GDT: GM#3: Dallas @ DC - 7pm-ish

[Neil Racki]

I dont follow hockey other then the Caps. hard enough to find time for 60 or so Caps game a year so I just dont watch other teams unless they play the Caps.

PLD has an upright glide to him .... kinda like Andy Dufresne strolling through the prison yard like a man in a park without a care or worry in the world

 

[Devil Dancer]

I put zero stock in team performance through the first 5-10 games, but it's been a fun week of hockey.

Hopefully they're for real?

 

[Ridley Simon]

In GMBM I trust. So I think it’s for real.

Caps made shrewd acquisitions = talented players in wrong environment = buying low.

Caps made shrewd signings = leveraging Cap space and other teams constraints = buying low

PLD, Chychrun, Mangiapane, Thompson = all buy low.

Roy, Duhaime, Raddysh, Vrana = using market to help to also buy low here.

Pretty pretty pretty good.

BUT, SSS!!!!!! (small sample size)

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Dont forget we have alot of cap space left what only gets more valuable at the season goes on.

 

[Misery74]

In GMBM I trust. So I think it’s for real.

Caps made shrewd acquisitions = talented players in wrong environment = buying low.

Caps made shrewd signings = leveraging Cap space and other teams constraints = buying low

PLD, Chychrun, Mangiapane, Thompson = all buy low.

Roy, Duhaime, Raddysh, Vrana = using market to help to also buy low here.

Pretty pretty pretty good.

BUT, SSS!!!!!! (small sample size)

We pay our goalies less than $2m combined. They are both good.

This last offseason has been transformative.

 

[Marshall]

This last offseason has been transformative.

There it is.

 

[895]

Interesting how GMBM's first and last offseason were the best.

Really make u fink

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I believe!

 

[Ridley Simon]

Interesting how GMBM's first and last offseason were the best.

Really make u fink

Nah. Post 2017 was great too. Keeping it together and keeping the correct pieces. And NOT making other changes that were being requested.

GMBM has a lot of great off-seasons. Only one came after a Cup, but that’s not always his fault

 

[Calicaps]

Nah. Post 2017 was great too. Keeping it together and keeping the correct pieces. And NOT making other changes that were being requested.

GMBM has a lot of great off-seasons. Only one came after a Cup, but that’s not always his fault

Also, this one may have really been GMCP's first, based on BMac's comments about it being time for a fresh approach. Seems odd to make this many big changes and then be like, here you go! Bring on a new vision!

Seems more likely this IS the new vision.

 

[Langway]

I know Lapierre had a better game against Dallas, drew a couple of penalties, but I wonder how long they're willing to tolerate an unproductive center that tends to get cratered in possession. McMichael's back-check continues to make me intrigued by him at (nominal) 3C, esp. since Mangiapane may do just as well at 2LW. Better to be as strong as possible up the middle when the games really count.

Hard to believe Lapierre's fundamentals suggest a future breakout candidate. It doesn't seem like he's poised to put it all together and it's disappointing coming off of his AHL MVP run. Strength remains a real limitation but there's more to it. He hardly seems like a transitional threat either. With PLD & Strome seemingly locked into top six center spots they can contemplate dealing Lapierre if they don't believe he'll put it all together here (nor perhaps even thrive in a super insulated depth role).

They have options and can move pieces around if need be. They can cobble it together for now but the clock is ticking on any depth piece with the players on the way. He's definitely a piece I could see them putting in play if they want to be aggressive down the stretch if he's not showing more signs of figuring it out.

 

[usiel]

I know Lapierre had a better game against Dallas, drew a couple of penalties, but I wonder how long they're willing to tolerate an unproductive center that tends to get cratered in possession. McMichael's back-check continues to make me intrigued by him at (nominal) 3C, esp. since Mangiapane may do just as well at 2LW. Better to be as strong as possible up the middle when the games really count.

Hard to believe Lapierre's fundamentals suggest a future breakout candidate. It doesn't seem like he's poised to put it all together and it's disappointing coming off of his AHL MVP run. Strength remains a real limitation but there's more to it. He hardly seems like a transitional threat either. With PLD & Strome seemingly locked into top six center spots they can contemplate dealing Lapierre if they don't believe he'll put it all together here (nor perhaps even thrive in a super insulated depth role).

They have options and can move pieces around if need be. They can cobble it together for now but the clock is ticking on any depth piece with the players on the way. He's definitely a piece I could see them putting in play if they want to be aggressive down the stretch if he's not showing more signs of figuring it out.

Still feels its early on Lapierre here.

 

[DWGie26]

Was at the game last night (and Tuesday). Two fun nights of hockey. My takes aren’t really that different that others. Second line has been been awesome including McMike at wing. 4th line is actually… improved! Which is shocking because it has been good for a while now. Dee is looking solid and just a lot less getting to goalies. But both goalies have been really strong.

