Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines/etc) | 2023-24 Regular Season Edition

[twabby]

Even if Mantha keeps it up I doubt he gets a big contract or a big return in a trade. They couldn't give him away this past offseason so I doubt teams will suddenly pony up for him after a good season.

I think there's a great case to be made for re-signing him. He's not going to command a long-term deal and his AAV is likely to go down from his current $5.7M. And his impacts have always been good to great when he gets the ice time. With a coach that trusts him in Carbery there's a potential to get Mantha on a team-friendly deal.

You’re seeing Carbs do what Lavi did, what most coaches will do….play the reliable option.

Of course that doesn't mean it's the correct option.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Even if Mantha keeps it up I doubt he gets a big contract or a big return in a trade. They couldn't give him away this past offseason so I doubt teams will suddenly pony up for him after one season.

I think there's a great case to be made for re-signing him. He's not going to command a long-term deal and his AAV is likely to go down from his current $5.7M. And his impacts have always been good to great when he gets the ice time. With a coach that trusts him in Carbery there's a potential to get Mantha on a team-friendly deal.



Of course that doesn't mean it's the correct option.

I liken this to you want them to go “all in“ more, and you don’t care if they do it from a position of extreme weakness. None of the potentially damaging results matter to you as a fan.

Right now they play 92 because they have no better options…..and game in game out you see what version of that joker shows up each night, and if Carbs decided last night that he didn’t believe in 92 later in the game to deliver, I side with the coach on that decision.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[DWGie26]

I still think this is a tryout year for Caps. Lots of Bears could be up for a spot next year. Some youth will get opportunities not usually afforded in Caps system with early deployments. I wouldn’t sign anyone else. Patches and Phillips (and probably Mantha) are good for this year. We will probably trade Jensen/TVR by deadline. More likely we make moves in offseason.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Enough people dying already damn….this was one of our most painful draft misses of my childhood. Dude tore up Jrs (the Q)….RIP. Stephan Lebeau scored 94 goals that year….Reggie had 68 that year…

 

[SherVaughn30]

Enough people dying already damn….this was one of our most painful draft misses of my childhood. Dude tore up Jrs (the Q)….RIP. Stephan Lebeau scored 94 goals that year….Reggie had 68 that year…

That's sad news that he was only able to live 1/2 a century. Didn't Reggie Savage play for the Caps when Terry Murray was coach?

 

[SherVaughn30]

Enough people dying already damn….this was one of our most painful draft misses of my childhood. Dude tore up Jrs (the Q)….RIP. Stephan Lebeau scored 94 goals that year….Reggie had 68 that year…

Not to be an @SS or anything, but many ppl die every year in general(in response to, "Enough people dying already damn...". Ppl's deaths just get magnified when it's cancer, COVID, etc, especially if it happens to a celebrity or professional player. Reggie Savage losing his life to cancer was one important loss to humanity(each person has a contribution to human life).

 

[SherVaughn30]

I still think this is a tryout year for Caps. Lots of Bears could be up for a spot next year. Some youth will get opportunities not usually afforded in Caps system with early deployments. I wouldn’t sign anyone else. Patches and Phillips (and probably Mantha) are good for this year. We will probably trade Jensen/TVR by deadline. More likely we make moves in offseason.

Bear is also a smart move to add another younger d-man(age 26) in place if Edmundson is either traded at the dead line or is not re-signed in the offseason. Hypothetical, if Edmundson is gone, then the Caps only added Bear for $300k more. I know Edmundson is not liked too much here, but at the dead line he might be able to fetch a 3rd round pick when playoffs teams start bidding against each other for playoff depth(if the Caps can't squeeze in as a Wild Card team).

 

[Ridley Simon]

He’s younger than I am. Or was. Shit.

 

[Capitals40]

Bear is also a smart move to add another younger d-man(age 26) in place if Edmundson is either traded at the dead line or is not re-signed in the offseason. Hypothetical, if Edmundson is gone, then the Caps only added Bear for $300k more. I know Edmundson is not liked too much here, but at the dead line he might be able to fetch a 3rd round pick when playoffs teams start bidding against each other for playoff depth(if the Caps can't squeeze in as a Wild Card team).

