League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2022-23 season, Vol. 4, Off-season Edition

[CapitalsCupReality]

Not even sure where to start since all of this is wrong so I just won’t.

Vrana, played himself out of town, Bura same. Siege was just average-same, Stephenson-same, Sprong flawed/one-dimensional, do we need to go on? No because it’s true. So they some blossomed later….doesn’t change that they were just decent to ok here mostly.

 

[YippieKaey]

Ovi-Stephenson-Wilson
Burakovsky-Strome-Brown
Kuzy-Bäckström-Sprong
Protas-Dowd-NAK

Siegenthaler-Carlson
Sandin-Jensen
Fever-AA

The "what could have been" lineup.

Definitely a playoff lineup at least.

 

[Cappy76]

Ovi-Stephenson-Wilson
Burakovsky-Strome-Brown
Kuzy-Bäckström-Sprong
Protas-Dowd-NAK

Siegenthaler-Carlson
Sandin-Jensen
Fever-AA

The "what could have been" lineup.

Definitely a playoff lineup at least.

The "lets keep the good pieces we moved after the cup and get rid of the ones that have since soured" lineup. I'm sure every fan base would love to bat 1.000 but.....

Stephenson - Solid 3/4th liner here but lets not forget his 4 points in 24 games during the 2019 season when they moved him. Yea writing was on the wall for him to be a potential top 6 center there.

Burakovsky - 25 points for the 2019 season before he was moved also he requested the trade

Siegenthaler - Pretty sure everyone was happy to have a signed Chara for peanuts for what he was thought to be bringing to the team. Didn't he request the trade as well?

Sprong - If Vrana isn't on your list then Sprong shouldn't be either same player just different skill levels both very one dimensional players that wouldn't play a defensive role.

Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Ovi-Stephenson-Wilson
Burakovsky-Strome-Brown
Kuzy-Bäckström-Sprong
Protas-Dowd-NAK

Siegenthaler-Carlson
Sandin-Jensen
Fever-AA

The "what could have been" lineup.

Definitely a playoff lineup at least.

But who is the Goalie on this fantasy team? LOL

 

[max21]

But who is the Goalie on this fantasy team? LOL

Copley lol

 

[HecticGlow]

I think Stephenson and Siegenthaler were examples of particularly poor asset management, given how little we got for each of them. It’s been nice to see Protas get more frequent opportunities further up the lineup, even when the production hasn’t been there, because they didn’t give Stephenson much of a chance outside of the bottom six.

Is he putting up those numbers with Vegas playing as a 4LW? No, probably not. But neither would Kuzy or Wilson.

As for Siegenthaler, bringing in Dillon was as much a part of the problem as Chara. I think when they moved Siegenthaler they probably imagined Orlov-Dillon-Fever would be the left side for years to come. But crazy that we essentially gifted a division rival a top-4 D…

 

[Brian23]

The "lets keep the good pieces we moved after the cup and get rid of the ones that have since soured" lineup. I'm sure every fan base would love to bat 1.000 but.....

Stephenson - Solid 3/4th liner here but lets not forget his 4 points in 24 games during the 2019 season when they moved him. Yea writing was on the wall for him to be a potential top 6 center there.

Burakovsky - 25 points for the 2019 season before he was moved also he requested the trade

Siegenthaler - Pretty sure everyone was happy to have a signed Chara for peanuts for what he was thought to be bringing to the team. Didn't he request the trade as well?

Sprong - If Vrana isn't on your list then Sprong shouldn't be either same player just different skill levels both very one dimensional players that wouldn't play a defensive role.

Hindsight is 20/20

Burakovsky is really the only one that fits this bill. He was given ample opportunities to take the reigns and run with it but just didn't. That's still on Trotz for being unable to properly develop him, considering he left and basically instantly lit the world on fire, but it is what it is.

Stephenson was great for us in the cup run and then he was given like 11 minutes a night to do anything with afterwards. That's entirely on coaching being an issue, he never got a chance to show anything with us. Same with Siegenthaler. They just weren't given the opportunity to show what they could do.

Sprong is just an example of Lavi being a shit coach in my opinon. Man was supposed to bleed rocks for offense but he's been the opposite of that in his time here.

 

[Gurglesons]

Burakovsky is really the only one that fits this bill. He was given ample opportunities to take the reigns and run with it but just didn't. That's still on Trotz for being unable to properly develop him, considering he left and basically instantly lit the world on fire, but it is what it is.

Stephenson was great for us in the cup run and then he was given like 11 minutes a night to do anything with afterwards. That's entirely on coaching being an issue, he never got a chance to show anything with us. Same with Siegenthaler. They just weren't given the opportunity to show what they could do.

Sprong is just an example of Lavi being a shit coach in my opinon. Man was supposed to bleed rocks for offense but he's been the opposite of that in his time here.

