Leafaholix said:
If there was any doubt about the Capitals future in the NHL, this is great news for the fans of Washington. Ovechkin will save hockey in that city... he's going to carry that organization for years.
Now, Pittsburgh is a totally different story...
Not sure about Pittsburgh, but there wasn't any real chance of Hockey leaving Washington anytime soon. Unless you know something we all don't about the NHL folding. Now washington is not the Hockey hotbed that is Toronto. But... the market is large enough with a new enough building to suceed financially if the Caps payroll isn't one of the top 5/10 (like it was in years past). Once the team plays well and consistently makes the playoffs, adding money to the team will not be a problem. Winning usually breeds new fans around these parts.
As for their talent in the system, Foppa, you're a bit off. Yes, the complete rebuilding has been fully started this year, but it has been a process that has been going on in minature for a while.
2 years back, the Caps missed the playoffs like this year, leading them to have a few higher picks then normal and also traded off a few of their players, i.e. Bulis/Zednik for Linden/Zubrus (which Linden turned into a decent draft pick) and Adam Oates for a 2 month rental for a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Oulette.
They've also had a few more project defensemen in the system. (though they haven't progressed much yet) Like Yonkman and Cutta, who have potential, but need positioning work. And time to mature like most larger defenseman.
The extra picks year, they turned those into Boyd Gordon, Steve Eminger, and Alex Semin. All decent prospects. Last year, we might have gotten a steal with Eric Fehr at 18.
And trading people away this year has only added to the depth in the system. Most of the prospects the Caps picked up this year are 2 years after their draft year, making them in line to be signed this year, and also right in line to make the jump to the AHL/NHL soon. With most of them, the Caps will find out shortly whether they can play.
There are a lot of role players, 3rd liners and potential 2nd liners in the Caps system, granted. The top end talent is not there yet. Thus, Ovechkin should change that some. But in the system there are some solid youngsters, of which a few should pan out.
The other thing to remember is the quality goaltending prospects. Oulette, Stana, Daigneault and Gherson are all better than average prospects, and could be used to pick up an extra defensemen or other prospect the Caps could use more.
This team should not take 3-4 years to rebuild. Especially considering there are a few players at the NHL level now, (Zubrus, Witt, Halpern) who aren't dinosaurs either and can help integrate.