Speculation: Acq/ Rost. Bldg./ Cap Part XXXIV: Take Ted's Money

[txpd]

Errr. No one was scoring at even strength. I think Backstrom had all of 28 points or something at ES or something like that.

Mojo is hated on because he's not a big grinding monster. People fail to see the value he does hold.

didn't 90 lead the team in primary assists or something like that?

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

didn't 90 lead the team in primary assists or something like that?

He did in fact lead the team with 16 primary ESA. He also scored 2 goals playing with Backstrom and Ovechkin.

 

[Brian23]

Mojo may not be a perfect compliment to 8 or 19 (though I don't think those 2 are great compliments to each other in general) that doesn't mean he's some trash player that needs to be shipped out. He's someone capable of 40+ points a year at that young an age is a big deal. Its not even as if he's capped out at that point either as I think the Sedin comparison is a pretty good one.

Unless its the difference between a prime player and a slightly over-the hill player, I don't see the necessity to unload Mojo. There are many other players on our team that should be unloaded first.

 

[Halpysback*]

They really need to sign Ribeiro if he comes by cheaply. He's the only one who can make Laich and Brouwer seem like NHLers with some scoring ability and kinda fit the roster

Ovechkin Backstrom Kuznetsov
Laich/Fehr Ribeiro Brouwer
Chimera Fehr/Laich Ward
Galiardi (hopefully) Latta Wilson

 

[txpd]

didn't Brouwer score 25 last season without Ribeiro?

 

[txpd]

He did in fact lead the team with 16 primary ESA. He also scored 2 goals playing with Backstrom and Ovechkin.

i would bet that the 2 goals was the Johansson version of Ovechkin only scoring one ppg at home a couple years ago.

i think leading the team is primary assists earns him the benefit of the doubt on the goal scoring. not a pink slip

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

i would bet that the 2 goals was the Johansson version of Ovechkin only scoring one ppg at home a couple years ago.

i think leading the team is primary assists earns him the benefit of the doubt on the goal scoring. not a pink slip

23 points on the top line is garbage.

I'd love to see him play a full year on his own line. As 5th year pro it's put up or shut up time.

 

[trick9]

23 points on the top line is garbage.

I'd love to see him play a full year on his own line. As 5th year pro it's put up or shut up time.

Based on what i've seen of him centering a line that he is expected to carry (atleast in playmakers role), i'll say that you don't want to see that unless you want to see 782521 drop-passes and top-5 draft pick.

 

[Ajax1995]

As a 2nd year NHLer Johansson centered Ovechkin for 3 months when Backstrom was out with a concussion and did just fine.

For whatever reasons Oates saw him as a winger, which he is not in any way IMO, and rarely gave him more than a game here or there as a pivot. If Oates saw him as a winger that tells me he is definitely a centerman.

I'm confident if Trotz gives him some time to settle in back in the middle on a steady line and doesn't jerk him around from position to position and role to role he'll be more than fine.

 

[txpd]

Based on what i've seen of him centering a line that he is expected to carry (atleast in playmakers role), i'll say that you don't want to see that unless you want to see 782521 drop-passes and top-5 draft pick.

I love the drop pass attack on Johansson. Seriously.

What is Johansson's most obvious asset?
answer: his speed.

How do defenses generally respond to being attacked by speed?
answer: they back up.

what does a fast puck carrier backing off the defense create?
answer; open ice behind the puck carrier.

the proper play in this scenario is?
answer: the drop pass.

he drop passes the puck a lot because he is faster than his linemates and the defense backs up and gives him the blue line. Backstrom and Ovechkin are open and BEHIND him. So he drop passes the puck.

find something worth to rip him for. there are real things to complain about. the drop pass isn't one of them

 

[g00n]

Semin is the one who used to drop pass at the blue line all the time. MJ90 has a lot of different methods for turning the puck over.

 

[Capathetic]

You know there are a bunch of teams with 23 year old players who haven't even cracked the nhl yet. A few first round picks too.

Sometimes we all look like spoiled babies here.

 

[ryan519*]

both johansson and kuznetsov are natural centers and were drafted to be centers, and we should use them as such. kuz is not quite ready yet though so i think we should wait a little bit on him. plus he needs to get his faceoff percentage higher. give him a full year in the NHL than put him as a C.

Ovie - Mojo - Ward
Fehr - Nick - Kuz
Chimera - Beagle - Brouwer
Laich - Latta - Wilson

kuznetsov and ovie should be on the same line, but not until kuz gets that full year of NHL experience. there is a lot of chemistry that has begun to and will continue to build between the two

hate to break up the ward -fehr - chimera line but they all deserve more ice time and therefore should be moved up, where nick would be. fehr/chimera interchangeable

ive never been particularly impressed with brouwer, and honestly ward should be on the 1st line spot over him. ward works much harder than troy every night and can actually finish on beautiful setups from his linemates. he is also great getting the puck along the boards, which would offset mojo's terrible job at it, and generate more chances for ovie or mojo to get the puck in those situations.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

You know there are a bunch of teams with 23 year old players who haven't even cracked the nhl yet. A few first round picks too.

