Pre-Game Talk: Capitals 2018 trade deadline thread (Bob Mckenzie says caps in on notable defenders)

[hockeykicker]

what we know so far:
caps had 3 scouts in philly last weekend among other locations
people from other teams such as stars agm, leafs agm etc have scouted caps games (whether to see caps or other team is unclear)

place any scouting lists, any players you want/offers you would make, rumors etc here

Click to read more...

 

[g00n]

reposting this from the GDT yesterday vs Columbus because I think it's relevant

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I've been leading the Trade Burakovsky train since it left the station but I still think trading him for a rental is poor asset management.

 

[Corby78]

reposting this from the GDT yesterday vs Columbus because I think it's relevant

So he believes this, yet this is when we start to struggle.....

 

[Langway]

I've been leading the Trade Burakovsky train since it left the station but I still think trading him for a rental is poor asset management.

I think it depends on the rental. I would do it for one of the top guys in Green, EKane, Nash or maybe even Grabner. Gubranson+ or Maroon+? No dice.

Next season and beyond the asset gained--assuming the rental doesn't re-up--would primarily be cap space. It would be tough giving up three RFA seasons after this one but, then again, the bar is set at $3.25M in the final two seasons IINM. How much inconsistency can they tolerate for that amount when they already have salary issues elsewhere? Ideally, someone like Pacioretty or Hoffman would make more sense from a structuring standpoint but if they can cash in on him to land a more reliable top sixer that also PKs and bring pace or more of a puck-mover like Green it's probably worth the gamble. The development of Wilson, Stephenson and Vrana all sort of make it a lot more feasible than a year ago.

 

[hockeykicker]

Also fwiw, every single one of the caps scouts were in DC this weekend turning in their scouting info so maclellan may move faster then others

 

[Langway]

A couple of other names...

31 Thoughts: Trying to remedy the NHL's goalie interference controversy - Sportsnet.ca

Three others to keep an eye on: Chicago needs cap relief. With Brandon Saad dropped down the lineup, wonder if they look to give him a fresh start somewhere else. Another who fits the same profile is Boone Jenner of Columbus. He’s shooting 4.4 per cent, by far the worst of his career.

I’m wary of giving up on unlucky players, but the Blue Jackets have major contractual decisions to make and he’s up after this season. He’s arbitration-eligible, too. Arizona’s Tobias Rieder is another arbitration-eligible player. His numbers are down and he was a healthy scratch on Tuesday, but there’s more there. Not sure those are in-season moves, but they stick out to me.

I've liked Rieder as a fit for a while. Not an ideal fit relative to some of the more skilled rentals but those guys likely require a sweetener. Jenner makes similar money to 65, albeit as a pending RFA, and also likely requires a sweetener.

A couple of other names that would make sense for Chicago to move for salary reasons would be Anismov & Murphy.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I think it depends on the rental. I would do it for one of the top guys in Green, EKane, Nash or maybe even Grabner. Gubranson+ or Maroon+? No dice.

Next season and beyond the asset gained--assuming the rental doesn't re-up--would primarily be cap space. It would be tough giving up three RFA seasons after this one but, then again, the bar is set at $3.25M in the final two seasons IINM. How much inconsistency can they tolerate for that amount when they already have salary issues elsewhere? Ideally, someone like Pacioretty or Hoffman would make more sense from a structuring standpoint but if they can cash in on him to land a more reliable top sixer that also PKs and bring pace or more of a puck-mover like Green it's probably worth the gamble. The development of Wilson, Stephenson and Vrana all sort of make it a lot more feasible than a year ago.

I get that line of reasoning and could support it if I thought there would be a long term plan. What are they going to do w/ Burakovsky's cap space? Are they going to bail on Orpik? Are they going to let all the UFAs sans Carlson walk? Resign Eller? Are they going to make a conscious decision to reshape the team if things go poorly down the stretch?

The Caps are going to be even more top heavy should they resign Carlson this offseason to what's likely going to be double his current cap hit. They don't have a lot of high end talent on offense waiting in the wings and they'll need young cost controlled assets to continue providing depth moving forward to supplement all of these LTDs.

 

[twabby]

In terms of biggest need I think top 4 LD is probably it. Orpik has been getting 2LD minutes and has been absolutely hammered in them: to the tune of 44% of the shots and only 40% of the goals (both worst amongst the 6 regular D) while not even drawing the toughest deployments. And it's not like he's had a sterling playoff reputation in recent years to fall back on either. He needs to be pushed down or out of the lineup, and while I like Djoos quite a bit I'd much rather have him playing third pairing minutes in the playoffs instead of 2LD minutes.

