Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2022-23 Season Part 3: Drop the puck!

[Holtbyisms]

I hope Snivley doesn't hit waiver...why not NAK he's a dime a dozen .

 

[tycoonheart]

That gang is back together!

I really hope Lavi doesn't force Wilson and Nicky into certain situations and keeps doing some of the things that have been working with other players.

 

[Marshall]

Backstrom? Chuffed for him - I wrote him off when I heard it was the JoVoCop injury, but he seems to be feeling better in life, which is the most important part, and hockey. So that alone is a plus. I expect him to be rusty.

Wilson? He'll be rusty, too. And he'll be one other thing:

Tom Wilson will be angry.

And he will take his frustrations out on any opponent on the ice with him. And that will be bad for the opponent. I expect an early fight.

My only concern with Whip is that he doesn't get himself suspended in the first three games.

Because Tom Wilson will be angry.

 

[YippieKaey]

Really cool to see Bäckström and Wilson coming back so soon. I just really hope that they're both fully healthy and able to play at the level they're expected to, at least after a couple of games of shaking the rust off. If both are healthy, this team can do some damage. Especially since Wilson can replace Manthas production and Mantha could be traded for a Carlson replacement.

 

[DWGie26]

I hope Snivley doesn't hit waiver...why not NAK he's a dime a dozen .

I love Snively, in particular because he grew up as a Little Cap and kinda a hometown hero. Will root for hm regardless. But on CAPS, he is a dime a dozen. We have a lot of lefties and Milano is better. Plus Snively can’t play on the 4th line. NAK is a righty, has a bit more snarl, has been playing really well. He is a better option as 13/14 forward Than Snively. Aside from the emotional attachment, he is the right choice to send through waivers Give the overall situation. Good problem to have. Was hoping we could move him for a pick though.

So I'm sure Protas is going down, which is ridiculous but whatever. Part of me assumes it'll either be Snively or AA. Then the next question is who's going to the pressbox for them? Gonna be annoyed if Milano has to take a seat.

Can’t send AA down as we need a 7th dee on the roster. I think Protas is our best prospect but no issue with home going to Hershey (for free) and working on his offensive game. He will be up for good come playoffs and next season.

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

What do ya'll think that uh will be the lines tomorrow when uh, backström and Wilson are making them comeback?

 

[BallardEra]

What do ya'll think that uh will be the lines tomorrow when uh, backström and Wilson are making them comeback?

Probably third line to start.

 

[Brian23]

So one domino down, now we wait for the second one.

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

Probably third line to start.

Interesting sire. Will be watching & studying this development closely. Also very mucho interested to see the first pp unit.

 

[HTFN]

Can Peter Laviolette punch Mantha in the back of the head first before they punt him?

Worth a shot, anyway.

 

[barriers]

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

It’ll be Protas and Snively.

 

[Carlzner]

Easy decision.

Glad they made the right move

 

[YippieKaey]

Understandable choice but i really liked Snively

 

[SherVaughn30]

I think Snively won't make it through waivers, just like Leason and AJF.

 

[bacchist]

I am looking forward to professional hockey players Nicklas Bäckström and Thomas Wilson returning to play professional hockey for the Washington Capitals tomorrow. How about you guys?

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I was hoping it would be Irwin who would hit waivers but Lavi loves him for some reason. Also thought NAK might have played himself into waivers with all of the penalties but he’s been more effective than he gets credit for.

Would stink to lose Snively but I think if the Caps had traded him straight up for Milano nobody would have been upset and that’s essentially what’s happening.

 

[DWGie26]

Exactly as i suspected going back a month ago. There are the right overall moves:

Protas for free and gives him a chance to work on his offensive game. I feel he’ll take it the right way.
Snively < NAK so he also goes. Been on roster all year and hasnt earned a shot. NAK as a righty needs to stay.

Will Snively pass through waivers? Hard to say For me. On the one hand he is NHL quality but limited in his role as he pretty much has to play middle 6. He also is on a one-way contract this year and next so that means someone has to pick up an NHL contract. I won’t be upset either way.

 

[DWGie26]

I was hoping it would be Irwin who would hit waivers but Lavi loves him for some reason. Also thought NAK might have played himself into waivers with all of the penalties but he’s been more effective than he gets credit for.

Would stink to lose Snively but I think if the Caps had traded him straight up for Milano nobody would have been upset and that’s essentially what’s happening.

I like Irwin fine as a 7th dee. And we need 7 dee on the roster. Sure would like to see AA in at 3RD instead of Irwin right now.

I look at the trades more as Milano for AJF and NAK for Leason. I like both of those trades.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Voltron activate!

Black (and Yellow) Lion is back!

I think Snively won't make it through waivers, just like Leason and AJF.

I think he will….

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Damn, I honestly doubted we’d ever get to see him play again. Crazy he’s coming back this soon. I suspect you’re right, it will be a bit emotional seeing him out there again.

I never doubted for second that he would at least comeback and give it a go. Surprised it’s so soon for sure.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I never doubted for second that he would at least comeback and give it a go. Surprised it’s so soon for sure.

Do you think he would be coming back now if it wasn’t for Carlson injury opening up the salary cap, allowing him to be on the roster?

 

[DWGie26]

Do you think he would be coming back now if it wasn’t for Carlson injury opening up the salary cap, allowing him to be on the roster?

It certainly gave us the flexibility to bring him back. Question is, if he was ready and we didn’t have 8M to send to LTIR, what do we do? Regardless, I am excited to see him back in the lineup this early. Surprised, but super excited!

 

[Hivemind]

Not sure it makes sense to weaken the powerplay or top 6 just to feature somebody that you are trying to trade. They're trying to win games, not marginally improve the return on a depth player who isn't carrying his weight.

I fully agree. My point isn't to "weaken" any aspect of the team, especially not to try and trade someone.

My point is more than they've kind of created this self-fulfilling prophecy with many of these controversial players.

Controversial player has decent (or in some cases, very good) per-60 stats.
Controversial player ends up lower in the line-up, playing with less talented linemates and with zero powerplay time.
Despite controversial player producing well in the ice time and situations they get, their total boxcar stats aren't overly impressive.
Unimpressive total box cars are used as justification to push player further down (and then eventually out of) the line-up.

It's a domino effect that we've seen play out a few times now.

For emphasis, Anthony Mantha has less powerplay time in 42 games this season than TJ Oshie has in 25 games. Sonny Milano, in the 29 games he's been in Washington, has passed Mantha on the PPTOI charts as well. In the 4 games Connor Brown played for Washington, he got 1:37 PPTOI per game, compared to Mantha's 0:55 per game this season. Dmitry Orlov, who's essentially the #3D on the PP depth chart on a team that only runs 1D at a time per unit, has more PPTOI per game than Mantha. It's not just the Ovie's, Kuzy's, or even Carlsons and Stromes ahead of Mantha on the depth chart - it's an assortment of other middle six and complimentary players like Marcus Johansson and Conor Sheary. There are stylistic arguments to be made to justify specific players, but it's pretty easy to see why Mantha's overall stats are suffering when the coaching staff is prioritizing all sorts of other players over him.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Has anyone seen practice line with 19 and 43 in the lineup. I kindof think they should play together with like maybe Mojo or Sheary