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Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines/etc) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

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I bet they extend Chychrun or trade at the deadline, get an extension done with one of the goalies, and trade Mangi at the deadline. With Dowd it's always about a team making a crazy offer. That's all the potential rentals.
 
KingPuckChoo said:
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Caps low key built a good team, good job that's a full roster
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miro on the 3rd line instead of raddysh and this is easily a playoff team
 
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Playoffs teams: (7)
Rangers
Devils
Canes
Panthers
Tampa
Leafs
Boston

Alot of teams fighting for the wild card.
We are in a group with The Wings, Sabres, Pens, Isles, Flyers for the last playoff spot. We could very well end up sellers at the deadline. It will be hard to get back into the playoffs even if one of those top 7 teams have a down year.
 
Silky mitts said:
I bet they extend Chychrun or trade at the deadline, get an extension done with one of the goalies, and trade Mangi at the deadline. With Dowd it's always about a team making a crazy offer. That's all the potential rentals.
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I'm sure they're hoping that's more or less how it goes. But I really get the sense that Mac isn't gonna do anything knee-jerk. He's gonna let Carbs do his job and see how the mix works out, how the kids fare in their various deployments, and what options present as the season moves along. This is all about being good while keeping their options open. especially given that this team is much better than it was a month ago, but we all agree it lacks top-end talent.
 
Ovechkins Wodka said:
Playoffs teams: (7)
Rangers
Devils
Canes
Panthers
Tampa
Leafs
Boston

Alot of teams fighting for the wild card.
We are in a group with The Wings, Sabres, Pens, Isles, Flyers for the last playoff spot. We could very well end up sellers at the deadline. It will be hard to get back into the playoffs even if one of those top 7 teams have a down year.
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I’d scratch Carolina and NJ (and possibly even Boston) as “LOCKS”.

Devils missed just last year!
Canes have lost a LOT of talent, and something seems off, there.
Bruins also have lost a bunch of talent, and are aging. They won a lot of games due to their G play — which is now not the same
 
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Ridley Simon said:
I’d scratch Carolina and NJ (and possibly even Boston) as “LOCKS”.

Devils missed just last year!
Canes have lost a LOT of talent, and something seems off, there.
Bruins also have lost a bunch of talent, and are aging. They won a lot of games due to their G play — which is now not the same
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Devils have gotten better (and had key injuries last year). I expect them to have a much stronger season.
Canes got markedly worse (you hate to see it...) and should struggle versus last year.
Bruins were weirdly good last year but still not a playoff force. I don't see how that's changed much and wouldn't think they'll match last year's regular season either.
 
I think Washington will finish about the same in the standings, maybe even miss the playoffs. But they will be a better team than they were last year.
 
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I see this as an almost unique situation where there are pieces that are acting as placeholders that can move at the TD without it being a traditional "sell".

As I mentioned Milano out if Miroshnichenko is ready. Possibly Dowd out if Sutter is ready. Maybe Mango too, if they know Leonard will come as soon as his BC season is done. All those could be similar or improvements, with Dowd being the question mark (but we have C capable depth with Protas and Lappy if he needs help in specific game situations). Some very decent Draft Capital while neutral or better on the ice. Sign me up.

I really want them to lock up Chychrun. That is something they put a lot of thought into and I think they want to solidify that.

I think this team can win a round or maybe two...

I'd also ride the season with all our Goalies, just to maximize flexibility and have depth.
 
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Ridley Simon said:
I’d scratch Carolina and NJ (and possibly even Boston) as “LOCKS”.

Devils missed just last year!
Canes have lost a LOT of talent, and something seems off, there.
Bruins also have lost a bunch of talent, and are aging. They won a lot of games due to their G play — which is now not the same
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Oddsmakers love NJ to make the playoffs. Besides what was mentioned just like Caps/Boston/TB have guys getting a year worse all NJs key guys are getting a year better.
It took 144 points out of Kuch to make the playoffs the last week, Tampa is the team I see as most vulnerable.
 
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I think odds makers like the Devils counting on a healthy MVP level Hughes. They also upgraded the D and G big time.
 
If Lindgren repeats last year's performance, this team is in. It's going to be a tough fight in the East for every team including Boston, Florida, and NYR. This isn't the old days where you had teams like the early 90s Nordiques or 20 win teams making the playoffs. Expansion and the salary cap killed the juggernauts. I'm not seeing any real gains by the competition in the East and the Caps on paper are significantly better than last year.

Ovechkins Wodka said:
I think odds makers like the Devils counting on a healthy MVP level Hughes. They also upgraded the D and G big time.
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Probably and the pundits that love the NY/Newark market area. Then consider how many UFAs/trades were disasters like Holik, Gomez, and Redden as examples when they went to other teams.
 
Mangiapane and Chychrun both fit BMAC's recent profile/trend for players age wise. Unless they both crap the bed, I could see BMAC re-upping both of them. Whereas, I'd look at both Dowd and TVR as being potential TDL assets to move, again based on their age and of course Dowd being in the last year of his contract. Could also see them move Milano at the TDL if they feel Miroshnichenko is ready by then.
 
