Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap Part XLI *(Poll added 2/12)*

[Atlas]

The Caps are 4-5 great moves away from being a contender. That's a feat considering how screwed up this team was 12 months ago.

The Caps need to figure out who the centers are. Backstrom is the rock star right now. He will need a lot of help in the playoffs though. He won't be this effective against the top D guys unless we have other centers carrying the load, too. Kuznetzov is a hell of a talent. He needs to bulk up. He might be the 2C if "Hammock" can add a scoring winger to his line.

I love Burakovsky also. Maybe he and Kuznetzov plus the scoring winger will solve our second line problem. But they have to play some defense.

Ovie-Backstrom-X
X-Kuzy-Burakovsky


We have to trade Green and Ward. Those are valuable assets that can bring back long-term solutions. We can't piss them away. We cannot expect to win the Cup this year!

 

[Langway]

caps should have taken Malkin

But then they would have just taken Kessel over Backstrom so...

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

The Caps should absolutely try to win a Cup this year. It's the weakest the league has been overall in some time. St. Louis is the only team I'd consider remotely scary.

 

[Efactor]

Start with Chimera for Semin ($2M retained)

Then look at Green for futures, and whatever else might make sense for value trades for this year and the future.

Don't trade: Ovi, Backie, Bura, Kuz, Orpik, Carlson, Carrick, Holtby, or our 1st in 2015.

Everything else is up for consideration based on value.

 

[artilector]

Any franchise that needs to go all-in repeatedly doesn't have any idea what they're doing. They need to build, evaluate, develop and make shrewd timely and responsible moves. I don't know whether they're truly capable of doing any of those things. Typically it's been draft finesse, hope and fill the rest of the roster out with grinders.

McKenzie reported tonight that Montreal have been shopping Eller & Emelin for months and that moving term is difficult due to cap uncertainty. Might be a good opportunity to acquire term at slashed rates in some cases.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

$5M for Semin for another, what, 5 seasons? Madness.

 

[Capitlols]

Any franchise that needs to go all-in repeatedly doesn't have any idea what they're doing. They need to build, evaluate, develop and make shrewd timely and responsible moves. I don't know whether they're truly capable of doing any of those things. Typically it's been draft finesse, hope and fill the rest of the roster out with grinders.

McKenzie reported tonight that Montreal have been shopping Eller & Emelin for months and that moving term is difficult due to cap uncertainty. Might be a good opportunity to acquire term at slashed rates in some cases.

I say it in jest. While I agree with you, to do the bolded will kill what's left of Ovechkin's prime years and as you've said there is no certainty they can even do it competently. Depressing when you think about it, the time to go all in has passed and nowadays all they can hope for is some miracle cup run.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I really don't get the desire to cash in for futures in a weak league with Ovie scoring like Ovie again, Backstrom playing the best hockey of his career, Holtby playing at near-Vezina levels, and the best defense we've had for two decades.

 

[EroCaps]

Then IMO don't do it for a rental, do it for Kadri or Bozak or someone with term remaining. Not that either of those two are necessarily the solution but I don't think Vermette makes much sense. They need to approach the deadline with longer-term thinking ala Kane. With Vermette, I find it unlikely they're going to want to give him the sort of term he wants (even if he were open to giving the Caps a bit of a discount on the cap hit). He's the best among rentals but as a real piece I doubt it's realistic.

Vermette is likely to cost a first and maybe a first plus so I think you'd kind of have to consider players with term remaining as more attractive.

Fair argument. If Vermette wants 5-6 years then it may not be worth it. That said, there's no guarantee Kuzya is the long term answer at C either. Or maybe they move Vermette to 3C after a couple years.

I just hope Bmac isn't sitting around on his hands like McPhee either dumpster diving or making desperation moves because he's waited too long.

Now or ****ing never.

 

[Atlas]

If The Hammock goes all-in this year it will only gut the franchise and make it so we will never win the Cup. I wouldn't bet $50 on the Caps at 20:1 this year. I'd just be burning $50. It'd be even worse though if Mac went all-in because he'd be betting our chances in 2016, 2017, 2018...on this year's team. I like this year's team but we are not a championship team. It's plain as day.

 

[Atlas]

I think we ought to be prepared for a minimal return for Green, in fact. I'm not convinced a contender will give up a ton for him.

 

[Bananas]

Any franchise that needs to go all-in repeatedly doesn't have any idea what they're doing. They need to build, evaluate, develop and make shrewd timely and responsible moves. I don't know whether they're truly capable of doing any of those things. Typically it's been draft finesse, hope and fill the rest of the roster out with grinders.

McKenzie reported tonight that Montreal have been shopping Eller & Emelin for months and that moving term is difficult due to cap uncertainty. Might be a good opportunity to acquire term at slashed rates in some cases.

