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

[Ovechkins Wodka]

If we only resign one Connor it should be Brown

Thats so hard. He played 4 games for us and now is returning from major Injury.

 

[shtorm2005]

Just for fun, I checked how many draft picks Caps have vs TBL next 3 years in the top3 rounds.

TBL: 3 total (1x2nd round, 2x3round)
CAPS: 11 total (3x1st round, 4x2nd round, 4x3rd round)

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Next seasons retool is complete and the ovi window just got busted wide open! Stanley cup here we come!

Ovi-Backy-Wilson
Mantha-Kuzy-Oshie
Milano-Strome-Sheary
Protas-Dowd-NAK
McMichael

Sandin-Carlson
Fehervary-Jensen
Alexeyev-Iorio
LuJo

Darcy
Chucky

I'm projecting the '23/'24 lineup to look something like:

Ovechkin - Kuznetsov - Wilson
Milano - Strome - Mantha
Snively - Backstrom - Oshie
Protas - Dowd - NAK
McMichael/Malenstyn

Sandin - Carlson
Fehervary - Jensen
Alexeyev - TVR
LuJo

Kuemper
Lindgren

With Hershey call ups at some point in the season being Frank, Iorio, Rybinski

I don't envision Sheary being resigned and perhaps BMAC was doing him a favor and not moving him because of the new born, but who knows maybe no one was interested in him. I have TVR re-signing for 2.5 x 3.

Other then the draft, I don't envision the Capitals being busy with free agents this summer, BMAC has a few RFAs he needs to address, Fehervary and Alexeyev and the big piece getting Wilson extended. I think we're stuck with Mantha till that contract expires. Same thing with Kuznetsov.

The Capitals with the departures (Orlov, Hathaway, Eller, MOJO, Gustafsson) have shed some salary but more will go once the season is over in 19 games to include (Brown, Hagelin, Sheary, Smith, Irwin). BMAC has added some salary with the extensions to Strome, Milano, NAK and Jensen but really not a significant amount so I don't envision them up against the cap.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Brian23]

Sheary is a good player who's been forced into all sorts of positions that work against him. IMO you want him as a 3rd line energy guy who can throw a few in, not a top 6 staple or a 4th line grinder.

Basically the Connolly or Chimera role. Locked into his wing on the 3rd line and never changed.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Just for fun, I checked how many draft picks Caps have vs TBL next 3 years in the top3 rounds.

TBL: 3 total (1x2nd round, 2x3round)
CAPS: 11 total (3x1st round, 4x2nd round, 4x3rd round)

At the end of the 24/25 season (two years) 25 million will come off the cap for the team with the contracts of Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Dowd and Lindgren all expiring.

 

[Calicaps]

So... been thinking a lot about the coaching situation, and here's my brain dump. (There's no agenda here, and I have only my powers of observation and reasoning to back this up.)

Back in 20WHATEVER when Trotz was hired, the reporting suggested that Mac wanted Rierden but was overruled by ownership who wanted the big name with the franchise connection. And obviously, their call worked out well, even though 2018 seemed on track to go the way of this season for quite a while. Given the trajectory with TR, though, this story seems pretty plausible.

Then of course, Rierden showed poorly in his first head coaching stint, which probably left Mac without much wiggle room if ownership demanded he go back to a big name with bona fides. (I don't know if that happened, but it also seems pretty plausible.)

All of that said, at the time of Trotz's hiring, Rierden was, I believe, a fairly highly regarded coach and considered in line for a HC job somewhere soon.

So from all of this, my take is that even back almost 10 years ago, Mac was angling for a younger, more modern NHL-type coach and was stymied by his bosses. That his choice of coach went pear shaped is certainly a big disappointment, but hopefully he's even more of that mindset now.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I was thinking about the next coach today as well. I dont want someone who on his 4th team like Lavi. I want someone fresh and new so I was thinking about some Ex Caps that Ted might like.
Jeff Halpern he will be a head coach soon enough why not have the ex little caps player and ex caps captain take over?
Federov hes been coaching a few years in Russia and Has the players respect

 

[Calicaps]

I was thinking about the next coach today as well. I dont want someone who on his 4th team like Lavi. I want someone fresh and new so I was thinking about some Ex Caps that Ted might like.
Jeff Halpern he will be a head coach soon enough why not have the ex little caps player and ex caps captain take over?
Federov hes been coaching a few years in Russia and Has the players respect

I'd like to see a guy maybe getting a second shot. We had a string of rookie coaches when Ovie was young, plus Rierden, and none of them really panned out, even if BB's team were a blast to watch.

 

[Hivemind]

Sending Protas back to Hershey? WTF?

Ugh.... Lavi gonna Lavi

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

So if we end up keeping Sheary, to go along with Carlson, Backstrom, Oshie next year… that forward group is going to be old as sh*t still. I hope they prove me wrong but they still don’t see the problem.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Crazy to think if we didnt lose b2b games vs the flyers we prolly would not have sold off and still be holding a playoff spot.

 

[Hivemind]

Crazy to think if we didnt lose b2b games vs the flyers we prolly would not have sold off and still be holding a playoff spot.

Even without that, they had a 6 game losing streak following the Boston win. That would have forced the sell off regardless.

 

[Calicaps]

So if we end up keeping Sheary, to go along with Carlson, Backstrom, Oshie next year… that forward group is going to be old as sh*t still. I hope they prove me wrong but they still don’t see the problem.

OK, I don't understand why everyone keeps acting like this is it for change until October. But even if it were, add Ovie in there (and take Carlson out because he's not a forward) and that's 4 players. Add Kuz and Dowd and make it 6. That's half the forward corps. That means they could easily have at least 6 guys in their 20s.

