Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap/Lines etc. Part LXV (Any Given Someday)

[Acallabeth]

I'd rather pursue Ladd or even Datsyuk if the Wings are willing to trade him.

Datsyuk has one more $7.5M year (so he'd be pretty expensive) and doesn't resemble the 2-way juggernaut of old anymore too

I generally like Ladd more than Johansson, but even i don't know now. He's not been great this year for the Jets, and his best playoff point total is 6. Would much rather rent Staal with retained salary for Laich++ (keep dreaming, I know).

 

[Chukcha]

This talk of the Caps being interested in acquiring a forward, didn't this surface after Jaret Stoll was put on waivers and we heard that along with the Wild another team (speculation the Caps) had put in a claim for him. Stoll would have also been a cheaper version of Boyd Gordon, 3/4 line center good in the dot and on defense. I'm believing some are running with the idea that the Caps are in the hunt for a forward based upon their putting a claim in for Stoll.

I just don't see GMBM messing with the team chemistry right now or even at the TDL unless an injury occurs that requires a transaction. I just remember how the Caps performed right after they traded Clark/Jurcina for Chimera in 2009, the team went into a bit of a dive.

yeah, it was a one week slump with three losses in a row, but it looks like a coincidence. Then 17-1-0 hot streak started.

 

[Chukcha]

Ladd as a rental for some assets, MP85 as a 3C back home for MoJo+ (what an irony of fate!), and we're fine. I don't know why people are talking about Hanzal etc, when Perry would be an ideal fit for this team. 25-85-42 was a perfect 3rd line.

 

[895]

Perreault is not the answer. He's not big enough or good enough defensively to be a 3C.

Ladd is playing really poorly this year. Don't want him either.

 

[Chukcha]

Perreault is not the answer. He's not big enough or good enough defensively to be a 3C.

do you remember Perry in 2013? His line with Chimmer and Wardo was the best against the rags. It's not his fault that the rest lines hadn't produced enough to win the series.

Ladd is playing really poorly this year. Don't want him either.

what do you think about Hartnell?

 

[hb12xchamps]

what do you think about Hartnell?

Hartnell makes more money than Laich and is signed until the 2018-19 season. No thanks.

 

[Langway]

Lowry's a much better trade fit than Perreault given Trotz's style. Perreault has also mostly played wing lately. I don't think Lowry gets moved but that's more like the type of player they ought to target.

As things stand on the risk spectrum upgrading the fourth line carries very little blowback potential. That's where I've got to figure they're headed unless that group improves in the next few months. Those players have time to cement their spot but the coaching staff should make it clear if they're going to be a part of a run they need to bring it consistently at both ends. If 65 can't get going then Galiev deserves the chance, if nothing else then to showcase him.

 

[Hivemind]

Considering how much shuffling has already occurred in the bottom six (and especially the 4th line), I have a hard time buying into the fragile team chemistry argument. We've already seen eight players rotate through 4th line and 3RW slots (Wilson, Galiev, Laich, Burakovsky, Latta, Brown, Stephenson, Collins).

 

[Chukcha]

Hartnell makes more money than Laich and is signed until the 2018-19 season. No thanks.

huh, it looks like we don't have many options besides Ladd
The only viable option is MoJo getting into a crazy shape and scoring 30-35 goals

 

[hb12xchamps]

What about any of the Ducks bottom 6 options? I'm assuming they are willing to let go a few guys given their situation. Andrew Cogliano, Nate Thompson, Mike Santorelli are some options.

Maybe a trade with the Flyers for Braden Schenn who is more than capable as a 3C? Scott Laughton could possibly make Schenn available.

The X factor in all of this is Burakovsky and his development (or lack there of at the moment). If Bura comes up with a bit of a hot streak, it makes it easier to trade Mojo for somoen

 

[capitalsrock]

Hartnell makes more money than Laich and is signed until the 2018-19 season. No thanks.

and is 100x better offensively

 

[g00n]

Considering how much shuffling has already occurred in the bottom six (and especially the 4th line), I have a hard time buying into the fragile team chemistry argument. We've already seen eight players rotate through 4th line and 3RW slots (Wilson, Galiev, Laich, Burakovsky, Latta, Brown, Stephenson, Collins).

Demotion of a player you chose for your franchise, and will likely use again, is not even close to the same as trading him away completely. Rotating in prospects at the bottom of your lineup =/= getting rid of someone, psychologically. It's expected by all involved.

On-ice type line chemistry is not the same as the chemistry championship teams often build amongst themselves as people. Players are always talking about the great group of guys they have and feeling like there's something special there. It's not always a case of "fragile" chemistry that can't be disrupted at all; but locker room cohesion does exist and you'd better be careful about removing the wrong guy, or sending the wrong message to someone you need to bump down to fit the new player.

And there's really only one main spot that's been getting rotated and it's that 12th roster spot. The 11 guys who will dress when healthy has just about been set, barring injuries or Bura flat out stinking it up. He's still played 30 of 33 games. Laich has played all 33 (amazingly). Brown has played ONE game. Collins, two. Galiev, seven. Stephenson, nine. Latta has 22. So it's not like the entire bottom 6 has been a constant carousel of new faces throughout. It's almost entirely the last sweater.

So yeah, just about any championship team can survive bringing in a veteran to fill the 12th roster spot if you've been shuffling borderline 2-way players about 1/3 of the time. Start looking beyond that and you may be looking for trouble.

