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

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I’m not sure about Ovie on right wing

When Oates started messing around with him, it torpedoed the team.

 

[notDkristich]

Nothing wrong with the move. Unless OV scores 1+, this is nothing more than a shake up and we revert back to the rolling OV out in a coffin until he breaks 99's record

 

[DWGie26]

Wow… i was all for leaving everything at forward ranks in tact for another game or two. Carbs going the opposite direction and saying, I gifted spots based on having been here and earned it. But one game and out. Despite being ‘wrong’ I’m still all for it. Carbs doesn’t play.

 

[wickedwitch]

When Oates started messing around with him, it torpedoed the team.

That was a decade+ ago. Oates was messing with him because Oates was a control freak who always thought he knew best. This is because Ovechkin isn't the player who used to be.

 

[PlushMinus]

That was a decade+ ago. Oates was messing with him because Oates was a control freak who always thought he knew best. This is because Ovechkin isn't the player who used to be.

Is he now a left hand shot? What has changed that makes a guy who has played almost his entire career on the LW now better suited to the RW?

Oh wait I just figured it out: it's less distance to and from the bench. It's to help him conserve energy and save him for short bursts of speed

 

[marcel snapshot]

Nothing wrong with the move. Unless OV scores 1+, this is nothing more than a shake up and we revert back to the rolling OV out in a coffin until he breaks 99's record

Well when you put it like that, what’s not to like. Carbs continuing to have to spin plates because not everybody can play the both ends of the ice, 5-man connected unit hockey he (rightly) favors. At least it’s only one guy whose D deficiencies/physical compromises/mental checkouts have to be covered up, instead of 4 as it was at the start of last year. Anyway, I like the RW move

 

[DWGie26]

OV is not going to play RW for more than a shift or two. And I’m taking the under.

What nobody has really mentioned is Protas with OV. Been calling for this since last year. Pro has great eyes, is very strong on the boards and puck retrieval. With Strome being a shoot first center you balance it out having Pro out there. So you have Strome in front of the net, Pro on the boards, and OV cherry picking at the. Blue line.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Is he now a left hand shot? What has changed that makes a guy who has played almost his entire career on the LW now better suited to the RW?

Oh wait I just figured it out: it's less distance to and from the bench. It's to help him conserve energy and save him for short bursts of speed

Technically in hockey, if a right handed shooter plays RW, they can get their shot off quicker from the boards, cut off reverse send around of puck easier and be more comfortable for passes for a tap-in inside the post. Playing as a d-man or forward, I always felt more comfortable playing the right side, being a left handed shooter.

OV playing RW will throw teams off for how they normally game plan him to take his good shot away. Even playing as a RW, with cycling/good puck movement, OV could still end up one-timing from his normal office.

 

[SherVaughn30]

OV is not going to play RW for more than a shift or two. And I’m taking the under.

What nobody has really mentioned is Protas with OV. Been calling for this since last year. Pro has great eyes, is very strong on the boards and puck retrieval. With Strome being a shoot first center you balance it out having Pro out there. So you have Strome in front of the net, Pro on the boards, and OV cherry picking at the. Blue line.

If I remember Kozlov when he played with OV in OV's early career, he always had a pass first mentality, was good along the boards and good at puck possession. Protas reminds me of him in some ways. Protas is also a bigger player than Kozlov(6'4" 232lbs). Would like to see Protas utilize his huge frame more.

 

[alphabetical]

OV is not going to play RW for more than a shift or two. And I’m taking the under.

What nobody has really mentioned is Protas with OV. Been calling for this since last year. Pro has great eyes, is very strong on the boards and puck retrieval. With Strome being a shoot first center you balance it out having Pro out there. So you have Strome in front of the net, Pro on the boards, and OV cherry picking at the. Blue line.

I've got to agree about protas with ovechkin. I don't think mangiapane is a good piece for that line, but protas should be able to help distribute the puck to both strome and ovechkin.

I don't really care about ovechkin playing right vs left wing at this point in his career. He's not driving play up the left side of the ice and taking advantage of having his forehand on the inside, so it no longer really matters if he's on the left or the right. As long as he's not playing D or C, I don't care.

 

[usiel]

I thought mangiapane looked pretty good on the first line being fast and a tenacious puck hound so would have give it a few more games before panicking.

 

[Calicaps]

I don't view this as panicking. I think the Caps' preseason schedule sucked with the long layoff so this is really their first chance to test combos against NHL talent.