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

[txpd]

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.

I think Oshie pushes the team because he plays bigger than he is and pays an obvious price for it. Call it the Matt Bradley effect. From what I read Wilson is both as driven and stand up as they have had. He looks like a captain. He is getting old enough to have a legit impression on young players.

 

[hb13xchamps]

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.

Could they have added another player though? IIRC Montreal retained on his league minimum deal which was huge for the Caps

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

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.

Ive feel like I read where he openly challenged teammates about (not) eating right and other detail things.....I do not believe he was JUST a lead by example guy, but I also don’t think he was an in your face teammate MJ-type in his vocality....

whatever he was off-ice, it was rare (in that regard) and it’s missed IMO.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Could they have added another player though? IIRC Montreal retained on his league minimum deal which was huge for the Caps

don’t get ignored for pointing out fact....careful!

 

[tenken00]

Could they have added another player though? IIRC Montreal retained on his league minimum deal which was huge for the Caps

They could have signed Kovalchuk for the league minimum technically at that point when he was released by LA because that was around a month before the TDL and we had the space for a minimum contract then.

Though if that happened, I am not sure if we would have traded for Dillon at the deadline since we got both Dillon and Kovalchuk at 50% retained to fit under the cap (and removed Djoos' buried contract as well as Stephenson's cap hit). Its been half a calendar year now and my brain has been getting mushy these days so I dont remember the exact order it all went down.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Anyways I’ll be shocked if Kovy gets an NHL contract after his poor play in the bubble.

 

[Hivemind]

Could they have added another player though? IIRC Montreal retained on his league minimum deal which was huge for the Caps

I believe they could have, but I don’t have the ability to roll back time on CapFriendly to verify. (That could be a cool feature for CF to implement, but probably not worth the effort)

 

[hb13xchamps]

I believe they could have, but I don’t have the ability to roll back time on CapFriendly to verify. (That could be a cool feature for CF to implement, but probably not worth the effort)

I can’t remember either. Although @tenken00 post above does seem to make some sense. I forgot they also had SJ retain on Dillon’s contract as well.

 

[um]

Anyways I’ll be shocked if Kovy gets an NHL contract after his poor play in the bubble.

it seemed like he was a lock to go back to Montreal before the playoffs... but Montreal would be wise to stay away.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Anyways I’ll be shocked if Kovy gets an NHL contract after his poor play in the bubble.

same.....some cellar dweller with an open spot maybe. Does the KHL still covet him?

 

[EroCaps]

Surprised they didn't do anything about their bottom 6, which is not good.

 

[Calicaps]

Surprised they didn't do anything about their bottom 6, which is not good.

I still don't think they're done. But maybe it's about waiting for Lavi.

 

[Todd Lazarchick]

I still don't think they're done. But maybe it's about waiting for Lavi.

Waiting for him to do what?

 

[Calicaps]

Waiting for him to do what?

I meant waiting to see what he does with the guys on the roster--training camp, mainly--and maybe input from his staff, before making more moves.

 

[txpd]

Here is my main question on Schultz. If the question is his skating, that is a skill that is basic and apparant. It can easily be compared to before injury video. Can they possibly be thinking his skating is what they want when its not?

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Pat Maroon would’ve been a good pick up for that veteran role. That’s a guy who gives me Orpik vibes of understanding the sacrifices and commitment required to win.

 

[Todd Lazarchick]

Pat Maroon would’ve been a good pick up for that veteran role. That’s a guy who gives me Orpik vibes of understanding the sacrifices and commitment required to win.

Seeing as we want to play with more speed, I would say that would have been counterproductive. Might as well grab Thornton with that reasoning.

 

[Bieronymus Trotz]

Here is my main question on Schultz. If the question is his skating, that is a skill that is basic and apparant. It can easily be compared to before injury video. Can they possibly be thinking his skating is what they want when its not?

I think judging skating is less straightforward than you would expect. Reports on prospects' skating are all over the map in a lot of cases, and game to game it varies with fatigue, etc. But considering they have many games of footage to look at, I would certainly hope they could pin it down.

Either way, they might think, rightly or wrongly, that his skating did decline but project it to continue improving to close to its old level as he gets further from the injuries. It seems plausible that they would look at some video and write some discouraging things off as being due to Schultz having recently come back from injury without really having a reliable way to project what's temporary and what isn't.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Surprised they didn't do anything about their bottom 6, which is not good.

I think we will see someone shipped out, and Sprong and McMichael given every chance in camp to make the team.

 

[Todd Lazarchick]

I think we will see someone shipped out, and Sprong and McMichael given every chance in camp to make the team.

I would love a Galchenyuk signing on the cheap. Battle it out for 3W, 4W and 13th skater.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Pat Maroon would’ve been a good pick up for that veteran role. That’s a guy who gives me Orpik vibes of understanding the sacrifices and commitment required to win.

He’s won back to back Cups, after all

 

[Ridley Simon]

I would love a Galchenyuk signing on the cheap. Battle it out for 3W, 4W and 13th skater.

If they can dump a salary (Hathaway has been my target since we left the bubble), then they should
Definitely add 2 guys to help the cause. And then waive whomever doesn’t work out

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I don't like the Schultz signing, however I do give players chances and hope for the best.

 

[txpd]

If they can dump a salary (Hathaway has been my target since we left the bubble), then they should
Definitely add 2 guys to help the cause. And then waive whomever doesn’t work out

These players play different roles. Are you walking away from Hathaway's physical, energy game? His 9 goals in 66 games is same as Burakovsky the season before while carrying 4th line mins.