They had ~$1M in space going into last season before the Laich trade. Enough space to add Mike Richards midway through the season and Weber at the deadline, and to carry a 23 man roster with space for AHL recalls for the full year.
They had enough space to bank for deadline additions in 2015 (Glencross, Gleason), 2014 (Halak, Penner), and 2013 (Erat).
Nate Schmidt needs to stop going towards net offensively like he's any threat. He needs to stay back on D. He is no threat offensively and already once left the D in a odd man rush earlier.
Couldn't disagree more.
He does create chances offensively, even if he is not usually the one to finish them off. The defense been with the glaring errors so far, leading to a goal against, was Niskanen. Allowed his man to park right in front of the goal and set up shop there
Every time we play Carolina, we seem to struggle. We can't handle their speed.
Nate Schmidt needs to stop going towards net offensively like he's any threat. He needs to stay back on D. He is no threat offensively and already once left the D in a odd man rush earlier.
He needs to bring the puck up with speed to create space for the forwards. If there's one thing he does very well, it's skating fast.
I guess those kinds of $1M moves made a huge impact then. Look at our Cups. Time to load up the $1M secret weapon again. Cup or bust.
Some of those were trades. Gleason sent Hillen to the Canes, for example. Neuvirth and someone else was in the Halak deal, iirc. So they cleared some room. No reason they can't do it again.
Now go ahead and post your facepalm and tell me why I'm wrong.
fast paced game, carolina is soo underappreciated team around the league. imho they are next columbus
How you could possibly argue that not having cap space is a positive is beyond me. Even if they moved some salary out, they currently have to be entirely salary neutral in 2016-17 (unless they return to a 22-man roster). It's a lot harder to send equal salary back if you want to upgrade at the trade deadline.
Regarding the Gleason/Hillen deal, Hillen wasn't necessary to move from a cap space perspective. Carolina wanted a roster player in return. Don't recall if Neuvirth was necessary from a cap space perspective, either. But carrying 3 goalies was not something the Capitals wanted to do.
I hate spending to cap at start of season every year. It limits what caps can do at deadline.
Eller for 3.5 I hated. We have Johansson which could have solved #3 C. I would have rather had that money for Caps to add a real true addition near deadline.
Instead, caps are limited and have to do more Gleason, Weber, etc pointless moves again.
How you could possibly argue that not having cap space is a positive is beyond me. Even if they moved some salary out, they currently have to be entirely salary neutral in 2016-17 (unless they return to a 22-man roster). It's a lot harder to send equal salary back if you want to upgrade at the trade deadline.
Regarding the Gleason/Hillen deal, Hillen wasn't necessary to move from a cap space perspective. Carolina wanted a roster player in return. Don't recall if Neuvirth was necessary from a cap space perspective, either. But carrying 3 goalies was not something the Capitals wanted to do.
Speaking of Columbus, I don't believe their success is sustainable. Whatever Carolina is doing, they're going to be sustainable. They've been building for a while now.
Schmidt creates chances offensively. Anyone who's denying that is lying to themselves. His low point totals are because he's a defenseman who doesn't get any powerplay time. His point/60 rates at even-strength are 2nd on the team this season.