Chili said:
Who would you play Olaf Kolzig or Matthew Yeats. And Stana, Ouellet and possibly Charpentier would have been higher on the depth chart.
The Caps were miles ahead of the Pens until the last part of the season.
Does anyone believe that Ovechkin was not one of considerations in gutting their team? I don't but that's just my opinion.
If Yeats had not played well it is likely he would have gotten 1 start....but who is to say.....GMGM made a few moves that were clearly giving a couple guys an NHL sweater who were never going to get one otherwsie, Mel Angelstad being one. He even mentioned doing it so these guys could say the suited up in the NHL.....laugh if you want but it was a nice move IMO. With Mel he got a couple shifts in a couple games, hardly enough to say he made a difference one way or another.
GMGM has said he wanted his young guys to play together in the AHL, so Ouellet was there helping in the playoff drive. Answer me this....which is smarter in the big picture. Have your future #1 goalie play in the NHL with a terrible team, with players who for the most part wont be there again...or have him in net for your minor league team that was pushing for a playoff spot, with players he will grow with...?
Charpentier was injured and i believe his career may be in question
Kolzig played 63 games
I'm pretty sure Stana was coming off an injury around that time as well....
You say...."The Caps were miles ahead of the Pens until the last part of the season"
But they were dead last in mid/late december and the fact is the finished behind Pit AND Chi....so whats your point? As I said before....they finished right around where they were for the entire season