place. It's a tough dance at this stage of where the core is at. Transparency is best. While they need to be loyal to their core guys, they also need to level with them and be realistic about how they can best sustain a high level of play as they get older. I'm not sure all of them have gotten that under Reirden. If they had maybe it would have been salvageable. Laviolette will hammer home the importance of details and discipline but I still wonder if a fair share of their issues are off-ice in their dedication to being in top physical shape. It's an area where not having Orpik around is a real loss.

 

[Rayquaza64]

I don't know if it's accurate or fair to base whoever was picked in their original spots as relevant. It should be more about the field generally than who another team picked. Who knows who the Caps would have picked. Their record on trading up has mostly been bad but as a strategy I don't think it's poor per se. It may suggest that their rankings lack subtlety and rigor to so easily feel it imperative to move up. Some of the cases are different than others. I think the Walker & Kannok-Leipert trades were mostly sentimental rather than about pure ability. Those are the more dangerous ones. It was under a different GM but they also traded up for Sanford and that one was justified.

This is pretty far down the list of MacLellan's weaknesses IMO. Communication and the ability to get the most out of his coaches has been a bigger issue. It seems like there's always been some reservations and an inability to get on the same page. Hopefully that changes with Laviolette on a more fundamental level. MacLellan kind of hangs back and lets them be who they are rather than really work with them on a micro level, which works when if great people are hired. He's an open, blunt personality but with Laviolette we need to see a real partnership going forward, a patient investment in the process and a willingness to make changes if certain things aren't working. Whether it's empowering PL to hire the best staff or just being flexible bringing in the right players--and, perhaps more importantly, moving the wrong ones out--there needs to be cohesion in place. It's a tough dance at this stage of where the core is at. Transparency is best. While they need to be loyal to their core guys, they also need to level with them and be realistic about how they can best sustain a high level of play as they get older. I'm not sure all of them have gotten that under Reirden. If they had maybe it would have been salvageable. Laviolette will hammer home the importance of details and discipline but I still wonder if a fair share of their issues are off-ice in their dedication to being in top physical shape. It's an area where not having Orpik around is a real loss.

also to add maclellan's trading ability is not that great. His draft day performances is probably one of the least of his issues

 

[Hivemind]

Important facts here about what those traded picks ended up as. The scouts know their options. If they think getting Guy X is more valuable than Guys Y and Z, then you trade Y and Z for X. How hard is this to understand? They know what the later rounds/picks are likely to offer, and folks can piss on the Kannok-Leipert move all they want, but maybe the guys available in round 6 all just sucked so why bother picking them.... This isn't happening in a knowledge void.

If you want to play it by the literal "who was picked in this spot" game, then the Caps are going to lose about any evaluation of these trades thanks to Shesterkin being picked with one of Walker's picks (assuming Shesterkin continues to track along his current trajectory).

But as Langway mentioned, the Capitals likely would not have picked the exact same players. So you can evaluate with potential available players in the range around the picks they traded. There are a bunch of no-names in the vicinity of each pick, but there's also guys like Brayden Point and Nicolas Roy.

But the real gist of it is your last sentence, the knowledge void, and how it ties into draft strategy. I believe in the Caps amateur scouting, but all amateur scouting late in a draft is a crap shoot (and the Caps own record tends to sustain that). All scouting departments are operating in a knowledge void of how these players win pan out in the future, and their own notions about who they like and dislike don't end up changing the odds all that much in the grand scheme. The Caps scouting staff and brass needs to realize that it's better to have a few rolls of the dice than pick the shiny colored die they particularly enjoy. The guys in round 6 may suck, but that's all the reason to pick multiple of them rather than one particular one on the odd hope that one of them may pan out. As a strategy they need to become less attached to their mid and late round targets and be willing to play the numbers a bit more. I'm also not even convinced that some of their targets wouldn't have still been there anyway.

 

[kicksavedave]

More like 17. I think.

Plus let’s not discount the previous 26 before GMGM

Lets do the maths. It took 44 years for any GM to deliver a Cup to DC.

Now barely two years later, some people, well one person, thinks he should be on the hot seat.

Its entirely laughable.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

Lets do the maths. It took 44 years for any GM to deliver a Cup to DC.

Now barely two years later, some people, well one person, thinks he should be on the hot seat.

Its entirely laughable.

This.

