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

[twabby]

CMM got passed from a guy on waivers and never played for the team. I think its pretty clear where he fits on the roster now. Sadly I think hes going to be traded for short term playoff push.

Yeah I'm beginning to think the coach isn't very good at his job.

 

[g00n]

Yeah I'm beginning to think the coach isn't very good at his job.

Or, they needed a depth guy who's good at physical play because most of the players who fit that description are hurt.

As a result we have a bad combination of soft, perimeter players who are too slow or can't put the puck in the net.

 

[twabby]

Or, they needed a depth guy who's good at physical play because most of the players who fit that description are hurt.

As a result we have a bad combination of soft, perimeter players who are too slow or can't put the puck in the net.

They could move Eller, Johansson, Protas, or even Sheary to 4LW if they wanted to. All of them would be more than capable in that position. They didn't need to dumpster dive to fill the role and subsequently put McMichael back on the bench just as he's starting to appear a bit more comfortable out there.

Again, it's just shortsighted nonsense IMO.

 

[g00n]

They could move Eller, Johansson, Protas, or even Sheary to 4LW if they wanted to. All of them would be more than capable in that position. They didn't need to get dumpster dive to fill the role.

Eller maybe if CMM were not in the dog house. Can Dowd play wing?
Mojo has done nothing do deserve 4th line minutes and duties and has been one of the better FWDs so far, why bury him?
Protas is a possibility but I suspect some here would've howled.
Sheary isn't physical enough for the 4th line's role.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

They could move Eller, Johansson, Protas, or even Sheary to 4LW if they wanted to. All of them would be more than capable in that position. They didn't need to dumpster dive to fill the role and subsequently put McMichael back on the bench just as he's starting to appear a bit more comfortable out there.

Again, it's just shortsighted nonsense IMO.

So your answer is to break up a different line to backfill the 4th line, all so your pet can be forced into the lineup?

Shortsighted indeed.

 

[twabby]

Eller maybe if CMM were not in the dog house. Can Dowd play wing?
Mojo has done nothing do deserve 4th line minutes and duties and has been one of the better FWDs so far, why bury him?
Protas is a possibility but I suspect some here would've howled.
Sheary isn't physical enough for the 4th line's role.

Mojo has done nothing at 5v5 to warrant top 9 minutes. Even if we ignore his on-ice impacts (which aren't good), he's scoring 0.81 points/60 at 5v5. That's ahead of only Gustafsson and Fehervary among regulars. That's not a top 9 guy.

His utility thus far has been on the PP (where he has been legitimately very good). Nothing wrong with having a PP specialist on the 4th line.

The coaches and management (and fans) agree that McMichael has been a much better center than winger, yet he hasn't been given that opportunity in favor of a clearly declining Eller who most people think won't even be on the team next year. It seems incredibly shortsighted and misguided to me to continue this dynamic, and getting another grinder like NAK (who Laviolette will likely love and be loath to remove from the lineup when people return from injury) is only going to reinforce this dynamic.

So your answer is to break up a different line to backfill the 4th line, all so your pet can be forced into the lineup?

Shortsighted indeed.

Yes, I would like to see one of the highly ineffective top 3 lines broken up. Seems sensible enough. Are you happy with their play so far?

 

[g00n]

Mojo has done nothing at 5v5 to warrant top 9 minutes. Even if we ignore his on-ice impacts (which aren't good), he's scoring 0.81 points/60 at 5v5. That's ahead of only Gustafsson and Fehervary among regulars. That's not a top 9 guy.

His utility thus far has been on the PP (where he has been legitimately very good). Nothing wrong with having a PP specialist on the 4th line.

The coaches and management (and fans) agree that McMichael has been a much better center than winger, yet he hasn't been given that opportunity in favor of a clearly declining Eller who most people think won't even be on the team next year. It seems incredibly shortsighted and misguided to me to continue this dynamic, and getting another grinder like NAK (who Laviolette will likely love and be loath to remove from the lineup when people return from injury) is only going to reinforce this dynamic.



Yes, I would like to see one of the highly ineffective top 3 lines broken up. Seems sensible enough. Are you happy with their play so far?

Which line? We get a different one every other game, don't we? The Ovie-Kuz-Sheary seems most consistent so far and imo Kuzy is the boat anchor there.

 

[twabby]

Which line? We get a different one every other game, don't we? The Ovie-Kuz-Sheary seems most consistent so far and imo Kuzy is the boat anchor there.

I agree I'd keep Sheary on the top line for now, and I wouldn't mind giving Strome 1C minutes instead of Kuznetsov. I do think Sheary is a 4LW option once Wilson returns, depending on how things shake out elsewhere in the lineup.

