League News: 2023 NHL Trade Deadline Thread

[Langway]

Maybe Carlsson & Iorio show something down the stretch. They've got the flexibility to activate Carlson from LTIR if need be, though I don't know why you would. Then again, I don't know why you would recall and play McIlrath for six games during a crucial stretch of the season either.

Playing Smith & Sheary down the stretch when they could be playing Protas & McMichael is another choice. But given who is behind the bench and how inflexible they tend to operate not very surprising. All good for the tank, FWIW.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Ill give GMBM a C for the deadline

 

[marcel snapshot]

Klingberg to Minny for a 4th

 

[RedRocking]

Disappointed they didn't move at least Sheary, but the fact Sheary has gone ice cold was probably a contributing factor there. Still would have even accepted like a 4th rounder for him at this point.

This does underline that Smith was a negative asset, and Boston nickel'd and dime'd the Capitals for every bit they could in that Orlov/Hath deal.

Also a little bummed they didn't get any value from their third slot to retain salary.

I really think Smith was seen as a great value to Lavi, and maybe was part of the deal to appease him, lol. Gotta have those ex-Preds!

I mean, he immediately put Smith in the top 6 and played over Protas or Snively. At this point, he’s basically the same guy as NAK, but old and washed, so it’s annoyingly stupid.

 

[Langway]

On the plus side, STL added Vrana. PHI didn't sell. MTL didn't sell much. If Jensen is out any period of time--and that does look to be the case it seems--then they shouldn't be in too much danger of passing FLA/DET/CGY.

Smith playing in a top six role over Snively is a low-key killer tank move (albeit unintentional).

 

[PlushMinus]

That is pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing them in the lineup and getting minutes. I hope.

McIlrath being sent down is the best move so far today

 

[895]

Tough deadline to grade. Lots of good moves but IMO the light return on Orlov is horrendous.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I wonder if we even got an offer for Sheary. Wish someone would ask BM

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Also its hard to be happy when we sell off and tank and get no extra 1st rounders to show for it

 

[crazy8888]

They couldn't trade Smith for even future conciderations? At least open a spot for kids to play. WTF man.
Not even a low pick for Sheary.
Sandin could be a decent trade but for now we got a guy that a playoff team did not think could help them win, at least at the moment. I guess everyone hold their fingers crossed he keeps progressing.

This season sucks

 

[Hivemind]

They couldn't trade Smith for even future conciderations?

Smith passed thru waivers earlier this season. Without salary retention, he was a negative asset.

 

[kicksavedave]

That "Trade Wilson" talk a few pages back gave me instant diarrhea. Please never speak of this again. There are two, and only two, untradeable players on this roster. Ovi and Wilson. Everyone else can eff right the hell off. But the next person that suggests we trade Tom Wilson is getting punched like a fish.

Even you @twabby, I don't care what the return is.

 

[DWGie26]

There are some people here who will never be happy no matter what.

This season sucked for sure. It was like we were getting water boarded from puck drop in game 1.

What i do like is that once GMBM made his decision to sell, he was decisive and executed his plan. Remember it takes two parties. The seller and buyer. Market determines the value. We added picks. Got rid of FA’s and got some value. I have no issues with any of the moves we made and I trust that we got the best value we could. I would have liked to resign TVR and I would have liked to sell Sheary. I suspect GMBM wanted to as well.

To say we are running it back with the same squad is just ignorant. WE just moved 4 UFA’s off roster. Signed Ethan Frank. Resigned Jensen whom most everyone wanted to resign at a good value. And I like the NAK resign as well. Add to that we have the offseason to do a lot of reshaping including looking at coaching staff. We are a long ways away from what we will have in Sept/Oct of next season.

 

[Hivemind]

That "Trade Wilson" talk a few pages back gave me instant diarrhea. Please never speak of this again. There are two, and only two, untradeable players on this roster. Ovi and Wilson. Everyone else can eff right the hell off. But the next person that suggests we trade Tom Wilson is getting punched like a fish.

Even you @twabby, I don't care what the return is.

Trade Wilson

 

[The Consiglieri]

That "Trade Wilson" talk a few pages back gave me instant diarrhea. Please never speak of this again. There are two, and only two, untradeable players on this roster. Ovi and Wilson. Everyone else can eff right the hell off. But the next person that suggests we trade Tom Wilson is getting punched like a fish.

Even you @twabby, I don't care what the return is.

Why?

Is it, I'd rather watch him play on a very mediocre or worse Caps team than rebuild kinda thing?

Not trying to be argumentative, if its just a case of wanting to enjoy watching your team, even though your team is irrelevant, I half get it.

I just don't really understand why people would prefer this, its like Boulez fans who wanted to keep Beal and not trade him after Wall fell out of the shower in '19 and destroyed his career. The second Wall fell out of the shower that version of the Wizards was done as a competitive entity. They'd never win ---- w/o a full tear down. Some just wanted to watch Beal, and didnt care about contending. I don't understand that thinking but maybe it's just me.

For me, we're either contending like 2008-2018, or we're not and we should be rebuilding, I dont really understand the point of being fine with flirting with the underside or top side of .500 forever.

That's basically been the redskins since 1993, nearly always between a .375-.500 or so record NEVER relevant EVER.

Do you guys actually think we can contend (I 1000% do not), or do you just want to enjoy watching the team play fairly poor to middling hockey instead? Is going back to 2003-2007 just untenable? I just don't get this perspective and never have.

