Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap Part XXXVI

[BobRouse]

Isn't Lainch injured again? Aren't inner leg injuries the type that can inhibit speed forever? ).

Upper body injury. Has nothing to do with the groin thing. His skating has been fine.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don't see how you can compare the two. The teams most effective and reliable line was shout down by Laich. As soon as he was moved off the 3rd line they turned it on.

Not really comparing the 2. Was just showing Tex the failure in his arguments, that lack of production from those 2 players, was somehow the same in terms to team needs (specifically salaries)

 

[Blades of Steel]

Laich should be able to return after the Caps road trip according to Trotz, seems to me, he's staying home to get well. no traveling.

@alex_prewitt
Brooks Laich will not make the trip, Trotz said, but expects him back first game after Caps return.

Trotz after practice talk, about Laich : http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/barry-trotz-10-20-14

 

[Ridley Simon]

It goes more to the point of finding something..anything..to complain about when there is so much positive to focus on ATM. Just comes across as nit picking when it comes to the salary of Laich, signing of Orpik and stuff like the Forsberg trade that people still lament about.

Caps underlying numbers are stronger this year than they have been since 09-10. Yes its a small sample size but you can't help but get encouraged. Yet there seems to be far more "negative" talk.

It is encouraging. Very encouraging. I've been happy with everything, for the most part, since they fired Geoge.

Doesn't mean there aren't other things that could be fixed.

I also think many people have a Caps related emotional hangover. So it's hard to get too excited as we've been burnt so badly the past 3 years.

 

[Ridley Simon]

beagle to the 2nd line with bura and mojo, ewwww... but in trotz we trust.

@VogsCaps
Beagle will return to lineup in Laich's spot on right side of line with 90 and 65; can offer added right dot face-off support. #Caps

May actually work fine. Defensively responsible vet who can mask those types of shortcomings from 65-90. And the DOT.

Not bad, actually.

And 25-16-42 is really going to become the 2nd line, time wise, for ES lineup time. Least, they should be. 90-65-83 will end up being a similar line, timeline,....probably less.....with each player being used to their strengths on special teams. Beagle can't really finish, so that hurts. But he can bang in rebounds....

Interesting move.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Upper body injury. Has nothing to do with the groin thing. His skating has been fine.

Injured is injured. Guys that take a lot of time away from the game seem to get hurt again, but in other places. Bodies are older, and not used to the banging. Happens a LOT in football...and also somewhat in hockey.

Will see, but I would be really surprised if Laich ends up playing 65+ games again in a season.

 

[artilector]

Overall, I am extremely happy with how this season has started.

Don't see how that should change attitudes about specific things.

It used to be arguing about flies in a pile of crap. Now it's arguing about flies in a jar of honey. So what, doesn't mean that the transformation from crap to honey (relatively speaking) hasn't been noticed and appreciated.

Also, there's naturally more talk about negative things, in general. I mean, how can there be a big discussion about how awesome Bura has been? "He's awesome!" -"No, I think he's even more awesome!". C'mon, there's nothing to really discuss, lol. Discussions happen about things that bother people. So the prevalence of "negative" discussions has nothing to do with people generally feeling good about all the positive developments. People just vent -- it's natural.

 

[BobRouse]

Injured is injured. Guys that take a lot of time away from the game seem to get hurt again, but in other places. Bodies are older, and not used to the banging. Happens a LOT in football...and also somewhat in hockey.

Will see, but I would be really surprised if Laich ends up playing 65+ games again in a season.

Laich has been remarkably durable outside of this groin thing. If he can steer clear of that I bet he def goes over 65. The guy is in phenominal shape from all accounts and he's still in the shadow of his prime so its not like he's a broken down mid 30 year old forward.

It is encouraging. Very encouraging. I've been happy with everything, for the most part, since they fired Geoge.

Doesn't mean there aren't other things that could be fixed.

I also think many people have a Caps related emotional hangover. So it's hard to get too excited as we've been burnt so badly the past 3 years.