My preference would be to move Eller to 4LW and put McMichael at 3C, or put Johansson at 4LW. Something like:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov/Strome-Sheary
Mantha-Kuznetsov/Strome-Protas
Milano-McMichael-Johansson
Eller-Dowd-Hathaway

or

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov/Strome-Sheary
McMichael-Kuznetsov/Strome-Mantha
Milano-Eller-Protas
Johansson-Dowd-Hathaway

 

[John Price]

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

New players! Hope they both do well

 

[zappa4ever]

encouraging that Orlov is a game-time decision, nhl dot com has him listed as day-to-day
and JC74IQ was in non-contact jersey yesterday right?
so maybe Wed 1 or both are back in

 

[Ben Grimm]

Will the Montreal Canadiens Trade a Forward to Washington?

Some speculation suggests the Canadiens and Capitals might make a trade, but Washington might not be interested in what's available.

thehockeynews.com

Propose a forward trade with les Habs.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Mojo has done nothing at 5v5 to warrant top 9 minutes. Even if we ignore his on-ice impacts (which aren't good), he's scoring 0.81 points/60 at 5v5. That's ahead of only Gustafsson and Fehervary among regulars. That's not a top 9 guy.

His utility thus far has been on the PP (where he has been legitimately very good). Nothing wrong with having a PP specialist on the 4th line.

The coaches and management (and fans) agree that McMichael has been a much better center than winger, yet he hasn't been given that opportunity in favor of a clearly declining Eller who most people think won't even be on the team next year. It seems incredibly shortsighted and misguided to me to continue this dynamic, and getting another grinder like NAK (who Laviolette will likely love and be loath to remove from the lineup when people return from injury) is only going to reinforce this dynamic.



Yes, I would like to see one of the highly ineffective top 3 lines broken up. Seems sensible enough. Are you happy with their play so far?

You just don’t get the role or the identity of the 4th line if you think that’s the best spot for Mojo.

And CMM better as a center, but still not fully NHL-ready (coach’s decision) isn’t a great alternative IMO.

is Eller really still showing signs of declining as compared to his Covid battles last year, or has that now become canon to push CMM? What do your fancy stats say about Eller as compared to last year?

 

[Hivemind]

Will the Montreal Canadiens Trade a Forward to Washington?

Some speculation suggests the Canadiens and Capitals might make a trade, but Washington might not be interested in what's available.

thehockeynews.com

Propose a forward trade with les Habs.

Nah

 

[Jags]

is Eller really still showing signs of declining as compared to his Covid battles last year, or has that now become canon to push CMM? What do your fancy stats say about Eller as compared to last year?

I'd like to see the answer to that, too, but in the meantime: Does your eye test tell you that Eller is doing anything special right now? Is he the difference between us winning and losing games? I personally don't care if CMM plays at this point because he hasn't done anything with the few chances he's gotten and last year's solid fancy stats are past their sell-by date. But I feel the same way about Eller right now.

All year, people have been saying that there'll be injuries and that's when the fringe players will be given chances. Well, we'll likely never be more injured than we are right now (knock wood) and yet we still can't give McMike a shot in his natural position, even with the guy currently in that spot playing as shitty as anyone else.

And if you're inclined to defend Lavi on that one -- and that's certainly reasonable -- then isn't trick9 right? It's not like he's our 13th forward that might play any minute now. We literally have 5 forwards out right now and he's not playing, so he's not even our 18th forward. He's that far out of favor in DC, so why not actually let him play hockey in Hershey? The argument that being up with the big club under these circumstances is somehow helpful to him is utter horseshit.

Being the 19th forward has to be demoralizing AF.

 

[Cappy76]

That’s my problem with how CMM is being managed why the hell isn’t he in Hershey if he can’t handle being or 3rd 4th or 5th extra player when we have injuries. If he can’t get in the lineup other than in the 3C role when one of Eller, Strome, or Kuzy is out just send him to Hershey.

 

[twabby]

You just don’t get the role or the identity of the 4th line if you think that’s the best spot for Mojo.

And CMM better as a center, but still not fully NHL-ready (coach’s decision) isn’t a great alternative IMO.

is Eller really still showing signs of declining as compared to his Covid battles last year, or has that now become canon to push CMM? What do your fancy stats say about Eller as compared to last year?

I think catering to what's best for the 4th line is backwards thinking when you have a top 9 that has been highly ineffective generating offense. Shouldn't the main concern at this point be generating offense instead of finding the perfect third wheel for Dowd-Hathaway, who have always made it work? Whether it be Hagelin, Larsson, Protas, AJF, etc., the 4th line is always going to do their thing. Is Johansson or Eller really going to bring that line down? Seems unlikely to me.

