GDT: 2022 NHL Trade Deadline Monday, March 21 3pm est

[HTFN]

The problem is you can’t have a “win it for Ovi” when he’s still your best player, pushing 40 over the next couple years. If there was no record chase, and this was a different type of franchise, Ovi would be trying to win one more Cup somewhere else where he’s not on the top line.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want to see Ovi in any other uniform, and generally love this core group, and the chase is fun. But who knows if Ovi will (potentially) score 50 again. And all our stars are just one year older and potentially more injury prone.

The organization is in a tough spot with its cap situation, and I’m not pretending there are easy answers to get rid of some stars and fundamentally alter the construction of the team before 8 and 19 retire.

I don’t expect much playoff success and am just enjoying the time we have left with these guys, so I probably won’t get too disappointed. But I understand the frustrations around here.

You're right, you can't, but that's why their win condition has pretty obviously become "create a team where they can sneak guys like Ovechkin into slightly less demanding role and then hope they lose 5-10 years in that playoff run". The Caps' best Cup chances going forward are going to come in a year where the media is still talking about Ovechkin+co. and coaches around the league are talking about different guys we might not even have yet.

This isn't the season to make that team happen, but you can see how the pieces line up for a crack at it. If you can get former all-world players to channel their old selves for a few weeks you go from bubble team to borderline juggernaut, but first you have to reorder things so that it's an additional problem for the opposition to stop them and not the main path to victory.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

For everyone concerned that the Caps did not do enough at the TDL, a quick search shows:

The winners, losers of 2017 NHL trade deadline​

Here is our look at the winners and losers, including what happened in the days leading up to deadline day.
Winners
1. Washington Capitals: The No. 1 team in the NHL, boasting the league’s best goals-against average and No. 3 offense, added the top prize in the marketplace, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
...
USA Today

How did that work out for the Caps? At least they won one series (against a team they bested by 25 points in the RS). Shiny new objects don't necessarily mean squat when the playoffs come around.

 

[Langway]

Another Cup win is going to look from the outside like veterans making a last heroic push, and a lot more from the inside like a snake getting ready to molt as it pushes those parts to the fringe and leaves them behind. If anyone's ego is bigger than that the whole thing will fall apart, of course, but I don't see this many old players hoisting each other up without a lot of work from young legs and I don't really see the Capitals satisfying that condition without changing in the next year or two. That means accelerating and testing the guys they've been holding on to so far and then swinging hard the year after next.

I can buy that they didn't miss out on much at the deadline. The bigger dilemma in any sort of transition toward youth, though, is a combination of their amateur scouting profile generally, Laviolette's defensive mindset and sheer dumb luck/fortunate timing. I don't think their amateur scouting fits Laviolette much. It's predominantly about skill and finesse and a lot less defensive-minded or battle-oriented, particularly up front where that profile is very rare prioritized. Until that happens it's hard to see it coming together to a significant degree. It could very well be that Laviolette doesn't stick around anyway but for now it's something of an issue. I can buy being prudent for the sake of a longer-term vision but then that doesn't really jive with how they operate developmentally. Their sort of conventional win-now approach is one you'd think would been more in favor of being reckless today but I suppose there may also be significant skepticism in whether they have it in them.

Being well positioned in the off-season to restructure could be a very subtle advantage but then a lot of rebuilding teams will likely also step into that mix. I'd wonder if they still won't seek more of a middle ground competitiveness rather than truly shooting for upside and the sacrifices necessary for that at times.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I can buy that they didn't miss out on much at the deadline. The bigger dilemma in any sort of transition toward youth, though, is a combination of their amateur scouting profile generally, Laviolette's defensive mindset and sheer dumb luck/fortunate timing. I don't think their amateur scouting fits Laviolette much. It's predominantly about skill and finesse and a lot less defensive-minded or battle-oriented, particularly up front where that profile is very rare prioritized. Until that happens it's hard to see it coming together to a significant degree. It could very well be that Laviolette doesn't stick around anyway but for now it's something of an issue. I can buy being prudent for the sake of a longer-term vision but then that doesn't really jive with how they operate developmentally. Their sort of conventional win-now approach is one you'd think would been more in favor of being reckless today but I suppose there may also be significant skepticism in whether they have it in them.