Even without that, they had a 6 game losing streak following the Boston win. That would have forced the sell off regardless.

Also, they had no wiggle room having played more games than almost everyone else by the ASG and having sucked for 2 months to start the year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

So if we end up keeping Sheary, to go along with Carlson, Backstrom, Oshie next year… that forward group is going to be old as sh*t still. I hope they prove me wrong but they still don’t see the problem.

Same old same old….but yeah….GMBM still going to be working the roster all summer IMO.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

Same old same old….but yeah….GMBM still going to be working the roster all summer IMO.

The core will be the core and that core’s best days are gone. This is management with sentiment instead of reality.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The core will be the core and that core’s best days are gone. This is management with sentiment instead of reality.

Need to infuse the core….take some out, add some back….

 

[Hivemind]

OK, I don't understand why everyone keeps acting like this is it for change until October.

It's mostly because a lot of us feel like we've seen this movie before. Management has been tinkering around the edges with this team for a long time now. Combine that with the tweet that the Capitals were looking at negotiating an extension with Sheary and the subsequent move to send Protas back to Hershey, and people are falling back on their notions regarding management's perception of this team. Then you zoom out further, look at their lack of cap flexibility and the tepid UFA market, and realize it's going to take the type of core-altering changes that management hasn't made in nearly a decade (dating back 8 years to the Oshie trade at this point). Maybe they ship out Mantha and bring someone else in his place, but that's the biggest thing most of us see coming up.

Could this off-season be different? It's definitely possible. But a lot of us are proceeding with the expectation it won't be, and will be pleasantly surprised if we're wrong.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

It's mostly because a lot of us feel like we've seen this movie before. Management has been tinkering around the edges with this team for a long time now. Combine that with the tweet that the Capitals were looking at negotiating an extension with Sheary and the subsequent move to send Protas back to Hershey, and people are falling back on their notions regarding management's perception of this team. Then you zoom out further, look at their lack of cap flexibility and the tepid UFA market, and realize it's going to take the type of core-altering changes that management hasn't made in nearly a decade (dating back 8 years to the Oshie trade at this point). Maybe they ship out Mantha and bring someone else in his place, but that's the biggest thing most of us see coming up.

Could this off-season be different? It's definitely possible. But a lot of us are proceeding with the expectation it won't be, and will be pleasantly surprised if we're wrong.

Yep. If they don’t modify the “core” their fate next season will be the same. No one is prepared to make hard decisions in this org. From management to ownership.

 

[g00n]

It's mostly because a lot of us feel like we've seen this movie before.

No you haven't. None of us have.

 

[YippieKaey]

Fun facts about our roster:

Matt Irwin has played 46 games, has -6 and 2 assists. AA has 13 games, -2 and 3 assists.

Our penalty minutes leader is noted bruiser Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Our +/- leader is Trevor van Riemsdyk with +9, everyone else except Dowd(+5), NAK (+4) and Sheary (0) is a minus.

Looking good.

 

[twabby]

I’m going to disagree with our friends here and say that I for one am a bit optimistic going into the offseason.

I think the Sandin trade was huge and indicates that management gets it. That was a big swing and I think given MacLellan’s comments today about wanting to trade for players this offseason he’s going to make another impactful move or two.

The free agent class stinks but there are always your Shearys, NAKs, Gustafssons, etc. available even in poor UFA classes. If they were only planning on tinkering around the edges they’d have plenty of opportunity to pick up bargain bin UFAs to do that. The fact that he specifically mentioned trades makes me think a bigger move will be coming.

 

[usiel]

No idea why NAK is playing over Protas. WWould also be great to see where Beck is as a 4th line winger at some point this season.

 

[RedRocking]

No you haven't. None of us have.

Yea, after doing a decent job selling for the first time in forever, I’m not sure what else people expected this TDL. Trading Oshie, Backstrom, or Kuzy?

If any of those kind of pieces are moved (or shipping Mantha off) it will be in the offseason. It’s March 2023, not sure why we have to be penciling in the lineup for October, and complaining about it already. It’s Friday, after work hrs on the east coast - cheer up

 

[Calicaps]

It's mostly because a lot of us feel like we've seen this movie before. Management has been tinkering around the edges with this team for a long time now. Combine that with the tweet that the Capitals were looking at negotiating an extension with Sheary and the subsequent move to send Protas back to Hershey, and people are falling back on their notions regarding management's perception of this team. Then you zoom out further, look at their lack of cap flexibility and the tepid UFA market, and realize it's going to take the type of core-altering changes that management hasn't made in nearly a decade (dating back 8 years to the Oshie trade at this point). Maybe they ship out Mantha and bring someone else in his place, but that's the biggest thing most of us see coming up.

Could this off-season be different? It's definitely possible. But a lot of us are proceeding with the expectation it won't be, and will be pleasantly surprised if we're wrong.

That's just not true. Mac has been steady in saying that the team needs to retool to get younger and faster. Moreover, he had his roster structured so that a bunch of older guys all went UFA at the same time. He moved a bunch of those guys for a young player and some assets. Some he decided to keep at least for now given the trade offers on the table.

But this wasn't an accident. He clearly had a plan to make some changes this year--and probably more than one depending how the team performed. Given the 2023 collapse, he's executing the retool plan, starting with step 1, which is move UFAs and collect assets. Methodical action is the sign of an actual plan being pursued. Trying to do it all at once is chaos.

Beyond that many posters here insist on the one hand that a retool is impossible and that it will absolutely take a few years to be competitive... but then on the other, they demand to know why it's not all done in a week. That argument is not sensible.


EDIT: And another point, I personally am fine with letting Protas and McMike and Jimi and all the rest of the kids stay in Hershey and have the experience of competing for a championship. That's a better development experience IMO than playing out the string with the Caps this year.