Yeah overlooked that. Can't blame fans for being skeptical at this point but a little more positive energy would be nice.

Overall, I am extremely happy with how this season has started.

Don't see how that should change attitudes about specific things.

It used to be arguing about flies in a pile of crap. Now it's arguing about flies in a jar of honey. So what, doesn't mean that the transformation from crap to honey (relatively speaking) hasn't been noticed and appreciated.

Also, there's naturally more talk about negative things, in general. I mean, how can there be a big discussion about how awesome Bura has been? "He's awesome!" -"No, I think he's even more awesome!". C'mon, there's nothing to really discuss, lol. Discussions happen about things that bother people. So the prevalence of "negative" discussions has nothing to do with people generally feeling good about all the positive developments. People just vent -- it's natural.

I think he's the awesomest! haha

 

[Hivemind]

The same as Laich?

What a silly comment. For such a debate king, this is shoddy work from you.

If you'd rather have 4.5m taken up by a non performer, vs having the ability to actually improve he lineup via trade by having cap space, then we will simply not agree.

Plus a 1m or sub player into that 4.5m slot, as we have too many forwards as it is, and then use the cap space to improve the team. You were SO upset about the Caps use of their cap space in Nikanen and Orpik (who are performing well, save a game from Orpik), yet it's ok to waste 4.5m on Laich.

Talk about your dichotomies in thinking.

The comment was obviously rhetorical. Not meant as an end-all, be-all argument, but to demonstrate a point. $4.5M is an absurd amount of cap space to bank. You only need $1-2M at the beginning of the season to bank enough space to make a meaningful addition at the deadline. Banking $4.5M from the beginning of the season would mean somewhere between $15-20M in cap space at the deadline.

The difference between Laich and new UFA additions (Orpik/Niskanen) is a matter of opportunity cost. I don't feel any desire to rehash that debate for the 1000th time, though.

 

[Serial_Derecho]

Wilson assigned to Hershey..

http://capitalstoday.monumentalnetwork.com/2014/10/20/capitals-re-assign-tom-wilson-to-hershey

 

[BobRouse]

Another thing about the Laich contract.

While the 2 compliance buyouts would help with cap space those are still some serious real dollars to pay out to a player!

While teams like the Rangers, Flyers and Toronto can easily afford them I'm not so sure it makes sense for the Caps.

$13.5 million x 2/3 (for him being older than 26) comes to about $9 million.

Thats alot of money for a team like the Caps who have to sell out to make a few mil in profit.

Its easy for us to play around with Ted's money.

Also ...there was and is reason to believe he will return to being a productive player. Its not a situation where the player is totally washed up either.

 

[g00n]

Well everyone can come in off the ledge because supposedly the injury to Laich isn't serious

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...jured-reserve-will-miss-three-game-road-trip/

 

[Ridley Simon]

The comment was obviously rhetorical. Not meant as an end-all, be-all argument, but to demonstrate a point. $4.5M is an absurd amount of cap space to bank. You only need $1-2M at the beginning of the season to bank enough space to make a meaningful addition at the deadline. Banking $4.5M from the beginning of the season would mean somewhere between $15-20M in cap space at the deadline.

The difference between Laich and new UFA additions (Orpik/Niskanen) is a matter of opportunity cost. I don't feel any desire to rehash that debate for the 1000th time, though.

Laich's contract is also opportunity cost.

We can't operate in a vacuum here. Trades can happen all season. If we need to wait til the TDL to do something so we have enough space, that's a failure if you are carrying unnecessary cap baggage.

It can be argued that any player we really want, will probably get traded well before the deadline. When was the last time the Caps were able to get a highly regarded player that wanted a change of scenery? Been a long time. I think the new regime has the stones to get it done, but without Cap space now, it's a lot harder.

 

[Halpysback*]

For him to return to being productive he'd need to demonstrate offensive instincts of at least a Jason Chimera level. No one has an issue with his hustle - it's just that he looks like Jay Beagle when he's trying to generate offense.

