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

[hockeykicker]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1842627960181850555

 

[Ridley Simon]

That’s good, IMO.

I am happy they still have Bear. Let him play top minutes at Hershey, and be ready when injuries hit. I’d say he’s still #8 or so, even w McIlrath staying up for the moment.

Team will need that depth. We all know this. Bear/McIlrath as 8/9 isn’t a bad thing at all.

And that’s assuming Iorio isn’t pushing into that 8/9 discussion (this all assume AA is #7).

 

[Langway]

But assuming they waive Mac is there room for all of Bear/Mac/Iorio/Priskie on the right? Iorio played his off-side in the pre-season IINM but it isn't all that sensible. HHA/Ness/Hunt on the left side is pretty well accounted for anyway. It's all about winning in Hershey but you wonder if they shouldn't narrow it down a bit.

Things can happen. Bear could be tradable after clearing given the additional flexibility but stacking depth does have its limits.

 

[Holtbyisms]

But assuming they waive Mac is there room for all of Bear/Mac/Iorio/Priskie on the right? Iorio played his off-side in the pre-season IINM but it isn't all that sensible. HHA/Ness/Hunt on the left side is pretty well accounted for anyway. It's all about winning in Hershey but you wonder if they shouldn't narrow it down a bit.

Things can happen. Bear could be tradable after clearing given the additional flexibility but stacking depth does have its limits.

Don't forget Logan Day, Jake Massie and Nicky Leivermann who earned himself some AHL games this year after his playoff performance. Going to be a lot of guys deserving of time on that D corps.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

But assuming they waive Mac is there room for all of Bear/Mac/Iorio/Priskie on the right? Iorio played his off-side in the pre-season IINM but it isn't all that sensible. HHA/Ness/Hunt on the left side is pretty well accounted for anyway. It's all about winning in Hershey but you wonder if they shouldn't narrow it down a bit.

Things can happen. Bear could be tradable after clearing given the additional flexibility but stacking depth does have its limits.

It’s only a pre-season problem. Wait until injuries start to pile up and minor league trades will take care of the rest.

The past few seasons proved you can never have too much depth on the blue line.

 

[wickedwitch]

Obviously, we don't see everything the coaches see, but IMO, Cristall actually made this an easy decision for them. He's been one of the 12 best forwards, has a skill set nobody else on the team (who isn't headed to LTIR) has, and is no worse defensively than the other options. He's earned a spot in the lineup.

Obviously he has stuff to work on, he will both improve the Caps chances of winning this season while also having the opportunity to develop against NHL level competition. He'll also be with world class coaches (including strength and conditioning coaches).

 

[DWGie26]

But assuming they waive Mac is there room for all of Bear/Mac/Iorio/Priskie on the right? Iorio played his off-side in the pre-season IINM but it isn't all that sensible. HHA/Ness/Hunt on the left side is pretty well accounted for anyway. It's all about winning in Hershey but you wonder if they shouldn't narrow it down a bit.

Things can happen. Bear could be tradable after clearing given the additional flexibility but stacking depth does have its limits.

I think they are going to keep Mac. Nothing wrong with having some beef ready to go! he won’t be a regular unless injuries but he will play against Rangers and other teams when we need a physical presence.

 

[qc14]

I completely agree that Cristall sealed the 3lw spot on opening night. My guess for the roster after all cap shenanigans (for example, I think it's almost guaranteed Lappy will move to Hershey in a paper transaction as he's waiver-exempt) will be:

Ovi-Strome-Mangiapane
McM-PLD-Wilson
Cristall-Lappy-Protas
Duhaime-Dowd-Raddysh
Milano

Chychrun-Carlson
Fehervary-Roy
Sandin-TvR
AA-McIlrath

If you sign Vrana and want to keep him up (which I wouldn't) I think it will actually be Alexeyev that gets sent to Hershey ...

 

[HTFN]

I think they are going to keep Mac. Nothing wrong with having some beef ready to go! he won’t be a regular unless injuries but he will play against Rangers and other teams when we need a physical presence.

Slightly annoying, he's already proven a handful of times that he's just straight up bad.

It's not as annoying as the Matt Irwin lovefest from a few years ago but feels a lot more like a direct favor to an AHL soldier.

 

[qc14]

Slightly annoying, he's already proven a handful of times that he's just straight up bad.