Bear is a $2m+ cap hit next year. Im not sure in any hockey world this makes sense. Patches will be a $2m cap hit with bonuses next year after he plays 20 games this season. There goes the cap increase for the Caps next year. Mac is like half the gms' in the league..sucks at the cap

 

[usiel]

Enough people dying already damn….this was one of our most painful draft misses of my childhood. Dude tore up Jrs (the Q)….RIP. Stephan Lebeau scored 94 goals that year….Reggie had 68 that year…

Pretty much the year before I started really becoming a NHL draftnik. That said he's about my age and I've been pretty pathetic on keeping up with the 'you are only an idiot if you don't keep up with the common sense medicals'.

 

[HTFN]

Bear is a $2m+ cap hit next year. Im not sure in any hockey world this makes sense. Patches will be a $2m cap hit with bonuses next year after he plays 20 games this season. There goes the cap increase for the Caps next year. Mac is like half the gms' in the league..sucks at the cap

lmfao no, he signed half of these deals expecting/knowing Backstrom was gone. The "cap increase" isn't just the number it goes up, it's their LTIR reserve.

He dipped into it, by your eyes, but big deal... they've got more.

 

[Capitals40]

lmfao no, he signed half of these deals expecting/knowing Backstrom was gone. The "cap increase" isn't just the number it goes up, it's their LTIR reserve.

He dipped into it, by your eyes, but big deal... they've got more.

He over paid for both..it is not free money just because Backy is gone. Patches was before Backy. Bear is at best 3rd line pairing. lmao at people that think this is free money. Bear is maybe $1.25m at best.

 

[HTFN]

He over paid for both..it is not free money just because Backy is gone. Patches was before Backy. Bear is at best 3rd line pairing. lmao at people that think this is free money. Bear is maybe $1.25m at best.

Patches is also bonus laden based on ability to actually do anything, and that cap won't hit until next year, which I think GMBM expected Backstrom to already be gone for....

 

[Capitals40]

Patches is also bonus laden based on ability to actually do anything, and that cap won't hit until next year, which I think GMBM expected Backstrom to already be gone for....

BM had no idea if Backy would be gone..and he could come back..would not surprise me at all. He does not want to go out like that

 

[RedRocking]

lmfao no, he signed half of these deals expecting/knowing Backstrom was gone. The "cap increase" isn't just the number it goes up, it's their LTIR reserve.

He dipped into it, by your eyes, but big deal... they've got more.

We’ll see how Bear performs, but I think it’s a pretty shrewd signing. Vancouver (the team, and the fans that know him) really wanted him back. For us, there’s no RHD in the system around that age. He may provide some desperately needed offensive help. Plus, maybe TvR or Jensen become expendable and would be a hot TDL commodity for Oilers, Leafs, etc…

Patches’ back loaded bonus deal was all BMac could do with Nick still intending to play. Next year Mantha is off the books, we have Backy’s LTIR space and we may very well have Oshie’s too. We are still in good position to make some serious moves this offseason. I don’t understand getting bent out of shape over any of these moves…

 

[HTFN]

BM had no idea if Backy would be gone..and he could come back..would not surprise me at all. He does not want to go out like that

He had a pretty strong hunch. Back when we were doing "how are they all going to fit?" myself and others suggested that Pacioretty was a late add knowing their other rusting parts wouldn't keep forever, and whether it was Backstrom or Oshie or both, they wouldn't all be coexisting...

I think he had, at the least, a really strong hunch and was willing to bet on it and deal with the cap crunch if he was wrong... but he wasn't wrong at all.

 

[trick9]

I wonder if this is all part of the rotation plan or if TvR ends up being the odd man out/trade bait now with Bear signed.

He's skating as extra now that Bear was skating with Sandin. Which is somewhat surprising given he's miles and miles better than Edmundson. But there were already rumours before that a team offered a D for Garland with retention and Canucks fans seemed to think based on the math (Garland retention was the same exact amount that the cap difference was between Garland and TvR) that the D offered was TvR, so perhaps Carbery isn't his biggest fan. The other scenario is that they are dangling him as trade bait because he should have more value on the market than Edmundson or Alexeyev. Or perhaps it's just a handedness thing but even that would seem a bit... odd. Carlson or Jensen likely won't sit so are they really rotating TvR and Bear while Edmundson gets to keep his spot because he's left-handed? Not sure that's wise.

