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

[895]

Stories vary

Sure, but Rutherford doesn't exactly have the reputation as a forthright guy with integrity.

I tend to believe Kessel over JR.

 

[twabby]

Washington down to a coin flip to make the playoffs.

 

[Langway]

This was immediately apparent as soon as he went down, and should have been obvious to everyone all along. It had somehow become fashionable among a certain segment of posters here to scapegoat him, but that stuff should have never been taken seriously.

The accepted wisdom here is that we were playing great until they brought back Backstrom and Wilson, and then we started sucking. But that's not really what happened. We became demonstrably worse when we lost Carlson. We were crushing, and then we lost our most important defenseman and we started sucking.

It wasn't entirely immediate. Gustafsson carried them there for a couple weeks but, of course, that wasn't going to last. Orlov & Jensen have to be great basically every night. There's no margin for either to be off. And we'll see how well TVR withstands a much bigger role over time.

NorthStar

www.northstarbets.ca

PuckPedia’s Cap Take: Washington has $4.2 million of cap space including Carlson ($8 million), Hagelin ($2.75 million), and Brown ($3.6 million) on LTIR. If Carlson is going to return during the regular season, they’ll either need to send several players down and go with a lean roster, or move out some money to activate him.

They'll probably need to shed around $2.5M to activate Carlson when the time comes after sending Protas and a depth D down. Shedding salary may not be easy or all that beneficial and there's no assurance Carlson will be back. Tough situation given that they need to be adding. Even subtracting Eller or trading Mantha for a depth defender probably doesn't do them many favors. Getting Carlson back would be helpful but who knows what sort of shape he'll be in or how effective he'll be.

They probably need to get creative here. You wonder just how aggressive MacLellan is inclined to be but ownership may exert some pressure to make the playoffs happen.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

pity lavi decided to insert both Backstrom and Wilson at the same time simultaneously mixing all lines in the process

he did it himself

What is this nonsense?

Sure, but Rutherford doesn't exactly have the reputation as a forthright guy with integrity.

I tend to believe Kessel over JR.

Convenient!

 

[g00n]

Sure, but Rutherford doesn't exactly have the reputation as a forthright guy with integrity.

I tend to believe Kessel over JR.

Kind of missing the point. He wasn't jettisoned because the Pens were making some wise move to shed older players. It happened because of a number of reasons, some likely to be personal or personality based.

One year later, the truth about why the Penguins traded Phil Kessel

Did Kessel ask to be traded? Was his cap figure too high or was he simply past his prime? Looking back on the deal a year later.

theathletic.com

 

[StrikingDistance]

Can someone make a Kuzy bird GIF of him getting shot out of the sky?

Something like this:

If we make the playoffs, I'll use it as my avatar.

 

[Langway]

Are they really going to walk away from Orlov for the sake of not being too old/hamstrung? Seems unlikely. Much bigger fat to cut.

 

[Jags]

Can someone make a Kuzy bird GIF of him getting shot out of the sky?

Just quickly replacing the flapping bird with flapping Kuzy...

Actually cutting his image into the zap would require more artistry than I possess.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Are they really going to walk away from Orlov for the sake of not being too old/hamstrung? Seems unlikely. Much bigger fat to cut.

Lol weird timing to post this after an atrocious game (from him) last night. I think Orlov signs a friendly deal at this point, but we’ll see.

 

[RedRocking]

I’m not going to fret about playoff positioning in January, but I’m getting tired of these “played hard and deserved a better fate” games. How many 1 goal losses have been like this lately? Dallas, Nashville, Buffalo, Wild, last night. Carlson’s absence is really when the team started regressing - they miss his offense at 5v5, and definitely on the PP. And the extra minutes for Orlov/Jensen appear to overtax them on some nights - def last night.

However, most of these losses are because no one on this team outside of Ovi seems to be able to reliably finish. So many grade A chances shot into the goalies’ pads, or straight to the gut. Even Locker awoke from his stupor last night and was yelling for the guys to fire it upstairs on Georgiev. We’ve made a lot of solid goalies look like friggin’ Hasek. I mean, Carter Hart owned this team - It’s annoying, lol.

So, I agree with @twabby’s idea of going after a guy like Meier. They need another legit, reliable top 6 scoring presence. Like what Mantha was supposed to be. This kinda move may have to wait until the offseason. But if they’re committed to 3 more years of being “playoff caliber” during Ovi’s goal chase, then get someone else that can actually help score.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I wonder what the narrative on Mantha would be if his finishing hadn’t fallen off a cliff.

