Confirmed with Link: Johansson traded to NJD for 2nd and 3rd rd picks in 2018

[Sam Spade]

The Caps are an irrelevant franchise WITH Alex Ovechkin, in the only context that matters.

Sure they are.

But if we use your definition of "irrelevant" than so are the Canucks, Leafs, Sabres, Blues, etc., etc.

 

[kicksavedave]

Sure they are.

But if we use your definition of "irrelevant" than so are the Canucks, Leafs, Sabres, Blues, etc., etc.

Agreed. Although the Leafs look up and coming, for the most part those teams, just like the Caps, are irrelevant to the goal of winning a Stanley Cup, for 40-50 years or so.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

All he's done?

Are you referring to the President's Trophy banners or jersey sales?

Ovechkin made hockey in the DMV a thing. His impact on the growth of the game in this region has been profound. I hate that his tenure will likely end without a championship but any belittling of his contributions because the Caps didn't win a Cup is just sour grapes.

 

[kicksavedave]

If not Ovi, you wouldn't be a Caps fan today, because there would be no team in Washington anymore.

That's baloney speculation at best. I could just as easily claim that, if not for Ovi, had they drafted Malkin instead, they would have won 3 Cups. Or maybe instead of drafting Backstom 4th in 2006, they draft Toews 3rd, and then they win 3 Cups.

Lets make up alternate history in any old way we want, shall we?

 

[bur and 666 others]

The most improved player. We have been so patient with him and finally when he's turned to a good pro, we dealt him for peanuts. 2 and 3? we got Eller for 2 2nd and Johansson is a much better player. This summer showed that the management can't negotiate anything and manage nicely the assets

 

[strungout]

Its been a day and Im still fine with it.

Did they get screwed with a bad return due to the cap issue? Sure. But all things considered...getting two picks in an apparently good draft helps more than having to buy Orpik out or whatever.

I dunno. Mojo had his moments...but really...Ive always seen him as a passenger as many here also seemed to as well. Now all the sudden...he should be worth more than a 2nd and 3rd (when a season or two ago many of us would have taken just a 3rd)

Locking in the core for the long run is obviously the plan now without having more dead cap space than needed...they seem to be getting that done. This also seems to set up Carlson to get paid.

 

[RandyHolt]

What is the going rate for 4.5 cap space alone? We didn't seem to get much more than that.

I was meh on Mojo but he wasn't a difference maker. Being one of our best net front presence guys speaks volumes to how soft our top 6 plays, more than how much he dominated there. His top strength - PP entries - wasn't helping us win the cup.

He best work was on the PP.

Just like Ovi.

There is not enough room for 2 PP specialists in top 6s on cup winners. He was just not difficult to play against at ES. Sure, they could have gotten a better return and played Vegas better, but he was axed for Oshie only after securing him.

BMac panic sold when he could with what was probably only one bid. There was clearly no bidding war. Few wanted him.

In the end, that may validate the somewhat differing opinions on him here. Let's see his numbers not being on a near perennial presidents winner.

 

[usiel]

Its been a day and Im still fine with it.

Did they get screwed with a bad return due to the cap issue? Sure. But all things considered...getting two picks in an apparently good draft helps more than having to buy Orpik out or whatever.

I dunno. Mojo had his moments...but really...Ive always seen him as a passenger as many here also seemed to as well. Now all the sudden...he should be worth more than a 2nd and 3rd (when a season or two ago many of us would have taken just a 3rd)

Locking in the core for the long run is obviously the plan now without having more dead cap space than needed...they seem to be getting that done. This also seems to set up Carlson to get paid.

This is basically where I am at. Not minding the picks at all as by the time they can contribute we are in the post AO era.

They had a nicely setup two year run and were vocal about it two years ago. The Grubauer/Schmidt expansion draft maneuverings seemed like did not go as they expected.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

"We got screwed, but I'm fine with it".

Life as a Caps fan. How anyone is ok with getting screwed I'll never understand. But hey we got a few draft picks that may never amount to anything! Goooooo Caps!

