Wilson is valuable. Plenty of teams eat that **** up. Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Buffalo Puffarado would all pay for him.
Post-Game Talk: Caps @ Flyers 8pm Rivalry Nightâ„¢
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Holtbyisms
Matt Irwin is a legit talent
AtNightWeFly
You better run.
Holtbyisms
Matt Irwin is a legit talent
We need someone who can anchor a line the way Kessel did for the Pens.
- Duchene
- JVR
- Cammalleri
- either Sedin
IDK who else
Cammalleri probably cheapest and if he gets hot he's GPG in the playoffs. If Columbus goes after Duchene and offers Murray we can't outbid them. Montreal and Cammalleri have beef so he's not going there, they may be all in on JVR. If either Sedin decides to waive and is picky we'd have an inside track with all our Swedes
Vrana Backstrom Oshie
XFACTOR Bura/Eller/Mojo
Ovechkin Kuznetsov Williams (yes this is the 3rd line)
- Duchene
- JVR
- Cammalleri
- either Sedin
IDK who else
Cammalleri probably cheapest and if he gets hot he's GPG in the playoffs. If Columbus goes after Duchene and offers Murray we can't outbid them. Montreal and Cammalleri have beef so he's not going there, they may be all in on JVR. If either Sedin decides to waive and is picky we'd have an inside track with all our Swedes
Vrana Backstrom Oshie
XFACTOR Bura/Eller/Mojo
Ovechkin Kuznetsov Williams (yes this is the 3rd line)
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SpinningEdge
Registered User
I think it's time for Vrana to get top 6 ice time.
No idea why Vrana starts off games so well yet barely gets 3rd period minutes and never is used in OT/etc. Trotz is definitely biased to veterans and expects them to always produce/be consistent/etc. know who else acts that way???? The coach for my favorite football team - Marvin Lewis. Both have biased views and both are insanely similar with career resumes IMO.
Holtbyisms
Matt Irwin is a legit talent
I agree, he might be young but he's played a mans game in sheltered minutes. Give him a shot at least.
Skrudland2Lomakin
Registered User
- Jan 1, 2011
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SpinningEdge
Registered User
For Wilson - you could get a guy for 3-3.5 million hit if the opposing team are half the salary.
Schmidt should be traded now for a low pick just so we free up his money so it can turn into a better defenseman by the deadline. Play Chorney now or let Bowey try. It's #6 d....
aonb
Registered User
- Oct 26, 2013
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SpinningEdge
Registered User
Yepp. Maybe the kids aren't having any confidence or making big plays at big times because they actually don't get any opportunity to do so.
If it's a close game/national game/etc - Burro and Vrana aren't even getting a chance to make a big play because they don't even get put in games to do so. No wonder their confidence is shot or they're playing too tight. Vrana seems happy now and playing well - but if this continues with Trotz he soon too will feel like he's just not good enough and may need a "reset".
Let the damn kids play. I mean, Williams has freaking Cup wins. What does he need a shootout goal for? It would be whatever for him. However, if Vrana or Burro even get called to have a chance in that spot - the amount of confidence they'd gain there would be huge. They'd feel like gold.
Burro and Vrana are first rd picks. Trotz may be old and think that they need to be role players/learn and not be in key moments yet/etc - but these kids I guarantee you think they can do more/be better/are being held back. Top elite talents feel that way AND they should.
If Caps record wasn't that good and Trotz wasn't playing Vrana/Burro/etc much - people would be calling for him to be fired.
Free the kids and let them make mistakes, let them learn by PLAYING, and let them feel like they are important. They have such amazing talent it can only turn into good things. It's not like we are playing Keith Aucoin a ton and letting him learn/screw up - we are taking key pieces to our future and guys capable of being productive very talented and good NHL guys NOW. Free the kids!
