hb13xchamps
Registered User
Returned to Boston to gather his things. First chance he was able to do it since the TDL
Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2022-23 Season Part 3: Drop the puck!
- Thread starter AlexModvechkin8
- Start date
- Status
ovikovy817
Registered User
Corby78
65 - 10 - 20
Dude let it go, they weren’t going anywhere it was the right move. You sound like a rock the red newbie fan who has never had his hockey team not make the playoffs. The front office did the right thing.
They should actually try Mantha at that position because the season is cooked and done, Mantha is one of their best defensive forwards whereas Ovi and Kuzy are horrendous defensively so it could be a good fit, and it’s in their best interest to not have to replace him next year and get him going since they already have a list of other positions to reinforce so of course they’ll healthy scratch him for a veteran that has zero future with this team and is completely useless when it comes to building for next season, which accomplishes nothing.
g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 31,266
- 15,867
They've been fighting an uphill mathematical battle for weeks.
Injuries decimated their core and the teams behind them were surging and had games in hand. Meanwhile, the Caps were sucking ass.
Being 5 points out of a playoff spot with 17 games to play doesn't mean you have to win 3 games to catch up. You have to outpace everyone else.
They would've had to have won nearly every game until the end of the season, while the other teams stayed at the same points pace, to have a chance.
It wasn't going to happen.
So they got some picks and other assets for their UFAs who'd have walked for nothing.
That's why they sold.
It was the correct move.
bacchist
lumpy, lumpy head
- Feb 7, 2013
- 1,503
- 1,348
The way that Lavi just immediately started slotting in Craig Smith instead of letting some of the youngsters get some playing time is malpractice.
The surging teams are all still within a few points away. Not much has changed. Caps play against all of these teams before the season ends. But i get it. Everyone is rooting for dumpster diving so you will have a lot of reasons why it was ok to give up on the season. Lets patiently wait, there will be lots of other chances to try and compete for a cup.
g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 31,266
- 15,867
twabby
Registered User
- Mar 9, 2010
- 14,165
- 15,701
HTFN
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2009
- 12,554
- 11,475
trick9
Registered User
- Jun 2, 2013
- 12,587
- 5,748
I wouldn't mind throwing Mantha out there for every opportunity to pick up some points before the season ends. Hell, give him PP1 time in place of Kuznetsov too to make sure he picks up couple points more to make him easier to dump in the summer. I wouldn't like it if he did get those minutes instead of some of the younger guys but rather put him there than UFA Craig Smith and Conor Sheary.
I feel like the forwards are already kinda filled up for next year and if they want someone new in they will have to trade someone out aswell.
Of the 13 forwards on the team only Sheary and Smith are UFAs. The rest are signed for next year. Then you have McMichael, Frank, Snively and Lapierre that they probably will try out.
Im fine with Carlson, Sandin, Fehervary, Jensen, TVR, Alexeyev as the defence for next year. If they resign TVR. Also like Iorio and hope he gets time.
More worried about the forward group. A lot of deadweight and negative contracts. Kuznetsov, Backstrom, Mantha and Oshie are all negative contracts if we look at this year. Mantha and Oshie have salaries that put them around 50-60 points. Backstrom a 1C salary PPG and Kuznetsov a little less, but should based on salary probably get around 0,9 PPG. That is only if we look at the point side of the game and not the defensive part where Kuznetsov is non excistent and Backstrom isnt what he once was.
The big question is if Backstrom with some more time can be a little bit better and if Kuznetsov and Mantha can step up to their potential. If not it will be hard to compete next year aswell. Then you need Wilson back to 100 %.
Anyway some of the cheaper contracts really need to outperform their contract if Caps want to make the playoffs next year without doing some moves after the season.
Of the 13 forwards on the team only Sheary and Smith are UFAs. The rest are signed for next year. Then you have McMichael, Frank, Snively and Lapierre that they probably will try out.
Im fine with Carlson, Sandin, Fehervary, Jensen, TVR, Alexeyev as the defence for next year. If they resign TVR. Also like Iorio and hope he gets time.
More worried about the forward group. A lot of deadweight and negative contracts. Kuznetsov, Backstrom, Mantha and Oshie are all negative contracts if we look at this year. Mantha and Oshie have salaries that put them around 50-60 points. Backstrom a 1C salary PPG and Kuznetsov a little less, but should based on salary probably get around 0,9 PPG. That is only if we look at the point side of the game and not the defensive part where Kuznetsov is non excistent and Backstrom isnt what he once was.
The big question is if Backstrom with some more time can be a little bit better and if Kuznetsov and Mantha can step up to their potential. If not it will be hard to compete next year aswell. Then you need Wilson back to 100 %.
Anyway some of the cheaper contracts really need to outperform their contract if Caps want to make the playoffs next year without doing some moves after the season.
The remaining games for me is the Sandin, Iorio, AA, and whoever else in the prospect line show. Then GMBM can't get a coach that work with the youth and veterans while being aggressive this summer. If the Caps make it in the playoffs, well it will be four games and out. Whatever the case may be, I don't want the Pens being in the lottery. We don't need Bettman rigging the game for them, however we already know the fix is in for Arizona.
