Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2021 Off-Season Pt. 2

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

I read that. I didnt get that feeling but I was distracted by him saying "I am a nice guy."

Reading between the lines I am still going to be a bit surprised if he is here in the fall but I do believe BMac wants some value.

 

[txpd]

Reading between the lines I am still going to be a bit surprised if he is here in the fall but I do believe BMac wants some value.

I'll be honest, I am about as confused about where they are going with what as Ive ever been.

 

[txpd]

Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman opined that Ovechkin’s next contract would be three or four years long and worth $10 million per season on the 31 Thoughts Podcast.
Friedman and host Jeff Marek “>speak about Ovi at the 50:41 mark.

Jeff Marek: Have you ever thought about what the Ovechkin deal might look like?
Elliotte Friedman: This is a guess. 3×10.
Jeff Marek: Why 3?
Elliotte Friedman: I don’t know.
Jeff Marek: The 10 I can see.
Elliotte Friedman: Maybe 4×10. I think 3 or 4 times 10.
Jeff Marek: Part of me thinks this is going to be the evergreen, just sign one year after one year after one year.
Elliotte Friedman: I don’t think that interested him at all.​

A few hours later, the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that Ovechkin is expected to sign a four-year deal worth around $10 million annually once the Capitals gain more cap space.



RMNB | Russian Machine Never Breaks

Why? I dont know. Thats the part with the value. We know Ov is doing is own contract. We know he isn't going to want to keep repeating that. We know he wants to break the record. We know that 5 years takes him thru his 40 year old season. 3 makes no sense whatever.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I still wouldn’t be shocked to see some low salary for this year. Just to make it all work

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman opined that Ovechkin’s next contract would be three or four years long and worth $10 million per season on the 31 Thoughts Podcast.
Friedman and host Jeff Marek “>speak about Ovi at the 50:41 mark.

Jeff Marek: Have you ever thought about what the Ovechkin deal might look like?
Elliotte Friedman: This is a guess. 3×10.
Jeff Marek: Why 3?
Elliotte Friedman: I don’t know.
Jeff Marek: The 10 I can see.
Elliotte Friedman: Maybe 4×10. I think 3 or 4 times 10.
Jeff Marek: Part of me thinks this is going to be the evergreen, just sign one year after one year after one year.
Elliotte Friedman: I don’t think that interested him at all.​

A few hours later, the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that Ovechkin is expected to sign a four-year deal worth around $10 million annually once the Capitals gain more cap space.



RMNB | Russian Machine Never Breaks

This confirms my suspicion that no one really has any sense of this contract and it's all speculation. We know it's basically just Alex, GMBM, Ross Mahoney, and Ted in this negotiation, I don't see how anything would leak out unlike a typical one where you have agents involved.

 

[txpd]

This confirms my suspicion that no one really has any sense of this contract and it's all speculation. We know it's basically just Alex, GMBM, Ross Mahoney, and Ted in this negotiation, I don't see how anything would leak out unlike a typical one where you have agents involved.

Mahoney out. Fishman in. Patrick probably in too

 

[Silky mitts]

This is probably a completely worthless observation but I found interesting that it appeared Kuzy was not at Orlov’s birthday, yet Semin and Ovi were.

Bo Callahan!

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Bo Callahan!

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Why? I dont know. Thats the part with the value. We know Ov is doing is own contract. We know he isn't going to want to keep repeating that. We know he wants to break the record. We know that 5 years takes him thru his 40 year old season. 3 makes no sense whatever.

My first thought was that after three years the cap situation may be on a bit more of an upward trajectory and two shorter contracts may make sense. In that case, Ovie's final deal could be negotiated when revenues and the player pot were significantly larger and he could claim a bigger payday. However, this article Why is the salary cap projected to stay flat when revenues should rise soon? suggests that the cap may rise only $1m a year thru 2025/26. So the idea of doing a shorter-term deal and then a final deal may not square with likely revenue #s. But what do I know?

 

[Langway]

Mahoney out. Fishman in. Patrick probably in too

I would think one of their off-season strategy architects is within the cone of silence. Maybe not directly involved but certainly aware.

 

[txpd]

I would think one of their off-season strategy architects is within the cone of silence. Maybe not directly involved but certainly aware.