And any team that doesn't have the balls to ever truly go for it is equally foolish...and gutless as well. Being on the cusp of contender status when there is no team/teams that are truly dominant would be beyond pitiful. Pony up some real assets and plug the longstanding 2C hold already. Let's give ourselves more than a puncher's chance for once. Kuzy looks good but there is a slim chance we win it all with him centering line two. Grab somebody legitimate and have said player and Kuz duke it out for the 2C role. The loser winds up on Backstrom's wing across from Ovechkin. We could roll 4 plus lines, have 5 legit top four D, and a goalie who's playing well especially when you give him a heavy workload. It would mark the first time in Ovie's career we iced a team with no glaring weakness. So maybe we lose a young player or a first or both. Go ahead and give it a shot already. If the plan is to contend some other year. Move anyone not in your plans and come hard after it next year...this year is ripe for the taking tho. This...****ing year.

 

[Langway]

I say it in jest. While I agree with you, to do the bolded will kill what's left of Ovechkin's prime years and as you've said there is no certainty they can even do it competently. Depressing when you think about it, the time to go all in has passed and nowadays all they can hope for is some miracle cup run.

There's no other way to do it. There are no shortcuts. Shortcuts, particularly when you're not there yet (aka Erat trade), just tend to push that prime window back further. They're closer than they have been but I don't think anything seriously accelerates their window as much as aggressively developing Kuznetsov and Burakovsky. Is this staff capable of it? Can MacLellan better surround them with more savvy linemates?

Their interest in Kane along with the Orpik/Niskanen deals suggest MacLellan is far more interested in higher order moves than McPhee. If he and Trotz identify a weakness they'll go after it and seemingly not care very much about cost to secure it. That's a start. Maybe not an ideal one but an operating logic with more urgency and perhaps honesty about it. Whether that aggression is smartly applied is the question. I suspect they will be aggressive and wouldn't rule out Green being moved if that's what getting better dictates. But they won't sell off just to plan on improving down the line and stockpiling futures.

Everyone gets hyped about the deadline and it's fun but there's no substitute for getting the most out of what you already have. I still don't think they do that and much of that's about player development and evaluation. I don't know that anything really trumps that.

 

[MrGone]

They are saying that Tikhonov is 95% sure coming to NA. I would like them to hold off on a long term 1RW and try to give him Mike Greens money in the offseason.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1830551

 

[Langway]

They are saying that Tikhonov is 95% sure coming to NA. I would like them to hold off on a long term 1RW and try to give him Mike Greens money in the offseason.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1830551

You spelled Joel Ward wrong.

 

[MrGone]

You spelled Joel Ward wrong.

Is that really the case. I was going off of numbers and reviews without really seeing him. How about Panarin? I am guessing its about the same.

 

[NeilYoung]

I really don't get the desire to cash in for futures in a weak league with Ovie scoring like Ovie again, Backstrom playing the best hockey of his career, Holtby playing at near-Vezina levels, and the best defense we've had for two decades.

Couldn't agree more, this team could potentially do something. Even as currently constructed, I don't see any reason to trade away the Greens and Wards when all there likely getting back is 2nds and maybe marginal prospects.

If this team adds a piece or two they could easily make a run

I honestly believe this is the closest in the Ovechkin era we've been to a cup

 

[MrGone]

I really don't get the desire to cash in for futures in a weak league with Ovie scoring like Ovie again, Backstrom playing the best hockey of his career, Holtby playing at near-Vezina levels, and the best defense we've had for two decades.

Couldn't agree more, this team could potentially do something. Even as currently constructed, I don't see any reason to trade away the Greens and Wards when all there likely getting back is 2nds and maybe marginal prospects.

If this team adds a piece or two they could easily make a run

I honestly believe this is the closest in the Ovechkin era we've been to a cup

I feel like it's all in or all out. And 1RW should be first on the list if they are going for it. Bura should be in Hershey and is not the answer this year. He is just not strong enough yet. He reminds me of Connor Carrick last season. No matter how well he played it there was many times he was just outmuscled. And that is what I thought of when Bura was pined against the boards a few times last night.

Maybe Kuza can fill that 1RW spot if the right 2C comes in. But a less offensive better rounded center will not help the second line that much. With two utility players that are not at there best at 5v5.

 

[ChibiPooky]

I don't get the clamoring for a 2C. Kuznetsov has taken that position. He's not a good fit for any wing due to his board work, and I see no reason to trade for a center to move him to the wing.

