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

[Brian23]

Gustafsson- Alexeyev (RFA)

AA is a lefty, no? And there's no way I'd want him playing off handed for Gustafsson. Give me TVR on the cheap.

I think the hardest thing to do will be deciding what to do with Jensen next year. There aren't a lot of actual top 4 RD in the NHL, and he's going to be paid accordingly, but can you really bring essentially the same core of the defense back next year? I don't know how they fill that hole.

 

[trick9]

AA is a lefty, no? And there's no way I'd want him playing off handed for Gustafsson. Give me TVR on the cheap.

I think the hardest thing to do will be deciding what to do with Jensen next year. There aren't a lot of actual top 4 RD in the NHL, and he's going to be paid accordingly, but can you really bring essentially the same core of the defense back next year? I don't know how they fill that hole.

Jensen has earned his last big fat contract but i hope it's not from us. Giving long-term contracts to 33-year old who relies on his skating is too risky. I can see him asking for 4 years.

On top of that i can see there being a really good market for him at the TDL if we are out of the Playoffs.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

So we’re coming up on 20% of the season and besides Kuznetsov and McMichael who have been discussed ad nauseam, the coaching staff’s deployment of Mantha is my biggest disappointment. I know people are disappointed with him but Lavi deserves the lion’s share of the blame in my opinion. Mantha is being deployed as a checker. He is not a checker. He is not a bottom six winger. He is a playmaker and needs to be stapled in the top six with other guys who can play actual hockey.

I find it very curious that two of the players people are most disappointed in production wise — Mantha and McMike — are two guys that are always stapled to Eller’s wing. Eller is where offense goes to die and putting Mantha or McMike on his wing and then bitching about their lack of production is crazy town. Mantha has strong metrics with Strome and is one of few guys, along with McMike, that makes things happen offensively. Put him in the best position to succeed and it’s not with Eller.

That McMike isn’t playing at all and Mantha is playing a bottom six role with no PP time on a team that can’t score goals and with one healthy top six winger is a huge coaching gaffe. The injuries suck but Lavi is making it worse than it needs to be. I’m getting real tired of valuing grinding and plodding over guys that can put the puck in the net. If they’re not as strong defensively, deal with it. Coach around it. Deploy around it.

 

[twabby]

It'd be hard for me to get behind trading one of Orlov or Jensen while continuing to hold onto John Carlson, who will certainly be worth a ton in a trade. Much more than both Orlov and Jensen.

Seems like the sensical thing to do would be to trade the third best defenseman on the team for the highest return, rather than trading the first or second best defenseman for a lesser return.

 

[Brian23]

Jensen has earned his last big fat contract but i hope it's not from us. Giving long-term contracts to 33-year old who relies on his skating is too risky. I can see him asking for 4 years.

On top of that i can see there being a really good market for him at the TDL if we are out of the Playoffs.

I don't disagree but we're back to having to sign a Justin Schultz like player to play 2RD if you let Jensen walk. I'm just not sure what to do, which is ridiculous when you consider how many picks they've spent on defense the last half decade. You'd think they'd have at least one RD to come up and eat some minutes.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

It'd be hard for me to get behind trading one of Orlov or Jensen while continuing to hold onto John Carlson, who will certainly be worth a ton in a trade. Much more than both Orlov and Jensen.

Seems like the sensical thing to do would be to trade the third best defenseman on the team for the highest return, rather than trading the first or second best defenseman for a lesser return.

Not suggesting we move him (Orlov), but does Carlson with his contract and struggles have more value today? Not so sure….Orlov could return a massive bounty.

 

[itsjustsurvival]

So we’re coming up on 20% of the season and besides Kuznetsov and McMichael who have been discussed ad nauseam, the coaching staff’s deployment of Mantha is my biggest disappointment. I know people are disappointed with him but Lavi deserves the lion’s share of the blame in my opinion. Mantha is being deployed as a checker. He is not a checker. He is not a bottom six winger. He is a playmaker and needs to be stapled in the top six with other guys who can play actual hockey.

I find it very curious that two of the players people are most disappointed in production wise — Mantha and McMike — are two guys that are always stapled to Eller’s wing. Eller is where offense goes to die and putting Mantha or McMike on his wing and then bitching about their lack of production is crazy town. Mantha has strong metrics with Strome and is one of few guys, along with McMike, that makes things happen offensively. Put him in the best position to succeed and it’s not with Eller.