Fishman is the cap guru. You would think he has to be part of the program

 

[Holtbyisms]

Anger seeds? LOL

This is about being practical. If anything right now it's the Kuzy fans who are clinging to one playoff run where, again, EVERYONE played out of their minds.

I like Kuzy's skillset. I stuck up for him for years. But right now he's clearly in the doghouse with the front office and maybe some of the players given how he "hurt the team". There are signs from all over the place that he's being shopped, and being asked about. We don't need to JUST read the tea leaves when GMBM speaks to know that.

But at the same time there is ZERO benefit in coming right out and saying "we're looking to trade this guy because he's f***ing us up". It should be pretty obvious something like that completely tanks the value of your asset and also burns bridges in case you can't trade him. So you send out smoke signals or feelers and wait for teams to get back to you.

In fact, I'd bet GMBM wishes he'd never said a word to the media about Kuzy in the weeks after the Rd 1 loss to Boston. Better to give a pat answer and then quietly shop the guy.

Let's look at it another way: if some team offered GMBM "fair value" for Kuzy...some magical package that everyone looks at and says "yeah that's an even swap"...do you think he does it?

Because every single other GM in the NHL is totally falling for it yet somehow fans on a message board got it all figured out. Damn those other GMs besides ours(and us) are dumb as heck! Hah...

As far as clinging to a lone playoff performance I'm not so sure that's where I'm at. He's a .8 PPG player even after two average years, that's not so shabby and over the course of his career he's proven he can put up points in bunches.

That said of course they trade him if there's a magical package that makes us a better team and clears cap space. I'm not doubting they're annoyed with him and are open to trading him or really anyone for that matter but logically you're not getting the value required for him to make it happen right now because of the negative press and the average year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Because every single other GM in the NHL is totally falling for it yet somehow fans on a message board got it all figured out. Damn those other GMs besides ours(and us) are dumb as heck! Hah...

As far as clinging to a lone playoff performance I'm not so sure that's where I'm at. He's a .8 PPG player even after two average years, that's not so shabby and over the course of his career he's proven he can put up points in bunches.

That said of course they trade him if there's a magical package that makes us a better team and clears cap space. I'm not doubting they're annoyed with him and are open to trading him or really anyone for that matter but logically you're not getting the value required for him to make it happen right now because of the negative press and the average year.

Disagree…For $8 mil a year, from the guy expected to ramp his career/game up exactly as Ovy and Backstrom age, it’s a shit return for the Caps investment.

Let’s stop trying to minimize this playing numbers games and call it like it is. Massively disappointing at .77 PPG for the last 104 games over 2 years and that’s not even touching on non scoring aspects of his game or off-ice issues.

Adding in the year after the Cup where he was simply underwhelming does nothing to change anyone’s mind in terms of the analysis of this player since the Cup win IMO.

There’s no positive way to spin this. The Caps are likely stuck for now and forced to stand pat when they know they should go another direction.

 

[Devil Dancer]

It's pretty clear now that Kuzy is going to start the season as a Washington Capital.

Get on board! Ride the Kuzy train!

Who knows, maybe good old Harry Potter will make an appearance or two.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

It's pretty clear now that Kuzy is going to start the season as a Washington Capital.

Get on board! Ride the Kuzy train!

Who knows, maybe good old Harry Potter will make an appearance or two.

Based on what? GMBM’s press conference?

He isn’t going to come out and say that we want too move him. Reading between the lines it sure seems like they are open to anything provided value comes back.

 

[HecticGlow]

The thought of starting the season with a Samsonov-Copley or Samsonov-Fucale tandem, while spending $4,250,000 on 4th line wingers and $7,900,000 on Schultz and Dillon is just perplexing. What I don’t understand is why they allowed themselves no room to manoeuvre not only for last year, but for this year too - what if Samsonov proved unready for no.1 duties and Lundqvist had decided to retire this year? Or Lundqvist proved he wasn’t capable of being more than an NHL backup and Samsonov needed more help? To me, that’s the part of the Schultz signing that doesn’t make sense. Has there ever been a cup-winning team that budgeted such a small amount for goaltending?

