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

[Ridley Simon]

If you had to choose one of these deals which would you choose
CMM for Brock Nelson
2025 1st and future 2nd for Brock Nelson
Bruins 2025 2nd for Kyle Palmeiri
I’ve been thinking best forward for non 1st is always going to be the path

Nelson is a pending UFA. I wouldn’t do either of those deals, honestly. Too much going the other way.

Palmeiri isn’t bad. I’d like to aim a little higher though

 

[Melkor]

If you had to choose one of these deals which would you choose
CMM for Brock Nelson
2025 1st and future 2nd for Brock Nelson
Bruins 2025 2nd for Kyle Palmeiri
I’ve been thinking best forward for non 1st is always going to be the path

Wasn't asked but none of them. All three stink of Glencross smell

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Wasn't asked but none of them. All three stink of Glencross smell

Glenncross was out of the league after we traded for him. Doesn’t seem quite the same here. That said, don’t love those deals either.

 

[Silky mitts]

Nelson is a pending UFA. I wouldn’t do either of those deals, honestly. Too much going the other way.

Palmeiri isn’t bad. I’d like to aim a little higher though

Wasn't asked but none of them. All three stink of Glencross smell

Based on the Pettersson, Granlund, and Rantanen deals this is what the rental market is like this year. Even Taylor Hall essentially at $1.85M for a top pick in the 3rd. And then anyone with term will probably cost more.

I'm not sure they'd be as hesitant this year not to move the first. It's going to be in the 27-32 range probably in what's a below average draft. They can well afford to not have it after this past draft class.

Donato would be my main value rental target. He's a Mass guy and still somewhat young. I don't believe he'd require retention, unlike some others. He's already almost at 20-20 this season (granted, on a shitty team). He's sort of a Connolly type...maybe slightly better. Donato-Eller-Leonard is the ticket if they want to go cheap. Of course, they probably ought to be aiming to upgrade the top six but if not...

Beyond that I could see Pageau with retention not costing a first in a slim sale scenario for the Isles. Gourde probably doesn't cost a first with his injury and the Caps could afford to stash him on LTIR for most of the remaining regular season. Other options like ROR, Laughton, Schenn, Marchand and Tuch would cost more. I'd be prepared to pay reasonable prices. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to move their 2025 picks and any prospect(s) deemed expendable.

Thanks to Carbery they should be on a quality path through any transitions. This is perhaps the last best hope for the 8/74 era and they definitely need to act like it. Not recklessly. They need to be as clinical as they were in the off-season. But by all means they ought to be strategizing a way to scalp another savage top sixer to give them possibly the finishing piece of the puzzle.

Donato absolutely a reasonable target for the 2nd rd pick. and there are reasons he 1st should be in play, but if you’re not upgrading the top 6 maybe it shouldn’t be. And if Nelson are Marchand are the only upgrades to the top 6 they’ll be pricy, maybe silly pricy

 

[Jags]

@Jags - I completely agree that RoR would be a good fit here and a significant upgrade. The problem is what then do you do with Eller? Does he join the 4th line? Does he get benched? I really don't like Eller's game as a 3rd line winger at all. So while I agree with basically everything you said, the underlying issue is not anything to do with RoR but with Eller. ROR makes a ton of sense to me as an off-season 2025 addition if the brain-trust wants to go that direction.

If the cap works I think you keep Eller and put him at 4W so that you have him for the PK and center depth should injury occur. Also keep Mangiapane if we can afford to; might pair well with ROR.

This is assuming that the whispers ROR may be available prove true. Otherwise I think Nelson as a pure rental is probably the best bet. I wouldn't be shy about giving up this year's 1 for the right guy, and we'd need retention if we want to hang on to our guys in his case. ROR I think we could fit without, but I'd need to check on that when I get home.

Same thing with Nelson though. Keep Eller if possible. You could keep the top 6 as is, have an Eller/Dowd/Duhaime 4th, and stick ROR or Nelson between Mangiapane and Frank to start with. Adjust from there, shop for a wing swap if there's one out there that's an additional upgrade.

I personally think 3C is the spot we'd benefit most from upgrading. Getting one that can do what Eller does but also has that offensive gear would also upgrade wing performance on that line, with or without adding another wing (or banking on Leonard to provide a boost he may not be ready for), in my opinion.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

GMCP isn’t trading a 1st (even a late round pick) for a third line player. If that pick moves it’s someone who can play in the top part of the line-up IMHO.