Sometimes we all look like spoiled babies here.

Count me in the camp that thinks pro experience is a lot more important than age. Johansson is a six year pro -including 4 in the NHL. It's ok to have expectations of him.

 

[g00n]

I would like to know how many people want patience with MJ90 because of his age, but think Wilson stinks and should be traded...

 

[artilector]

I am a fan of speed & skill, but wouldn't shed any tears for MJ getting packaged up. His skill level is average for top-6 and physically he's unimposing at best. He has straight line speed, but is neither a big Scud missile like Chimera, nor a shifty little dynamo like the Purretu's of this world. I think he has trouble using his speed to actually impact the game.

What exactly would the Caps miss if he's gone? Nothing, really. Except for improvement potential. It's still there, and maybe he has Zetterberg-light late-blooming potential, but at this point you can't count on that. If you have a chance to move a question mark like that to improve the team, you do it, IMO. Maybe he himself needs a change of scenery.

However, I'm certainly not advocating moving him for the hell of it. We need 2C (much) more than forward depth right now, but cheap depth is not bad to have, and he provides it.

On the other hand, Wilson does have at least three excellent abilities -- he's big, he hits, he fights. And he seems to have enough mobility to not be a liability on defense. Even he ends up not having NHL skill, it's good to have at least one guy like that in your bottom 6. I wouldn't package him up unless we're talking fillet mignon-quality 2C. Which ain't gonna happen. So he should stay. Actually, I'm not sure anybody here wants him gone, fwiw.

 

[ryan519*]

david krejci is a free agent next summer. signing him would be..beautiful
i dont care how much $ either, i'd overpay out the ass to sign krejci

 

[Devil Dancer]

Semin is the one who used to drop pass at the blue line all the time. MJ90 has a lot of different methods for turning the puck over.

Had to post to say I actually laughed at this. And I like MJ90 and Semin more than most posters around here.

 

[Zoidberg Jesus]

I would like to know how many people want patience with MJ90 because of his age, but think Wilson stinks and should be traded...

If there are people here who want Wilson traded, I haven't seen them.

 

[Capathetic]

Count me in the camp that thinks pro experience is a lot more important than age. Johansson is a six year pro -including 4 in the NHL. It's ok to have expectations of him.

Caps rush their prospects though. His flaws IMO were created from entering the league too early mostly board play and the lack of "skill" some are saying. Had he been brought up like the Red Wings do with their European players I think he would show more in those areas of the game.

As it stands right now I think you play him at 2c and have someone like Brouwer take most of the draws. His speed is certainly an asset considering Backstrom isn't very fast. Mojo takes heat for drop passes but he has good vision. While he does leach a few points off Ovi he has set him up with sweet stuff as well that goes unnoticed.

Look we all want a better possession game. Mj90 is a slick passing swede capable of carrying the puck that didn't look out of place on an Olympic roster.

IMO he's a 60 pt player by age 25 and will see 50 this year without injuries.

The issue I think most have with him is that he isn't showing the improvement. Look back at the winter classic game vs Pittsburgh. He looks like a similar player but still makes good plays that lead to goals. For all we know Oates really stalled his developement.

 

[g00n]

If there are people here who want Wilson traded, I haven't seen them.

Well, there are. Search for "trade Wilson" doesn't yield every relevant comment but it returns a few:


http://hfboards.mandatory.com/search.php?searchid=26808437

And the point of my comment was MJ90 at 23/24yrs gets the youth excuse from some but Wilson at 19 was supposedly developed enough to be a known commodity with no skills. It's not just trade talk. Were they the same posters saying both of these things? That's what I'm asking. But both opinions have existed on this board and it seems pretty strange.

 

[txpd]

On the other hand, Wilson does have at least three excellent abilities -- he's big, he hits, he fights. And he seems to have enough mobility to not be a liability on defense. .

whats funny is that there seem to be some that are convinced already that the hitting and the fighting is all Wilson will bring, which I've never understood.

 

[Hivemind]

Actually, I'm not sure anybody here wants him gone, fwiw.

Do you count getting top line minutes in Hershey as gone?

 

[Ajax1995]

You know there are a bunch of teams with 23 year old players who haven't even cracked the nhl yet. A few first round picks too.

Sometimes we all look like spoiled babies here.

Sometimes....?

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I'll have to break out my Mojo production at C numbers I compiled a while back when I get home. IIRC, he had about half a season under Boudreau and produced at a 20-20-40 clip. Not as much time there under Hunter.