Agree with all of this. And I don't think there's any fear. But I do think, as I mentioned in an earlier post, that he's probably (and should be) looking ahead at the talent available next year too. So if the answer this year is a placeholder so they can go after a big fish next offseason, I'm okay with that too. This is a multi-year project. (Of course we won't know the plan, so there will be screaming.)
Incredibly risky and rarely pans out…..IMO….
Fair points. Certainly some risk. But also, money talks, and the Caps will actually have some for a change. But to be clear, I'm not arguing that they pass on a good fit/high level player this year if there's one that will fill a need. But I would rather they not make moves for their own sake. If the better option is to fill a spot short term and wait for the right guy to take it longer term, they can afford to do that, both financially and because they are unlikely to contend this year anyhow.
I don’t know, I think there are some interesting names (Zegras, Kaliyev, Ehlers, Frost, Kakko, Necas). Some are obviously more established than others but Ehlers is a guy I’ve long coveted.
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I'd take Chabot if Ottawa really is looking to move on. Wouldn't give up the farm but still a good player.
Very thin list overall.
Agreed…..money does talk, but somehow their original teams find ways most of the time….to retain.
Mantha trade was abysmal. I hated it from the jump. Obviously Jake had some issues we didn't know about at the time but who knows what would have happened had he have stayed here. Dumping Panik was cool but not worth the draft capital it cost. For all the issues and in and out of the lineup things Vrana has had he still has as many 20 goals seasons as Mantha. Big time BMac L. The Sandin trade was another massive L that the masses celebrated. We traded a first round pick away for a third pairing defender in a really good draft to boot. Ouch. The guy pulled off the Oshie theft and outside of that he's been pretty meh on the trade front. Burky L, Steve-o L, Siegs L...the list goes on and on.
Maybe we should give Sandin more than 87 games before we decide definitively if it was a good move or not?
Giving him first pairing minutes doesn't make him a first pairing defender. He's had more than 87 games, he's played 227 games. He has all the same glaring obvious flaws in DC that he had in Toronto. You put him on a contender and he's third pairing. He's slow, he's not big or steong enough to play physical, he's slightly above average offensively but not good enough to run a PP. He's a tweener and belongs on a weak second or strong third pairing. Sucks for us but he is what he is. Don't dislike the player but he's nothing special and wasn't worth the draft capital we gave up to get him.
Some but it's not stacked. I'm not much for Kaliyev, Frost or Kakko at this stage. They could be decent middle six buy-lows but as fits they're really underwhelming. Playing the upside or depth game is kind of pointless. They need impact tonesetters. And I'm skeptical Zegras moves or that Carolina would ship Necas in division.
Exactly what scares me….
Yeah this always makes me scratch my head. Vrana is in the AHL and Burky is on his third team. They’ve both been deemed as surplus to requirements by multiple NHL teams. In a different world they’d have developed into the top six wingers we thought we’d get when they were drafted but it didn’t work out that way. Both of them by and large lost their spots on merit, this wasn’t a case of choosing a year of Chara over a guy like Siegenthaler. Burky got beat out by Oshie, Wilson, and Vrana and Vrana didn’t play enough of a two-way game to overtake MJ90. I think even Chandler Stephenson beat him out and played 2LW with Backstrom and Oshie during the Cup run.
I mean, we're paying $6.5m to a guy that just scored 35 points...
So we should make a much larger mistake lol?
Alan May thinks differently. He referred to him as a bottom pairing defenseman before the end of the 22/23 season, in other words just weeks after the trade. I'm with Holtbyisms on this and then BMAC doubles down on this trade and signs him for 4.6 x 5. BMAC has hitched his wagon to Sandin now so doubt he'll move him as it would be an admission on his part that he was wrong about him.
Wasn't it when Carberry was at the helm in Hershey that Vrana had a tantrum and exited the arena to go for a walk.
It wouldn't be a mistake, though. Reinhart would immediately be the best player on the team.
Orlov = Sandin + $3.150 mil
It was more a shot at Sandin.
