Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2023 Off-season

[CapitalsCupReality]

It was, he sat in purgatory for a while before agreeing to be sent down. He couldn’t stop a demotion if it were just a NTC.

Found this…

The Michael Nylander Saga Continues For The Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals loaned center Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the AHL (Detroit's affiliate) this week, in an attempt to find some playing time for the 37-year-old Swede. To what result, at this point, is anyone's guess...

bleacherreport.com

The Caps would like nothing better than to find a permanent place for Nylander to finish his accomplished career. However, the burden he carries is his contract, the no-movement clause (NMC) associated with it, and the hit it takes on the Caps salary cap.

 

[um]

I also think Wilson would have to be in the offer. But what if Nylander plays hard ball with his contract. The leafs are in win now mode and could want Kuz as a cheaper replacement. Kuz has been pretty good in the playoffs and the leafs may want that and would easily fill the Nylander hole.

What + Kuz would even get the leafs to pick up the phone? Our 1st rounders are off the table but I would be open to alot. I dont think the leafs would want our futures so it could be a good trade match.

I would make an offer of
Kuz and Dowd for Nylander
and might be willing to add more

Leafs are in a big cap crunch, they need salary relief.

 

[Random schmoe]

The only way I'd see a deal working out with the Leafs where they take kuznetsov and we don't part with Wilson or major prospects is if Tavares were willing to waive his NMC or the Caps were willing to take Murray off their hands.

 

[Ben Grimm]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-off-season-outlook-washington-capitals-try-to-reverse-downward-slide

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-off-season-outlook-washington-capitals-try-to-reverse-downward-slide

Welp.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I got notifications and deleted for calling Leafs fans losers on the Mains. See you in the penalty box.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I got notifications and deleted for calling Leafs fans losers on the Mains. See you in the penalty box.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Not here...not if you have an unpopular opinion.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

Not here...not if you have an unpopular opinion.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Damn we #2

 

[usiel]

View attachment 730649
Damn we #2

Futility score on both ends.

 

[Ridley Simon]

View attachment 730649
Damn we #2

I’d wager we were #1 before last season.

 

[Jags]

You'd think for how long Backstrom has played, how many assists he's had, and how many guys he's played with, he'd both have higher numbers with guys then that.

I kinda see it the other way around. It's not like we've had tons of great goal scorers during his time. So that he's had about 300 assists to a litany of people who aren't on that list is pretty amazing and says something about his ability to elevate the talent around him.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’d wager we were #1 before last season.

2nd if my math is right…

 

[Kalopsia]

2nd if my math is right…

Nope, Caps were 1st. The Bruins had 30 more wins this year and their lead on that list is only 22, so the Caps would've been 1st by 8 wins last year.

 

[Silky mitts]

Backstrom named 10th worst contract, way less term than 1-9

 

[Carlzner]

I guess Matt Murray's convenient allergy to his equipment means no Nylander trade

 

[Kolzilla]

I guess Matt Murray's convenient allergy to his equipment means no Nylander trade

They still need ~2 mil in cap relief with a 22 man roster.

 

[twabby]

I guess Matt Murray's convenient allergy to his equipment means no Nylander trade

I don’t know that cap space was ever their motivation for trading him, but rather losing him for nothing if they can’t agree to a contract extension.

 

[HTFN]

I guess Matt Murray's convenient allergy to his equipment means no Nylander trade

I can't tell if this helps or hurts them long term. Not sure if he plays at all this year which seems like it would help, but if at some point he's ready to come back it could be an annoying complication (especially since it isn't like he had surgery with a predictable recovery timeline). At the same time because he's injured they can't use their post-arbitration buyout on him which seems like it was the original plan, or definitely the most attractive one from their point of view.

I've seen posts suggesting they may have to go 11F/7D with no scratches to make their cap work (or even get it close) and one of those forwards will be Ryan Reaves so that's... like a handful of minutes and basically 10F. Having to LTIR Murray instead of buying him out might have boned them a little.

I don’t know that cap space was ever their motivation for trading him, but rather losing him for nothing if they can’t agree to a contract extension.

Two birds, one stone though and one of their best positive assets. It's your Wilson argument if the Caps were also way over cap with no clear plan.

 

[Ridley Simon]

So Toronto is cheating again? Colour me shocked

 

[twabby]

Two birds, one stone though and one of their best positive assets. It's your Wilson argument if the Caps were also way over cap with no clear plan.

I don’t really agree with this comparison. Nylander is one of the straws that stirs in the drink in Toronto and they really should be prioritizing keeping him now while they are in their competitive window. Wilson is likely a highly inflated asset on a team that really isn’t close. He’s also two years older than Nylander and not nearly as impactful.

I think Toronto’s situation with Nylander is closer to Washington’s situation with Oshie in 2017: a competitive team that hasn’t broken through yet that needs to perhaps overpay a key contributor in order to extend their window.

 

[HTFN]

I don’t really agree with this comparison. Nylander is one of the straws that stirs in the drink in Toronto and they really should be prioritizing keeping him now while they are in their competitive window. Wilson is likely a highly inflated asset on a team that really isn’t close. He’s also two years older than Nylander and not nearly as impactful.

I think Toronto’s situation with Nylander is closer to Washington’s situation with Oshie in 2017: a competitive team that hasn’t broken through yet that needs to perhaps overpay a key contributor in order to extend their window.

I'm not saying Nylander isn't great but the cap situations aren't comparable and Nylander is very clearly the 4th wheel at best in their cap structure.

Like, it's an abstract comparison but ultimately if Toronto was shopping Matthews, Marner, or Tavares we'd hear about it, and after that you have to consider positional value, there's no guarantee Nylander is even 4th. He's been in trade rumors for years, Wilson's have been shut down. It isn't one to one, but the concept is exactly the same just with a player you value more.

 

[Holtbyisms]

So Toronto is cheating again? Colour me shocked

We cheated with Orpik

 

[Ridley Simon]

We cheated with Orpik

We created a fake injury to circumvent the Cap?

Huh, I had no idea