 

[Langway]

Life as a Caps fan. How anyone is ok with getting screwed I'll never understand. But hey we got a few draft picks that may never amount to nothing! Goooooo Caps!

Picks they'll flip at the deadline for a mediocre veteran you mean. If they're in the 6-10 range in the East by late February you can bet they'll buy rather than sell and those picks will be gone.

I don't mind a reload per se but they need to do it right and I have no faith that management or ownership will okay that until they're led to it kicking and screaming. They're allergic to making tough decisions with any kind of foresight and it repeatedly blows up on them.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The last 5 year plan of Ovy's career blows. Thanks Ted. Thanks Dick.

 

[Hivemind]

Look at the bright side. The 3rd round pick will become our next Mike Weber at the trade deadline.

 

[Bananas]

How funny would it be if we win the President's trophy again?

Ovechkin/Backstrom are the Kane/Toews of the regular season. It would be epic and I'm quite frankly all for it if it happens haha...

 

[PatrikBerglund]

Washington has made some.....strange decisions this off season.

60 point 26-yeard old for a 2nd + 3rd.

That sounds like one of the worst trades in quite a while. Do you Caps fan's know something the rest of us do not?

 

[ovikovy817]

Washington has made some.....strange decisions this off season.

60 point 26-yeard old for a 2nd + 3rd.

That sounds like one of the worst trades in quite a while. Do you Caps fan's know something the rest of us do not?

Two magic words, cap space.

 

[Roughing]

Washington has made some.....strange decisions this off season.

60 point 26-yeard old for a 2nd + 3rd.

That sounds like one of the worst trades in quite a while. Do you Caps fan's know something the rest of us do not?

Yeah, Mojo isn't good.

 

[Corby78]

Washington has made some.....strange decisions this off season.

60 point 26-yeard old for a 2nd + 3rd.

That sounds like one of the worst trades in quite a while. Do you Caps fan's know something the rest of us do not?

It's still not PForsbergh

 

[Raikkonen]

Yeah, Mojo isn't good.

It isn't like that I guess. Caps just had too many soft European guys in top-6, someone had to go, and Mojo was the least valuable opposing to 8-19-77-92-65.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

The only issue I have about the trade was that BMAC didn't get Miles Wood along with the 2nd and 3rd.

 

[Langway]

It isn't like that I guess. Caps just had too many soft European guys in top-6, someone had to go, and Mojo was the least valuable opposing to 8-19-77-92-65.

Only to replace him with a...softer European guy. But a far cheaper one.

 

[Ozolinsh_27]

Loved Mojo and his PP work. Without him we get pushed to the limit in Round 1 this year and maybe upset by Leafs. A bit sad he is gone but Burakovsky needs more icetime to improve.

Fave Mojo play:

What I won't miss: his flubbed wide open net chances

 

[Ridley Simon]

No, it's not one deal and no, you do not call up youth and expect them to give you 20+ goals / 50+ pts. Give me a break. The entire offseason has been atrocious and reeks of having no vision or plan (like I've said a million times). It's one bad move after another. Lost Schmidt for nothing. Overpaid Oshie. Overpaid Kuznetsov. Wants to keep Orpik to "mentor" the young defensemen yet sold Johansson for ******* because he has no cap room to sign other players. Stuck with a backup goalie he not only can't afford but also grossly miscalculated his market so he may have to sell for pennies on the dollar like he did with Johansson.

GMBM delayed his press conference by a month to essentially tell everyone he planned on doing nothing. Well, he did nothing and now the Caps will be older, more cap constrained, and less talented moving forward. If you want to call that one move, that's on you.

I think you are going overboard here, brother. Oshie isnt overpaid. 5.75m/yr is actually lower than what most of *last years* FA crop got (6-6.5m) per year. Sure, the term is long, but thats fine....it honestly shouldnt be a problem for 5 years, and thats a lifetime in pro sports, who knows what will happen?

