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

[Ridley Simon]

Ok? You could move Mojo for more in two years time, you only got such a crap return because of the cap crunch.

You're thinking in essentially terms of one year instead of two years.

So in your world, no Oshie, and no MaJo.

Sounds like whining for the sakes of it, right now. Or you just don't like Oshie

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Of course, there are other ways to open up salary space. Like buying out the declining play of 36-year-old Brooks Orpik, which would have saved $3 million against the cap in each of the next two seasons, and the cost them $1.5 million in dead cap space for the following two.

But MacLellan said the Capitals had no appetite to do that.

“I don’t know that we really considered that. I thought Orpik had a good year last year. I thought him and Schmidt played well together on our third pair. We value what he brings to young defensemen. He was very good for Schmidt, and Schmidt was good for Orpik. We have a bunch of young defensemen that are coming up: 10 or 12 guys that are under 22. They’re all pretty good players. We’re going to value the ability of Orpik to mentor these guys,” he said.

“So I didn’t want to buy out on our salary cap going out four years. I didn’t think it made sense for us.”

There it is...not even considered...."had a good year last year"

 

[Revelation]

Perhaps we could've suckered Bergevin into taking Orpik with minor retention and incentives, given how much he paid for Alzner for how long.

 

[Raikkonen]

I can see them trying to sign a bottom pairish vet Dman to hedge against rookie dman fails but even with that not a whole lot of depth this coming season if some dmen go down.

Like Tailor Chorney?

We already have him.

If they think the quality of prospects is high they can try to incorporate two at the time. If one fails (injury occurs) Chorney's getting the ice time. This will help to bank some cap space to the deadline too.

 

[strungout]

There it is...not even considered...."had a good year last year"

Well...he did.

 

[philip]

He's a non stop motor kinda guy. Perfect for the 4th line.

From his head coach

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/washi...n-nathan-walker-close-anybody-being-ready-nhl

I just realised he's a convy, that's amazing

 

[M1K3]

I wonder if BMac would consider Yakupov as a reclamation project should he be willing to sign at around 1-1,5 million on a one-year deal? Could be interesting to put him on a line with Ovy and Kuzy and see if they could develop some chemistry.

Bura - Backy - Oshie

Ovy - Kuzy - Yak

Vrana - Eller - Wilson

Walker - Beagle - Connolly

 

[Raikkonen]

i reached that conclusion with the fact that kuzy was MIA for atleast 33% of time in the last 2 years (last month and a half of 16 and playoffs first half of 17). was he elite the rest of the time? yes but im not happy with 7.8 for that when you add that we lost mojo (i know alot of ppl wanted him gone) for scraps and he was a pretty damn good 2nd liner and 1st pp unit guy

and i love kuzy probably my 2nd fav player on the team behind nicky

Even Malkin goes MIA.

Guys who don't are named like Crosby.

We know Backstrom is cheaper and is playing kinda consistently but his contract is ancient and not a good comparable.

Take Kopitar for example and you can feel better instantly.

 

[Raikkonen]

To be serious, this wasn't sudden. Everyone who's been following the Caps contract situation closely knew that something similar to this was going to happen. The last 24 hours have been particularly rough, given that the Caps ultimately ended up losing one more forward (Johansson) than predicted, and hindsight now gives us the power to see that things could have (and should have) been handled in a different fashion heading into the expansion draft to give them the ability to hang onto Nate Schmidt.

Last season was the end of their window as a primary contender. Management said this two years ago. They went all-in, and it came up short. This is the blowback from that.

This following year has to be a transition year of some sort.

They should try to contend as is and accumulate picks for the upcoming draft.

More importantly, they need to accumulate more knowledge about their prospects (and some #8 guy).

Having 5-6 young guys play the most of the season will go a long way towards better long term salary structure plan.

To reiterate, we still lack Canadian in top-6 F, I'd still prefer 2-way NA guy at 3C (instead of Eller who can be traded at deadline with some good assets in return) and we still need another top-4 LD.