Being well positioned in the off-season to restructure could be a very subtle advantage but then a lot of rebuilding teams will likely also step into that mix. I'd wonder if they still won't seek more of a middle ground competitiveness rather than truly shooting for upside and the sacrifices necessary for that at times.

Does the coach change if they lose in 5 in the first round?

 

[Langway]

Does the coach change if they lose in 5 in the first round?

It depends on how it goes down but financially I would think not. He just has the one year left after this one but he's among the highest paid. They'd need a very worthy successor with staying power if were to do make a move.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

It depends on how it goes down but financially I would think not. He just has the one year left after this one but he's among the highest paid. They'd need a very worthy successor with staying power if were to do make a move.

Agreed.

 

[Ridley Simon]

So, basically, the Caps did the very least among playoff teams in the East. Weak sauce.

They had the worst record and the worst salary cap situation.

Everyone rails in Eller and Schultz. Those were the only 2 that could go “outbound”, to create any space for moves like what everyone is pining for.

It’s always the fun dichotomy “player X and player Y are shit, have been all year …. Can’t believe Caps didn’t trade them for a real difference maker”. Can’t have it both ways.

GMBM said this years team didn’t have. A few weeks ago. He kept his main assets and will try and load up this summer. He never sits on his hands.

Oh and PS — Giroux and Fleury didn’t want to play here. Hertl got resigned. So….we are pining away for Domi, Copp, Chariot, etc?

LOL

 

[HTFN]

I can buy that they didn't miss out on much at the deadline. The bigger dilemma in any sort of transition toward youth, though, is a combination of their amateur scouting profile generally, Laviolette's defensive mindset and sheer dumb luck/fortunate timing. I don't think their amateur scouting fits Laviolette much. It's predominantly about skill and finesse and a lot less defensive-minded or battle-oriented, particularly up front where that profile is very rare prioritized. Until that happens it's hard to see it coming together to a significant degree. It could very well be that Laviolette doesn't stick around anyway but for now it's something of an issue. I can buy being prudent for the sake of a longer-term vision but then that doesn't really jive with how they operate developmentally. Their sort of conventional win-now approach is one you'd think would been more in favor of being reckless today but I suppose there may also be significant skepticism in whether they have it in them.

Being well positioned in the off-season to restructure could be a very subtle advantage but then a lot of rebuilding teams will likely also step into that mix. I'd wonder if they still won't seek more of a middle ground competitiveness rather than truly shooting for upside and the sacrifices necessary for that at times.

Oh it’s definitely an issue. Personally I think if they flame out this year I’d think real hard about moving on from Laviolette. One thing that seems clear over his career as a coach is that once his brand of motivation has worn off he’s not the type to tactically surge from year to year.

I think this group heard things they’ve heard before and, coupled with the weird COVID season, never really got to have that huge “run through walls” boost and now it’s not happening. The shelf life was shorter with an older group and mostly seems expired so unless they’ve been hiding a big ace in the hole I’d be fine with exploring the possibility.

I don’t think they’ll go so all-in on a future season that they’ll be fine missing out on their puncher’s chance but when I look at them, if I had to pick an all in year it’s right before bridge deals, not now. They picked the guys they picked and now they need to actively develop them to have a core that can find the aggregate impact that other guys are losing (because they’ll have to from somewhere in order to compete with that cap structure anyway), and if they can’t they won’t know that until a little later. At that point you can sell on every so-so future you’ve acquired and really go all in if you want to.