Nats are doing what I want, and I'm very happy about it, Redskins/WFT never do and I'm not, Boulez never do and I'm not, Caps had their run ('07-'18 and then a slow decline) and I'd just much rather have blown it up and started the rebuild in 2019 or 2020 or 2021 instead of 2024-2025. It's just such a waste to throw a half decade down the toilet to me. We could have gotten the rebuild started years ago, doing this just delays it far, far longer.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Langway]

The 2023 UFA class stinks so convenient substantial upgrades with whatever cap space they can manage won't go very far. MacLellan is going to have to get pretty creative for this team on paper to be any stronger than it was last fall and to think they've got a decent playoff push in them.

They may have something like $4M to work with after extending RFAs, TVR, etc. but that's not going to do it. And I don't doubt they basically do show up to camp with the same core and maybe a new coach to put on a fresh coat of paint. Wilson all year is the biggest key but I don't think Carlson & Backstrom are those dudes anymore. Not all-around.

In light of both being sort of stuck as a franchise and a poor free agent class I'd be much more inclined to sort of mail it in next season, troll for value opportunities only and try to bank on the 2024 UFA class being far more promising. A lot of those players will extend this summer but among those that don't I have to believe there will be at least one that's better than whatever this summer has to offer at the top. It's pretty arguable at this point that the top 2023 UFA may be Orlov. And for them, given how much they fixate on the near-term, that will have to sting.

 

[Calicaps]

The 2023 UFA class stinks so convenient substantial upgrades with whatever cap space they can manage won't go very far. MacLellan is going to have to get pretty creative for this team on paper to be any stronger than it was last fall and to think they've got a decent playoff push in them.

They may have something like $4M to work with after extending RFAs, TVR, etc. but that's not going to do it. And I don't doubt they basically do show up to camp with the same core and maybe a new coach to put on a fresh coat of paint. Wilson all year is the biggest key but I don't think Carlson & Backstrom are those dudes anymore. Not all-around.

In light of both being sort of stuck as a franchise and a poor free agent class I'd be much more inclined to sort of mail it in next season, troll for value opportunities only and try to bank on the 2024 UFA class being far more promising. A lot of those players will extend this summer but among those that don't I have to believe there will be at least one that's better than whatever this summer has to offer at the top. It's pretty arguable at this point that the top 2023 UFA may be Orlov. And for them, given how much they fixate on the near-term, that will have to sting.

It is also allowable to make trades at the draft and in the offseason. UFA acquisitions are not the only option.

 

[twabby]

I think their best bet is to simply win the draft lottery. I hope they’re working on a strategy to do just that.

 

[g00n]

I think their best bet is to simply win the draft lottery. I hope they’re working on a strategy to do just that.

Our xPingpong hasn't been great the last few years.

 

[twabby]

But for real I think taking a step back next season is fine. But in that case they have to get a coach comfortable playing guys like Snively, Protas, McMichael, Iorio, and others.

In fact I think their biggest priority is to nail the coaching hire. This isn’t 2013 or even 2018. They’ve probably got one more coach to get Ovechkin and this team competitive again. They need to settle that quickly and then start filling out the roster with players that can execute.

Our xPingpong hasn't been great the last few years.

If nothing else Washington has done great at doing better than their expected metrics over the years!

 

[DWGie26]

I think their best bet is to simply win the draft lottery. I hope they’re working on a strategy to do just that.

Winning the draft lottery doesn’t mean you are winning a cup ANYTIME soon.

So one cup winner in last 15 years. And Edmonton has had 3 of them. It’s a long long road Of mediocrity.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

That "Trade Wilson" talk a few pages back gave me instant diarrhea. Please never speak of this again. There are two, and only two, untradeable players on this roster. Ovi and Wilson. Everyone else can eff right the hell off. But the next person that suggests we trade Tom Wilson is getting punched like a fish.

Even you @twabby, I don't care what the return is.

Agreed.

Winning the draft lottery doesn’t mean you are winning a cup ANYTIME soon.

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So one cup winner in last 15 years. And Edmonton has had 3 of them. It’s a long long road Of mediocrity.

I'll take that chance and just getting Bedard is a sign defying the odds.

 

[Langway]

It is also allowable to make trades at the draft and in the offseason. UFA acquisitions are not the only option.

https://www.washingtonhockeynow.com/2023/03/03/washington-capitals-brian-maclellan-trade-deadline-reaction

"We have some draft capital that we can use going forward. We've acquired some picks, and I think next year's first-round pick is going to be a good pick," MacLellan noted. "We should get a good player there, and then moving forward into the offseason and into the draft, we have a lot more flexibility to trade for players."

Seems MacLellan agrees on the quality of the UFA class. So, yes, trades will be an option. There will be teams that are capped out and are forced to clear players out. How good? Good enough to put them back into contention? We'll see but it also seems like their degree of flexibility is not that significant and generally most teams find their way to navigate away from crucial subtractions. They could buy-out Mantha to open up yet more room but as-is their flexibility isn't massive.

Around the best I could see shaking loose on the trade market is a Schmaltz or Reinhart. The problem is there will be other rebuilding teams hoping to pounce just the same and many of them have more cap space. They may not all have the expendable futures or the motivation quite as much to be aggressive. Either option would be decent, productive top six RWs for the Caps but does that compensate enough for C/D uncertainty? They have so many subtle holes that I'd resist the temptation for quick fixes, esp. those on expiring contracts or those getting up there. If it's not a true almost cornerstone level core potential two-way piece I'm not sure it's worth bothering.

Edit: I haven't listened to the interview but saying specifically 'trade for players' and not 'make trades' is a pretty revealing way of putting it I think.

 

[hockeykicker]