But what a i want to call out is Protas. I watched him closely last night (Dowd was my watch Tuesday). He is big with long stride and gets to a lot of pucks. But then he controls. He had several chances to score last night and i can’t wait for to see him start to find back of net. He also seems to have a bit more snarl to him. We sit close to glass and he took some good shots in front of us. I love if he can bring that physical element consistently.

 

[wickedwitch]

Still feels its early on Lapierre here.

Especially since he's improved with every game.

Obviously, I want to see him score, but I'm not remotely worried.

 

[trick9]

If we were ready to move on from Lapierre after 3 bad games, McMichael would have been traded years ago. It's early and they are winning, there's still time. Trade isn't really the main option either. It would be stupid to give up on a top prospect after a bad start (esp: 3 games in) to the year when he was one of our best players in the Playoffs just months ago.

 

[Langway]

No, I wasn't really suggesting cutting bait already. Just that if he doesn't take advantage of the opportunity it may be on the table in the right scenario around the deadline. Lapierre is a year behind McMichael so if he doesn't put up something like last year's CMM performance I'd start to wonder. As-is I don't really know what sort of player he's supposed to become. A Kuznetsov lite? Only not as skilled? Shrug.

Again, plenty of time for him to figure it out. I think the main thing is his speed needs to be more of a transitional factor because if it isn't it's tough to figure what his bread and butter is supposed to be. He's not going to be a checker really and on this team it means those other areas need to be pretty special.

 

[stephenball]

I mean, I had thought a good outlet was to transfer him to the wing to take some pressure off him, but you just can’t do that right now with Protas looking great with Strome/Ovechkin and CMM looking fantastic with PLD/Wilson. I feel like at the moment you can’t really mess with those lines, and can’t mess with the Dowd line either. So the third line is kind of what we have left and it’s on them to figure things out. Looks like they’re getting closer, it’s gotten better every game. We’ve been winning games against strong opponents, it’s fine to give them and especially him more time to work things through.

Sophomore slump is also a real thing. That first year adrenaline fades a bit as you settle into more normalcy and the grind of a full NHL schedule. His rookie year was pretty damn busy, especially going through a championship run. I think this is a year of growth for him, but that growth is not going to be in Hershey.

 

[Marshall]

PLD is a pretty slick skater on the zone entries.

I noticed in an main boards thread titled "One-Trick Pony Players" or somesuch a few weeks ago, and an LAK poster chimed in saying that PLD is a zone-entry machine. Nothing else nice to say about PLD, but interesting that your observation matches up.

 

[stephenball]

I noticed in a main boards thread titled "One-Trick Pony Players" or somesuch a few weeks ago, and an LAK poster chimed in saying that PLD is a zone-entry machine. Nothing else nice to say about PLD, but interesting that your observation matches up.

That alone is a great upgrade to our PP, our zone entries were brutal last season. Although I feel like so far they’re still deferring to Strome for entries.

 

[Holtbyisms]

I noticed in an main boards thread titled "One-Trick Pony Players" or somesuch a few weeks ago, and an LAK poster chimed in saying that PLD is a zone-entry machine. Nothing else nice to say about PLD, but interesting that your observation matches up.

It seems like a lot of the guys we added are very good at zone entries. Probably by design given how bad it was last season. PLD, Chychrun and Mangiapane are all a joy to watch carry the puck into the zone vs what we saw last year.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Minor observations:

1) Per last year's performance: Lappy will be fine
2) GMBM has been fine throughout his tenure
3) Willy detractors have been strangely quiet
4) PLD has been ok, I/we can start crucifying him and Caps management after game 4 because this board loves small sample sizes.
5) Who's got the GDT? Don't make me spend an extra 2mins posting another one.

 

[kicksavedave]

Minor observations:

1) Per last year's performance: Lappy will be fine
2) GMBM has been fine throughout his tenure
3) Willy detractors have been strangely quiet
4) PLD has been ok, I/we can start crucifying him and Caps management after game 4 because this board loves small sample sizes.
5) Who's got the GDT? Don't make me spend an extra 2mins posting another one.

That GDT took you 2 minutes? Did you stop at 7/11 while you were working on it?

Points 1-4 are dead on as usual.

 

[StrikingDistance]

That GDT took you 2 minutes? Did you stop at 7/11 while you were working on it?

Points 1-4 are dead on as usual.

Ok ok...it took me 3 minutes. Gif uploads and dial-up are my only excuse.

 

[DWGie26]

It seems like a lot of the guys we added are very good at zone entries. Probably by design given how bad it was last season. PLD, Chychrun and Mangiapane are all a joy to watch carry the puck into the zone vs what we saw last year.

Lines up with what Carberry and GMBM were saying about being faster. Which doesn’t necessarily mean faster skaters but a system that quickly moves the puck to areas where players know to burst and get puck in space. Talent last year struggled with that style.