 

[twabby]

I liken this to you want them to go “all in“ more, and you don’t care if they do it from a position of extreme weakness. None of the potentially damaging results matter to you as a fan.

Right now they play 92 because they have no better options…..and game in game out you see what version of that joker shows up each night, and if Carbs decided last night that he didn’t believe in 92 later in the game to deliver, I side with the coach on that decision.

They have better options. I'm not saying play Kuznetsov more. I'm saying they can move Protas to center, for instance, and send Kuznetsov to the moon. Or they could simply double-shift the 39-24-21 line instead of playing the 4th line as much.

I just find it troubling that over the past 15 games Nic Dowd and NAK have gotten more 5v5 ice time than all of Mantha, McMichael, and Protas. Malenstyn has basically the same TOI. Perhaps if they struggle to score goals they should consider increasing the ice time of the line that does score goals and decreasing the ice time of the 4th line that doesn't score goals.

 

[marcel snapshot]

I wonder if this is all part of the rotation plan or if TvR ends up being the odd man out/trade bait now with Bear signed.

Toronto or Edmonton should be candidates fro TvR

 

[Langway]

While I do think there's intriguing upside with Bear if he has been playing banged up the past five years there is also something to be said for systems familiarity and a firm grasp of teammate tendencies. Adjusting on the fly and building that chemistry becomes even more stressful for any D with their slim margin for error as a team. Overall I guess there's a youth angle to it but I wonder if the reward is worth the risk at this stage. With Pacioretty it's more obvious in the short-term but with Bear I'm not sure I get the thinking. It's not like he's shown glimpses of being much of a point producer.

While RD are always valuable commodities what would TVR realistically fetch? Another second rounder? Ideally a winger on the outskirts could be a worthwhile swap but, again, they've also got to sort their numbers out. Their over-reliance on the fourth line only further complicates that.

 

[Kolzilla]

While I do think there's intriguing upside with Bear if he has been playing banged up the past five years there is also something to be said for systems familiarity and a firm grasp of teammate tendencies. Adjusting on the fly and building that chemistry becomes even more stressful for any D with their slim margin for error as a team. Overall I guess there's a youth angle to it but I wonder if the reward is worth the risk at this stage. With Pacioretty it's more obvious in the short-term but with Bear I'm not sure I get the thinking. It's not like he's shown glimpses of being much of a point producer.

While RD are always valuable commodities what would TVR realistically fetch? Another second rounder? Ideally a winger on the outskirts could be a worthwhile swap but, again, they've also got to sort their numbers out. Their over-reliance on the fourth line only further complicates that.

Not sure I buy it, but maybe packaging TVR w/something (2nd rd pick) for an upgrade at 6F is the plan? Kuzmenko for TVR+2nd? Just spitballing...

 

[DWGie26]

The plan is to get younger. RHD are hard to find which also makes them more valuable (than LHD) in trade. We can handle the cap (and Ted handles the money) so smart move. Iorio just isn’t ready yet so two years is perfect.

Lastly, there is a whole chess board here. There are other options such as trades which are being discussed but we just don’t get it in the public.

 

[hb13xchamps]

Backstrom is done. He’s not coming back. He’s LTIRetired for the time being to collect his salary. I’m sure we will similarly see Patrick Kane doing the same next year since he had the same surgery.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

They have better options. I'm not saying play Kuznetsov more. I'm saying they can move Protas to center, for instance, and send Kuznetsov to the moon. Or they could simply double-shift the 39-24-21 line instead of playing the 4th line as much.

I just find it troubling that over the past 15 games Nic Dowd and NAK have gotten more 5v5 ice time than all of Mantha, McMichael, and Protas. Malenstyn has basically the same TOI. Perhaps if they struggle to score goals they should consider increasing the ice time of the line that does score goals and decreasing the ice time of the 4th line that doesn't score goals.

Speculation of a guy doing well in a position he doesn't play at this level is just that....a gamble.

The other guys are young and developing. When their games can handle it, they will get increased roles and time. They really don't have better options, they have potentially better ones, but you have to assume the coach makes those determinations based on practice sessions. If the move doesn't happen in a game, then he's determined a better option in his mind.