Eller has seen an increase in his defensive impacts so far this season, but is still a void offensively. Perhaps even a bit worse offensively than last year. Here are his impacts from last year to this year:

2021-22:


2022-23:



Why should Eller at 3C continue to be a lock? What about his performance this year or in the past 4 years has made his spot untouchable?

 

[zappa4ever]

FWDs we're down:
1RW
2RW
3RW
4LW

If we're not down any Centers, it generally means to get a sweater a fwd is going to have to play Wing

 

[Cappy76]

FWDs we're down:
1RW
2RW
3RW
4LW

If we're not down any Centers, it generally means to get a sweater a fwd is going to have to play Wing

Except we are down a 1/2C in Backstrom

 

[tycoonheart]

Except we are down a 1/2C in Backstrom

Strome was brought in as Nicky replacement. Nicky not playing for a while was known.

 

[zappa4ever]

Something tells me PK is another big reason Eller isn't likely to sit:
1. Sheary SHTOI/GP 2:18 SHTOI% 43.6
2. Dowd SHTOI/GP 2:08 SHTOI% 40.3
3. Eller SHTOI/GP 2:03 SHTOI% 38.8

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I'd like to see the answer to that, too, but in the meantime: Does your eye test tell you that Eller is doing anything special right now? Is he the difference between us winning and losing games? I personally don't care if CMM plays at this point because he hasn't done anything with the few chances he's gotten and last year's solid fancy stats are past their sell-by date. But I feel the same way about Eller right now.

All year, people have been saying that there'll be injuries and that's when the fringe players will be given chances. Well, we'll likely never be more injured than we are right now (knock wood) and yet we still can't give McMike a shot in his natural position, even with the guy currently in that spot playing as shitty as anyone else.

And if you're inclined to defend Lavi on that one -- and that's certainly reasonable -- then isn't trick9 right? It's not like he's our 13th forward that might play any minute now. We literally have 5 forwards out right now and he's not playing, so he's not even our 18th forward. He's that far out of favor in DC, so why not actually let him play hockey in Hershey? The argument that being up with the big club under these circumstances is somehow helpful to him is utter horseshit.

Being the 19th forward has to be demoralizing AF.

Nothing special, he never was, never did (Golden Goal aside). He looks like regular Lars to me. I think he looks marginally better than last year.

I’m not inclined to defend Lavi. It’s just the staff’s choice to determine a player’s readiness.

When he goes in, doesn’t look all that special, and here we are. Not some indictment of the kid, just the reality of being 21. I’d be fine sending him to Hershey…..repeating myself there.

Something tells me PK is another big reason Eller isn't likely to sit:
1. Sheary SHTOI/GP 2:18 SHTOI% 43.6
2. Dowd SHTOI/GP 2:08 SHTOI% 40.3
3. Eller SHTOI/GP 2:03 SHTOI% 38.8

I think their rebuttal is going to be “he can do that playing 4th line winger”…

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I think catering to what's best for the 4th line is backwards thinking when you have a top 9 that has been highly ineffective generating offense. Shouldn't the main concern at this point be generating offense instead of finding the perfect third wheel for Dowd-Hathaway, who have always made it work? Whether it be Hagelin, Larsson, Protas, AJF, etc., the 4th line is always going to do their thing. Is Johansson or Eller really going to bring that line down? Seems unlikely to me.

Eller has seen an increase in his defensive impacts so far this season, but is still a void offensively. Perhaps even a bit worse offensively than last year. Here are his impacts from last year to this year:

2021-22:
View attachment 604599

2022-23:
View attachment 604600


Why should Eller at 3C continue to be a lock? What about his performance this year or in the past 4 years has made his spot untouchable?

I need to see more charts…deeper analysis.

Eller is in there as a known defensive quantity at 3C.

I’ll kick it back on you, what about CMM’s limited play this year on the whole, has shown that he should unseat any regular? So far, it seems like nothing.

 

[Hivemind]

Well we can't possibly change anything up on the (checks notes) 14th ranked penalty kill in the NHL. It's clearly what's carrying this team right now.

 

[zappa4ever]

Well we can't possibly change anything up on the (checks notes) 14th ranked penalty kill in the NHL. It's clearly what's carrying this team right now.

We did have a nice 15 consecutive PK streak going before JC went down

Since Connor Brown is gone long term and one of his uses was going to be PK1/PK2 that leaves us with 5 PK FWD's doing 95+% of the work
Sheary/Dowd/Eller/Hathaway/Kuznetsov

Clearly McMic is the PK solution?