Kuznetsov is a huge deal, and the AAV is a lot higher than I'd expected. But they bought 6 years of UFA status, so that even makes some sense. We will see what the next youngish C's sign for (like Johansen, Duchene, etc) and determine if an overpayment. Same for Orlov.

The team had 2 years, and couldnt beat the Pens. Shrug. Guys like Alzner, Johansson, Winnik all had their chances. We knew Shattenkirk was a rental. We know we'd probably lose Schmidt.

So now the team has 4 picks in the top 3 rounds next year. I'd assume more to come when they inevitably trade Grubuaer. So they will be able to re-stock the cupboards a little bit.

Play a lot of Herhsey guys.

-Worst case, only 1-2 end up being helpful and you know that you need to move a bunch out.
-Best case you get a Pens like situation and guys like Walker, Barber, Lewington, Djoos (not to mention for sure fire guys like Vrana and Bowey) raise their game and add energy and speed to the big team. And they make a run in the loffs behind their top end talent and Holtby.

Its nowhere near as bleak as people are making it out to be. Least not to me, IMO

 

[um]

Agreed with Ridley. We're still a playoff team likely, whether we're a contender or not depends on Djoos, Bowey, Vrana, Boyd, etc. Either way right now we can afford to be patient and ride out at least one more season of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Holtby. If we suck again start selling, if we're still good then build around the kids.

 

[The Consiglieri]

When they are screwing up your salary cap, yeah. But the better play would have been to trade him for assets.



See above.



The Caps are an irrelevant franchise WITH Alex Ovechkin, in the only context that matters.

I'm completely with you. The only context that makes sense for any of this is ticket sales. The team is not doing what it should do (blow up the team and build around Kuz and Bura), and they aren't entirely trying to keep assets in a way to compete, they're clearly keeping guys that would potentially keep us as a playoff crash dummy for a real contender with enough marketable players to keep fans in the stands. It's a truly horrible approach. You are building to contend, you are contending, or you're tearing down. If you aren't doing any of these three things, you're doing this whole "sports" thing wrong and right now both the caps and the wiz are in that territory. Good enough to make the playoffs maybe, but no threat whatsoever to contend for anything period (although the Caps are in significantly worse position, as there is literally ZERO hope, whereas the Wiz would have hope in about '19 or '20 if they fired their GM which they won't) and essentially building toward a long, slow, horrible crash.

As for Ovy. Agreed. At this point he's a contract. We are not winning a title with him. His contract is an albatross on the team's future flexibility. He's a contract to be moved. Sure I'd prefer to trade him for high end pieces, but if I could get rid of his contract I'd do it in a second. At this point there isn't really any reason to engage w/the team for the foreseeable future as they are doing nothing right whatsoever beyond keeping Kuz and hopefully Bura.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I'm completely with you. The only context that makes sense for any of this is ticket sales. The team is not doing what it should do (blow up the team and build around Kuz and Bura), and they aren't entirely trying to keep assets in a way to compete, they're clearly keeping guys that would potentially keep us as a playoff crash dummy for a real contender with enough marketable players to keep fans in the stands. It's a truly horrible approach. You are building to contend, you are contending, or you're tearing down. If you aren't doing any of these three things, you're doing this whole "sports" thing wrong and right now both the caps and the wiz are in that territory. Good enough to make the playoffs maybe, but no threat whatsoever to contend for anything period (although the Caps are in significantly worse position, as there is literally ZERO hope, whereas the Wiz would have hope in about '19 or '20 if they fired their GM which they won't) and essentially building toward a long, slow, horrible crash.

As for Ovy. Agreed. At this point he's a contract. We are not winning a title with him. His contract is an albatross on the team's future flexibility. He's a contract to be moved. Sure I'd prefer to trade him for high end pieces, but if I could get rid of his contract I'd do it in a second. At this point there isn't really any reason to engage w/the team for the foreseeable future as they are doing nothing right whatsoever beyond keeping Kuz and hopefully Bura.

There is zero hope? Geez. Step away from the ledge bud. A its sports, and B its nowhere near that bad