This is not the profile of a bad player. A curious case of fancy stats vs eye test for sure. Elite playmaking ability but the puck doesn’t go in the net. Super frustrating.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

All this talk about how much we miss John Carlson makes me want to trade for Seth Jones even more. Yes, I know a pipe dream, just think of our potential defense in the playoffs

Although I could see him turning into more expensive, Shattenkirk when Carlson is back.

 

[ClevelandCapsfan]

Herein this photo lies the Caps conundrum. They continue to market the team based on its name players, most of whom are underperforming, injured or worse. How can the team take meaningful steps toward the future when it continues to be weighted down by its past?

 

[g00n]

They've always done that, at least under Ted. IIRC they've had banners outside right up to a guy being traded, maybe after.

The marketing is always adjusted. It's not a reason they aren't trading those players right now.

 

[Hivemind]

All this talk about how much we miss John Carlson makes me want to trade for Seth Jones even more. Yes, I know a pipe dream, just think of our potential defense in the playoffs

Although I could see him turning into more expensive, Shattenkirk when Carlson is back.

You do realize Seth Jones is both absolutely terrible and signed to a $9.5M contract until 2030, right? Even if he "rebounds" to a passable grade, it's still a $9.5M contract until 2030.

 

[Brian23]

They've always done that, at least under Ted. IIRC they've had banners outside right up to a guy being traded, maybe after.

The marketing is always adjusted. It's not a reason they aren't trading those players right now.

Was gonna say, you can probably find pictures of Troy Brouwer banners too. Or Alex Semin.

 

[usiel]

Carlson's regular season value has never been questioned.

His performance in the playoffs the last 4 or so years has been ass.

There is no whitewashing that.

At least this long term injury isn't anything related to below the neck. I think we have all seen Carlson getting dinged up towards the end of the season and into the playoff where he was not playing at the top of his game which impacted to some degree playoff success. Hoping he'll have some fresh legs/body when he comes back.

 

[Roshi]

Late to the party, but id say Pit giving up on Kessel hasnt really made miracles for them. They have been in a loop of Jason Zuckers and Rickard Rakells since.

 

[Corby78]

Carlson's regular season value has never been questioned.

His performance in the playoffs the last 4 or so years has been ass.

There is no whitewashing that.

I’m not saying your wrong on the last couple playoffs, but people were hating on him in the regular season too. And I understand, he isn’t the best defensive guy, but he is overall a good defenseman

 

[g00n]

At least this long term injury isn't anything related to below the neck. I think we have all seen Carlson getting dinged up towards the end of the season and into the playoff where he was not playing at the top of his game which impacted to some degree playoff success. Hoping he'll have some fresh legs/body when he comes back.

Above the neck is what worries me

 

[twabby]

16 Stats: Buffalo's playoff push, Jakob Chychrun's value, Zach Hyman's hot streak

Just as William Nylander has found the ability to produce offense with Auston Matthews, Zach Hyman has found the same with Connor McDavid.

theathletic.com

Dom's model projects Washington having the 4th best defense going forward this season based on prior results, player quality (including goaltending), and strength of schedule for the rest of the year.

But he has them with the 25th best offense to finish the year. His model as always underrated the Capitals scoring ability but it's still concerning and matches what we've all seen recently with their struggles to put the puck in the net. They need an impact forward (or two) if they are going to compete.

 

[YippieKaey]

Best case scenario this year seems like the fifth straight year of a first round playoff exit. And i honestly fail to see the point besides revenue for Leonsis.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I moved all Stadium Series uniform discussion to the Caps Collection / Uniform thread. Please keep all posts related to jerseys there.

OT: - Your Caps Collection, now with more Lord Stanley & Reverse Retro (all-purpose jersey, memorabilia, clothing, etc discussion thread)

Don’t love it, but pants and glove colors could save it or sink it. I’m told the “secrecy and delay” was because Adidas couldn’t meet the Caps production order for retail earlier. Guess they worked it out finally.

forums.hfboards.com

 

[Langway]

 

[itsjustsurvival]

Listened to that this morning. While it makes sense and isn't surprising, I wish they'd be more proactive. I guess there's always the chance that he's saying that as to not weaken his position for potential trades, but he's pretty upfront most of the time.

Are they going to wait until the last minute to sign some of their pending free agents as well? Crazy how much uncertainty there is surrounding the team. (that's not even getting into the coaching situation)