 

[trick9]

The thought of starting the season with a Samsonov-Copley or Samsonov-Fucale tandem, while spending $4,250,000 on 4th line wingers and $7,900,000 on Schultz and Dillon is just perplexing. What I don’t understand is why they allowed themselves no room to manoeuvre not only for last year, but for this year too - what if Samsonov proved unready for no.1 duties and Lundqvist had decided to retire this year? Or Lundqvist proved he wasn’t capable of being more than an NHL backup and Samsonov needed more help? To me, that’s the part of the Schultz signing that doesn’t make sense. Has there ever been a cup-winning team that budgeted such a small amount for goaltending?

Kings during their 1st Cup spend about 3m on goalies.

 

[g00n]

Because every single other GM in the NHL is totally falling for it yet somehow fans on a message board got it all figured out. Damn those other GMs besides ours(and us) are dumb as heck! Hah...

As far as clinging to a lone playoff performance I'm not so sure that's where I'm at. He's a .8 PPG player even after two average years, that's not so shabby and over the course of his career he's proven he can put up points in bunches.

That said of course they trade him if there's a magical package that makes us a better team and clears cap space. I'm not doubting they're annoyed with him and are open to trading him or really anyone for that matter but logically you're not getting the value required for him to make it happen right now because of the negative press and the average year.

But OK regular season stats are meaningless if you keep disappearing in the playoffs.

Kuzy had one great playoff year, no question. But his other 6 years have been average to bad. The last 3 years his pts/G in the postseason comes to .61 (11pts in 18 games) and 7 of those 11 points have been on the power play. He's been an even strength black hole.

You can't pay that much money for a guy who causes off-ice problems AND disappears every year in the playoffs. This is what GMBM was talking about when he was venting his frustrations.

As for the comments about GMs falling for it or whatever, I don't know what to tell you. PR is PR.

 

[twabby]

Relevant day in the NHL. If anyone is getting bought out before free agency they would be put on waivers today. Probably won’t apply to any Capitals but Holtby being bought out could open up a return for cheap, though I wouldn’t prefer it.

 

[trick9]

I love Holtby for all he did to this franchise but he's done. I wouldn’t mind him as the 3rd goalie like Anderson last season but even him as a backup is a recipe for disaster.

 

[txpd]

I love Holtby for all he did to this franchise but he's done. I wouldn’t mind him as the 3rd goalie like Anderson last season but even him as a backup is a recipe for disaster.

Holtby's game is so mental. I see no reason why he can't physically do it. How old is he? Has he ever had any kind of significant injury? If he were bought out, I would take him back as a 2nd choice to Samsonov.

 

[trick9]

Holtby's game is so mental. I see no reason why he can't physically do it. How old is he? Has he ever had any kind of significant injury? If he were bought out, I would take him back as a 2nd choice to Samsonov.

Injuries aren't the only reason some players fade away, especially goalies. Holtby is 32 when the season starts and his career has gone downhill ever since our Cup. We can't afford to go with a boom-or-bust kind of guy behind Samsonov. We need a backup that can play a pretty high number of games and get us wins.

 

[Hivemind]

Keep Holtby away. Not as backup. Not as 3rd string. Not as Hershey’s starter. Just keep him away.

I love Holtby. One of my all time favorite Capitals. An incredible goalie in his prime, and an even better human being. But bringing him back to Washington isn’t fair to anyone. He’s not the same player he was five years ago, and bringing him back is just setting him and the rest of the goalies up for failure. It would be like the Eagles bringing back Nick Foles. They say the backup QB is always the most popular guy in town, well imagine that when the backup helped bring your team a championship. The same would apply to a reunion with Holtby. Every slight bump in the road would have fans calling for Holtby to start. And it would set Holtby up with unrealistic expectations for what he can actually bring at this stage in his career. It would be a drama time bomb.

 

[Ridley Simon]

It all comes down to Ovechkin.

I’m sure it’s all been laid out for him. The offers they have to cut salary, and what it means to the team. He will have a LOT of say in what they do.

 

[twabby]

I hope Ovechkin takes a lot of money so that changes need to be made. I’d hate to see him take $8 million and for them to bring back largely the same roster. IMO Ovechkin taking $10 million+ is the best thing he could do for the franchise.