The issue is if Schultz has a good season is it worth giving him money? I feel like we could much more easily find a defenseman in UFA.
On a side note I just realized Alzner is a UFA next year. I wonder how much the Caps are going to shell out for him. He has to cost at least what they are giving Niskanen.
Schultz even if he has a great season likely isn't going to get a ton. Besides, he's a RFA with a 1.5m QO. What do you think he'll get even if he has a good season? 4m? Not likely. Even with arbitration rights, odds are he signs for something around 3m, and that's even if he has a very good season next year (comparative to his peers).
As for Alzner, meh, whatever. A very good D, but if we're going to go sign someone, why not just try and keep Daley?
I want nothing more than for Pouliot to come out and look like he really belongs in the top 4 of this defense. Pouliot, in theory, should thrive in this system.
The thing that JR has is a lot of movable money. Fleury, Kunitz, Cole, and Fehr. Then factor in Dupuis' hit going away. That right there is like 18 million in non-essential parts.
Meh, not quite. Dupuis already for all intents and purposes is off the books as he's on LTIR and we'll be spending the vast majority of his money already on other players. Cullen (due to age), MAF and Kunitz, yep absolutely. And if needed, potentially Cole and Fehr. Which is 14.7m. Good... but weighed against needing to sign Dumoulin (~4m), Murray (~3-3.5m) and hopefully signing Bonino, a good chunk of that 15m is gone. The question mark will be Daley and his 4.4m hit (essentially). What will be left will be spent on Daley or Schultz/Pouliot (hopefully both are still here) and just filling out the ranks. If no salary is brought back when we find a way to dump MAF, then we'll have a few bucks (4-5m) if needed to spend on something nice.
I don't personally see Justin Schultz cashing in next offseason because he won't be put in a position here, barring a lot of injuries, to showcase being a two way defenseman.
Agreed. Schultz won't get much regardless of what he shows this season. He's a RFA and assuming he's still here, one that likely signs for around 3m - perhaps even less.
That point sort of brings me back to Pouliot, because if Pouliot proves that he's just average defensively, we should really consider moving him to another team because he will never see the type of mins here in the situations where he can thrive. He's a PPQB and he'll never see a lick of PP time.
Well we always need someone like him on the 2nd PP. Is that using him to his full potential? Absolutely not. But on the other hand, unless we're getting something good for him, there's not much reason to move him. Even in a depth role, he'd still be someone that would help this team. I mean the knock on Schultz was always that he's "average defensively" - at best. And while to an extent thats still true, because of his ability to move the puck, statistically, he does a lot better than people think and is frequently able to keep himself out of trouble. There's no reason why Pouliot can't do the same.
I mean allowing Gogo to establish himself, fetched us Neal. Just hang onto Pouliot and see how things shake out. His value if he plays regular minutes over the next season or two will go up significantly. Might he get us a "Neal" player? Who knows. But GMs are always looking for young PMD, and the fast offensive system we're likely going to be playing the next two seasons can only help Pouliot with regards to his stats and style of play. Which in turn only helps his value if we decide to move him.
Yeah we probably assume too much around here. A full season is different than a hot streak down the stretch and into the playoffs. I suspect (just making it up) he will be more willing to change things up during the ebbs and flows of an 82 game regular season.
