Confirmed with Link: Caps sign RW Justin Williams (two years, $3.25M)

[sycamore]

I think its good move, not a great one. Price is great, his pedigree is superb, he meets our needs for a top 6 forward...and he will be 34 years old next season. And this past season he was not very good.

Cautiously optimistic.

 

[Jasper17]

I think this is a good move now, it would be a great move if they can find a way to bring back Ward. I love the idea of having two clutch playoff performers on this team. If we only bring in Williams to replace Ward, I don't think we actually improve that much from where we were last year. But if we add Williams to the team we already have, and get more production fro Burakovsky, Wilson and Kuznetsov. then we may actually have something to get excited about.

Speaking of Burakovsky. Is the idea of using him as a center dead? I know trying to transition Kuznetsov and Burakovsky to center last year was too much. But now that Kuznetsov seems to have settled in, are the Caps going to use him as the 3rd line center? I would love to see...

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Williams
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Laich-Burakovsky-Ward
Chimera-Beagle-Brouwer
Latta as the 13th forward

 

[ChibiPooky]

MacLellan said he thinks the second line will be Burakovsky - Kuznetsov - Williams at least to start.

 

[Jasper17]

MacLellan said he thinks the second line will be Burakovsky - Kuznetsov - Williams at least to start.

hmm, that is interesting. I like the line combination. But I wonder who is going to get minutes on the top line? I wonder if we are not done. Certainly he can't be happy with our top RW options as it stands now.

 

[Stewie G]

I think they've already got someone in mind.

 

[Jasper17]

I think they've already got someone in mind.

Why in the world would they do that? How can anyone think Alexander Semin would be a good fit in a Barry Trotz coached team?

 

[Roughing]

MacLellan said he thinks the second line will be Burakovsky - Kuznetsov - Williams at least to start.

Unless he's putting Wilson at 1RW we aren't done by a damn sight.

 

[Brian23]

Why in the world would they do that? How can anyone think Alexander Semin would be a good fit in a Barry Trotz coached team?

Why wouldn't he be...? About the only thing you can question is maybe effort and you have no idea if Barry can get him out of that or not at this point.

 

[Stewie G]

Why in the world would they do that? How can anyone think Alexander Semin would be a good fit in a Barry Trotz coached team?

I think that because he was the best forward on the team while Dale was coaching.

 

[Osprey]

MacLellan said he thinks the second line will be Burakovsky - Kuznetsov - Williams at least to start.

Considering that Williams was interested in playing with Ovechkin, talked to Trotz about his fit on the team and then signed less than half an hour later, I think that Trotz may've given him reasonable assurance that playing on the top line is definitely a possibility or even the plan to start with. Of course, no coach is going to make a promise of putting a player on a particular line, but Trotz had to have given Williams enough assurance. I'm pretty sure that Williams didn't sign such a cheap contract to play with Burakovsky and Kuznetsov. He might well up with them, and be a great mentor to them, but I can't see that being what Williams was hoping for in signing such a contract.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Considering that Williams was interested in playing with Ovechkin, talked to Trotz about his fit on the team and then signed less than half an hour later, I think that Trotz may've given him reasonable assurance that playing on the top line is definitely a possibility or even the plan to start with. Of course, no coach is going to make a promise of putting a player on a particular line, but Trotz had to have given Williams enough assurance. I'm pretty sure that Williams didn't sign such a cheap contract to play with Burakovsky and Kuznetsov.

Trotz said during the press conference that Williams has to be in the top six. That leaves the door open for second line.

 

[Barry Amsterdam]

8-19-90
65-92-Williams

Guarantee

 

[Jasper17]

Why wouldn't he be...? About the only thing you can question is maybe effort and you have no idea if Barry can get him out of that or not at this point.

Alexander Semin is literally everything this team should be trying to avoid. Soft, coming off a horrible year, and a guy current players on this team openly questioned if he even cared about winning.

 

[sycamore]

Alexander Semin is literally everything this team should be trying to avoid. Soft, coming off a horrible year, and a guy current players on this team openly questioned if he even cared about winning.

Agreed. Its tempting because he would be cheap, knows the Caps, and fits our needs, but he just too soft for the playoffs.

