Prospect Info: Capitals Prospects and Minor League Affiliates (Hershey Bears, SC Stingrays) - 2014-18

[Son of Petter]

Does copley have an NHL future to you guys? I felt like he was the heir apparent to the backup position when Grubauer moved on. Thanks in advance!

 

[Chockey Hockey]

Copley has not looked comfortable and many are wondering if it's due to his injury in playoffs last year. Of course the young defense in Hershey hasn't helped either. Most people including me now have more faith with Vanecek in net.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Copley has not looked comfortable and many are wondering if it's due to his injury in playoffs last year. Of course the young defense in Hershey hasn't helped either. Most people including me now have more faith with Vanecek in net.

Vanecek surely has looked better this season when he gets the net.

Your spot on with Copley looking uncomfortable. I think the organization and maybe even Copley rushed himself back into things before he was entirely ready. Hershey's tandem of Parker Milner/Adam Carlson to start the season was awful and I think there was a lot of pressure to get Copley/Vanecek in the net because of their track record. This year has probably been a lost cause for a lot of players. What I'm worried for now is the young guys developing bad habits as the team looks deflated and not playing well. I hope the OT win this weekend and adding Whitney to the lineup injects some life into the guys.

Another thing to think about is the loss of Hershey's goalie coach to the Caps. Maybe the new guy isn't doing as great of a job?

 

[hb12xchamps]

Good article explaining the backstory to Boyd’s 4 goal night on Friday

Capitals prospect Travis Boyd dedicates 4-goal performance to sick daughter - Article - BARDOWN

 

[hb12xchamps]

Odd seeing Elite Prospects with an article but they posted one recently about Samsonov

Capitals’ goalie-of-the-future has his eyes set on the NHL

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Vanecek surely has looked better this season when he gets the net.

Your spot on with Copley looking uncomfortable. I think the organization and maybe even Copley rushed himself back into things before he was entirely ready. Hershey's tandem of Parker Milner/Adam Carlson to start the season was awful and I think there was a lot of pressure to get Copley/Vanecek in the net because of their track record. This year has probably been a lost cause for a lot of players. What I'm worried for now is the young guys developing bad habits as the team looks deflated and not playing well. I hope the OT win this weekend and adding Whitney to the lineup injects some life into the guys.

Another thing to think about is the loss of Hershey's goalie coach to the Caps. Maybe the new guy isn't doing as great of a job?

This guy feels more and more like a wasted 2nd rounder....thoughts?

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Odd seeing Elite Prospects with an article but they posted one recently about Samsonov

Capitals’ goalie-of-the-future has his eyes set on the NHL

Outstanding! The only issue I take with the article is the comment "Samsonov will end up on a team where there is an uncontested number one goalie in Braden Holtby". We'll see how Holtby performs over the remainder of the season, but with 6.1 for two more seasons, I'm inclined now to move Holtby come this summer (preferably before the draft) and roll with Grubauer until Samsonov establishes himself.

 

[hb12xchamps]

This guy feels more and more like a wasted 2nd rounder....thoughts?

Vanecek? I don't think so. He's on the Grubauer development path by spending a few years in the minors. Grubauer spent parts of 4 years in the ECHL/AHL before making the jump. Vanecek's gotten better each year and has outplayed Copley this season for a majority of the year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Thx....hope you’re right.

Not than any other 2nd rounders from that draft have done a thing...

 

[Hivemind]

Outstanding! The only issue I take with the article is the comment "Samsonov will end up on a team where there is an uncontested number one goalie in Braden Holtby". We'll see how Holtby performs over the remainder of the season, but with 6.1 for two more seasons, I'm inclined now to move Holtby come this summer (preferably before the draft) and roll with Grubauer until Samsonov establishes himself.

Banking on a prospect goalie is never a good idea. Far too volatile.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Not sure if Gruby is a starter, too slow to react at times....