If Laviolette isn’t the guy for that I’d rather see them move on quickly for the sake of the face of the franchise than extend him a professional courtesy that does in fact waste a year of said star.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

I remember back in December, before the World Juniors were canceled, there was a thread on these boards where some were bemoaning that no Capitals prospects would be appearing in this year's (2021) WJC. Well after what BMAC did or didn't do today, I believe we're going to start to see some Capitals prospects in the coming WJCs come the next few years. Looking forward to this year's draft for a change.

 

[Ridley Simon]

This projected roster looks worse than it did 24 hours ago and all it took was a 3rd, a 4th, a 6th and one Sprong.

You obv don’t know Larsson at all. And if you think Sprong is a better player than MaJo, then I don’t what to say to that.

You want to be angry. So you are angry and give angry responses.

Keep on keepin on

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I mean Rakell hasn’t really been good in 4 years. He has 3 less goals than Sheary at 5v5 since 18/19 in about 300 more minutes of ice time. He has the name value from his strong seasons from 15/16-17/18 but his finishing has been rather poor since. He could definitely click with Malkin, but he’s realistically not that much better than Kapanen, who he will probably be replacing on that line.

If he suddenly turns back the clock 4 or 5 years, sure he will be a really good add. You could say the same thing about Johansson though and he cost the Caps a fraction of what the Pens paid.

Lol, never under estimate how the Pens can recycle once regular producing players.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

BMAC is just being shrewd. Today was all part of his plan in luring back to the team another Swede that we once had, Filip Forsberg come the off season.

Well played BMAC!

22/23 Caps, the year of the Swedes!

Ovechkin Kuznetsov Wilson
Forsberg Backstrom Mantha
MAJO Jarnkrok Oshie
Larsson Dowd Hathaway
AJF/McMichael

 

[hb12xchamps]

So I did the armchair GM on capfriendly and they can get compliant by sending one more player down once everyone but Hagelin gets healthy. I'm assuming that player is CMM considering he was sent down today to be eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Snively, AJF and Kempny were not sent down today so they are technically ineligible, which means they are sticking with the big club the rest of the way.

 

[Langway]

They had the worst record and the worst salary cap situation.

Everyone rails in Eller and Schultz. Those were the only 2 that could go “outbound”, to create any space for moves like what everyone is pining for.

It’s always the fun dichotomy “player X and player Y are shit, have been all year …. Can’t believe Caps didn’t trade them for a real difference maker”. Can’t have it both ways.

GMBM said this years team didn’t have. A few weeks ago. He kept his main assets and will try and load up this summer. He never sits on his hands.

Oh and PS — Giroux and Fleury didn’t want to play here. Hertl got resigned. So….we are pining away for Domi, Copp, Chariot, etc?

LOL

Or the apparent bust Samsonov. Or Kempny, the worst asset of the the lot. Yes, bad assets are problematic but facts are facts.

I'm not particularly pining for anyone, just thought they'd pull off a little something more bold to give them a boost given how old they are. They're in the dance and I guess that's enough for now. It's wise to hold on to a couple top 50 picks but not much of anything is assured with them. Not much is assured next season either.

 

[Caps8112]

Not sure what was available and what wasn't but......

Boston: Bergeron about done, let's make some moves and try to win
Wash: ovi near the end, we can't risk our precious young guys that haven't really shown much.

If the plan is to do nothing for the next 4 years, planning for the following 4 years of misery rebuild, ovis goal count is all that's left to cheer for

 

[HecticGlow]

Sorry if these have been posted somewhere - I don’t have time to read up every page of every thread.

Here’s what always worries me about trading away guys so close to the deadline -





You just never know how those little moves could affect team chemistry - hell, even individual players’ routines. I don’t see any reason this Mojo/Sprong move couldn’t have happened a month ago, when at least you’d have time to see any unintended consequences of the move. Seems to have caught guys by surprise.

Remember too that Mojo hasn’t played with most of this team before. Only Ovi, Backstrom, Kuzy, Oshie, Wilson, Eller, Carlson and Orlov overlapped with him in Washington. He’s new to the other 16 or so guys on the roster, and all but one of the coaches. No guarantee he’s an addition in the locker room, outside of Backstrom, or adapts quickly to Lavi’s system.