 

[Barry Amsterdam]

Alexander Semin is literally everything this team should be trying to avoid. Soft, coming off a horrible year, and a guy current players on this team openly questioned if he even cared about winning.

That was brouwer, he said with guys like him it's frustrating that you don't know what you're going to get out of him. But we know what we're going to get out of guys like brouwer in the playoffs. Not much.

Guys like Semin iare 100% we need to go after. You can't win with 3 lines of grinders

 

[NeilYoung]

I knew Williams fancy stats were good but I was just looking at some stuff again and jesus his numbers are unbelievable

 

[Brian23]

Alexander Semin is literally everything this team should be trying to avoid. Soft, coming off a horrible year, and a guy current players on this team openly questioned if he even cared about winning.

Well, maybe he's soft but skill guys are and when he's on he's hard to play against. His horrible year is due to injury and team issues, not skill, and the "current players" is really one guy almost everyone and their mother wants traded for talking big and never showing up when it counts.

If Semin comes cheap, you're not expecting him to be the savior for this team. You're gambling on him showing up and if he doesn't he's easy to ignore.

 

[Osprey]

Trotz said during the press conference that Williams has to be in the top six. That leaves the door open for second line.

Yeah, certainly. I didn't say at all that the 2nd line wasn't a possibility. I meant that my guess is that Trotz may have Williams penciled in for the 1st line to start with. How long that lasts (maybe not even through all of training camp) is anyone's guess.

I suppose that he could've merely gotten assurance from Trotz that he would be used in the top six, though. In LA, he would be occasionally moved down to the 3rd line, which he couldn't have been too happy about. Based on that, it might make sense to check that he wasn't signing on to put himself in another situation where that's a possibility. OK, I can buy that.

 

[BobRouse]

That was brouwer, he said with guys like him it's frustrating that you don't know what you're going to get out of him. But we know what we're going to get out of guys like brouwer in the playoffs. Not much.

Guys like Semin iare 100% we need to go after. You can't win with 3 lines of grinders

Orpik hates his guts. And you can sense their styles clash (Orpik will chastise a player for drinking a regular soda while Alex Semin will light up a cig)

(Bonus Alex Semin quote, from February of 2010. “He sells it all the time,†Orpik said. “The kid’s a baby. I’ve got zero respect for the kid. If it was a penalty, it was a penalty. I don’t know. But the kid does that all game long. It’s tough to lose on that.â€)

 

[Stewie G]

I don't know about anyone else, but my feelings on things are still exactly the same as they were 5 1/2 years ago. Especially those feelings that were in a particular context which no longer exists.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

That was brouwer, he said with guys like him it's frustrating that you don't know what you're going to get out of him. But we know what we're going to get out of guys like brouwer in the playoffs. Not much.

Guys like Semin iare 100% we need to go after. You can't win with 3 lines of grinders

And you're not winning with a divided locker room either...

 

[Jasper17]

That was brouwer, he said with guys like him it's frustrating that you don't know what you're going to get out of him. But we know what we're going to get out of guys like brouwer in the playoffs. Not much.

Guys like Semin iare 100% we need to go after. You can't win with 3 lines of grinders

Actually if several of those grinders are clutch in the post season you kind of can. Chicago and LA are teams built around a couple star players and a great supporting cast of hard working guys who score clutch goals. I think those two teams have done pretty well in the playoffs recently.

The reason why the Caps fail in the playoffs and those team succeed is because we have to many players who are passengers. If Wilson and Brouwer could have just managed a single goal each in the Rangers series we are in the conference finals.

 

[Marshall]

I'm guessing Wilson will start out as 1RW - hopefully he can come to camp healthy so he can get as many reps with 8/19 as possible.

 

[usiel]

I fully endorse this pickup. If some how Brouwer could be dumped and Ward be brought back...

 

[BobRouse]

I fully endorse this pickup. If some how Brouwer could be dumped and Ward be brought back...

You would think that would be easy to do. Brouwer should hold some value even with his partial NTC.

I just think the Caps really like what Brouwer brings to the locker room.

I don't mind Brouwer in a 3rd line role at all. I'd pick Ward over him easily tho.