Let’s be honest about Sprong. He got dunked on by 4 separate coaches before coming to Seattle and then had to settle for a PTO.

 

[HecticGlow]

Sprong is just an example of Lavi being a shit coach in my opinon. Man was supposed to bleed rocks for offense but he's been the opposite of that in his time here.

In fairness, Sprong has put up numbers in Seattle playing only in very limited and sheltered minutes. He still doesn’t represent the kind of middle six player the caps were looking for - Milano and Mojo were arguably better fits.

But I agree with you about the others.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Let’s be honest about Sprong. He got dunked on by 4 separate coaches before coming to Seattle and then had to settle for a PTO.

Sure, but he provided two things this team sorely lacks: speed and the ability to score. He had some of the best even strength scoring clips on the team. And Sonny Milano burned through teams and coaches but they saw enough in him to give him a PTO and then sign him to an extension. Strome is on his third different team at age 25.

The point is we put young players out there and by and large if they aren’t perfect defensively the organization cuts bait on them without giving them the chance to develop and then we spend assets on plugs like Johan Larsson, Carl Hagelin, Curtis Glencross, etc because they’re responsible defensively. It’s annoying.

What also irritates me is coaching is supposed to be about putting your players in a position to succeed and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Let players do what they’re good at and don’t dump them when they don’t do well at something you know they won’t do well in. Too many coaches try to ram a round peg into a square hole and then blame the player when the piece doesn’t fit.

At what point is this organization going to let young forwards develop? Tom Wilson was drafted in 2012 and he’s their most recent draft pick (at forward) still on the team and still playing a meaningful role. Protas is starting to get there but again it’s frustrating seeing young talent leave because we don’t give them the opportunity to figure out how to be a pro hockey player.

 

[Gurglesons]

Sure, but he provided two things this team sorely lacks: speed and the ability to score. He had some of the best even strength scoring clips on the team. And Sonny Milano burned through teams and coaches but they saw enough in him to give him a PTO and then sign him to an extension. Strome is on his third different team at age 25.

The point is we put young players out there and by and large if they aren’t perfect defensively the organization cuts bait on them without giving them the chance to develop and then we spend assets on plugs like Johan Larsson, Carl Hagelin, Curtis Glencross, etc because they’re responsible defensively. It’s annoying.

What also irritates me is coaching is supposed to be about putting your players in a position to succeed and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Let players do what they’re good at and don’t dump them when they don’t do well at something you know they won’t do well in. Too many coaches try to ram a round peg into a square hole and then blame the player when the piece doesn’t fit.

Seems to be across the board honestly, Marchand absolutely torched Cassidy for this, Sullivan does it in PIT, Cooper seems like the only coach in the league with time for young players.

Something is up with Sprong. He was good in his time with PIT in terms of scoring, was good under both coaches in ANA, was good in WAS and then in SEA and had to settle for a PTO. Reminds me a ton of Pirri where he is like a 20 goal pace guy regardless of usage but can’t find a home.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Seems to be across the board honestly, Marchand absolutely torched Cassidy for this, Sullivan does it in PIT, Cooper seems like the only coach in the league with time for young players.

Yeah weird how Cooper been there for 10 years with multiple Cups and his message hasn’t gotten stale. Must be a coincidence!

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah weird how Cooper been there for 10 years with multiple Cups and his message hasn’t gotten stale. Must be a coincidence!

Before Vegas expansion I always used to make the point a dumb NHL coach could just play a bunch of fast, offensive oriented, youngish players and it’d probably finish 1st in the league.

Instead we get to see 30+ year olds who “play the right way” get taken advantage of every night. I called Washington’s collapse this season as soon as they got healthy because dumb old hockey mind removed all the players playing for jobs and gave their minutes to the vets. Has happened with PIT for the last few seasons. It’s why we are terrible this year because we have largely been healthy and Sullivan has been forced to try and actually coach.

 

[Brian23]

What also irritates me is coaching is supposed to be about putting your players in a position to succeed and understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

What adds to it is they literally did that with Brett Connoly. So it's not like they've not learned that lesson before.

 

[Peeri]

Before Vegas expansion I always used to make the point a dumb NHL coach could just play a bunch of fast, offensive oriented, youngish players and it’d probably finish 1st in the league.

Instead we get to see 30+ year olds who “play the right way” get taken advantage of every night. I called Washington’s collapse this season as soon as they got healthy because dumb old hockey mind removed all the players playing for jobs and gave their minutes to the vets. Has happened with PIT for the last few seasons. It’s why we are terrible this year because we have largely been healthy and Sullivan has been forced to try and actually coach.