It's not as annoying as the Matt Irwin lovefest from a few years ago but feels a lot more like a direct favor to an AHL soldier.

I thought McIlrath played well in the NHL last year and teams don't typically give direct favors to AHL soldiers at the beginning of a new season!

 

[StrikingDistance]

I thought McIlrath played well in the NHL last year and teams don't typically give direct favors to AHL soldiers at the beginning of a new season!

Agreed. He stepped up last year as needed and is the C for the Bears. Why wouldn't the Caps give him respect?

 

[DWGie26]

Slightly annoying, he's already proven a handful of times that he's just straight up bad.

It's not as annoying as the Matt Irwin lovefest from a few years ago but feels a lot more like a direct favor to an AHL soldier.

He’s not in WSH because he is a great defenseman. He is there because they need snarl and they don’t want it to be Wilson who has to drop gloves and enforce. He held his own in NHL last year and definitely brought a physical tenor to the Dee. No issue with him on the roster. It does hurt Hershey a bit though.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

The only concern headed into the season I have is their ability to create offense. Dubois and Mangiapane have only been OK this pre season IMHO.

 

[wickedwitch]

Another potential "issue" regarding Cristall: Kelowna has been awful without him. They're last in the WHL, at 1-5. And other than Cristall, they have only lost 1 other of their top 10 point getters from last season. (Iginla has 1 point in 3 games.) Obviously, this is small sample size, but I had expected Kelowna to be one of the better teams in the league this year. So from a development point of view, I don't know if that's ideal. But OTOH, they should be better if he gets returned and if not, he could get traded.

 

[hockeykicker]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1842993602089365556

Sounds like mclrath made team

 

[Brian23]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1842993602089365556

Sounds like mclrath made team

I saw RMNB's tweet about that, but how?

They could still send down McIlrath and Miro and cut down the 2 players they need. I honestly don't get why they'd keep 8D.

 

[qc14]

I saw RMNB's tweet about that, but how?

They could still send down McIlrath and Miro and cut down the 2 players they need. I honestly don't get why they'd keep 8D.

I wouldn't take too much stock in anything until Friday. They are compliant by sending down Miro and doing two of: sending lappy down in a paper transaction, sending Cristall to juniors, and not signing Vrana. I think the reason it's good for McIlrath is you theoretically want to put as many guys on now as possible to "sneak" them through

 

[wickedwitch]

I saw RMNB's tweet about that, but how?

They could still send down McIlrath and Miro and cut down the 2 players they need. I honestly don't get why they'd keep 8D.

Well, it helps solves the logjam in Hersey of RD....

Right now, assuming they're keeping 8D, they need to get down to 13 forwards, so they have 4 extras. Two are going to (LT)IR. I assume Miro goes to Hershey (his name won't be on waivers). That leaves Vrana and Cristall.

They can paper Lapierre down, which would leave them with spots for both players. A (potentially) clever move would be to wait until after the Monday deadline to sign Vrana and then send him (or McIlrath) down. They don't paper Lapierre back up until after Vrana (or McIlrath) has been sent down. Everyone else would have their roster filled, so there's very minimal chance of him being claimed. But they could also just be sending Cristall back.

ETA: I think this scenario puts them over the cap until Oshie goes to LTIR. So they'd have to send McIlrath down or Cristall back. Which makes me think they're sending Cristall back. Which is sad.

 

[HTFN]

He’s not in WSH because he is a great defenseman. He is there because they need snarl and they don’t want it to be Wilson who has to drop gloves and enforce. He held his own in NHL last year and definitely brought a physical tenor to the Dee. No issue with him on the roster. It does hurt Hershey a bit though.

they just went out and signed two guys to play on the 4th line, there's a way to add snarl that doesn't include rostering (and occasionally dressing) a guy who is a subpar NHL defenseman.

 

[Brian23]

I just don't understand why they'd tie themselves into knots for an old 8D who's almost guaranteed to make it through waivers, and someone they're just gonna end up having to send down eventually anyway.

 

[zappa4ever]

23 roster limit... 20 starters (12/6/2):
OV - Strome - Mangiapane
McMic - PLD - Wilson
Milano - Lapierre - Protas
Duhaime - Dowd - Raddysh

Chychrun - Carlson
Fehervary - Roy
Sandin - TvR

Lindgren
Thompson

assuming we go 14F/7D...
13F = Cristall (9gms or less)
14F = Miro
7D = Alexeyev (McIlrath goes down)

rotate Cristall in a bunch to get him his games
Let Milano/Pro/Raddysh sit a cpl gms here-and-there so Miro can get some starts too and then things will sort themselves on performance/injuries and if Cristall goes back to Kelowna then we can bring in Hershey peeps as needed (incl. Vrana if we give him a contract for Hershey)

 

[wickedwitch]

Well, it helps solves the logjam in Hersey of RD....