 

[hb12xchamps]

Next year roll with whoever the Caps keep out of Holtby/Grubauer (probably Holtby) and give the backup job to one of Copley/Vanecek. That gives Samsonov a year to adjust in the AHL and if he starts tearing it up you give him some call ups and starts during the year. Goalie depth is a great problem to have

 

[Hivemind]

Definitely agree with giving Samsonov some time in the AHL first. He's going to need time to adjust to the North American rinks (goalies typically have all sorts of visual landmarks they use, and those change when you adjust the width of the rink). Ween him into the NHL over the course of a couple seasons. He's just turned 21 a little more than a week ago. Goalies typically don't end up in the NHL full time until their mid-20s. For reference, Grubauer is 26, Gibson and Hellebuyck are 24, Vasilevski and Murray are 23, and Saros is 22.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Next year roll with whoever the Caps keep out of Holtby/Grubauer (probably Holtby) and give the backup job to one of Copley/Vanecek. That gives Samsonov a year to adjust in the AHL and if he starts tearing it up you give him some call ups and starts during the year. Goalie depth is a great problem to have

There's 18 games left in the regular season. Divy the games up 9 and 9 between Grubauer and Holtby. Will help to decide who you roll with come the playoffs, but if Holtby shits the bed in the playoffs, it may be best to move him and his 6.1 contract during the summer to the likes of St. Louis or Edmonton. As far as backup goes, there's currently 28 goalies listed as pending UFAs on Spotrac so between Hershey and free agency a back up goalie to Grubauer could be found until Samsonov is ready. Moving Holtby has as much to do with managing cap space as it does with his performance. Yes Holtby may just be in a slump, but I'd be more tolerant of a goalie having a slump when he earns less than 4.

BTW yes there are other players on the team that are also experiencing their slumps who are paid just as well as Holtby, but unfortunately those player's position is lacking in depth on this team. The same can not be said of the goalie position.

 

[hb12xchamps]

There's 18 games left in the regular season. Divy the games up 9 and 9 between Grubauer and Holtby. Will help to decide who you roll with come the playoffs, but if Holtby ****s the bed in the playoffs, it may be best to move him and his 6.1 contract during the summer to the likes of St. Louis or Edmonton. As far as backup goes, there's currently 28 goalies listed as pending UFAs on Spotrac so between Hershey and free agency a back up goalie to Grubauer could be found until Samsonov is ready. Moving Holtby has as much to do with managing cap space as it does with his performance. Yes Holtby may just be in a slump, but I'd be more tolerant of a goalie having a slump when he earns less than 4.

BTW yes there are other players on the team that are also experiencing their slumps who are paid just as well as Holtby, but unfortunately those player's position is lacking in depth on this team. The same can not be said of the goalie position.

St. Louis could be desperate after their recent slump and declining play of Jake Allen. They also could have an extra first rounder at this year's draft if they don't have to fork over their first to Philly from the Schenn deal. The condition is that the Blues can keep their first rounder this year if the pick falls in the top 10, which could happen at this point.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

I present to you the idea of placing an ECHL affiliate in Baltimore. Your AHL affiliate is pretty close, so why not bring ECHL into your backyard too?

It's obvious that the AHL will never let the Hershey Bears be moved, so ECHL would be a nice consolation prize. You hand off the Stingrays to the 'Canes and then you launch an ECHL expansion team in Baltimore.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Baltimore has had professional ice hockey three times with the Bandits, Skipjacks, and Clippers. I believe all three were AHL but could be wrong. Trotz actually coached the Skipjacks. No idea if they could house a team in the Royal Farms Arena in downtown but it would be fun to have a hockey team there again.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Baltimore has had professional ice hockey three times with the Bandits, Skipjacks, and Clippers. I believe all three were AHL but could be wrong. Trotz actually coached the Skipjacks. No idea if they could house a team in the Royal Farms Arena in downtown but it would be fun to have a hockey team there again.

Do you guys think Baltimore could actually host ECHL level hockey though? Would there be interest even though a majority of the Caps prospects would presumably be in Hershey?

I know the Bears games get a decent amount of fans that drive up from Maryland so there definitely is interest in seeing the future Caps players

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Do you guys think Baltimore could actually host ECHL level hockey though? Would there be interest even though a majority of the Caps prospects would presumably be in Hershey?

I know the Bears games get a decent amount of fans that drive up from Maryland so there definitely is interest in seeing the future Caps players

I think so. There are no other professional teams in Baltimore outside of the Ravens (EDIT: and the Os... shows how much I follow baseball) but the Caps have a good-sized following up there and Baltimore typically supports their teams well. There are a number of youth and high school hockey teams in Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs. Hockey continues to gain popularity in this area.