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Ovechkins Wodka said:
https://x.com/i/web/status/1809252496851738920

Jfresh likes our chances better then Draftkings lol. I can totally see us being last team in/out again.
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This is pretty much the way I see the Metropolitan Division. Though I think the Devils will run away with the Division. Last season was an anomaly for them. They have a new coach, Sheldon Keefe, Markstrom in net, they've brought in Pesce and Noesen from the Canes and our old buddy Brenden Dillon from the Jets.

A full season of Patrick Roy behind the bench will help the Islanders, but I still see the Rangers taking second followed by the Canes at third.

I just don't think the Capitals will make the playoffs even though I like what they've done this season, especially along the blue line. The issue last season was scoring and I'm not sure that they'll get that much help or a sizeable difference with PLD and Mangiapane, We'll see.
 
BiPolar Caps said:
This is pretty much the way I see the Metropolitan Division. Though I think the Devils will run away with the Division. Last season was an anomaly for them. They have a new coach, Sheldon Keefe, Markstrom in net, they've brought in Pesce and Noesen from the Canes and our old buddy Brenden Dillon from the Jets.

A full season of Patrick Roy behind the bench will help the Islanders, but I still see the Rangers taking second followed by the Canes at third.

I just don't think the Capitals will make the playoffs even though I like what they've done this season, especially along the blue line. The issue last season was scoring and I'm not sure that they'll get that much help or a sizeable difference with PLD and Mangiapane, We'll see.
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I do think they'll have better scoring this season, if only because of improved back end support and better balance in the top 9. Don't know that it will be enough, but I could see it. Tampa is worse. Boston is worse. Carolina is worse. The PA teams both should suck. The Rags could take a step back. So there may be an opening if this team gels. Goaltending is a big question mark.
 
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I see is better than the Isles. But otherwise I agree with that projection.

Nj car and NyR clearly the cream of the division.
 
I think the Matt Roy signing tells us all we need to know about Washington's competitive intentions. They could have signed a Dumba/Lyubushkin/Hakanpaa type stopgap for a softer reload and promoted TVR but instead went big. If Roy can carry over his high-end shutdown play from last season they'll have found their next Niskanen.

There are a lot of ifs but provided there's at least a mixed bag between the new faces and further progression from Strome/CMM/Sandin/Protas/Lapierre I like their chances of finding a way in. Beyond simply scoring more 5v5 I'd look to whether their possession game improves in Year 2 under Carbery with many players slotted into more fitting roles. More fitted roles should hopefully lead to less chase and cheat in their game and more confident, methodical patience.

Beyond goaltending my biggest question would be the defensive aptitude of their center mix. Hard to believe it would get worse minus Kuznetsov, though, as seen down the stretch. The overall mix coming together is so key. I'm not one to have massive expectations for PLD. He could help PP1 a bit if they're already cooking. It's really Chychrun who I'm most intrigued by. He's never played on that good of a team. He's made the playoffs just once in his eight year career. Does he finally find his stride and start maximizing his game all-around or is it yet more frustration? Unlocking his game on a consistent basis will be a massive key.
 
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AlexBrovechkin8 said:
If they extend Chychrun, hard to imagine Sandin playing out the remainder of his contract here. Could see him getting the Brendan Dillon treatment.
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Maybe so but I don’t really see any overcrowding issue to be honest. TB ran with Hedman, Sergachev, McDonagh for years on the left side.

Not to say those three are comparable to that trio but more than enough minutes to go around
 
BiPolar Caps said:
This is pretty much the way I see the Metropolitan Division. Though I think the Devils will run away with the Division. Last season was an anomaly for them. They have a new coach, Sheldon Keefe, Markstrom in net, they've brought in Pesce and Noesen from the Canes and our old buddy Brenden Dillon from the Jets.

A full season of Patrick Roy behind the bench will help the Islanders, but I still see the Rangers taking second followed by the Canes at third.

I just don't think the Capitals will make the playoffs even though I like what they've done this season, especially along the blue line. The issue last season was scoring and I'm not sure that they'll get that much help or a sizeable difference with PLD and Mangiapane, We'll see.
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I think the clear playoff teams in the east are NYR, CAR, FLA, TOR, and BOS, even if I think all of those teams got worse over the summer. MTL and CBJ are definitely the bottom-feeders of the conference. You've got 3 spots left then with 9 teams with legit cases to make it. TBL and NJD to me are definitely a step ahead of the pack, although I'm nowhere near as high on NJD as the general public seems to be. Caps need to be better than NYI, OTT, BUF, PIT, DET, and PHI to take one of those spots.

Is a guarantee, absolutely not. I think they've positioned themselves well to be at the pole of that group though going into the season. The upgrade from Kuzy to PLD is massive, Mangiapane is a very competent 2nd line winger, and the defense is much improved. They're going to need another great season from Carlson and Lindgren in particular, and probably at least two of PLD/McM/Lap/Sandin/Chychrun to take a step from "supporting piece" to "line driver." I can very much see a similar point total to last year but with a much better goal differential and underlying numbers.

Big kudos to MacLellan for keeping the Caps right in the mix in what is (in my opinion) a pretty wide open East. To do that while also giving up basically nothing but cap space AND positioning yourself to pretty easily transition to a sell off if things don't go well (Chychrun, Mangiapane, Dowd, Lindgren, etc.) is incredible.
 
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