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

[tycoonheart]

Visiting here without an ad blocker is a nightmare. The iOS/mobile versions of this site are practically unusable.

100% this.

 

[bacchist]

I'd consider paying like $1 a month for an ad free version tbh

 

[John Price]

 

[BallardEra]

Nice to hear about Backstrom being pain free. That really illustrates how much pain and discomfort he must have been playing with before the surgery.

 

[BallardEra]

How Nicklas Backstrom is accelerating his return to the ice after hip surgery

 

[pman25]

The ESPN article states Backstrom will return within the week. It’s happening!

 

[kicksavedave]

This June, Backstrom flew to Belgium for an attempt to extend his career. He underwent hip resurfacing surgery, a type of artificial joint replacement designed for younger, more active patients who have worn down the cartilage surface but still have good overall bone quality. Surgery involves placing a metal ball on top of the head of the femur (thighbone), capping it like a tooth, then fitting the socket with a thin metal shell.

The first hip resurfacing surgery to be performed in the United States was in 2006. There is still not enough long-term data on several aspects of the surgery, and there's an unknown about what might happen when introducing a metal implant to the hip in a collision sport; not enough patients have tried that.

Only two active NHL players before have had their hips resurfaced. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski underwent 10 months of rehabilitation after his 2013 procedure, then played in 36 games before getting bought out and subsequently retiring; forward Ryan Kesler never played again after his hip resurfacing in 2019.

If Backie comes back and plays at his normal self again, it will be an NFL first, and wouldn't that be awesome. When he's healthy he's a huge asset. Obviously last year he was a mess. And he knew it, everyone knew it.

"I couldn't bend my left leg, I could barely bend over," Backstrom told ESPN. "It ached all the time, especially after games."

The daily pain was met with frustration.

"Yeah, I played," Backstrom said. "But I wasn't really effective out there."

 

[tycoonheart]

Even if Nicky can play like 75% of his normal self it's still an upgrade over Eller.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Getting a healthy Nick back would be a tremendous boost. Strome, Kuznetsov, Backstrom, and Dowd is championship-caliber center depth, assuming Nick is able to skate and move like an NHL player. It’s the equivalent of trading for Ryan O’Reilly at the deadline.

 

[twabby]

Dylan Strome will likely move to the wing when Nicklas Backstrom returns

Dylan Strome has spent the entire 2022-23 regular season at center, but his time in the pivot position may be soon coming…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

Disclaimer: there is no evidence given in the article that it will be Strome moving to wing when Backstrom returns. It seems like pure speculation at this point.

However, it wouldn't surprise me and it would be quite disappointing IMO if it was Strome who moved to wing instead of Eller moving to the wing or to the press box. Strome (and Dowd really) have been their most impactful 5v5 centers and it'd be a shame to see Strome moved out of the position he is most comfortable at while Eller continues to play big minutes at center.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Dylan Strome will likely move to the wing when Nicklas Backstrom returns

Dylan Strome has spent the entire 2022-23 regular season at center, but his time in the pivot position may be soon coming…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

Disclaimer: there is no evidence given in the article that it will be Strome moving to wing when Backstrom returns. It seems like pure speculation at this point.

However, it wouldn't surprise me and it would be quite disappointing IMO if it was Strome who moved to wing instead of Eller moving to the wing or to the press box. Strome (and Dowd really) have been their most impactful 5v5 centers and it'd be a shame to see Strome moved out of the position he is most comfortable at while Eller continues to play big minutes at center.

Moving Strome — who has surpassed any realistic expectation and honestly has helped save this season for the Caps — to the wing and moving another player (Milano? Johansson? Mantha? Protas?) out of the lineup so Eller can stay at center would certainly be a decision they could make… but it would be a terrible one. I’m going to go ahead and assume that Lavi wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to run Strome, Kuznetsov, Backstrom, and Dowd as his centers in favor of Lars Eller or else I’ll just get angry over something that hasn’t happened yet and shouldn’t happen at all.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I’m reading that article — it just sounds like Strome has spent a lot more time at wing than Eller has. I’d wager they want to keep the top 12 skaters, and Eller seems to be one. So once you make that mental leap, then it’s where do they best play? Eller at W is worse than Strome at W, so there it is.

Candidly, if Strome plays w Kuz, then really either can be the C or W. Depending on matchups and needs.

 

[tycoonheart]

But why F with the chemistry Ovi/Strome/Sherry have right now? That line is delivering every game.

 

[g00n]

Possession is important in OT and sending Eller out for the faceoff in the o-zone was the reason he was on the ice for that gaffe vs BUF.

Maybe they move him to wing and use him selectively for FO help if they really think that's his value. Eller is 21st in the NHL this year in FOW% among players with 500+ FO attempts. But Dowd, Strome, and Kuzy are only a few % points behind him.

Still a puzzling decision in OT.

 

[Ridley Simon]

But why F with the chemistry Ovi/Strome/Sherry have right now? That line is delivering every game.

Agree w you. Doesn’t make a lot of sense in that regard.

They can always go back to it.

 

[pman25]

I’m guessing the worst possible outcome will happen and Eller stays 3C, Strome moves to wing, and Milano is bumped out of the lineup.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I’m guessing the worst possible outcome will happen and Eller stays 3C, Strome moves to wing, and Milano is bumped out of the lineup.