I mentioned it in another thread and while McDonagh would be the big catch in terms of LD acquisitions, I think it's unlikely the Capitals and Rangers could make a deal.

On the other hand I think Oscar Klefbom could be an interesting target if he's made available by Edmonton. He's had a poor season in terms of results but his underlying numbers are still quite strong and I'd bank on his results turning around quickly. I think it could be a fit because Edmonton is in desperate need of wingers and they could be tempted to take Burakovsky and try to rekindle the McDavid/Burakovsky junior connection. Klefbom is young and under a team-friendly contract of $4.167M/year for 5 more seasons and it would allow the Capitals to deal one of their LD prospects (Johansen, Siegenthaler) as a pot sweetener to acquire Klefbom since that is a rare position of organizational strength for Washington (Orlov, Djoos, Johansen, Sigenthaler). I'd want a rental winger back in return if I'm Washington to replace Burakovsky, maybe Maroon.

I wonder if something like Burakovsky + Johansen/Siegenthaler + (Washington's first rounder or Florida's 2nd rounder) <--> Klefbom and Maroon (retained if necessary) wouldn't make sense for both sides.

I think the Capitals need to be bold this TDL. They only have a few more shots with Ovechkin and Backstrom before it'll become necessary to begin a rebuild. I think they need to be aggressive and worry about the future in the future. The Metro is weak this season (aside from Pittsburgh) and it's as good an opportunity as any to go all in. It'd suck to give up assets but they have plenty of valuable veterans they can deal in the future to restock the pipeline (Niskanen, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Holtby).

 

[hockeykicker]

Sounds like Tampa will get Mike green. Yzerman has been at the past few red wings games

 

[Man Machine]

According to the main boards Yzerman has the hots for Green. The Bolts definitely have more assets to offer than the Caps and are a serious contender for the cup.

 

[Ridley Simon]

According to the main boards Yzerman has the hots for Green. The Bolts definitely have more assets to offer than the Caps and are a serious contender for the cup.

Welp, Green has a full NTC. So, he can dictate where he goes. Would think Tampa would be a "yes", but Green's a different cat, so who knows?

 

[txpd]

Welp, Green has a full NTC. So, he can dictate where he goes. Would think Tampa would be a "yes", but Green's a different cat, so who knows?

Interesting to know if Green still holds a grudge over the Olympic team snub. It clearly effected Green for a couple years after it happened. That also makes me wonder how much interest Yzerman really has.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

My opinion on the TDL is that the Caps shouldn't do anything unless a great offer comes up. I'm okay with entering the playoffs with our current roster. There is no rental at the TDL that will get us to the same level we were at last season.

 

[maacoshark]

If Domi is nothing, I'm afraid to ask what Burakovski is. Ubernothing?

Domi is playing like Burakovsky. My point is we dont need that kind of player. Our defence needs fixing. All anyone here wants to do is add another offence only player. If we do that we are going to need 5 or 6 goals a game. Come on guys this isn't the 80s or early 90s

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Yeh I'm not buying the Yzerman and Green rumors

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

You disagree that we need a shutdown guy? Not sure how. Have you seen these guys play. Why do you guys think we need to add offense. We need to take care of our end. We went for an offensive defence man last year. How did that work? I'll answer that, it didnt. So why add the type of player that we dont need.

No, not that. I disagree when you say that OEL is bad defensively and that Domi had a lucky season last year. Neither is true IMO.

Ideally, we need help everywhere, our roster has lots of holes. I agree that a shutdown D would be a priority but if we can't get one, a little scoring depth doesn't hurt either.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

This trade deadline will have the Vegas effect. All of the contending teams are down a second liner because of the moronic draft rules. And Vegas who was suppose to suck and trade all their players for futures are the presidents winner. Good job Betteman

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

This trade deadline will have the Vegas effect. All of the contending teams are down a second liner because of the moronic draft rules. And Vegas who was suppose to suck and trade all their players for futures are the presidents winner. Good job Betteman

I think that plays in our favor. We lost a lot of depth on top of losing Schmidt in the expansion draft. One thing we retained is star power, and the Capitals' stars on their games are almost as good as any group of stars in the league.

 

[Langway]

Domi is playing like Burakovsky. My point is we dont need that kind of player. Our defence needs fixing. All anyone here wants to do is add another offence only player. If we do that we are going to need 5 or 6 goals a game. Come on guys this isn't the 80s or early 90s

Well, they also need Niskanen to play like Niskanen and Carlson to be more firm. Their issues defensively seem to be more of a team thing and a systematic issue rather than something likely solved by adding Hjalmarsson or someone similar. All that's likely to do is stem the bleeding a bit more.