Math is certainty. You are looking at the odds and saying our chances are low so ehhh f*** it. Thats not exactly 2+2=4.
You probably believe that even if they did make it they didint stand a chance anyway, so who cares. I believe in the playoffs any team can get hot and then you never know.
That’s fine for a fan to think that way and it’s healthy for a player in sports to think that way but it’s not a pragmatic way of looking at running an organization or a business. Ignoring years worth of data points and declining performance trends because you hope you’ll just get lucky and things will magically work themselves out is not a recipe for sustained success.
Rayquaza64
McMichael>McDavid
you mean having to go 13-5-0 at absolute worst* to make the playoffs isn't reasonable and shouldn't result in going all in at the deadline? thats crazy
*Assuming literally every single team in the WC race don't start losing every single game
I 100% agree with you. But for the purposes of this discussion we are not talking about sustained success. We are talking about a short window of opportunity before Ovi retires. Im more pissed that they did nothing last year to help the team compete when they were headed to the playoffs and this year is just salt on the wound. With all the injuries this year and all the dead weight Caps have and all management has done is aquire two cast offs via waivers. Sure they are not bad but a dime a dozen in this league. It hurts to see them still within reach and to know that with just a little bit more help they at the very least could have made the PO's. In my eyes its two years in a row that management pissed away an opportunity at least in some capacity. Now we are putting all of our eggs into the last years. Just does not sit well with me i dont care what anybody says.
g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 31,266
- 15,867
By the time the trade deadline rolled around they'd very quickly gone from needing an ambitious but achievable 60-65% points percentage to over 75%, which was nearly impossible.
At that time Ovie was out because of his father's death and the team was at maybe a 30% points% for their last 10 games and beyond. They looked like a team that was done and had no shot at winning 3 out of every 4 games the rest of the year...no matter who you added.
Ok noted. Won't waste any more time.
I get it. I go back and forth between wanting to go full nuclear and sell everything to help Ovi get another Cup consequences be damned knowing the next decade after that could be brutal and wanting to take a more measured approach. Last year I understand your frustration more so than this year. This year the odds were too far stacked against them before the season even started and they made the right move to sell.
One thing I think you’re not giving enough credit to though is how difficult it is to upgrade this team when so many of their highest earners are underperforming. I bet if you gave Mac truth serum he’d tell you Backstrom returning this year was not what he wanted and they had plans to use his money if he didn’t come back. Mantha, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Backstrom, and Eller were all varying degrees of suck this year. Management can’t realistically fix a situation like that with a few TDL acquisitions. The best players on this team this year were guys like Dowd, Hathaway, Strome, Sheary (first half of the season), and Milano (and Ovechkin). It’s not that this was a good team that had one or two glaring holes and the GM just sat on his hands. He gave the players he paid money to every opportunity to prove they deserved a shot in the arm and some help at the deadline and they failed spectacularly. At some point the responsibility has to fall on the players for not performing to their paychecks.
I think the Caps (and maybe the Flames) are the only teams from the “Good” quadrant who won’t make the playoffs, though they just squeak into the Good quadrant by the skin of their teeth. Would have been interesting to see this team this year if they hadn’t been ravaged by injuries.
It’s also a validation of one of the points we discussed a lot here; given the drop off in finishing talent, their margin for error between winning and losing was razor thin and expecting them to out system and out structure teams every night to grind out victories was a tall order and any injuries or performance regression could have torpedoed them, which they did. In that regard, it’s encouraging to here GMBM talk about needing to acquire more talent in the top six this off-season.
It’s also a validation of one of the points we discussed a lot here; given the drop off in finishing talent, their margin for error between winning and losing was razor thin and expecting them to out system and out structure teams every night to grind out victories was a tall order and any injuries or performance regression could have torpedoed them, which they did. In that regard, it’s encouraging to here GMBM talk about needing to acquire more talent in the top six this off-season.
- Feb 15, 2005
- 5,274
- 4,064
Unfortunately, this organization has been doing that since we lost to Carolina in Game 7 in 2019.
Ovie's Neighbor
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2007
- 4,892
- 5,947
Personally I think what they are doing now is the worst compromise. They signed older players to longer contracts but also have no top young talent coming. To me that is a recipe for decade long mediocrity.
Brian23
Registered User
- Dec 3, 2011
- 5,852
- 2,740
I don't understand why so many seem to think the TDL was the defining moment for this team.
It was a snowball that they sent rolling downhill, it won't be till the offseason before you see how big it gets or where it lands. GMBM says he wants/needs a top 6 winger, expect him to go out and get a top 6 winger.
Now if you don't agree with that assessment, that's something else. But acting like they're doing doing anything is just plain ridiculous.
It was a snowball that they sent rolling downhill, it won't be till the offseason before you see how big it gets or where it lands. GMBM says he wants/needs a top 6 winger, expect him to go out and get a top 6 winger.
Now if you don't agree with that assessment, that's something else. But acting like they're doing doing anything is just plain ridiculous.
- Status
