Confirmed with Link: Oshie to Caps for Brouwer/Copley/2016 3rd
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Roughing
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Never loved him but that's an interesting thought on a cheap add. Where would you put him?
NobodyBeatsTheWiz
Happy now?
3LW, with Laich at 3C with the current personnel.
Bergenheim-Laich-Johansson
Chimera-Beagle-Wilson
Portable Mink
Registered User
I still don't like the idea of leaning on Laich for 3c. I would much rather grab Santorelli on the cheap and roll:
Johansson-Santorelli-Wilson
Chimera-Beagle-Laich
Obviously the best solution is Laich out and a better 3c comes back then we plug in another UFA or traded wing but that is probably a pipe dream.
Roughing
Registered User
I wish MoJo had worked out as a C. I really don't like him on the outside, especially the right.
Berge-Mojo-Wilson
Chim-Laich-Beagle
That Beagle contract looks like a 3C to me but Laich may push Beagle outside. It'll change all year so I guess it doesn't matter; another good Bottom6 guy is needed and Ward is gone.
RandyHolt
Keep truckin'
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Ward was a great guy and all but is cycling the key to a cup? It seems the best teams in the playoffs are not living off of it. He and his line were invisible for far too much of the season to make me want to commit to 2-3 more years of his cycling deciding a large part of how our team preaches offense.
Never forget the double minor. He is not without flaws. We gave Joel Ward the playoff hero more than a fair shake and I am happy to see need blood tried.
Core guys needed to go, and for the first time in some time, its happening. Green Brouwer Ward and likely Fehr are 4 big RH twigs that have been staples in our lineup.
We will survive at minimum to choke another day. Have no fear.
Never forget the double minor. He is not without flaws. We gave Joel Ward the playoff hero more than a fair shake and I am happy to see need blood tried.
Core guys needed to go, and for the first time in some time, its happening. Green Brouwer Ward and likely Fehr are 4 big RH twigs that have been staples in our lineup.
We will survive at minimum to choke another day. Have no fear.
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Portable Mink
Registered User
Well any line ovi is on doesn't cycle. So I like the approach of having systems within systems to a degree. Which is what we had.
artilector
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- Jan 11, 2006
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Well, at the end of playoffs the Caps' best line was Chimera-Kuz-Ward, and they did it by cycling + buying Kuz space to operate.
I think it can work quite well, and is pretty much the only way to assert your game plan if you don't have the speed to force turnovers and generate stuff in transition. I think the Caps are still unimpressive in the speed component (not straight line Chimera/Mojo stuff, but being first to loose pucks, closing distance, fast transition, "buzzing" in the offensive zone, etc). So they'll still have to get faster (Oshie should be decent at it?) and/or retain/improve ability to cycle.
I do of course agree with you in general -- if the new players are as advertised, it's a much better distribution of cap space and a big upgrade in skill.
At this point I pretty much view it as Williams about equal to Ward in expected impact, and Oshie as the major upgrade on Brouwer in top-6. Plus, looking at Williams's impressive "making teammates better" stats, hopefully there's a real chance that he can do that for the Caps top-6, which would really make things fun.
artilector
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Heh, I'm still not convinced that the best way to use Ovi at ES isn't to put him with two big very athletic guys to clear space, get loose pucks, and cause general havoc.
I'm not sure that putting him with super-skilled linemates ultimately gives anything but a marginal improvement in scoring, while he could still get his with "Zubrus+Clark", and then you'd have the rest of your skilled dudes running wild against 2nd and 3rd defensive options. And of course, he gets like half of his points on the PP, anyway.
But.. this is the best year yet to see if there's some combo out there that can be truly dominant with Ovi.
Ovechkin / Kuznetsov / Oshie – feed them easy minutes and watch the goals rack up
Burakovsky / Backstrom / Williams – shutdown power vs power line that should still score a ton
Portable Mink
Registered User
IMO the best thing for ovi is having Nicky and then a player who plays similar to ovi. Oshie is that. Fast and rush and hit. He's ovi jnr and I've called him that for years from what I've seen of him. Broken plays is where ovi gets a lot of his 5v5 and 2 guys creating broken plays in the Ozone is perfect.