I also wouldn't count on them being easily able to score as much in the playoffs. Their whole Secret Shot Quality thing relies an awful lot on finishing talent rather than anything purely systematic. In addition, who knows whether Vrana or Burakovsky will be any sort of positive factor. Who knows whether Connolly reverts back to being scratch quality. Who knows how effective 19/77 will be when pace elevates and they struggle to gain separation. So they do also need more reliable, consistent forwards. Part of the reason why Domi is playing somewhat poorly is he's playing out position at center but he's still producing assists. He just needs to be back at wing where his game is far more suited. Why Arizona isn't playing Strome at center and Domi on the wing doesn't make much sense to me. Keller isn't playing center either, which I guess is somewhat understandable due to his frame, but they might as well let their center prospects cut their teeth at this point. Domi isn't one of them.

This team's underlying instability makes it tough to determine what they need most because we so rarely see them go full throttle. I'm not sure it's any more complicated than that they just need better players when it comes to pace, passing, consistency and IQ. It is tough to envision them making a deep run with two rookie blueliners but it's also hard to believe that's just what's holding them back.

 

[Ridley Simon]

My opinion on the TDL is that the Caps shouldn't do anything unless a great offer comes up. I'm okay with entering the playoffs with our current roster. There is no rental at the TDL that will get us to the same level we were at last season.

Doesnt need to be a rental. Guy like McDonagh, or Kane, or Hjalmarsson etc etc could be enough to change the course of this team, ASAP

 

[Langway]

Yeh I'm not buying the Yzerman and Green rumors

It's one thing not to believe Green was a top 7/8 defenseman on Team Canada years ago and another not to believe he couldn't help out a third pair/PP on a Cup run.

 

[Calicaps]

I think that plays in our favor. We lost a lot of depth on top of losing Schmidt in the expansion draft. One thing we retained is star power, and the Capitals' stars on their games are almost as good as any group of stars in the league.

Except our stars, other than Ovie, haven’t been on their game all year.

Meanwhile, what do folks think of Zebanijad? I've liked what I've seen of his game with otherwise terrible Rags this year.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

In terms of biggest need I think top 4 LD is probably it. Orpik has been getting 2LD minutes and has been absolutely hammered in them: to the tune of 44% of the shots and only 40% of the goals (both worst amongst the 6 regular D) while not even drawing the toughest deployments. And it's not like he's had a sterling playoff reputation in recent years to fall back on either. He needs to be pushed down or out of the lineup, and while I like Djoos quite a bit I'd much rather have him playing third pairing minutes in the playoffs instead of 2LD minutes.

I mentioned it in another thread and while McDonagh would be the big catch in terms of LD acquisitions, I think it's unlikely the Capitals and Rangers could make a deal.

On the other hand I think Oscar Klefbom could be an interesting target if he's made available by Edmonton. He's had a poor season in terms of results but his underlying numbers are still quite strong and I'd bank on his results turning around quickly. I think it could be a fit because Edmonton is in desperate need of wingers and they could be tempted to take Burakovsky and try to rekindle the McDavid/Burakovsky junior connection. Klefbom is young and under a team-friendly contract of $4.167M/year for 5 more seasons and it would allow the Capitals to deal one of their LD prospects (Johansen, Siegenthaler) as a pot sweetener to acquire Klefbom since that is a rare position of organizational strength for Washington (Orlov, Djoos, Johansen, Sigenthaler). I'd want a rental winger back in return if I'm Washington to replace Burakovsky, maybe Maroon.

I wonder if something like Burakovsky + Johansen/Siegenthaler + (Washington's first rounder or Florida's 2nd rounder) <--> Klefbom and Maroon (retained if necessary) wouldn't make sense for both sides.

I think the Capitals need to be bold this TDL. They only have a few more shots with Ovechkin and Backstrom before it'll become necessary to begin a rebuild. I think they need to be aggressive and worry about the future in the future. The Metro is weak this season (aside from Pittsburgh) and it's as good an opportunity as any to go all in. It'd suck to give up assets but they have plenty of valuable veterans they can deal in the future to restock the pipeline (Niskanen, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Holtby).

Normally agree with you but I hate that deal. No way am I trading three first round picks for Oscar Klefbom and half a season of Patrick Maroon.

 

[Corby78]

This trade deadline will have the Vegas effect. All of the contending teams are down a second liner because of the moronic draft rules. And Vegas who was suppose to suck and trade all their players for futures are the presidents winner. Good job Betteman

Hold on to your hat, because betteman likes how it turned out and wants to do more of the same when Seattle is up.