THIS is the bottom line.Oshie is hardly untouchable but he wouldn’t bring back any value with his contract. Any trade would make the Caps weaker. He's far from the problem so might aswell keep him unless he wants to be traded.
Oshie is a bargain for what he brings. People declare him dead every year and then he shows up and beasts out in the playoffs. $5.7M is not too much for that.
THIS is the bottom line.
Whether you want him or or not, Oshie is worth more to us (intangibles, team chemistry, PP1) then what he would fetch on the market in a trade.
His contract number isn’t too high for what he brings imho. Give me more Oshies on my team any day.
Oshie is hardly untouchable but he wouldn’t bring back any value with his contract. Any trade would make the Caps weaker. He's far from the problem so might aswell keep him unless he wants to be traded.
So far. But his decline will come soon and right now we might get a good return for him.
I don't think so.He has trade value. I don't want to move him, but after what he's proven these last few years, the time to trade him would be at the deadline. A contender would absolutely give something up to add what he brings in the postseason.
We have been hearing this for atleast 3 years now. If it doesnt come next season, theres only 2 years left.
Even going to the rebuild that you suggest, Oshie is exactly the kind of guy you want to be there to show your rookies and young players how hockey is done. The gamership, warrior mentality, just genuinely being a good guy. He is the last guy I would trade away for rebuild, especially when the return in fact wouldnt be much of anything. He is also one of the last guys i would trade in terms of being competitive, as his reg season form covers the 5,7 and his playoff form tops it easily.
Either way, Oshie stays.
And no, the window is not closed. Its not exactly wide open or anything, but we are still a 100 point team with glaring holes. You can quick fix holes, you cant quick fix rebuild.
Sure he might be great next year, but to what purpose? We ain't going nowhere.
And since other teams also realize he has maybe a year or two of high-level play in him now is the time to trade him. Trust me, i love the guy but this teams window is closed and we have very little in the way of future assets. The list is like Protas, McMichael, Lapierre, Fever and maybe Alexeyev, AJF and Snively. The rest are either 30++ or not good enough to become regulars. As far as character guys i think both Ovi and Wilson can do that.
Even if we are not going anywhere, dont you want Oshie to be around the young guys like Protas, CMM, Lapierre etc.? What do you see as "better usage" for the cap? What do you expect any other team to give for him?
Blow it up isn’t the answer…sigh.
3 days after elimination and we're talking about trading the best player in the playoffs.
Never change, HF.
OUR best player in the playoffs. Which we are no longer in due to a non capable squad. That player is also an injury prone 35 year old. Love him and his time here but we need youth, speed and futures and he has value that can give us that.
Better usage of the cap space would be players that will be good/decent 3-4-5 years from now when the kids get better. And i would love Oshie as a mentor and all other players to stay while we get lots of prospects, quality players and future picks but the league doesn't work like that.
What is the answer?
You will have that cap space in 3-4-5 years from now, what prevents you from using it to a good/decent player then? How about the year 1 and 2. Can you point out a player thats better for us in a 6 million range, and also avaivable for us? And exactly why are we getting prospects and picks in this equation?
And the way things are set up the last thing we need to worry is cap space 5 years from now.
The answer is that you dont rush to rebuild while being a 100 point team. You keep pushing. And that doesnt prevent front office from planning ahead either.
The request to trade Oshie imo is mainly about "setting the motion" for rebuild. The gain would mostly be about settling in with a mindset that we are in the "suck" and going for high draft picks. I dont think thats the right way to go, and in fact I think that is a bad cultural approach for rebuild anyways, especially while we are still living out for Ovie-legacy.