How's Ovechkin looking this season? (esp. his -14 so far)

[zappa4ever]

He's fine. Team's been decimated by injuries

Caps have had the busiest schedule and the most man-games lost for injuries, including 1RW/2RW/3RW (Wilson/Brown/Oshie)
He's heading towards 40-45 goals or more, and his annual goal-scoring spree of 20 in 25 usually comes after the new year

Getting bodies healthy has been the biggest problem this year, next few weeks they should be getting a few back

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

A pure shooter plain n simple. Same he's been since 13-14 if he's not shooting he's not doing much

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

No one would be happier than me to see him having his worst season ever, by far, and the Pucapitals outside the playoffs come spring

 

[Lukin1978]

By the end of the season he'll be at 40+ goals at minimum probably close to 50.

 

[Caps8112]

There's nothing they CAN do... Ovechkin runs that team.

So if 40 mil of their salary cap wasn't on injured reserve, Kuznetsov was playing like a number 1 center and they start the season 10-4-3 instead of 7-8-2 you would still be saying the same thing?

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

He looks older and slower and he isn’t as much of a factor 5v5. Feels like the start of a slow decline. I could see him scoring 40 this year then 30, 30, and 20. His shot is still just as lethal but everything else is worse.

 

[PlushMinus]

yeah for like the next 20 games until he pulls his groin.
then it's the Ovechkin parade for the next few years while Strome and Mantha wonder if this is what they worked so hard for

If you think Mantha works hard you clearly don't watch the Caps play. Mantha coasts, doesn't play physical (and he's a big guy), and seems more interested in cashing his pay cheques than earning them.

 

[BraveCanadian]

He's been a turret for years at this point. The only question is how long will the Caps continue to feed him for the sake of the record & when will they want to start rebuilding around someone who can take them to the promised land again?

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

If he has 6 ENGA then he's actually -8. It adds up quick when you're giving up a lot of empty netters.

Given how ridiculous his OZ numbers and PP time are, I will go out on a limb at why he’s being deployed in the EN situation.

 

[Toby91ca]

Given how ridiculous his OZ numbers and PP time are, I will go out on a limb at why he’s being deployed in the EN situation.

When his team has the EN, he’s out there trying to score, when his team is up and the other team has the EN, he’s out to try and score as well…which makes less sense to me, but I totally get it

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Given how ridiculous his OZ numbers and PP time are, I will go out on a limb at why he’s being deployed in the EN situation.

To try to tie the game when his team is losing? What are you trying to get at?

 

[Calderon]

How's Kuzy been playing? Is he hindering Ovi's output as well? Is Ovi playing more with Kuzy or Strome? Do Ovi and Strome mesh well together?

 

[JohnCarlsaurus]

How's Kuzy been playing? Is he hindering Ovi's output as well? Is Ovi playing more with Kuzy or Strome? Do Ovi and Strome mesh well together?

Yes. Kuzy hasn't been playing anywhere close to his potential. Dude scored his first goal of the season just last week or the week before

 

[Toby91ca]

Yes. Kuzy hasn't been playing anywhere close to his potential. Dude scored his first goal of the season just last week or the week before

Shouldn't be considering how well Kuzy is doing from goal scoring perspective though, you should consider how well he's playing and facilitating with the puck (which I'm assuming some would say he's been lagging as well). The more goals you score, the less there is for your linemates (i.e. shoot first vs. pass first).

 

[JohnCarlsaurus]

Shouldn't be considering how well Kuzy is doing from goal scoring perspective though, you should consider how well he's playing and facilitating with the puck (which I'm assuming some would say he's been lagging as well). The more goals you score, the less there is for your linemates (i.e. shoot first vs. pass first).

If he was playing well and not scoring I would have just said that. I chose to say "he's not playing close to his potential" because his play has been uninspiring and it's not just the goal totals. He's not our biggest problem but he's definitely struggling

 

[Toby91ca]

By the end of the season he'll be at 40+ goals at minimum probably close to 50.

Maybe, we'll see. It's extremely difficult to look at where he is in terms of pace right now because if there is one thing that is really streaky in hockey more than anything else, it's goal scorers. He's had below 10 goals through first 18 games 6 times in his career, 4 times he finished under 50 (but one of those years was lockout shortened year where he paced for 55 goals)...so look at it as 50/50 to get 50.....but perhaps less likely now due to stage of career....4 out of 6 times he would have hit or paced for 40+ though (one of which was just 2 years go).

 

[tfwnogf]

He's been a turret for years at this point. The only question is how long will the Caps continue to feed him for the sake of the record & when will they want to start rebuilding around someone who can take them to the promised land again?

The guy had 90 points last season but yeah he's a one trick pony one dimensional old man who is barely nhl level anymore

 

[YippieKaey]

BS alert. He is still their best option only option to score goals.

Fixed it for you #capsfanwhohasseeneverygame

yeah for like the next 20 games until he pulls his groin.
then it's the Ovechkin parade for the next few years while Strome and Mantha wonder if this is what they worked so hard for

This is something that has never happened

 

[Dirty Dog]

Prioritizes individual scoring over winning as he has for a long time.

Yea, those two things don’t seem like in conflict with one another.

Look at that goof always scoring goals and costing his team

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Ovy isn't as effective without Backstrom. Backstrom makes Ovy a lot better. They're bread and butter and Kuznetsov is no Backstrom.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Ovy isn't as effective without Backstrom. Backstrom makes Ovy a lot better. They're bread and butter and Kuznetsov is no Backstrom.

It's not about Backstrom though, Ovechkin scored 50G + 40A last season while Nicky missed half the season and played on a different line.

 

[Rengorlex]

Yea, those two things don’t seem like in conflict with one another.

Look at that goof always scoring goals and costing his team

Washington Capitals have a better 5vs5 goal differential when Ovechkin is off the ice than when he's on it since 2011.

 

[Toby91ca]

Washington Capitals have a better 5vs5 goal differential when Ovechkin is off the ice than when he's on it since 2011.

What do you mean by that....every year or cumulative? Cumulatively, he's +4....I guess that would take into account 3v3 and 4v4 play as well though.

 

[Neil Racki]

Another EN against last night ... Caps are going to set the record.

What is the record?
EN seem to be sky rocketing past few years w the aggressive pulls.

 

[Beau Knows]

EN seem to be sky rocketing past few years w the aggressive pulls.

Here an interesting article on that

Spoiler:

Conclusion​

It’s generally well accepted that so-called “analytics” tells us we should be trying to pull the goalie earlier than was previously done.

This work supports this view through use of visual aids and models of goalie pull results that vary as a function of time left in the game.

The dataset and statistical method used for this work is open source, and I hope they can influence future research on the subject.