With Kuznetsov in the top 6, Johansson isn't a great fit on either line. A package of Johansson and futures would probably be appealing to more than a few teams and could net someone who might not be on the radar.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Two moves:

Johansson, Chimera and futures for James van Riemsdyk and Daniel Winnik

Future for Jagr

Ovechkin - Backstrom - Jagr/Brouwer
van Riemsdyk - Kuznetsov - Brouwer/Jagr
Laich - Fehr - Ward
Winnik - Beagle - Wilson

 

[artilector]

There's no other way to do it. There are no shortcuts. Shortcuts, particularly when you're not there yet (aka Erat trade), just tend to push that prime window back further. They're closer than they have been but I don't think anything seriously accelerates their window as much as aggressively developing Kuznetsov and Burakovsky. Is this staff capable of it? Can MacLellan better surround them with more savvy linemates?

Their interest in Kane along with the Orpik/Niskanen deals suggest MacLellan is far more interested in higher order moves than McPhee. If he and Trotz identify a weakness they'll go after it and seemingly not care very much about cost to secure it. That's a start. Maybe not an ideal one but an operating logic with more urgency and perhaps honesty about it. Whether that aggression is smartly applied is the question. I suspect they will be aggressive and wouldn't rule out Green being moved if that's what getting better dictates. But they won't sell off just to plan on improving down the line and stockpiling futures.

Everyone gets hyped about the deadline and it's fun but there's no substitute for getting the most out of what you already have. I still don't think they do that and much of that's about player development and evaluation. I don't know that anything really trumps that.

It sounds like I missed the stuff about Caps' interest in Kane.. was there interest?

I think the jury is still out on Trotz & development (I dunno how much BM weighs in on actual day-2-day handling of young players, hard to see a rookie GM tell a robust vet coach what to do with rookies). I may not like certain individual moves, but I don't yet see anything too criminal about his handling of Bura and Kuz. Kuz is doing fine overall. Bura may be coming along slower than ideal.. but slower is ok, as long as he gets there. I don't know... I think when Trotz says that Bura is gonna be a great player, he actually believes it -- he might make him jump through a bunch of hoops, but he's not gonna give up on him, and ultimately that's probably the most important thing.

As far as BM, I don't know if for example he can be evaluated for the ability to get good linemates for Kuz & Bura separately from overall roster construction. If he fails to get a better top-6 piece(s), then that's the real failure -- not the fact that this simultaneously means that he failed to get good linemates to develop Kuz and Bura. At the risk of coming across as nit-picking, I guess I'm saying that I'm not sure how to evaluate BM's talent-development contributions, at least short term. The one thing that stings is the Forsberg catastrophe -- sounds like he was part of the decision-making process. But as far as that goes... a single mistake also does not necessarily mean that the overall approach is bad.

Anyway.. at this point I'm more worried about BM's overall roster construction vision than about Trotz's development approach. At the beginning of the season, I was probably more or less equally worried about both

 

[FloridaCap]

Two moves:

Johansson, Chimera and futures for James van Riemsdyk and Daniel Winnik

Future for Jagr

Ovechkin - Backstrom - Jagr/Brouwer
van Riemsdyk - Kuznetsov - Brouwer/Jagr
Laich - Fehr - Ward
Winnik - Beagle - Wilson

Please stop. I can only get so excited.


Well, then just trade Brouwer for somebody who somewhat resembles a top-6 winger and i'll start drooling. I love JVR.

 

[EroCaps]

I don't get the clamoring for a 2C. Kuznetsov has taken that position. He's not a good fit for any wing due to his board work, and I see no reason to trade for a center to move him to the wing.

With Kuznetsov in the top 6, Johansson isn't a great fit on either line. A package of Johansson and futures would probably be appealing to more than a few teams and could net someone who might not be on the radar.

Yeah, a few good weeks of a career does not a Stanley Cup Playoffs worthy 2C make.

 

[Capathetic]

Two moves:

Johansson, Chimera and futures for James van Riemsdyk and Daniel Winnik

Future for Jagr

Ovechkin - Backstrom - Jagr/Brouwer
van Riemsdyk - Kuznetsov - Brouwer/Jagr
Laich - Fehr - Ward
Winnik - Beagle - Wilson

JVR would bring an entire different element in the power forward dept compared to what is here. Particularly his ability to catch pucks with his back to the goal and make a play like we saw in the Olympics.

I like the idea but think Wilson likely goes the other way.

 

[MrGone]

I still think they are two years away no matter what realistic move they make. They need two top six players the way I see it. One of Mojo and the leader of men has to go. They both would be fine in the top six with two strong players. Together it just does not work.

Maybe a 1RW based off of futures.
And flip a 2nd line wing for a different kind of player to fill the spot.

I would use Vrana, Carrick and maybe even Barber as chips.

*They should be close to sure if Barber will sign or not by now. And I would base thing off of that.