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

[Calicaps]

Yea, the weekend of the trade, Friedman was talking about this. Some teams will have an internal cap, and won’t touch 100M. He suggested that the Avs were one of those teams, and were hiding behind the “can’t pay a winger more than MacK or as much as centers like Draisaitl.”

I hope Ted doesn’t cheap out going forward. Surprising that Carolina, of all teams, are willing to spend this much.

I think it's still a question whether they are willing to spend that. As of now, he's a rental, plain and simple. They think they have a shot this year and are going for it. What happens after is still very much a question.

 

[hb13xchamps]

Mackinnnon signed 12.6M starting when the cap was 83.5M, so 12.6/83.5 = 15.09% of the cap.
Rantanen projects to 14M or 14.5M with a cap of 95.5M, so 14/95.5 = 14.66% of the cap and 14.5/95.5 = 15.18% of the cap.

So pretty damn close. Then you factor in MacKinnon’s quotes after the trade where he blatantly said he doesn’t care if guys get paid more than he does and you have yourself a head scratcher. Makar needs paid too so maybe they viewed the trade as necessary so they could have a more balanced roster.

 

[wickedwitch]

Assuming the Lindgren rumors are true, then I'm not that surprised. (I would have guessed ~$3 million.) They have nothing remotely promising at all in the pipeline. This is what happens when you don't have the ability to draft/develop NHL goalies.

 

[Calicaps]

Assuming the Lindgren rumors are true, then I'm not that surprised. (I would have guessed ~$3 million.) They have nothing remotely promising at all in the pipeline. This is what happens when you don't have the ability to draft/develop NHL goalies.

HUH? The Caps have been one of the best goalie farms in the NHL for years. It's true that the current crop doesn't seem to be panning out, but this doesn't seem accurate overall.

 

[caps4cup]

Yes for regularly doing a one or two bargain pin finds, also yes for keeping the ones that are homeruns.

Again, and i seem to be repeating this alot and have no idea why ive picked this hill lol, but that 1-2 mills ”extra” is so easily lost in the grand scheme that i just cant find myself worrying about having the security of having a good goalie every night. We currently have a 2 mill guy buried in Hershey, and noone even notices, thats how marginal it is - and also reminds that not all bargain pin finds hit the mark.

Our cap structure right now easily allows us to make this bet, without it really affecting elsewhere. This doesnt stop us from signing Chychrun and updating a top6 winger or 3C.

We have possible cap casualties in less effective roles too, if it starts to look like we really need another mill. Ones that are likely replacable inhouse from ”the pipeline”. And who knows, maybe Lindgren is interesting trade chip by his own if the right fit comes to play.

Just saying that ”saving” an extra million and signing an unkown bargain pin backup for (in case) something thats not currently even on the table feels just unnecessary risk.

I was just thinking if Dowd is now going to be looking at 3.5mil as a 4C (maybe 3C for some teams), is that really worth it when if you could get a younger guy like Appleton, Steel, or Suter who are similar level of players but likely will command less money?

And is Lindgren worth much more (if at all) than Lankinen for example? Or Alex Lyon?

Dowd and Lindgren may be incrementally better, but there are usually value 4th liners/3rd pair/back up goalies available in FA (the Caps signed those same 2 guys to value contracts as well as other guys in recent years like TVR, Gustafsson, Sheary, Raddysh) and with where the Caps are right now, they need more top end talent.

That’s not to say they shouldn’t focus on depth, but it’s extremely hard to win without top end talent. I’d rather spend 14mil for Marner and spend 1mil on a 4C and 2G than 7mil combined for Dowd and Lindgren and 9mil for Ehlers. That’s just one example and may not be realistic, but in terms of their future cap allocation, I’d like to see them prioritize high end talent.

 

[wickedwitch]

HUH? The Caps have been one of the best goalie farms in the NHL for years. It's true that the current crop doesn't seem to be panning out, but this doesn't seem accurate overall.

Should have added an "anymore" to that sentence. They have not developed anyone recently and there's no top prospects in the system. Which is the relevant point here. They no longer can develop their own goalie (even just a backup) so they have to pay Lindgren.