Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
Time to send Burakovsky to Hershey? Maybe some other eager beaver deserves a shot?
That would destroy his confidence and we don't have anyone that can take his minutes in the top 6 available.
Time to send Burakovsky to Hershey? Maybe some other eager beaver deserves a shot?
That would destroy his confidence and we don't have anyone that can take his minutes in the top 6 available.
And what would that achieve anyway? His problem is about getting good enough offensively and defensively against some of the best players in the NHL - having him go up against rookies and AHLers again would make him look exceptional, but not teach him a damn thing. And he has contributed on the Tre Kronor line even if just as a shut down option.
(Although people forget Bura wasn't in our top six last season pre-Christmas when we were supposedly playing our 'best' hockey - MoJo only moved to the third line when Beagle got injured in January, until then it was largely 8-19-77 / 90-92-14. Williams is just as easily a top-6 player right now as Bura.)
If anyone on the team could benefit from a stint in Hershey right now it's Sanford, surely?
Trading Orlov for some LW could be beneficial.
Orpik-Carlson and Schmidt-Bowey could handle the regular season I think.
Top-9 would be rounded up too.
Also I wonder if Ovi feels defeated deep inside. Fortunately, there is nothing much between him and wealthy HHOFer with 803+ goals with some kids to boot. That should help him play every year and be cool about it. He could even stand some rebuild or retool perhaps.
...and then Alzner gets injured, and we're left with 0rpik and Shmidt as our LDs.Trading Orlov for some LW could be beneficial.
Orpik-Carlson and Schmidt-Bowey could handle the regular season I think.
Top-9 would be rounded up too.
...and then Alzner gets injured, and we're left with 0rpik and Shmidt as our LDs.
...and then Alzner gets injured, and we're left with 0rpik and Shmidt as our LDs.
Ovechkin has become stoic, and I don't blame him. He's tried his hardest to make this team win for the past 11 years, he leads by example but unfortunately the other guys on the team don't want to win as badly as he does. I won't name the players I have in mind because I'm going to be labelled as a hater but you probably know who I have in mind.
Let's hear it.
Hypothetical - to what extent does Ovi actually need strong offensive players on his line to score at a reasonable rate? If you could have Ovi, Backstrom and Kuzy on three different lines, matchups against us would be much harder and at least one of those lines might benefit from going up against weaker opposition.
90-19-77
65-92-14
8-83-26
82-20-43
Wilson, Winnik and Beagle are, to the eye, creating some good chances and being quite dominant, and are some of our most defensively consistent forwards. Beagle has been trusted with tougher matchups in the past, so if that trio can neutralise top lines and pairs that makes life easier for Kuzy. Eller's line would likely get the easiest matchups, which might aid their lacklustre offence. Just a thought.
Ovechkin can do a lot with a little, but he needs to have something there. We've seen that scenario play out many times when Beagle and Aucion where his centermen with nobodies on his wing.
If you want to have him produce away from A+ people, you're better off with 8 - 90 - 43. They've at least got a little offensive touch to free him up.
Wow...you guys are in full on doom mode already?
I see one main thing that I don't like. John Carlson is the Caps best offensive producer from the defense AND he is not a stay at home defenseman.
Watching the Oil game it was clear that Orlov is still delivering pizzas and is still having trouble with one on one defensive coverages. Carlson meanwhile has one point and is out of his element playing the Karl Alzner role with Orlov.
Alzner and Niskanen have been great. Schmidt and Orpik have been solid. Carlson and Orlov are just not making it work for either of those players. The Caps NEED Carlson to play his game more than they need Orlov to play his game. Stick Carlson with either Orpik or Schmidt let the other of the two skate with Carlson and let Carlson play.
Elliotte Friedman said:13. Don’t get a lot of time around Evgeny Kuznetsov, but he’s a very interesting quote.
Asked before the World Cup what he worked on during the summer, he pointed to his mind.
Some of the other Capitals at the event said Kuznetsov dwells on his failures and needs to let go.
“You just have to forget,†he said. “Every day is a new life. I worked with my friends and they helped a lot and I think it gets better for here.†What did you learn? “I learned it doesn’t matter how you play. You score hat trick, you got four penalties, whatever. If your team win, you have to forget, happy. Sometimes the team win and you feel bad in the locker room because you give up a couple good chances, they score against you. I always worry about that. If you came in locker room after the game, I can’t look at your eyes, I feel bad. You have to be stronger. Hey guys, you got me today, I get you tomorrow.
I always worry about that. I worry about my linemates, if they didn’t score I think that’s my bad.†Kuznetsov said his parents worried about him because he had trouble dealing with the playoff loss to Pittsburgh. “We didn’t talk hockey all summer…End of the day, you have to win something and you have to do it for your family. I think the whole team, we’re like a family. When I say family, I mean team. That’s the problem sometimes you can score 1,000 goals but what you got?â€
I have long theorized Kuzy's slump started when Barry made our defense move up aggressively in neutral, and the C had to be back - the timing is dead on.
Barry started his Dmen doing that right after the blizzard. It didn't matter to him that we gave up odd mans all the way through game 4 at Pitt, he stuck to his guns and made the centers responsible to cover.
The slump started as he focused on D, and here we are. It's now in his head, and its up to Barry to put him in places to score. Up top is a fine start, but he needs to tell Oshie and Ovi to feed him.