The market is bare right now, they should concentrate on fixing those holes next summer. While GMBM waits, youngsters can play. More youngsters the better.

More cap space we can have at deadline - the better.

Ideally, I'd try to get future LD at deadline, draft or July 1st 2018, and trade Orpik next summer simultaneously.

Every veteran determined to be NOT a part of long term plan - should be shipped out like Mojo. In that sense I feel good about Mojo's trade (just return sucks big time). At least we have something certain about him now. He didn't help to win.

Another factor why I think we need to acquire 2LD while having several good prospects at LD position: we don't have forwards for top-6 in the system (besides Vrana who is in the roster already), so even if both Siege and LuJo are good enough one of them could be used as trade value to acquire the much needed F.

So ideally we should get one new experienced LD (even if not exactly top shelf) and have 2-3 prospects contend for that position to have a surplus.

Two years from now defense should be solidified, and the oldest one Nisky won't be old still.

Of course, extending Carlson should be a part of the plan, and rather closest part in terms of chronology.

Backstrom can play another 10 years I think. Kuznetsov and Oshie are here to stay too.

We just need to breed Vrana and Bura to be true top-6 forwards or know they aren't ones. This will take some time... and right now we are in the beginning, it will be rough for the next 9 months most probably.

And, yes, it isn't some sudden thing, surely.


Edit: I forgot to mention Gruby. I don't see a point of keeping him knowing we aren't really contending this year. Trade him for whatever we can get. Picks or middle-6 center prospect maybe. Picks would be enough. Even #2 is good to me. Gets us to use cap space banking.

 

[Raikkonen]

exposing Ovechkin in the draft

I've read about that (KSD's idea?). That seems to be just bad asset management.

In this current market exposing Ovi would get us 9,5m of cap space. It's a 0,5M more than Williams and Johansson. Could we used it a bit better? Maybe, but doubtful. I mean, those two get us nowhere in the big picture. Why would the club expose Ovi?

I see 3 options with him:

1) He's roaring back, we can use him
2) He's getting even worse
3) He's getting traded

I think the management should be planning around 2 and 3. But you don't pull the trigger right now after his injury. That's selling low. Have to hope. Even if you want to gamble and sell him now (not for free via expansion) Ted won't sign on that.

So you let him get back, get healthier, score some goals and then see where you are.

The worst thing is that Ovi's decline is real and we will get less than optimal return. You still have to wait until the market is better for cap space spending. And then trade him.

Maybe GMBM will listen to his colleagues at least. I don't expect it anyway.

 

[Raikkonen]

Burakovsky-Backstrom-Oshie
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Eller-Connolly
SomePKBody-Beagle-Smith-Pelly

 

[philip]

I wonder if BMac would consider Yakupov as a reclamation project should he be willing to sign at around 1-1,5 million on a one-year deal? Could be interesting to put him on a line with Ovy and Kuzy and see if they could develop some chemistry.

Bura - Backy - Oshie

Ovy - Kuzy - Yak

Vrana - Eller - Wilson

Walker - Beagle - Connolly

Honestly, I like the sound of that. There's a player in there somewhere.

 

[g00n]

On the one hand I like the idea of getting faster and younger especially on defense, but at the same time I can clearly recall the enormous veteran vacuum from years ago when our defensive prospects could've used mentoring from an Orpik-like player.

So I'm turning this one over in my head for a bit. If you're going to lose Mojo and Schmidt in order to keep an Orpik then the return had better be enormous as far as training young defensemen is concerned. But I also hope it isn't a sign that we're going to become a team of plodders under Trotz. IMO it's still an issue of mixed messages and styles and a failure to establish a clear identity that can be applied with 100% commitment by all.

 

[strungout]

Apparently there was some frustration with the kids not having shots at roster spots they last few years...that shouldn't be an issue now as they will all have chances to make the jump. Should make for some good competition in camp.