 

[Ridley Simon]

txpd, name me a worse player on the Caps 2017 roster than Brooks Orpik. Take as much time as you need.

That specific year?

Chorney and Alzner. Just to name 2 defensemen

want me to get into forwards?.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Looking at this draft day trades:
1) Vitek Vanecek - Meh, could be on the NHL roster at the start of the season. Took longer to develop than most other goaltenders have in Hershey over the course of the past 10+ seasons but IMO could be a decent NHL backup
2) Nathan Walker - Obviously bad looking at it now. He’ll forever be heralded for being the first ever Australian to play in the NHL and scoring a “goal” during his first ever game. Also had that sweet assist to help finish off Pittsburgh during the cup run so there’s that at least.
3) Steve Spinner/Eddie Pasquale - Who cares. Dumped a 6th and two 7th rounders for a project college player who didn’t pan out. Also got the organization a goaltender when they desperately needed one. Unfortunately Pasquale hurt himself and didn’t pan out.
4) Jonas Siegenthaler - Traded up for Siegs who has been in the organization for quite some time and has played meaningful minutes. I’d call that a win
5) Alex Kannok-Leipert - Traded two 6th rounders to move up 20+ spots to draft him. Didn’t offer him a contract. I guess you can call this bad? The two picks used to move up didn’t amount to anything either and don’t appear to be NHL bound at this stage
6) Aliaksei Protas - Jury still out, but it’s looking like a solid pick
7) Martin Hugo Has - Traded two 7th rounders for a guy who looked good at the WJC. Jury still out
8) Hendrix Lapierre - If his injury is fully healed this has the potential to be a very, very solid value pick.

So if you count Vanecek in the negative column, he’s 4/8 on trade up opportunities (so far) which seems just about average. A lot of the draft capital he has traded has been 6th or 7th round picks and the likelihood of those hitting is very, very minimal

the axe to grind over using spare parts to pick other specific spare parts is literally laughable. There is no one else on these boards, bemoaning this issue, save the one poster @Hivemind.

we not need humour this argument further.

GMBM is aggressive and goes after what he wants. It’s what makes him as successful as he’s been. Posters that can’t see that simply want to be “right” in whatever specific axe they want to grind.

we have our best GM ever. And people snipe. Says more about them and their motives, IMO, than it does the current GM.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don't know if it's accurate or fair to base whoever was picked in their original spots as relevant. It should be more about the field generally than who another team picked. Who knows who the Caps would have picked. Their record on trading up has mostly been bad but as a strategy I don't think it's poor per se. It may suggest that their rankings lack subtlety and rigor to so easily feel it imperative to move up. Some of the cases are different than others. I think the Walker & Kannok-Leipert trades were mostly sentimental rather than about pure ability. Those are the more dangerous ones. It was under a different GM but they also traded up for Sanford and that one was justified.

This is pretty far down the list of MacLellan's weaknesses IMO. Communication and the ability to get the most out of his coaches has been a bigger issue. It seems like there's always been some reservations and an inability to get on the same page. Hopefully that changes with Laviolette on a more fundamental level. MacLellan kind of hangs back and lets them be who they are rather than really work with them on a micro level, which works when if great people are hired. He's an open, blunt personality but with Laviolette we need to see a real partnership going forward, a patient investment in the process and a willingness to make changes if certain things aren't working. Whether it's empowering PL to hire the best staff or just being flexible bringing in the right players--and, perhaps more importantly, moving the wrong ones out--there needs to be cohesion in place. It's a tough dance at this stage of where the core is at. Transparency is best. While they need to be loyal to their core guys, they also need to level with them and be realistic about how they can best sustain a high level of play as they get older. I'm not sure all of them have gotten that under Reirden. If they had maybe it would have been salvageable. Laviolette will hammer home the importance of details and discipline but I still wonder if a fair share of their issues are off-ice in their dedication to being in top physical shape. It's an area where not having Orpik around is a real loss.

interesting take on the communication between GM and HC.

curious why you think it, other than drawing conclusions. Did it get printed somewhere? Did GMBM allude to (or candidly say) it? Or one of the coaches?

From what I’ve read and witnessed, it’s been mostly relationships of “support”....until it’s not. Then it ends. Trotz was hired here with a LOT more experience at these levels than MacLellan. So I would assume his voice mattered more at the start. Especially to Patrick, whom I’ve always stated was the main decision maker at the top of the house.