RandyHolt
Keep truckin'
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I don't deny his playoff successes, and Chimera too.
I prefer a younger checking line, its a great place to save cap space. Guys with something to prove, and give their all, all year. Chimera and Ward are no spring chickens and over the season simply are invisible for vast stretches.
You should always see the bottom 6 working hard. Its almost how a bottom 6 is defined.
artilector
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I agree with all of that -- but I would add that sometimes it makes sense to keep or even overpay a player if instead of "regular cheap tenacious bottom-6" line you can get a peak Ward-Chimera or even Clutterbuck-Martin type of chemistry.
But yeah, with Ward and Chimera there was increasing risk that they'd drop off and you'd end up with a line that no longer has the juice to dominate the boards, and no quickness to keep up with faster teams. So for this reason I am pretty much fine with the decision to not give Ward a 3-year deal, sad as it is not to have that ace in the sleeve for a couple more playoff runs.
Coach Travis
Back2Back!!!
That's sort of a misconception in the playoffs. A team will often have their 1st & 2nd lines shutdown by the sheer will of your opponents top defensive players and then if you have any kind of 3rd line they get to run amuck on 5-6 D pairings and less defensively skilled players.
third man in
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I suppose Oshie is the new 1RW. More possible good setups for Ovie to blast home. I'm sure the man from moscow is very excited right now about playing with two very creative playmakers..
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
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Two guys deferring to #8 just seems like an easier recipe to shut him down. I've always felt like he's needed a sniper on his line, one who will force the D to gravitate away from Ovy.
Kuznetsov is a good fit, he's so creative offensively that he should at least draw some attention from the defense.
Or Trotz could tell Backstrom to shoot more, like he did with Johansson. Backstrom after all is a former 30 goal scorer himself!
artilector
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Another sniper on the tea would sure help. JVR is a 30 goal scorer
Green tea was good for 30 goals once..
Oshie is good on the cycle. He's a good possession player when he makes timely passes.
He's also good at deeking the pants off opposition defenders and goalies. It's a great skill to have for shootouts, but gets him in trouble more often than not in regulation. You can fool the first guy but rarely the 2nd and 3rd, which is what he often tries to do instead of passing the puck. And TJ is not fast, in fact he's one of the slowest skaters in the league but he uses his stick handling and shiftiness to compensate.
So, why would the Blues GM trade him when he has 2 years left on a contract with a decent cap hit? And for a return that universally looks one-sided?
Well, others have pointed out that the Blues needs were not for an "equal in offensive production" type of player, so the second question has its answer. But why trade Oshie in the first place?
For all of Oshie's flashy qualities there have been as many frustrating aspects of his game to those who've watched him regularly this past year or so. He seems to have lost some conditioning but it has manifested as a lack of hustle on the back check, which to Blues nation is a big no-no. He fell out of favor and was the first name mentioned by most Blues fans as the guy who should be traded (which was partly because he should've brought back a decent return, for his celebrity if nothing else).
He came to symbolize the old-corps establishment that was good but not good enough, and not stepping up when called upon. Maybe that's unrealistic expectation (and maybe his conditioning and/or laziness will improve), but Oshie's disenchantment was as wholly palpable as any flashy highlights Caps fans may be treating themselves to this offseason.
Oshie will win many young, female, and casual fans in Caps nation, but will have to prove himself to the discerning hockey observers over a longer period of closer scrutiny. Best of luck to Osh with the Caps.
RandyHolt
Keep truckin'
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There can't be scratches on our shiny new toy dammit! I mean thanks for the write up Pigpen. Most players are simply not giving their all in the regular season and he is hardly alone; a recurring theme in the current era. But we needed shakeup / infusion of skill and that trumps all today.
Blades of Steel
log off.
Blades of Steel
log off.
It's been said many many times, change of scenery can do wonders for any player.
I doubt the new guy wants to come in and not fit in, I expect him to buy in to Trotz and Co. very quickly and excel here in Washington.
I have a feeling we won't be disappointed.
but we did lose this..
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