And yeah, having someone like Orpik still there to pair with someone like Bowey is going to do way more good than if Orpik wasn't there.

 

[badi]

Perhaps we could've suckered Bergevin into taking Orpik with minor retention and incentives, given how much he paid for Alzner for how long.

Being in MTL I'll tell you it's never too late to fool our GM

 

[RandyHolt]

Who is going to be the first Cap destroyed by Ryan Reaves?

Christian Djoos, of course. 160 pounds soaking wet.

 

[philip]

Christian Djoos, of course. 160 pounds soaking wet.

Reaves subsequently crunched by Wilson, then a battle for the ages

 

[HecticGlow]

Apparently there was some frustration with the kids not having shots at roster spots they last few years...that shouldn't be an issue now as they will all have chances to make the jump. Should make for some good competition in camp.

The young D didn't (although there was the opportunity, given Ness played at least once), but Vrana and Sanford both got good looks, and Stephenson was given a shot too. Truth is none seemed that impressive or full time NHL-ready.

 

[hockeykicker]

People complain about how they don't make changes and that the guys they had aren't clutch in playoffs. Now that they make changes people are mad again

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The next elephant in the room is John Carlson. He's due a substantial raise after this season and I don't see how the Caps fit his $6+mm cap hit on this roster given the contracts they've handed out this summer. CapFriendly has them w/ $54mm locked up in only 9 contracts for next season, excluding Carlson.

 

[Corby78]

I wonder if BMac would consider Yakupov as a reclamation project should he be willing to sign at around 1-1,5 million on a one-year deal? Could be interesting to put him on a line with Ovy and Kuzy and see if they could develop some chemistry.

Bura - Backy - Oshie

Ovy - Kuzy - Yak

Vrana - Eller - Wilson

Walker - Beagle - Connolly

He is done, no thanks. I'd rather play rookies all year

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

People complain about how they don't make changes and that the guys they had aren't clutch in playoffs. Now that they make changes people are mad again

Wrong. People complain that there's no vision or strategy. What changes did they make to improve the team? The changes they made were because they had a **** poor plan to handle the situation they were in. All they have to show for this offseason is more expensive versions of the same players they had last year. They've lost two top six forwards and a top four defenseman for next to nothing in return and they're still in bad shape salary cap wise. What exactly about that scenario are people supposed to be pleased with?

 

[hockeykicker]

Wrong. People complain that there's no vision or strategy. What changes did they make to improve the team? The changes they made were because they had a **** poor plan to handle the situation they were in. All they have to show for this offseason is more expensive versions of the same players they had last year. They've lost two top six forwards and a top four defenseman for next to nothing in return and they're still in bad shape salary cap wise. What exactly about that scenario are people supposed to be pleased with?

I'm talking about a few months ago when people were saying mojo needs to be gone, he can't do anything in playoffs. Or winnik and the 4th line. Or how alzner and shattenkirk stink etc

People even wanted to trade ovechkin

 

[Corby78]

On the one hand I like the idea of getting faster and younger especially on defense, but at the same time I can clearly recall the enormous veteran vacuum from years ago when our defensive prospects could've used mentoring from an Orpik-like player.

So I'm turning this one over in my head for a bit. If you're going to lose Mojo and Schmidt in order to keep an Orpik then the return had better be enormous as far as training young defensemen is concerned. But I also hope it isn't a sign that we're going to become a team of plodders under Trotz. IMO it's still an issue of mixed messages and styles and a failure to establish a clear identity that can be applied with 100% commitment by all.

Well this problem can go back to GMGM and going through BB and Hunter hockey. Imagine if we would have stuck with one system the last ten years and developed players for it

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

I wonder if Yakupov's choice to play his junior hockey in the US stifles his KHL offers at all. I honestly think he's a guy who with proper development could have been solid. Edmonton just threw all of their draft picks into their lineups immediately for no reason.