That's why we need some new blood in the coaching scene, but no they just keep recycling these ancient old farts who only know one way to play this game. Game has evolved so much, but for whatever reason GM refuse to see this.

 

[Gurglesons]

That's why we need some new blood in the coaching scene, but no they just keep recycling these ancient old farts who only know one way to play this game. Game has evolved so much, but for whatever reason GM refuse to see this.

Yep. The fact Mike Sullivan was a B2B winner 5 years ago and is now one of the most predictable coaches in the league speaks to this. Yet most teams are locking up their coaches for extremely long terms.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

watching whalers night..

 

[Ovi895]

Yeah why can’t we get a GM that makes only really good moves. It’s simple, pay all the good players with below market value contracts and trade away the bad players for prospects that are guaranteed to hit their ceiling.

This. Why would anyone expect good moves from their GM? Or even not actively destroying your team with bad moves that you have to draw up and take effort to execute. Can't believe teams fired Chiarelli and Benning, must be a bunch of libtards living in fantasy world.

Yep. The fact Mike Sullivan was a B2B winner 5 years ago and is now one of the most predictable coaches in the league speaks to this. Yet most teams are locking up their coaches for extremely long terms.

Sullivan's not the problem, Pittsburgh just completely abruptly lost their mojo after giving up Fleury. Literally went from feeling like they have that "it" factor where they could be an existential threat even without Crosby, Malkin or Letang for long spurts to being just another vanilla good enough to make the playoffs team the next game (2017-18 season opener) they played. I don't remember seeing anything like that, I guess when we traded Brooks Laich for Daniel Winnik and immediately became limp that year despite on paper getting better but that was only for one end of season and playoff run.

 

[Ovi895]

What adds to it is they literally did that with Brett Connoly. So it's not like they've not learned that lesson before.

That was Trotz, all the lessons learned walked out the door with him when they decided paying him 4 million was far too much (but ok to pay Lavi 5)

Vrana, played himself out of town, Bura same. Siege was just average-same, Stephenson-same, Sprong flawed/one-dimensional, do we need to go on? No because it’s true. So they some blossomed later….doesn’t change that they were just decent to ok here mostly.

RIght, how could you expect young players to develop or project their development as an NHL general manager. The way to go is to either hit on Ovechkin or Backstrom who dominate the moment they step on the ice heavily overpay for finished products on other teams then wonder why they don't replicate their peak seasons under new circumstances.

 

[Ovi895]

Let’s be honest about Sprong. He got dunked on by 4 separate coaches before coming to Seattle and then had to settle for a PTO.

He looked better for the caps last year than Milano does this season (since hewas the only player we had on this team other than 8 who could actually beat a goalie clean with a wrister in the last couple seasons) and everyone worships the ground Milano walks on. That was Laviolette and BMac all dunking on themselves.

 

[um]

The way the Canuucks and Blues have been playing I think we can out tank them.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I think best possible for Caps may be 10th. I don’t see Detroit or St Louis passing them. Vancouver can, and of course Ottawa.

 

[trick9]

I think the upcoming back-to-back against Isles and Bolts will likely give us a good idea of where we are going to pick. Both tough games with Isles first who are desperate for points followed by an away game against a rested Bolts team with little to play for. We've been good against the Islanders so there is the possible scenario were we beat them both but honestly, even with Bolts having little to play for, 0 points is propably the likeliest scenario here. We are coming from hugely deflating loss and stand @ 0.6 % chance of making the Playoffs. There are huge opportunities for the teams around us to pick up points before that game too as Sens host the Panthers, Sabres host the Canadiens and Isles host the Devils tonight. On tuesday the Red Wings host the Penguins.

I don't see us making any line-up changes towards youth movement just yet but there might just be some changes on the cards if the results from those games go against us and if we lose to the Isles. Then the percentages are reaching even closer to the 0.0 % territory.

 

[Calicaps]

The Oilers stink. Such a waste.

 

[trick9]

Standings as of now, around us:

19. 79 points (8 games left)
20. 77 points (9 games left)
21. 77 points (8 games left)
22. 76 points (8 games left)
23. 73 points (9 games left)
24. 72 points (9 games left)
25. 71 points (10 games left)



Games in the next few days, with Moneypuck odds:


Tuesday:

(39.6%) vs. (60.4%)
(54.4%) vs. (45.6%)


Wednesday:

(60.2%) vs. (39.8%)
(48.5%) vs. (51.5%)


Thursday:

(40.1%) vs. (59.9%)
(61.7%) vs. (38.3%)
(62.8%) vs. (37.2%)
(67.0%) vs. (33.0%)
(38.4%) vs. (61.6%)
(54.5%) vs. (45.5%)


Friday:

(47.6%) vs. (52.4%)
(71.8%) vs. (28.2%)
(39.2%) vs. (60.8%)
​