Not sure how to read this. Sprong’s cap hit was negligible, so there was no need to move him - worst case scenario you put him on waivers and send him to Hershey. I’m assuming he was their preferred trade bate over other guys in the system, but this sounds like they just wanted rid…

I just really hope CMM stays in the lineup even if he isn’t producing at the rate we’d like. We all saw what happened when Panik - with good analytics but poor production - was traded away last year. Team took a step back at 5v5, because driving play is still important.

 

[max21]

Brassard to the oilers lol how many teams has that dude been on now

 

[HecticGlow]

Not sure what was available and what wasn't but......

Boston: Bergeron about done, let's make some moves and try to win
Wash: ovi near the end, we can't risk our precious young guys that haven't really shown much.

If the plan is to do nothing for the next 4 years, planning for the following 4 years of misery rebuild, ovis goal count is all that's left to cheer for

I get that posters are caught up in the moment, but can we not pretend like this team became a write-off overnight because it didn’t make a major move at the TDL? We brought in supposedly-significant guys in 2020 and 2021 - Dillon, Kovalchuk and Mantha - to fill perceived major holes. First round exits. Same with Hagelin in 2019. We spent loads on Shattenkirk, and didn’t get past R2 in 2017.

In 2018 we brought in two defensemen no one had heard of, and that was it. With plenty of gaping holes. And we won.

You look around the league at the teams that made major additions this year - whether it’s Eichel or Fleury or Lindholm or Hagel or Toffoli or Rakell - and most of those teams won’t get past Round 2. It’s not about spending assets to bring in a big name to make you ‘feel’ like you’re a better team on paper; it’s about bringing in the right guys who will actually fit your team and it’s needs. That’s what Pittsburgh got so right in 2016 and 2017, and Tampa in 2020 and 2021. And it’s what Tampa failed to do before 2020, and what Pittsburgh has failed to achieve since 2017.

Our major trade deadline acquisitions very rarely work out, at least immediately - a point GMBM himself made when he traded for Eller in the off season. This team is actually at its best when its the underdog. I’m kind of glad that hasn’t changed…

 

[HecticGlow]

Brassard to the oilers lol how many teams has that dude been on now

God, remember when Brassard was the Penguins’ big TDL ‘get’, that had everyone saying a ‘threepeat’ was all but guaranteed? He’s had some decent stretches as a depth guy since, but he’s never really recovered compared to his reputation before joining Pittsburgh.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Sorry if these have been posted somewhere - I don’t have time to read up every page of every thread.

Here’s what always worries me about trading away guys so close to the deadline -





You just never know how those little moves could affect team chemistry - hell, even individual players’ routines. I don’t see any reason this Mojo/Sprong move couldn’t have happened a month ago, when at least you’d have time to see any unintended consequences of the move. Seems to have caught guys by surprise.

Remember too that Mojo hasn’t played with most of this team before. Only Ovi, Backstrom, Kuzy, Oshie, Wilson, Eller, Carlson and Orlov overlapped with him in Washington. He’s new to the other 16 or so guys on the roster, and all but one of the coaches. No guarantee he’s an addition in the locker room, outside of Backstrom, or adapts quickly to Lavi’s system.



Not sure how to read this. Sprong’s cap hit was negligible, so there was no need to move him - worst case scenario you put him on waivers and send him to Hershey. I’m assuming he was their preferred trade bate over other guys in the system, but this sounds like they just wanted rid…

I just really hope CMM stays in the lineup even if he isn’t producing at the rate we’d like. We all saw what happened when Panik - with good analytics but poor production - was traded away last year. Team took a step back at 5v5, because driving play is still important.

I always loved on HBOs road to the winter classic right after Semin signed his big contract extension he went down to the ketler food court and got some Big Macs after practice

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Sorry if these have been posted somewhere - I don’t have time to read up every page of every thread.