Trotz was the voice for a while, until he kept losing in the playoffs as the favourite. Then I think MacLellan’s voice started to win out. He did good things and the team still lost. So he started to take over.

Then they won, Trotz pushed his way out, and the org went with loyalty and Reirden. As they usually do.

we don’t know what type of communication they had behind the scenes. We just don’t. If you have quotes, I’d love to read them. MacLellan was groomed under McPhee. McPhee was notorious for adding players his coaches didn’t use well. Both BB and Oates put George’s “acquisitions” in odd places. I won’t list them all, but it’s not a short list of coach “misuse” of George’s adds.

Brian “grew up” in they environment. He isn’t the same. He’s just not, from what’s I’ve witnessed (and here we are w Schultz....a totally not in character signing for GMBM), and it seems he partnering with his coaches.

Anyway, maybe I’m wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time!

 

[Bieronymus Trotz]

Lets do the maths. It took 44 years for any GM to deliver a Cup to DC.

Now barely two years later, some people, well one person, thinks he should be on the hot seat.

Its entirely laughable.

The two things have nothing to do with each other. His decisions should be evaluated on their own merits. If he's making bad ones, he's making bad ones. (No, I don't support MacLellan being on the hot seat.)

 

[ChaosLord]

That specific year?

Chorney and Alzner. Just to name 2 defensemen

want me to get into forwards?.

This is a f**ing joke. Alzner was 5000x times the defenceman Orpik was (at that time). Alzer was 29 and Orpik was an ancient 37,
and he looked it. He was SLOW as molasses.

Anyway I'm not getting into a p**ssing contest with you people. My point is that txpd (and others) tend to overrate the influence
Orpik had on this team. I'm NOT saying he was unimportant -- he was, he brought leadership, experience, and a Stanley Cup
winning pedigree to the team. But his play on the ice was spotty at best.

 

[Langway]

curious why you think it, other than drawing conclusions. Did it get printed somewhere? Did GMBM allude to (or candidly say) it? Or one of the coaches?

It's just the sense you get after six seasons, despite their regular season success. MacLellan has consistently been bluntly frustrated in the media by what he's seen on the ice and it's mades me wonder if he has much of a strategy in channeling it. I'm sure there's been communication of that with the staff but it's not a great look. His honesty can betray him a bit when tact is needed. He can sound like a fan, which backs the sort of things many may feel but he's got a little more power to check and regulate things. He's been much more decisive from a personnel standpoint and brought sorely needed balance. He's mainly worked well with coaches on personnel. Maybe now with Laviolette there will be a philosophy meshing that works well. But if there are weaknesses or blind spots that form from the coaching staff or in their results I wonder if it's not just going to become similarly tenuous. It's a pressure environment being so focused on winning but the adherence to the process has to win out and he probably needs to be a little more measured at times. It also takes especially motivated players to bring that comprehensive engagement each and every day.

I like MacLellan. It's entirely possible he was boxed in with the Reirden hire and never totally on board with it. It may have been more of an ownership hire based on the perceived belief that due to league-wide interest he must be capable. It's just that strategically you'd hope that with all of their regular season success the past six seasons he'd just back the coach, let it play out and leave that frustration behind the scenes at times. It's never been to the level that he's totally ripped his coaches publicly but they have rightfully been pretty close to firing two head coaches in-season over the past three seasons. It makes you wonder. It makes me wonder if the same dynamic won't eventually play out in fairly short order, with the commitment of the core group being the main issue. Laviolette should have things in check and everyone on board but if not they're going to need to get to some of the real issues and take more of a questioning look at the roster.

 

[OV Rocks]

The draft is a total crap shoot, the chances of guys playing in many games drafted after the 3rd round plummets.

Two points:

GMBM hands the draft over to Mahoney, yes Mac is the GM and has final say but he is relying on whatever Mahoney says 99.9% of the time. The Caps put up a few draft day recap videos, and while they didn't get too into detail, it showed Mac saying who do you want, do we have to go up and get him, can we wait, etc. The draft is Mahoney's baby.

Remember that there are a few organizations under the Capitals franchise. Now when you are drafting you are hoping that every player gets to the NHL obviously, but there is no shame in drafting talent that'll also help the AHL team.

 

[Ridley Simon]

This is a f**ing joke. Alzner was 5000x times the defenceman Orpik was (at that time). Alzer was 29 and Orpik was an ancient 37,
and he looked it. He was SLOW as molasses.