That would be criminal. Milano is delivering and brings unique attributes to the team.

 

[g00n]

Imagine a fully mobile and recharged Backy with an additional 2yrs of learning even more cerebral shit because he couldn't skate at 100%.

Potentially dangerous.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Imagine a fully mobile and recharged Backy with an additional 2yrs of learning even more cerebral shit because he couldn't skate at 100%.

Potentially dangerous.

Maybe this was part of your "2yrs of learning," but the time Nicky spent observing games while out must've given him a bunch of minor but noteworthy insights as to how to improve many aspects of his play.

 

[HecticGlow]

The powerplay groups could be genuinely dangerous with guys back…

Backstrom-Strome-Oshie-Ovi-Carlson
Kuzy-Johansson-Wilson/Sheary-Ovi/Orlov-Gustafson

How refreshing would it be to have two genuinely interchangeable powerplay units?

 

[DWGie26]

I don’t see how that makes sense, when players on LTIR continue to count against the cap? LTIR allows us to exceed the cap by a value up to the cap hit of the player(s) on LTIR, but that’s why you don’t bank any money compared to a team that is under the cap hit (i.e. without anyone on LTIR).

Carlson, Backstrom and Wilson all being on the active roster, without corresponding moves to LTIR, would put us over the cap in your last scenario. It can however be done if you keep Snively or Protas instead of NAK on the active roster as the 13/14F. In this scenario you also couldn’t afford to keep Alexeyev on roster over Irwin, though.

Simply put we’re not in the cap hell we could have been because Brown and Hagelin both unfortunately ended up on LTIR for the year. But to get JC back into an otherwise healthy roster and stay cap compliant, we’d either need to:
- risk losing Alexeyev on waivers;
- carry a 22 man roster (i.e. keep Alexeyev over Irwin and waive/send down all of Protas, NAK and Snively); or
- Waive/trade a veteran like Eller, Mojo, Sheary, Hathaway etc.

It’s hard to sense where they’re at with Alexeyev, given he is sitting for Irwin and doesn’t look like a guy who’s about to break out as a top-4 NHLer any year soon. Not sure what trade value there’d be for him at this point, and I can see them waiving him if they think there’s a chance he’ll clear.

Sniveley hasn’t shown a lot this year (in the few chances he’s had) to make me think he wouldn’t clear waivers. NAK is unlikely to be claimed, unless another banged-up team like Colorado wants him (back). He’s been a stopgap anyway, so not the biggest loss if claimed. Protas would be best served in the lineup in Hershey than on nacho duty, and I can see him being displaced when Wilson comes back.

It is the daily cap hit you have to look at. Correct in that you can’t “bank” LTIR but they don’t count against the salary cap at all. On IR, like Wilson, you do count towards the Cap.

I believe the Cap calculations on CF are done on daily cap hits which would be smart. If someone is active on roster you count their daily cap through the end of the season.

So this really is about 23 man roster more than salary cap. We can add if we want to but they will have to be hockey trades with NHL contracts going out.

 

[RedRocking]

So I think one of the main lessons of the first half of this season is - a long running, content core can become stale.

We all love most of our core guys - but they do, at times, seem jaded and bored by yet another 82 game slog together (just look at the Pens’ core and their recent performance). So you need new, excited faces to keep things fresh and competitive. And I think our pesky, try-hard additions have been the keys to success thus far.

We have a guy playing for his first big pay day in Strome; a guy playing with his hair on fire to save his career in Milano (like Connolly before him); a guy in Protas working his butt off to stay in DC; Gus, emerging as an excellent offensive play-driver.

There’s Mojo, trying to prove he still has it; Sheary, fighting to be properly valued on a new deal; Chuckie Sideburns trying to show himself as a viable starter in this league. And the others on expiring contracts, as has been discussed ad nauseam.

The result is a Caps team that is collectively hungrier than it has been in several years. I think it’s a real credit to GMBM. Here’s hoping - with the imminent return of 19 and 43 - these guys keep contributing to team success for the rest of the season!

 

[HTFN]

It was sometimes hard to think that Backstrom specifically might come back in time to do some damage since a lot of us were projecting something closer to the end of the year for an injury and surgery like his, but they're unexpectedly poised to get some pre-deadline acquisitions way more dangerous than they'd get otherwise and for free.

Couple that with the weirdly opportunistic Carlson injury, not that I want to revel in it, but it's going to let them add Carlson down the stretch in much the same way without making any particularly difficult decisions. It's all kind of going... really well for them in a way that I definitely wouldn't have called if I were placing bets.

 

[caps4cup]

Eller is clearly worse than Milano/Johansson/Mantha or whoever else could potentially be booted from the lineup when Wilson and Backstrom are both back. He was a beast 3C for years and is still fine but he just isn’t the same. If you want to keep him in the lineup for his face off and PK ability, so be it, but it should be as 4LW.

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov/Strome-Sheary
Milano-Strome/Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Backstrom-Oshie
Eller-Dowd-Hathaway
Johansson

If Milano or Mantha get scratched, that’s a complete joke. I like BMac and Lavi, and I want to believe they’re smarter than that to actually scratch one of them, but that really doesn’t feel certain. Zero reason to move Strome to the wing either and push a more skilled top 9 guy to the 4th line.

 

[max21]

Can’t wait to see 43 out there again