Here’s what always worries me about trading away guys so close to the deadline -





You just never know how those little moves could affect team chemistry - hell, even individual players’ routines. I don’t see any reason this Mojo/Sprong move couldn’t have happened a month ago, when at least you’d have time to see any unintended consequences of the move. Seems to have caught guys by surprise.

Remember too that Mojo hasn’t played with most of this team before. Only Ovi, Backstrom, Kuzy, Oshie, Wilson, Eller, Carlson and Orlov overlapped with him in Washington. He’s new to the other 16 or so guys on the roster, and all but one of the coaches. No guarantee he’s an addition in the locker room, outside of Backstrom, or adapts quickly to Lavi’s system.



Not sure how to read this. Sprong’s cap hit was negligible, so there was no need to move him - worst case scenario you put him on waivers and send him to Hershey. I’m assuming he was their preferred trade bate over other guys in the system, but this sounds like they just wanted rid…

I just really hope CMM stays in the lineup even if he isn’t producing at the rate we’d like. We all saw what happened when Panik - with good analytics but poor production - was traded away last year. Team took a step back at 5v5, because driving play is still important.

Vanecek can tell Sprong what it's like to be a Kraken.

 

[Caps8112]

I get that posters are caught up in the moment, but can we not pretend like this team became a write-off overnight because it didn’t make a major move at the TDL? We brought in supposedly-significant guys in 2020 and 2021 - Dillon, Kovalchuk and Mantha - to fill perceived major holes. First round exits. Same with Hagelin in 2019. We spent loads on Shattenkirk, and didn’t get past R2 in 2017.

In 2018 we brought in two defensemen no one had heard of, and that was it. With plenty of gaping holes. And we won.

You look around the league at the teams that made major additions this year - whether it’s Eichel or Fleury or Lindholm or Hagel or Toffoli or Rakell - and most of those teams won’t get past Round 2. It’s not about spending assets to bring in a big name to make you ‘feel’ like you’re a better team on paper; it’s about bringing in the right guys who will actually fit your team and it’s needs. That’s what Pittsburgh got so right in 2016 and 2017, and Tampa in 2020 and 2021. And it’s what Tampa failed to do before 2020, and what Pittsburgh has failed to achieve since 2017.

Our major trade deadline acquisitions very rarely work out, at least immediately - a point GMBM himself made when he traded for Eller in the off season. This team is actually at its best when its the underdog. I’m kind of glad that hasn’t changed…

I can agree with a lot of what you said but it's like people forget what it was like before ovi when the team had a zero percent chance of winning. Well that time is coming around again shortly. I don't care at all about draft picks or Any current prospects. The team can worry about that in 4 years. Your right, sometimes it's the moves the team doesn't make. With this roster imo, we are a goalie, a top 4 dman and a depth scoring forward away from at least taking a run at it. They should have gone after Gibson. How much leverage could Anaheim have had with 5 years left. Vanny is a nice story, do you believe he can put the team on his back 2 times a series? Just frustrating because I remember before ovi when it was Bondra vs the world. I'm no fan of rakell but Pitt is going for it. The caps traded for a retired guy and a grocery store clerk

 

[pman25]

Vegas management seems to really enjoy putting themselves in crap situations and treating players like shit. I don’t understand what they are doing. Going after dadonov then paying to get rid of him only to maybe have the league reject that trade anyway. On top of just dumping Fleury, a fan favorite, for literally nothing out of nowhere. Just a weird franchise.

 

[PlushMinus]

Damn we are stuck with Samsonov. Would love to know how many GM's Bmac talked to or if there was ANY interest at all.

 

[caps4cup]

Damn we are stuck with Samsonov. Would love to know how many GM's Bmac talked to or if there was ANY interest at all.

Probably more of an off-season trade. I doubt they would trade him straight up for a veteran 1B for Vanecek. They’d probably look to trade for a similar young forward/Dman or a pick and then sign someone this summer.