Speaking of - why is Beagle getting 2RW in his first game back of all people? It's not gonna matter against crap teams like Edmonton, but still Though Trotz up until this point was in the too good to be true realm.

 

[txpd]

I think you can guess on the why. he is not going to mess with the backstrom and fehr lines to cover and injury. he does not want to use use kuznetsov at rw with the available center/lw combos on the first two lines. or he wants kuznetsov to continue to work at center.

he said he has a plan b. I wonder what that is.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

I think you can guess on the why. he is not going to mess with the backstrom and fehr lines to cover and injury. he does not want to use use kuznetsov at rw with the available center/lw combos on the first two lines. or he wants kuznetsov to continue to work at center.

he said he has a plan b. I wonder what that is.

He better go with plan B. If not, he'll see how awful Beagle is in game. If Beags isn't off the 2nd line after the end of the first period in EDM, I'll be shocked.

 

[Calicaps]

I think you can guess on the why. he is not going to mess with the backstrom and fehr lines to cover and injury. he does not want to use use kuznetsov at rw with the available center/lw combos on the first two lines. or he wants kuznetsov to continue to work at center.

he said he has a plan b. I wonder what that is.

Guessing Brouwer/Fehr as top 2 RWs and Beags at 3C.

 

[tycoonheart]

http://www.russianmachineneverbreak...ilson-to-hershey-bears-its-not-a-rehab-stint/

Wilson to Hershey Bears.

Mike Vogel
Doubt he stays there past weekend. @wamps6789 will Wilson get called back up like a conditioning assignment or will he stay down awhile

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

http://www.russianmachineneverbreak...ilson-to-hershey-bears-its-not-a-rehab-stint/

Wilson to Hershey Bears.

Mike Vogel
Doubt he stays there past weekend. @wamps6789 will Wilson get called back up like a conditioning assignment or will he stay down awhile

Oooh, I'm going to dig up the AHL streams because he's gonna get in like a hundred fights.

 

[troyerlaw]

@alex_prewitt
Sounds like Beagle will skate beside 90/65 tomorrow

i am going to stay positive today, i am going to stay positive today, i am not going to think about Jay Beagle at all today, i am going to back slowly away from my computer monitor, today is a great day, everything is fine today

 

[HunterSThompson]

Speaking of - why is Beagle getting 2RW in his first game back of all people? It's not gonna matter against crap teams like Edmonton, but still Though Trotz up until this point was in the too good to be true realm.

Ward and Chimera each have more than ten more minutes of even strength TOI than Burakovsky. Furthermore, someone mentioned somewhere that Ward-Chimera line goes second in line rushes.

 

[txpd]

the reason why beagle is with bura and mojo is because chimera and ward are bigger than trotz and bura an mojo are not.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Jay Beagle is on the second line because Trotz has the chance to throw him a bone playing in front of his family and friends for the first time, IMO. He's a decently big fast guy who can win board battles and get the puck to the skill players on that line, so it's conceivable that it could work. If not, my guess is Kuznetsov or Fehr as plan B.

This is like when they called that dude up from Hershey at the end of last season just so he could get a couple NHL games because they wanted to reward him. I doubt it lasts long (unless it's working).

 

[Halpysback*]

I'm trying to figure out how giving Kuznetsov some games in a scoring role with skilled linemates as a RW is going to derail his ability to become a center down the road. He had 4 years of that in the KHL and somehow it didn't ruin his centerness.

If he doesn't get a lot of opportunity to practice and refine high end offensive skills in the NHL they will get Pejorative Slured or disappear. You need confidence in your stickhandling, passing and shooting to become a successful skill player, and you can only get that kind of confidence if you are able generate offense with other skilled or at least Joel Ward-ish players. Kuz will not get that with Liam O'Brian and Chris Brown as his linemates.

 

[txpd]

I would think that Trotz doesn't want Burakovsy and Kuznetsov playing on the same line. Philosophical differences