Yeah I am a bit harsh on Schmidt but for his skill set, think he should be contributing more to offense, to get the most out of him. Hence why I lean towards Orlov more forced to choose one. Based on BMac's recent comments, he too seems to prefer Orlov in a bigger role. Both were shaky in the playoffs sure, but we need a 5 that we can depend on. The 5 was Schmidt IMO, and next year it appears Orlov has the early lead.
I think Mac sees a greater
potential upside in Orlov than he does Schmidt - but that's because Orlov has the potential to be special, not just solid. He also hopes Orlov will be able to reduce Orpik's minutes in the coming years, which is an odd thought given Orlov isn't as defensively capable as Orpik (God help us.), can't PK to save his life, and isn't geared to be a stay at home D-man which is one of the main reasons we signed Orpik to begin with. Orlov really hasn't shown that much to make me think he'll be a smart, responsible D-man, which is essential unless you can partner him with an Orpik type, or long for the days of top pair Mike Green...
I think you'd see more offense from Schmidt if he was partnered regularly with Niskanen, Orpik, Alzner or Chorney, because he could take more risks and join the rush more. When your partner is predominately Carlson or Orlov - known for flashes of offensive brilliance - the coaches expect you to be a bit more responsible.
I'd also point out that GMBM talking up Orlov's upside may have as much to do with trying to sow seeds in other GM's heads that Orlov is young, not a 'project', ahead of potential trades to ensure you don't lose key investments in the expansion draft...
Rookie... he was a regular in our lineup all fall 2013. He has had 70 NHL games before this past season even started. I am not sure what defines a rookie technically, but never heard anyone but you declare him a rookie.
If this is the final year of our current window, I am simply not sure I have seen enough to warrant no changes on our backend. He regressed, lets not sugar coat what happened in 2016. Barry specifically said his scratches were not injury related, which is rare to hear. If he has that much upside and is simply just young, his value will be recognized in any trade by a real GM.
Schmidt was a playoff rookie, which is significant in itself, and by far our least experienced D-man. Don't forget Schmidt's previous two seasons were hit by significant injuries, time as a healthy scratch, and time in Hershey. This was Schmidt's first full year in the NHL too.
Well, for one is its not like they're jumping from junior leagues to the big leagues. AHL is an american style of play, they've seasoned in it and are doing well. Now, its not like I expect any to jump right in and be top line elite level players but they've certainly shown they can at least handle an NHL style game.
With Vrana/Bowey, I question how big the moves will be able to make this year are. Almost every cup team needs cheap young talent to produce to win a cup and they seem to fit the bill. Bowey coming up at all really depends on what they do on defense, I just expect (and hope) that one of Vrana and Barber will prove enough to get bottom 6 time next year as they continue to progress.
And Schmidt will still be cheap, Chorney will still be cheap - the question is why anyone thinks we'd be better off with Bowey in our contender team than Schmidt or Orlov? We don't need to improve on our regular season strategy particularly - that wasn't the problem, and Schmidt, Chorne and Orlov all excelled beyond anyone's expectations for most of the regular season. If that trio won't be good enough for next year's playoffs, then it's because we need to bring in someone with a different skill set, and/or someone with a proven playoff record. Given what happened to 88, 9, 65 and 92, and how Galiev failed to find his offensive footing all year long, the idea of Bowey being an improvement on Schmidt or Orlov in the regular season - let alone the playoffs - at this point in time would take something of a miracle.
Schmidt wasn't a rookie. He just looks like a rookie. That's the issue. He had experience with plenty of games the past two years before this. Only rookies on Caps this year that played were Galiev, Stephenson, and Brown. Schmidt has 140 career games played already and in the playoffs was still a liability.
It was, however, his first playoffs (along with Orlov), and Orpik and Orlov were also liabilities at times. As were young Ds for the Flyers and Pens, as the Capitals management has pointed out. GMBM also spoke of how Orlov and Schmidt both lost their confidence - be it because of their mistakes, getting benched or boxed, or all of them - while Trotz spoke of how Chorney's experience and maturity helped his game. Orlov and Orpik both had significantly more than 140 games under their belts, so explain how they can be making mistakes, by that logic?
This board seems to be going through phases of jumping on a single player as the key weakness in the team, when logic would clearly suggest it was a problem that spanned much further than anyone player (including coaching and, perhaps, GMBM). Trade Mojo. Trade Ovi. Trade Backstrom. Get rid of Chorney. Trade Burakovsky just to get rid of Orpik.
But, bizarrely, given Orlov all the time in the world because he could turn out to be special. Give Kuznetsov PP1 and 1C time to be unproductive for even more of each playoff game.
This is the team that allowed the second-lowest goals against all season (and, ironically, would have been tied if the forwards could get a single goal against Anaheim...), and was a single OT goal away from evening the series in round two. Orlov, Schmidt, Chorney and even Orpik aren't our major problem (and an unproven AHL D-man with 0 NHL GP is not the solution...). That our second, third and fourth lines could not score even strength goals, when the Flyers and Pens could - that's our problem. Upgrade two or three of the current bottom six and we could still be in the playoffs right now.