Right now, assuming they're keeping 8D, they need to get down to 13 forwards, so they have 4 extras. Two are going to (LT)IR. I assume Miro goes to Hershey (his name won't be on waivers). That leaves Vrana and Cristall.

They can paper Lapierre down, which would leave them with spots for both players. A (potentially) clever move would be to wait until after the Monday deadline to sign Vrana and then send him (or McIlrath) down. They don't paper Lapierre back up until after Vrana (or McIlrath) has been sent down. Everyone else would have their roster filled, so there's very minimal chance of him being claimed. But they could also just be sending Cristall back.

ETA: I think this scenario puts them over the cap until Oshie goes to LTIR. So they'd have to send McIlrath down or Cristall back. Which makes me think they're sending Cristall back. Which is sad.

Replying to myself here, but they could keep Cristall if they sent McIlrath down tomorrow. I think that's allowed since he'd be on waivers before the deadline, but I'm not entirely sure.

ETA: Nope. The player cannot be officially loaned until after the expiration of the 24 hour waiver period.

But actually, the issue would be if McIlrath counts as a roster player for the Caps, not if he's been loaned to Hershey, so back to square one.

 

[DWGie26]

they just went out and signed two guys to play on the 4th line, there's a way to add snarl that doesn't include rostering (and occasionally dressing) a guy who is a subpar NHL defenseman.

Yes, but Duhaime isn’t that big and doesn’t fight well. Love his physical presence on ice but he is not an enforcer fighting guy as a lightweight. nobody will fear him or Raddysh. They will fear Mac.

Mac is 32 and has won two Calders. He can be a 7/8 in washington for a while. It’s a long season and if Bears really need him they can send him back.

 

[Langway]

Replying to myself here, but they could keep Cristall if they sent McIlrath down tomorrow. I think that's allowed since he'd be on waivers before the deadline, but I'm not entirely sure.

They can just send Miro down and be under since Vrana doesn't count toward the roster limit until he's signed.

 

[qc14]

Replying to myself here, but they could keep Cristall if they sent McIlrath down tomorrow. I think that's allowed since he'd be on waivers before the deadline, but I'm not entirely sure.

ETA: Nope. The player cannot be officially loaned until after the expiration of the 24 hour waiver period.

But actually, the issue would be if McIlrath counts as a roster player for the Caps, not if he's been loaned to Hershey, so back to square one.

After doing some looking, I think this means that either 1) Cristall is going back to juniors 2) a trade is coming or 3) Oshie is going on LTIR to start the season. There's no other way for them to start with Oshie on LTI without 1 or 2, and 3 would be a massive "waste" of cap space unless a trade to add a whole lot of salary is coming.

The "opening night roster" that they submit to the league tomorrow will almost certainly be:

Ovi-Strome-Mangiapane
McM-PLD-Wilson
Milano-Dowd-Protas
Duhaime-Raddysh
Oshie on LTI, Backstrom on LTIR

and the 8 defenseman and 2 goalies.

However, I expect them to immediately recall Lapierre from Hershey along with either another forward (probably Dube) or sign Vrana from his PTO *after* the monday night deadline but before their game vs. NJD on Friday, and place Oshie on LTIR in a corresponding move. McIlrath or Alexeyev could still get sent down in this scenario.

Things get a little cleaner if they can make a trade offloading either Bear or Alexeyev, which I don't think is impossible. Cristall could stay up in this case.

The only other thing I could see happening is a trade for a bigger salary and getting Oshie on LTIR right away. I'm not really sure who this player they would target would be as it would need to net them probably $3-$4m in cap to be worth it. Take a first to take on the Engvall contract? Liljergren looks to be on the outside in TOR? Someone like Bjorkstrand from SEA? Dvorak from MTL?

Edit: they also could just keep Cristall and put Oshie on LTIR. This would basically be "wasting" almost $4.25M of cap space though (although maybe slightly less if they sign Vrana before Monday night, although I'm not sure what the rules for roster space are here)