That McMike isn’t playing at all and Mantha is playing a bottom six role with no PP time on a team with one healthy top six winger that can’t score goals is a huge coaching gaffe. The injuries suck but Lavi is making it worse than it needs to be. I’m getting real tired of valuing grinding and plodding over guys that can put the puck in the net. If they’re not as strong defensively, deal with it. Coach around it. Deploy around it.

100% agree here. He needs to be deployed with more talented linemates. I'd also wager that his "effort level" increases if he starts producing. I know that sounds backwards, but some guys just seem to need to find an offensive rhythm to get going. That and I still feel like several of the top players are showing a lot of frustration with lack of chemistry and effectiveness of their lines. I'm not sure how sustainable it is only having one line generate 5 on 5 possession at a given time...

 

[twabby]

Not suggesting we move him (Orlov), but does Carlson with his contract and struggles have more value today? Not so sure….Orlov could return a massive bounty.

I don't know that the league really perceives him as struggling that much. He was actually really good last regular season and he's one of the best point producing defensemen in the league. I suspect a lot of teams would be willing to gamble on his poor playoff performances over the years and pay a massive amount for a #1D under contract for 3 more years.

It's all speculation of course. I don't know who's worth what on the market. But I kind of doubt that Orlov and Jensen return much more than say a late first round pick given the quality of this draft and the fact that they are both UFAs. Late first round picks are nice but they aren't that much more valuable than second round picks in general. I'd much rather make a hockey trade with Carlson as the centerpiece if they are looking to reshape the team going into next year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't know that the league really perceives him as struggling that much. He was actually really good last regular season and he's one of the best point producing defensemen in the league. I suspect a lot of teams would be willing to gamble on his poor playoff performances over the years and pay a massive amount for a #1D under contract for 3 more years.

It's all speculation of course. I don't know who's worth what on the market. But I kind of doubt that Orlov and Jensen return much more than say a late first round pick given the quality of this draft and the fact that they are both UFAs. Late first round picks are nice but they aren't that much more valuable than second round picks in general. I'd much rather make a hockey trade with Carlson as the centerpiece if they are looking to reshape the team going into next year.

Again this is a silly mindset…..if we know he’s struggling…..anyone acquiring him, is doing their homework. If he’s getting a massive return still, then maybe we’re the dummies looking to trade a rare’ ish talent?

I think his trade value has declined pretty significantly from a few years ago…

 

[twabby]

 

[Langway]

NAK still on a damn scoring line. FFS.

 

[twabby]

NAK still on a damn scoring line. FFS.

GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND

 

[Brian23]

Alexeyev looked okay, can't have that. Gotta sit him down for the good ole Veterans.

 

[hb13xchamps]

They played like shit and their only move was to being in a “healthy” Carlson, shuffle the D pairs, and keep Irwin in over Alexeyev. No forward changes whatsoever. Lavi needs to go. This team has zero offense at the moment at 5 on 5. Just super frustrating to see he continues to play struggling veteran guys over the likes of Snively and McMichael and now Alexeyev/LuJo

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

100% agree here. He needs to be deployed with more talented linemates. I'd also wager that his "effort level" increases if he starts producing. I know that sounds backwards, but some guys just seem to need to find an offensive rhythm to get going. That and I still feel like several of the top players are showing a lot of frustration with lack of chemistry and effectiveness of their lines. I'm not sure how sustainable it is only having one line generate 5 on 5 possession at a given time...

It’s all part of building a team that compliments each other. You don’t need four lines of guys who are going to hit everything that moves, dive to block every shot, get in scrums after every whistle. Alex Semin and Troy Brouwer were both top six wingers whose games couldn’t have been more different. Brouwer gave more effort but give me Semin every day of the week so long as I can balance Semin’s deficiencies out with someone else that compliments his weaknesses.

Scoring goals is the hardest part of hockey. Those guys should be prioritized and valued and everything and everyone else should fill in around them. And, you don’t need to back check as much or block as many shots if you’re constantly in the other team’s zone.