 

[Jags]

GMCP isn’t trading a 1st (even a late round pick) for a third line player. If that pick moves it’s someone who can play in the top part of the line-up IMHO.

I don't disagree in general, but we're talking about 2 guys that aren't 3rd liners. That's just what they might be here, at least initially. If we're deep enough to roll 3 lines that can score, playing time won't really feel like "3rd line" minutes, we'd stop sheltering the 3rd, and we'd be able to deploy our 4th line more strategically.

ROR is playing on the top line in Nashville last I checked. Nelson is a 2C at the moment. And if either clicks here and works their way into the top 6, more power to them, no? ROR's gotta be frustrated with how things are going in Nashville, and Nelson figures to be a pure rental. He's a NYI lifer, so he could just be open to taking a shot at a Cup for a few months and going back home. Maybe he extends here for a year or two. Who knows? His contract intention could affect his price.

Anyway, we're currently in the luxury position of maybe building out more of an impact 3rd line with TDL top-sixers. No reason to think of it as giving up key futures for a third liner.

 

[Devil Dancer]

The more I read about the players available the more I want the Caps to stay put with the team they have. Not to protect nuts, I'm all for moving assets outside of Lenny, but because I don't see a lot of names that would improve their chances in the playoffs. And with a team this tight any add might throw off the vibe. Subtraction by addition.

I'd love to acquire a difference maker, but that will probably have to be in the offseason. And with Miller and Rantanen already moved, who's left in that tier anyway?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I think our 1st should be enough for ROR. Is this a move we make? I think I would want someone a bit younger as good as he is.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I think our 1st should be enough for ROR. Is this a move we make? I think I would want someone a bit younger as good as he is.

This. If we are giving up assets of value I’d rather the player have term and not be on the wrong side of 30.

 

[Jags]

I think our 1st should be enough for ROR. Is this a move we make? I think I would want someone a bit younger as good as he is.

ROR and Nelson are both having down years, but so are their teams, so it's a "chicken or the egg" situation. I haven't seen enough of their games this year to get a read on it, but both guys were strong last year. Both 34 this year. So it's all about that evaluation.

If they've still got gas in the tank and the organization doesn't think Lappy or McMike can hold down a top-9 C spot, I wouldn't mind ROR at his current number, nor would I mind extending Nelson for a year or two at the right price. Whether they would be 3C here would be up to them.

This. If we are giving up assets of value I’d rather the player have term and not be on the wrong side of 30.

I would typically agree, but we've pretty suddenly found ourselves in a "might be able to win a Cup in the next 2 years" position. Given that, a late 1st in an iffy draft and/or a prospect we like isn't too much to pay for a couple years of nailing down that 3C spot in impressive fashion.

Again, if management thinks we have that guy in-house right now, great. Don't do it. But if we have an early playoff exit and our 3rd line sucked in the process, I think we'll be kicking ourselves for settling.

 

[Calicaps]

The more I read about the players available the more I want the Caps to stay put with the team they have. Not to protect nuts, I'm all for moving assets outside of Lenny, but because I don't see a lot of names that would improve their chances in the playoffs. And with a team this tight any add might throw off the vibe. Subtraction by addition.

I'd love to acquire a difference maker, but that will probably have to be in the offseason. And with Miller and Rantanen already moved, who's left in that tier anyway?

Since the trade, Rantanen has 2 points in 6 games while Necas has 9 in 8. Suggests that both guys' prior numbers were more a product of their teammates than folks thought. I totally trust our front office to find the right guys, but it's a legitimate question whether the "higher tier" guys we think about here really are that.

 

[Fred22406Capsfan]

Definitely amateur hour for me, but I'm more in the stand pat until the offseason camp than not. Think the chemistry in the room raises the team. A trade may disrupt, especially if it's not a guy who's bought into DC. Wiser heads than mine will decide but it's been a fun ride so far this year.

 

[Jags]

I totally trust our front office to find the right guys, but it's a legitimate question whether the "higher tier" guys we think about here really are that.

I agree, but I'd look at it the other way around. Each of those teams had a good player they felt they had to swap. We'd be trying to remedy a weak spot. So for me it's less about whether "higher tier" guys are really higher tier, and rather purely about whether they'd be better than Lars Eller.

Both guys we're talking about have well-established pedigrees, where the question is whether they're *still* what they were and, like you, I trust our front office to make that evaluation; that they won't make the trade unless they think it's the right thing.