Anyway I'm not getting into a p**ssing contest with you people. My point is that txpd (and others) tend to overrate the influence
Orpik had on this team. I'm NOT saying he was unimportant -- he was, he brought leadership, experience, and a Stanley Cup
winning pedigree to the team. But his play on the ice was spotty at best.

Alzner was a shell of himself by then. He’d ruined his groin. And his hands. I loved Alzner, but his play (and not playing Schmidt) were major factors that this board discussed post loss to the Pens.
Anyway, to your point, not looking to get into a posing contest either. Your claim was a little outrageous (re: Orpik), so some of us will obv refute it.

 

[tenken00]

Taken from today's Athletic article about what other execs around the league are saying about offseason moves. I took the Caps very short excerpt out, nothing earth shattering really with stuff we already think or know. We should all be NHL execs:

Execs Unfiltered: Thoughts on Hall, trades and every NHL team’s offseason so far

Washington Capitals

The Capitals signed Henrik Lundqvist and by pairing the veteran on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with Ilya Samsonov, Washington is spending just $2.425 million on goaltending next season. It’s a ridiculously low number for a team that can challenge for a Stanley Cup. It also allowed them to spend on defense, which GM Brian MacLellan did in adding Justin Schultz and Trevor van Riemsdyk while also extending Brenden Dillon.

“Lundqvist is a great signing with a young goalie,” said an exec. “You have as good a backup as you could find in a league where you need two goalies and he’s not really a backup. Lundqvist gets to play a few hours from home with a chance to win. That’s a great move.”

Schultz wasn’t great last season but provides offense from the back end.

“He obviously can move the puck, he gives them that dimension on the blue line,” said an exec. “He just has to be better defensively, which is always the issue with him.”

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't know if it's accurate or fair to base whoever was picked in their original spots as relevant. It should be more about the field generally than who another team picked. Who knows who the Caps would have picked. Their record on trading up has mostly been bad but as a strategy I don't think it's poor per se. It may suggest that their rankings lack subtlety and rigor to so easily feel it imperative to move up. Some of the cases are different than others. I think the Walker & Kannok-Leipert trades were mostly sentimental rather than about pure ability. Those are the more dangerous ones. It was under a different GM but they also traded up for Sanford and that one was justified.

This is pretty far down the list of MacLellan's weaknesses IMO. Communication and the ability to get the most out of his coaches has been a bigger issue. It seems like there's always been some reservations and an inability to get on the same page. Hopefully that changes with Laviolette on a more fundamental level. MacLellan kind of hangs back and lets them be who they are rather than really work with them on a micro level, which works when if great people are hired. He's an open, blunt personality but with Laviolette we need to see a real partnership going forward, a patient investment in the process and a willingness to make changes if certain things aren't working. Whether it's empowering PL to hire the best staff or just being flexible bringing in the right players--and, perhaps more importantly, moving the wrong ones out--there needs to be cohesion in place. It's a tough dance at this stage of where the core is at. Transparency is best. While they need to be loyal to their core guys, they also need to level with them and be realistic about how they can best sustain a high level of play as they get older. I'm not sure all of them have gotten that under Reirden. If they had maybe it would have been salvageable. Laviolette will hammer home the importance of details and discipline but I still wonder if a fair share of their issues are off-ice in their dedication to being in top physical shape. It's an area where not having Orpik around is a real loss.

I mean if we’re speculating......hell yes that off-ice professionalism and drive is missing. IMO this core group has always had motivational issues. It’s partially IMO, why we see them every year seem to have issues starting games well, even when it’s a massive game. They seemingly aren’t interested, prepared, up for the moment, whatever. Who’s filling that void among the players now? I seriously wonder.

 

[txpd]

I mean if we’re speculating......hell yes that off-ice professionalism and drive is missing. IMO this core group has always had motivational issues. It’s partially IMO, why we see them every year seem to have issues starting games well, even when it’s a massive game. They seemingly aren’t interested, prepared, up for the moment, whatever. Who’s filling that void among the players now? I seriously wonder.