Also, when people ask why Ovechkin won't be traded, this is why. He has changed hockey in this area. He is the Caps and he is DMV hockey.

 

[hb12xchamps]

I think so. There are no other professional teams in Baltimore outside of the Ravens but the Caps have a good-sized following up there and Baltimore typically supports their teams well. There are a number of youth and high school hockey teams in Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs. Hockey continues to gain popularity in this area.

Also, when people ask why Ovechkin won't be traded, this is why. He has changed hockey in this area. He is the Caps and he is DMV hockey.

You forgot the O's

That's great that hockey is booming. I was more curious to see if fans would see it as a let down compared to going to a Caps game in terms of quality of play. I guess it would depend on ticket and concession prices as families would see it as a cheaper alternative to the high price of going to DC to watch a Caps game. It's not a bad idea and it certainly would help the entire organization out. Definitely would save some money on plane tickets/travel between SC and Hershey

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

You forgot the O's

That's great that hockey is booming. I was more curious to see if fans would see it as a let down compared to going to a Caps game in terms of quality of play. I guess it would depend on ticket and concession prices as families would see it as a cheaper alternative to the high price of going to DC to watch a Caps game. It's not a bad idea and it certainly would help the entire organization out. Definitely would save some money on plane tickets/travel between SC and Hershey

Wow. So I did... obviously not a huge baseball fan.

I think so long as ticket / concession prices reflected the level of play, i.e. a family of 4 could have a night out at the game for $100-200, then yeah they'd have a following.

 

[Hivemind]

I present to you the idea of placing an ECHL affiliate in Baltimore. Your AHL affiliate is pretty close, so why not bring ECHL into your backyard too?

It's obvious that the AHL will never let the Hershey Bears be moved, so ECHL would be a nice consolation prize. You hand off the Stingrays to the 'Canes and then you launch an ECHL expansion team in Baltimore.

I'd rather just make the Norfolk Admirals our ECHL affiliate.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Bears blew a 5-1 and eventually a 6-2 lead to lose to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-6. Vanecek was pulled in the 2nd period and Copley faired no better. This team is so mentally fragile it's insane. To blow a lead like that just shows they lack the mentality of a championship team.

They better start cutting the fat and getting rid of guys that have been here for a few years. It's time to say bye to Garrett Mitchell, Zach Sill, Dustin Gazely, Aaron Ness etc. That group hasn't produced well the past few seasons. It's probably going to take a big offseason to get Chris Bourque to re-sign. I'd be pissed off at the product that's been put on the ice if I were him.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Bears blew a 5-1 and eventually a 6-2 lead to lose to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-6. Vanecek was pulled in the 2nd period and Copley faired no better. This team is so mentally fragile it's insane. To blow a lead like that just shows they lack the mentality of a championship team.

They better start cutting the fat and getting rid of guys that have been here for a few years. It's time to say bye to Garrett Mitchell, Zach Sill, Dustin Gazely, Aaron Ness etc. That group hasn't produced well the past few seasons. It's probably going to take a big offseason to get Chris Bourque to re-sign. I'd be pissed off at the product that's been put on the ice if I were him.

A restocking of the Hershey cupboard is long overdue. The liberal discarding of draft picks is rearing its head. Furthermore, except for the likes of Nate Schmidt, this team really has not had many undrafted players make an impact, whereas teams like the Penguins have better success. Caps need to do a better job of scouting and seeking out the undrafted/college players.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Bears blew a 5-1 and eventually a 6-2 lead to lose to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-6. Vanecek was pulled in the 2nd period and Copley faired no better. This team is so mentally fragile it's insane. To blow a lead like that just shows they lack the mentality of a championship team.

They better start cutting the fat and getting rid of guys that have been here for a few years. It's time to say bye to Garrett Mitchell, Zach Sill, Dustin Gazely, Aaron Ness etc. That group hasn't produced well the past few seasons. It's probably going to take a big offseason to get Chris Bourque to re-sign. I'd be pissed off at the product that's been put on the ice if I were him.

Sounds just like the big club. Need a culture change throughout the entire organization.