Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap/Lines etc. Part LXXXIII -- Summer Free Agency 2017

[Capsman]

Unfortunately we are seeing the domino effect from one bad decision; keeping Trotz last season. It's like having a below-par race car driver and spending all your time and money trying to soup up the car. We are now paying the price.

The team

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Going all in is not an excuse for the offseason mismanagement. All in excuses losing all of our UFAs but Oshie, it does not explain reacting to the expansion draft like we found out it was happening the night before, giving up Johansson for magic beans, receiving no favorable discounts from any RFAs, not doing something about Orpik's contract, etc.


GMBM is like the kid who has 3 months to work on a project and he comes in and says he doesn't have it done because he was sick the day before.

 

[Corby78]

I have to say, I *might* still be a little frustrated over (what I consider to be) some of GMBM's poor decisions, re: asset management this off-season. Buuut I *do* appreciate the level of honesty/candor in his statements that are making the Twitter rounds right now.

I'm not going to blame him for going all in. That's what I wanted, a swing for the fence. We missed and are now in a bad spot. We were at a disadvantage this offseason and people took advantage. Looking at the bright side I think we at least have options at this years trade deadline. If it's falling apart then sell and start the rebuild. If the kids are coming around stay the course of rebuilding from within without completely blowing it up. That's what good organizations do anyway.

 

[Hivemind]

They went from having 7 top 6 talents and a quality prospect (Vrana) to 5 and Vrana. With this much thinner forward group, they can't afford to stack 3 of their big catalysts on the same line anymore.

Ovechkin - Kuznetsov - Connolly/Barber/Wilson
Burakovsky/Vrana - Backstrom - Connolly/Barber/Wilson
Burakovsky/Vrana - Eller - Oshie

 

[Coldplay619]

Unfortunately we are seeing the domino effect from one bad decision; keeping Trotz last season. It's like having a below-par race car driver and spending all your time and money trying to soup up the car. We are now paying the price.

The team

Yep.

Perfect analogy.

Unfortunately this organization is always one step behind.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Thanks for helping us keep a better team together Kuzy. There's clearly an I in team.

#allinCapsstyle

 

[twabby]

Thanks for helping us keep a better team together Kuzy. There's clearly an I in team.

#allinCapsstyle

Don't blame the player for getting his well-earned payday. Blame management for bungling every step of this "re-tool."

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Has Kucherov fired his agent yet? That deal is near criminal by today's new standard over overpaying for guys who have done jack ****.

 

[philip]

Don't blame the player for getting his well-earned payday. Blame management for bungling every step of this "re-tool."

Re-tool... I think we dropped the spanner down a drain by accident, reached down and grabbed a dog **** instead

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Don't blame the player for getting his well-earned payday. Blame management for bungling every step of this "re-tool."

59 pts is well-earned 7.8? (mod)

 

[Jags]

There is no I in team.

Kuznetsov: Perhaps. But there is also no I in "Mo' money, mo' problems, y'all.' And there are 3 I's in "I just got paid, ******es!" Take from that what you will. I'm going to buy an island."

 

[Hivemind]

During the World Cup last year, Kuznetsov explicitly stated that he would not have put up with what's Kucherov did last year and would have signed in the KHL instead.

 

[twabby]

59 pts is well-earned 7.8? (mod)

It's a slight overpayment given comparables and his RFA status but let's not pretend this is the same as giving some washed up guy a deal that is going to provide little to no value. It's 8 years of Kuzy's prime and he's 8th in the NHL over the past two seasons in even strength scoring/60 and 14th in all situations scoring/60. As a percentage of the cap it's less than Backstrom's deal was when signed. There's nothing unfair about it.

You can say he only had 59 points this season, but that would be ignoring the great postseason he just had and a great regular season before that where he had 70+ points. You should really be looking at the whole body of work and projecting forward rather than cherry-picking evidence that supports your preconceived notions.

In terms of mistakes made this offseason, Kuzy's and Orlov's contracts aren't even on the radar. Not wanting to move Orpik, failing to protect Schmidt, letting Johansson go for peanuts, signing Oshie to a ridiculous deal are far bigger mistakes than signing guys in their primes to long-term deals. Everyone knew Orpik's contract would be a disaster when it was signed, now here we are. And we're blaming Kuznetsov and Orlov, both of who are likely to continue to producing?

And besides, it takes two to tango. Management signed those contracts as well, not just the players. If they thought Kuzy or Orlov were being unreasonable I'm sure there would have been a ton of teams willing to take them for a good haul.

 

[Jags]

59 pts is well-earned 7.8? (mod)

Come on, CCF. 59 points is absolutely worth every penny of 7.8 million.