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CapsJunkie
Beaglchuck scores
Ovi- Kuznetsov- Oshie
Mojo-Backstrom- Cuda
Varna- Beagle- Williams
Winnik- Eller- Wilson
carlzner
Orlov- Nisky
Shmitty-Orpik
Mojo-Backstrom- Cuda
Varna- Beagle- Williams
Winnik- Eller- Wilson
carlzner
Orlov- Nisky
Shmitty-Orpik
ovikovy817
Registered User
Something went wrong when I went to sleep after 1st it seems 
I don't feel panic, a little impatience maybe. This team is performing very meh. Trotz doesn't care about actual results and gives Williams a bone. They are in a long season. Tired already maybe.
Flashes of good play are there, they were in the 1st. IDK what happened, why are you so blue.
Anyway. Next.
I don't feel panic, a little impatience maybe. This team is performing very meh. Trotz doesn't care about actual results and gives Williams a bone. They are in a long season. Tired already maybe.
Flashes of good play are there, they were in the 1st. IDK what happened, why are you so blue.
Anyway. Next.
Ovechkins Wodka
Registered User
What are the Odds of winning after being up 1-0 in a shoot out? I would think very high. This L falls on the goalie. Make a stop.
g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
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I agree that there's overreaction and the regular season standings don't guarantee anything, but I don't think it's true that there's nothing that can be learned or analyzed in the regular season. I'm sure we all believe that to some degree or else we wouldn't be here right now.
And while it's true that regular season performance doesn't translate to the postseason completely, can any Caps fan point to a recent season where the Caps OVER-achieved relative to their regular season performance?
Answer: 2012 as the 7th seed vs the Bruins. Before that, 1994 vs the Pens (again 7 vs 2).
And while it's true that regular season performance doesn't translate to the postseason completely, can any Caps fan point to a recent season where the Caps OVER-achieved relative to their regular season performance?
Answer: 2012 as the 7th seed vs the Bruins. Before that, 1994 vs the Pens (again 7 vs 2).
Langway
In den Wolken
- Jul 7, 2006
- 32,414
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It's okay. They'll flip the switch when they need to. I'm sure of it.
1998 was an overachieving run, albeit paved along the way with very favorable early losses by the top of the conference.
The division should be providing plenty of motivation to raise their engagement. But it's not there with a sharp enough point against good teams and at this point teams largely are what they are. They're a good system team because it's fundamentally what Trotz does yet they're also in many ways less than the sum of their parts. Or maybe I just drastically overrate the top six. If so, they'll need a lot going right to make a run and consistently come out on top. Relying on depth rather than sustained elite, top-of-the-lineup performance isn't the answer. The play of 8, 92, 19, 74 and the PP suggests the root of the problem is at the top of the lineup and banking on that to change based on mere whim alone is folly.
1998 was an overachieving run, albeit paved along the way with very favorable early losses by the top of the conference.
The division should be providing plenty of motivation to raise their engagement. But it's not there with a sharp enough point against good teams and at this point teams largely are what they are. They're a good system team because it's fundamentally what Trotz does yet they're also in many ways less than the sum of their parts. Or maybe I just drastically overrate the top six. If so, they'll need a lot going right to make a run and consistently come out on top. Relying on depth rather than sustained elite, top-of-the-lineup performance isn't the answer. The play of 8, 92, 19, 74 and the PP suggests the root of the problem is at the top of the lineup and banking on that to change based on mere whim alone is folly.
g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 30,630
- 14,721
They were still the 4th seed in 1998 and beat the 5th seed in the first round. The later round matchups were a boon because of the early upsets, sure, but there are still only 2 times in the last 25 years they've beaten a higher seed, and countless other times they've lost to a lower seed. Hoping for a favorable outcome in the playoffs because "anything can happen" has not been a winning proposition.
- Feb 15, 2005
- 5,090
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Wait - the Capstronaut was incarcerated? How did I not know this? Obviously explains a lot, but I'm disturbed by my ignorance
Hivemind
We're Touched
Thoughts from the nosebleeds last night:
- Compared to other recent losses, I'm somewhat less discouraged by this one. It was definitely back-and-forth, but the Capitals carried play for varying chunks of the game and didn't have any sustained period of total ineptitude. It was a hard fought game.