 

[hb12xchamps]

and is 100x better offensively

Ok? We don't need Scott Hartnell at this point. He is signed to a higher cap hit for more term than Laich. I would much rather have Laich until the end of next season then to have Hartnell in an even worse contract until he's 36 years old and his skills are massively detoriated

 

[Blades of Steel]

i'd love to get purrtu back, but not sure he's the answer for this team.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but Latta's game has picked up some statistically in the last 4 games around the time that the Caps may have put a bid in for Jarret Stoll.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Considering how much shuffling has already occurred in the bottom six (and especially the 4th line), I have a hard time buying into the fragile team chemistry argument. We've already seen eight players rotate through 4th line and 3RW slots (Wilson, Galiev, Laich, Burakovsky, Latta, Brown, Stephenson, Collins).

I can't recall a Caps team acting the way this team did in Carolina the other night at the conclusion of the game. It was like a group hug.

 

[Hivemind]

Adding a player or two isn't going to shatter team chemistry. There's no Adam Oates on this team to pout about Trevor Linden. We're not talking about adding a Jagr-type. We're talking adding a piece or two to the bottom six and/or potentially a LD to fill the void of an injured or ineffective Orpik.

I can't recall a Caps team acting the way this team did in Carolina the other night at the conclusion of the game. It was like a group hug.

For ****'s sake, how long are people going to keep acting like this is out of the ordinary? Groups hugs are commonplace in the NHL. They are commonplace for the Capitals.

It takes about 5 seconds to google "Washington Capitals celebration" and you get all sort of group hugs as image results. None of these are even from the playoffs.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Adding a player or two isn't going to shatter team chemistry. There's no Adam Oates on this team to pout about Trevor Linden. We're not talking about adding a Jagr-type. We're talking adding a piece or two to the bottom six and/or potentially a LD to fill the void of an injured or ineffective Orpik.



For ****'s sake, how long are people going to keep acting like this is out of the ordinary? Groups hugs are commonplace in the NHL. They are commonplace for the Capitals.

It takes about 5 seconds to google "Washington Capitals celebration" and you get all sort of group hugs as image results. None of these are even from the playoffs.

Sorry, but I've been watching the Capitals a lot longer then most people here and that includes you and what I watched at the end of the Carolina game the other night was different from other celebrations I've seen in the past from the Caps.

 

[usiel]

Sorry, but I've been watching the Capitals a lot longer then most people here and that includes you and what I watched at the end of the Carolina game the other night was different from other celebrations I've seen in the past from the Caps.

I would agree as well. That celebratory hug definitely stuck out to me as more than normal and I'm a jaded 'meh' mofo.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Sorry, but I've been watching the Capitals a lot longer then most people here and that includes you and what I watched at the end of the Carolina game the other night was different from other celebrations I've seen in the past from the Caps.

yeah, there was something different about it. There's no coincidence that multiple people suddenly noticed the same thing.

 

[Hivemind]

Sorry, but I've been watching the Capitals a lot longer then most people here and that includes you and what I watched at the end of the Carolina game the other night was different from other celebrations I've seen in the past from the Caps.

Okay then. Any other words of wisdom from you, our resident Capitals elder and expert on team chemistry? How many fist bumps should they do before each game in order for us to decide not to add anyone a the trade deadline? Which is preferable, Johansson giving Holtby a butt slap before or after a helmet knock during the celebration line?

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Okay then. Any other words of wisdom from you, our resident Capitals elder and expert on team chemistry? How many fist bumps should they do before each game in order for us to decide not to add anyone a the trade deadline? Which is preferable, Johansson giving Holtby a butt slap before or after a helmet knock during the celebration line?

Merry Christmas

From what you wrote, you're the one that's in need of a group hug.

 

[Hivemind]

The concept of fans judging a team's state based on a group hug is patently absurd.

 

[Hivemind]

When your team is on pace to equal the most wins ever in a season and hasn't lost 2 consecutive games (meaning you can take any 7 game stretch from this season and they win that series), do you really want to mess with the roster?

While that's true this season (there hasn't been a seven game portion where they lost 4 times), that is not a categorically correct statement. It's possibly to lose 4/7 without losing consecutively. They also came dangerously close in the beginning of November, when they won four and lost four of the first eight games of the month.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Sorry, but I've been watching the Capitals a lot longer then most people here and that includes you and what I watched at the end of the Carolina game the other night was different from other celebrations I've seen in the past from the Caps.

We all see what we want to see (and I've watched the Caps as long as anyone..since the late 70's...so lets not play that card, its silly).

Sure, the team is close. I get it.

But that's due to Trotz. Sprinkle in maturation as well. Those 2 elements wont quickly go out the window if they add some players. This whole chemistry piece is being way over blown. Trotz and GMBM know the room a helluva lot better than we do. So if they add, then they knew it would work. I trust those 2. This isnt some George/Adam combo that isnt communicating. These guys are a team.

Look-- In watching all the deep playoff runs over the years, and in also watching the Caps failings...you always see depth winning out. Players get injured in the playoffs....all the time. We are ONE MORE defensive injury away from having to start Chorney and XXXX (insert one of Stanton/Carrick/Ness, etc). That could be the difference in winning a series vs losing it.

Caps need to add depth, period. Especially on D. Worrying about ego's is the least of their worries.