Most people who have played can tell you there is a difference between being hard to play against and being frustrating to play against. Being frustrating to play against is playing against a team that has good structure and is tough to break down. Teams that are hard to play against come at you in waves and don’t give you many chances to breath. It’s much easier playing against lesser skilled teams that just pack it in that it is playing against faster teams with better talent that constantly want to go on the offensive and put stress on you. We have veered way too hard into trying to be difficult to play against.

 

[hb13xchamps]

The other big red flag to me is the overall effort level. They played their main rival Wednesday night and their effort level, other than the first 5-10 minutes, was pretty pathetic overall. They got no rise out of Ovi completely destroying guys. That’s your 37 year old captain, your leader and that doesn’t fire you up? The dude is a literal freak of nature that he’s able to lay hits that big at his age. Nationally televised rivalry games against Sid and the Pens should make these guys fired up to play and it just wasn’t there.

I’ve been in GMBM’s corner for some time now. I think he had a decent enough offseason that is now plagued by even more injuries, including Connor Brown being out for the year (most likely). If he gives Laviolette an extension he needs to go as well. I get fans are usually more passionate than “those who are in the game” (GMGM reference), but this team looks like a team giving up on their coaching staff. We’ve seen it too many times to count over the years unfortunately.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Lavi has to be fired. This is getting ridiculous. Playing scrub vets over our young talent on a consistent basis.

 

[Langway]

Do have to wonder if rival GMs won't try to exploit any future opportunities to similar effect. We've already seen it with Siegenthaler as well. It is perhaps unavoidable at times when possessing strong organizational depth but this is not a function of that per se. It's more an issue of self-assessment, vision and planning. it is becoming a disturbing pattern with McMichael veering into similar territory.

Brakes need to be applied by any GM to effectively check and better shape the coaching staff's agenda. Instead it seems all too often MacLellan is simply a bystander.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

That line-up is beyond depressing.

 

[Corby78]

Play AA over Irwin. Why do we need to watch the 7th D when we should be looking at what we have on in the prospect pool.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I will watch tonight because of Ovechkin and that’s about it. To not have any lineup changes after their prolonged stretch of no offense at evens is pretty inexcusable.

 

[twabby]

I will watch tonight because of Ovechkin and that’s about it. To not have any lineup changes after their prolonged stretch of no offense at evens is pretty inexcusable.

Fire McCarthy!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The other big red flag to me is the overall effort level. They played their main rival Wednesday night and their effort level, other than the first 5-10 minutes, was pretty pathetic overall. They got no rise out of Ovi completely destroying guys. That’s your 37 year old captain, your leader and that doesn’t fire you up? The dude is a literal freak of nature that he’s able to lay hits that big at his age. Nationally televised rivalry games against Sid and the Pens should make these guys fired up to play and it just wasn’t there.

I’ve been in GMBM’s corner for some time now. I think he had a decent enough offseason that is now plagued by even more injuries, including Connor Brown being out for the year (most likely). If he gives Laviolette an extension he needs to go as well. I get fans are usually more passionate than “those who are in the game” (GMGM reference), but this team looks like a team giving up on their coaching staff. We’ve seen it too many times to count over the years unfortunately.

I’m not seeing that at all. This team has ALWAYS had issues getting up for games…..

When I think about a team giving up, usually there’s a massive losing streak, many one sided blowouts, etc….not the kind of win we just saw against the Oilers for example.

 

[hb13xchamps]

I’m not seeing that at all. This team has ALWAYS had issues getting up for games…..

When I think about a team giving up, usually there’s a massive losing streak, many one sided blowouts, etc….not the kind of win we just saw against the Oilers for example.

The Oilers win is a major outlier. They scored 4 PPGs. When’s the last time they’ve accomplished anything like that, especially under the Lavi regime?

They lost 4 in a row prior to that. They’ve lost 5 out of their last 6 games, including loses to a Pittsburgh team that lost 7 in a row and an Arizona team that has a borderline AHL roster and plays in a college arena. There are some bad loses already this season. They also have way too many guys who are floating around the ice making bonehead plays or playing disinterested.

It might not be full blown team giving up YET, but the signs are there. Lavi has a track record of losing the room pretty quickly

 

[YippieKaey]

GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND

Gustafsson-Carlson first pairing? Oh my god haha. Get ready for the biggest loss in Caps history