58 points, on the other hand, gets you shipped out to The Tollbooth State in return for a torn copy of the March 1989 issue of Good Housekeeping and a frisbee.

 

[Hivemind]

Come on, CCF. 59 points is absolutely worth every penny of 7.8 million.

58 points, on the other hand, gets you shipped out to The Tollbooth State in return for a torn copy of the March 1989 issue of Good Housekeeping and a frisbee.

March 1989 is a collectors item. Not even available as a back issue. What a steal.

http://backissues.com/publications/Good-Housekeeping-1989

 

[kogeh]

It's a slight overpayment given comparables and his RFA status but let's not pretend this is the same as giving some washed up guy a deal that is going to provide little to no value. It's 8 years of Kuzy's prime and he's 8th in the NHL over the past two seasons in even strength scoring/60 and 14th in all situations scoring/60. As a percentage of the cap it's less than Backstrom's deal was when signed. There's nothing unfair about it.

You can say he only had 59 points this season, but that would be ignoring the great postseason he just had and a great regular season before that where he had 70+ points. You should really be looking at the whole body of work and projecting forward rather than cherry-picking evidence that supports your preconceived notions.

In terms of mistakes made this offseason, Kuzy's and Orlov's contracts aren't even on the radar. Not wanting to move Orpik, failing to protect Schmidt, letting Johansson go for peanuts, signing Oshie to a ridiculous deal are far bigger mistakes than signing guys in their primes to long-term deals. Everyone knew Orpik's contract would be a disaster when it was signed, now here we are. And we're blaming Kuznetsov and Orlov, both of who are likely to continue to producing?

And besides, it takes two to tango. Management signed those contracts as well, not just the players. If they thought Kuzy or Orlov were being unreasonable I'm sure there would have been a ton of teams willing to take them for a good haul.

slight overpayment my ass. that was atleast 1 mil overpayment

 

[HeyMattyB]

Holy overpayment, wowsers L@@K!!! If *I* were in charge, I wouldn't have paid Kuzzy a single penny over $7,775,000 per year.

I mean, come ON! Do the math, sheeple!!!

 

[Stewie G]

slight overpayment my ass. that was atleast 1 mil overpayment

I'm curious as to how you reached this conclusion. Which comps were you looking at for $6.8M or less over 8 years?

 

[twabby]

slight overpayment my ass. that was atleast 1 mil overpayment

Maybe? I'm honestly not sure if it's an overpayment given his production to date. As mentioned he's a top 15 player in terms of point production over the past two seasons and that's with somewhat limited PP time. He's a top 10 point producer at ES. How much do you really expect those types of players to go for, especially since it buys 6 prime UFA years? He's a very good 1C who happens to be playing 2C because Backstrom is in front of him (and rightfully so).

 

[Roughing]

GMBM needed to win the cup last year. That's it... and he handed that task to a captain-less team headed by a bad coach with no clue. #LosersLose

The only real path forward is to shed the aging, $9.5M guy, who doesn't add much anymore, and get a better coach. The rest of this is simply extending some nice pieces for too much money. The Mojo return is god-awful but I didn't want him or Ovechkin protected anyway.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Kuznetsov: Perhaps. But there is also no I in "Mo' money, mo' problems, y'all.' And there are 3 I's in "I just got paid, ******es!" Take from that what you will. I'm going to buy an island."

Lol thanks I needed a chuckle.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

slight overpayment my ass. that was atleast 1 mil overpayment

Why sweat a million when it's more fun to sweat $500k with Wilson?


I have it at 1.25.

 

[philip]

GMBM needed to win the cup last year. That's it... and he handed that task to a captain-less team headed by a bad coach with no clue. #LosersLose

The only real path forward is to shed the aging, $9.5M guy, who doesn't add much anymore, and get a better coach. The rest of this is simply extending some nice pieces for too much money. The Mojo return is god-awful but I didn't want him or Ovechkin protected anyway.

You had to protect Ovechkin, even if we don't want him.. someone will still pay through the nose to get him

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Come on, CCF. 59 points is absolutely worth every penny of 7.8 million.

58 points, on the other hand, gets you shipped out to The Tollbooth State in return for a torn copy of the March 1989 issue of Good Housekeeping and a frisbee.

Screwed by one awesome secondary assist....

If this guy isn't an 80 pt 25 goal guy for the next 5 years, this is laughably bad.

 

[Hivemind]

Why sweat a million when it's more fun to sweat $500k with Wilson?


I have it at 1.25.

Difference is leverage. Wilson didn't have arbitration rights. Kuznetsov had both Arb rights and a KHL threat.