They have to find a way to get Mantha shooting more. I appreciate his patience and vision but his one-timer is better than anyone not named Ovechkin and Carlson, and maybe Orlov and he’s got a great release on his snap shot as well. There’s an extra level of assertiveness that I think he can get to.
I think top six winger is a big need. Oshie will likely miss chunks of time with ailments, Wilson may need knee surgery, and Ovi will be 37. Sheary is fine as a replacement but I don’t think he should be stapled up there. Sheary and Oshie could be great third line wingers with Mantha and Wilson as the second line wingers or Wilson on the first line and Mantha + acquisition on the second line.
There’s plenty of bottom six winger types on this roster with Sheary, Hathaway, Johansson (if he’s back), AJF, Hags (if he’s back), Leason, etc.
Would like to see them trade Eller and Carlson and use those assets to bolster other areas of the roster (including a Carlson replacement). The trades would likely be done separately but in my EA brain I wonder if Minnesota would bite on Eller + Carlson for Fiala + Dumba as a baseline. Or maybe Winnipeg would be interested in a Pionk + Scheifele/Ehlers swap.
When looking at what the Capitals have, I would be fine with one of two options: playing a quality forward in the 3W role (the "Kessel" slot if you will) which Mantha would fit fairly well, or using Ovechkin in that 2/3 TOI slot at even strength and still leaning into his PP time to buoy overall impact.
I really don't know how that would sit with Ovechkin (who is very much the big dog) but I've been pretty adamant for a while now that the Capitals' best chance at contending comes when Ovechkin/Backstrom can be supplemental players on a team that arguably
works without them, even if it's not nearly as good.
This setup:
Mantha - Kuznetsov - Wilson
Sheary - Eller/McMichael - Oshie
has holes but is okay. It's not a lineup that screams playoffs but it's also not one that lends to immediate disqualification. Punch Ovechkin in and he pretty obviously outplays Sheary, Backstrom is more of a coin flip depending on the hip, but it's not all bad. The move is to accelerate a second core to float the guys who can't do it at even strength reliably anymore, and then hope they can all channel the same 100% buy in come the playoffs. You've got rested veterans to shift in if the young guns can't handle the pressure, and you create mismatches every which way if everyone is online at the same time.
I wouldn't be upset at all if they pushed Lapierre to fit this end goal over the next 2 years, even if it ultimately breaks him as a prospect. That's the limit I'm willing to push in the Ovechkin window, but the salary cap really puts a limit on anything more aggressive.