- Seeing it overhead, it was a bit easier to understand what they're trying to do in transition. But their overlapping plays are often just too slow developing, and it's far too infrequent to actually catch a player in stride.
- Kuznetsov had a couple moments of brilliance (particularly when he almost deked around Mason, but Mason had a great poke check). But overall he was a turnover machine, especially in the later portions of the game. Multiple defensive zone and neutral zone gaffes (one of which could be blamed on a seemingly exhausted Carlson in OT not skating to the puck). Not a good game for 92.
- I do feel somewhat for Kuznetsov on the turnover that led to the Giroux goal. It was obvious what he was trying, but he midjudged the boards. Wonder if that play would have worked in Verizon with more familiar board bounces.
- Inopportune turnovers and blown chances are what cost the team the game.
- Powerplay zone entries are still junk.
- Burt was terrific in the neutral and offensive zones. Crisper, cleaner passes than anyone else on the team (the type you could actually hear hit the receiver's stick from the nosebleeds). Hustling into the play, particularly in transition.
- 3rd line, in general, was the best. Eller took that weird spin-around penalty, but otherwise they generated far more than any other line.
- There's some confusion regarding winger assignments in the defensive zone. I saw both Burakovsky and Ovechkin take a weird, half-coverage play when a Flyer had the puck wide. They could have taken the body against the forward or fully covered the point man, but instead sort of flew by and half covered the point man behind them. The fact it happened multiple times somewhat suggests that it may be systematic.
- I see some of the same general ref whines that are always in the GDTs. I honestly saw very few missed calls by the refs until they (predictably) swallowed their whistles in OT. The Flyers generally played a clean game last night, as weird as that sounds.
- Holtby's rebound control is otherworldly. #system
- Oshie's skating is brutal.
artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
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Yes... the fact that out of {Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuz, Oshie} the Caps cannot construct ONE line that will more or less consistently put the opponents on their heels is a kind of hockey death sentence. (Highly-paid) talent that shines only in isolated individual plays, the PP, and the overtime gimmicks -- is a waste...
My "theoretical" opinion remains the same -- that all these guys simply do not cover enough ground, in today's game at least. Ovi and Kuz can skate, but glide a lot, Oshie hustles but is slow, Backstrom is somewhere in the middle/below average. Ovi and Kuz are also weak on the boards, which does not help.
What it means, to me, is that these guys probably need to be separated as much as possible and surrounded by hounds -- guys that will cover a lot of ground to get the puck and open up space for these skilled guys. It's not a coincidence, IMO, that Kuz worked great with Chimera & Ward in playoffs, and that Ovi was pretty much just as effective with Zubrus & Clark as he was with Backstrom and Kozlov/Knuble/Oshie.
Maybe Vrana (or Bura, still) will be able to add some speed to the top-6, but either way, IMO the Caps need to get faster to allow the talent to shine. (Coaching matters, sure, to move the puck faster, but I don't think Trotz's emphasis on defense is the only thing holding back the top-6 offensively)
You can see at times when the Caps come out hard and catch the other team sleeping or collapsing in their zone -- what a huge difference an advantage in speed makes. Unfortunately, when opponents start skating hard, it's the Caps usually trying to keep up -- and the top-6 can't find room to operate at even strength.
Beef Invictus
Revolutionary Positivity
Can someone give me a report on Vrana? I've heard a lot of buzz lately and I'm kinda sad I missed the game because I wanted to see what he was about.
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
Small, fast, sniper are the three words I'd use to describe Vrana. He's very strong for his size, doesn't get pushed easily and he can get to open ice with his stickhandling skills in traffic. He has a nose for the net, he always knows where to go to score goals.
I'd compare him to Tomas Tatar.
Hivemind
We're Touched
Fast, quick release, and not afraid to shoot. Still has work to do in his own zone. A fairly standard report for a young scoring winger, actually.
Beyond that, he's demonstrated that he knows how to get to the slot, keep his stick on the ice, and get a shot off from a dangerous location before the defense clears him out. His speed is an asset in transition and he generally puts himself in a position to keep plays alive.
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