Its probably Oshie. I think teammates were afraid of Orpik. If that was the case, they are not afraid of Oshie.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

That 3rd rounder for Kovy looks horrible after that’s what Schmidt went for

They’re not comparable.
First, draft picks at the TDL have never been equitable to draft picks in the off season. VGK was over a barrel in needing to move Schmidt, they had no leverage. MON could’ve easily sat on Kovy and not moved him. They needed to be incentivized to make that move. MON was also dealing with a scarcer market, there weren’t UFAs available to plug holes or many other teams also maybe looking to sell, unlike the off season. The trade deadline breaks the value of things because of the scarcity of talent available, the many buyers and few sellers, and the pressure looming.


Finally, the contracts aren’t comparable. Someone said we could’ve gotten Kovy for “free”, that’s not really true because we actually needed the prorated deal and required Montreal to retain salary to fit him in under the cap if I remember correctly. Whereas Van is just taking the entire contract (which isn’t exactly a steal).


Anyways, my point is two fold. One, you can’t compare trades from different points in the season. And two, when people say things like “we could’ve gotten him for a third” that’s literally the furthest thing from the truth. If VAN pitches a third and we pitch a third, why would VGK take our pitch? They’d leverage VAN against us to get more or a higher pick. The fact that a team acquired a guy for a certain value doesn’t mean that’s all you had to offer, it means the other offers were rendered worse and to beat that offer you’d need to be willing to give more.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Its probably Oshie. I think teammates were afraid of Orpik. If that was the case, they are not afraid of Oshie.

Every interview I’ve heard about Orpik doesn’t actually paint him in that fashion though. He’s a lead by example guy. He lifts post games, he eats right, he takes care of himself and in that regard guys take after.


When he was in Pitt he was the same way, it was actually Gary Roberts who was the guy who was shaking out the young guys who didn’t do the work. Roberts told a story about when he was first traded to Pitt (granted Orpik was young) and Brooks was the only guy in the weight room. He asked Orpik where everyone was and Brooks told him that the trainer had given the guys the month off, “that’s just how it is here”. Roberts went in and tore down that soft mentality and rebuilt it.


Orpik led by example, but guys like Williams were clearly more vocal leaders. Sometimes the guys the year before also set the bar even when they’re gone.

 

[Langway]

I mean if we’re speculating......hell yes that off-ice professionalism and drive is missing. IMO this core group has always had motivational issues. It’s partially IMO, why we see them every year seem to have issues starting games well, even when it’s a massive game. They seemingly aren’t interested, prepared, up for the moment, whatever. Who’s filling that void among the players now? I seriously wonder.

I think it's probably Wilson from a competitiveness standpoint but I don't know if he's a guy that necessarily keeps guys in check. And Ovechkin & Oshie still show up regardless. It's going to be on Laviolette--and his staff--to cement home some harsh truths for certain players when needed. If they're going to be playing an intense and up-tempo style they're going to need the explosiveness and endurance to sustain it. That's going to need a Carlson in better shape to handle it and not cut corners. Same goes for Backstrom & Kuznetsov. Hopefully their training is in line with that and it isn't just more of the same. It's a weird off-season due of the unknown start date but I would hope that with Backstrom in particular there's a realization that he's got to evolve his fitness goals in order to be worth the new salary and still be a highly effective player 5-on-5.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Lavi with Kuzy is going to be very interesting. Lavi is going to be very hard on his ass and either it will be great for Kuzy or he's getting traded in the next calendar year.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Hivemind]

Finally, the contracts aren’t comparable. Someone said we could’ve gotten Kovy for “free”, that’s not really true because we actually needed the prorated deal and required Montreal to retain salary to fit him in under the cap if I remember correctly.

I agree with your general point that the trades aren’t comparable. But the Caps could have obtained Kovalchuk for free when he was released from his Kings contract. He was a UFA at that point, and able to be signed to whatever deal. The Capitals could have fit him under the cap via salary negotiations at that point.

 

[txpd]

Every interview I’ve heard about Orpik doesn’t actually paint him in that fashion though. He’s a lead by example guy. He lifts post games, he eats right, he takes care of himself and in that regard guys take after.
.

Yea, he was a lead by example guy. He was also was proactive. We know the stories of him snatching sodas away from young players and lecturing them. He taught professionalism. He didnt just do it. I think its also true that he carried a certain gravitas. He didnt actively scare teammates but they were still afraid of him. When he told them that they needed to do something, they did it. This was also a good fear. A, I cant disappoint him, fear. They obviously loved him.

The problem is that people like Brooks Orpik dont grow on trees and replacing him is going to be difficult. I suppose Tom Wilson is realistically working on that.