Confirmed with Link: Brendan Leipsic: 1 year x $700K

twabby

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Mar 9, 2010
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I've mentioned it before but when I think of "soft" players I think of Chandler Stephenson. Rarely asserts himself, always defers to teammates, never shoots, isn't functionally physical at all, isn't particularly good defensively, etc.

He's the definition of a black hole on offense:

stephch94
stephch94


I don't particularly think Leipsic has much upside either but just from an aesthetic standpoint he's not going to irritate me as much as Stephenson floating around on the ice.
 

RandyHolt

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Kind of funny if you think how the Caps agitators or the guys that you had to look out used to be all on the top 6 (Ovechkin, Wilson, Oshie) rather than the bottom 6 (those 3rd and 4th lines last year in terms of sandpaper... woof). Like a bizarro NHL team.

I suppose it's a little more balanced out now.

Yeah our bottom 6 was soft as melted butter last year.

While Conno and Eller provided offense, the rest were lame. When you are playing soft, you gotta be even steven or better on the ledger; play kick ass defense and score occasional timely goals. You just cannot play soft, never score, be a -13 and expect to have a job. If I were a 4LW and realized I had no goals and no PIMs halfway through the year, I would go out and take a charge or boarding penalty to start the game after I wake up from "la la we won a cup" land. Go the box slam the door rip the helmet off shake the head "no" and act all pissed off.
 

Midnight Judges

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Kind of funny if you think how the Caps agitators or the guys that you had to look out for used to be all on the top 6 (Ovechkin, Wilson, Oshie) rather than the bottom 6 (those 3rd and 4th lines last year in terms of sandpaper... woof). Like a bizarro NHL team.

I suppose it's a little more balanced out now.

That is an interesting observation - that the Caps big hitting forwards were all top 6 guys.
 
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Futures Passed

Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy.
Sep 2, 2018
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Most annoying player to play against.... that's Dale Hunter country.

Me likes! No wonder BMac went after him. And me thinks Garnet will be sticking up for him a few times.

Funny, I just read part II of your post and see you used the word hunter and hunted heh. Great minds!

Haha, yeah, a little Freudian slip there perhaps. He's got some definite Huntereqsue, Esa Tikkanen, professional pest bona fides for sure. I think a player like this helps keep your momentum and fighting spirit up. Hathaway clearly fits this mold as well. I feel like the organization is making a nice commitment towards playing with aggression and keeping the pedal to the metal.

Carolina was in the Caps grill all series long. The best the Caps looked was game five, where they came out and physically dominated the Canes and seemed to be on them from the moment the puck dropped. Even Ovie said outright to the media, there were too many passengers. I don't think we're going to have that problem with the likes of Gudas, Hathaway, and Leipsic.
 

RandyHolt

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That is an interesting observation - that the Caps big hitting forwards were all top 6 guys.

That sure seems like a rare thing....

I think its safe to wager that Stephenson Dowd Boyd was the easiest line to play against last year. What goalie or D pair had any fear of anything with those 3 bearing down on a dump... outside of the odd Dowd "look I have hands too" goal.
 

tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
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Burakovsky/Hagelin-Eller-Connolly doesn't really inspire fear either (physicality wise)

Possibly the most softest bottom 6 in the league.
 
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NobodyBeatsTheWiz

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The best way to make your 4th line a net positive is to fill it with jam. It's why Ryan Reeves was actually effective in the playoffs during Vegas' Cup run. It's why Martin-Cizikas-Buttercup was the Isles' best line in the playoffs a few years back.
 

Bananas

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Mar 26, 2007
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I’d prefer if Stephenson steps up his offensive game and his compete level and wins the job. It’s like people are forgetting how well he played in his multiple roles during our Cup run. Sure, he sucked last year but he can do better; he’s already proven it.
 
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RandyHolt

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.....

Carolina was in the Caps grill all series long. The best the Caps looked was game five, where they came out and physically dominated the Canes and seemed to be on them from the moment the puck dropped. Even Ovie said outright to the media, there were too many passengers. I don't think we're going to have that problem with the likes of Gudas, Hathaway, and Leipsic.

That was our do it for TJ game, our last hurrah. Sigh.

If you don't even get a bad penalty call against you once or twice a year, you just aren't trying hard enough. Others are pushing the boundaries of the rules, and succeeding.
 

RandyHolt

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The best way to make your 4th line a net positive is to fill it with jam. It's why Ryan Reeves was actually effective in the playoffs during Vegas' Cup run. It's why Martin-Cizikas-Buttercup was the Isles' best line in the playoffs a few years back.

Exactly. When the playoffs start, the leashes are off those guys more than any other type of player. With a flip of the proverbial playoff switch, charging, cross checking, boarding, are overlooked far more than in the regular season. If your 4th line is soft, they remain soft all playoff long.

Heck Reaves grossly crosschecked Carlson before scoring and refs were just doing what they were told to do, let them play. Sure it was a bad non call but refs DO know, they need to back off and let the players decide games. I always catch grief but still say Vegas was stupid to bench the only player on their team with a sack enough to stand up to Willy and friends, who is able to exploit the dynamic rules. With Reaves in the box, Willy then took out Karlson, Oshie took out Carrot Top Eakin and others, and the rest is history.

Buttercup... beautiful. I hate that short dirty players like him get away with kicking motions to make themselves get higher during hits. His little mule kick irritates me to no end. The other that comes to mind, Pat "Calf Cutter" Verbeek.

Love Koken's passion
 
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Futures Passed

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That was our do it for TJ game, our last hurrah. Sigh.

If you don't even get a bad penalty call against you once or twice a year, you just aren't trying hard enough. Others are pushing the boundaries of the rules, and succeeding.

Hahahaha, yeah, for sure. I laugh but, sadly, Carolina proved your point pretty effectively in their upset of the Caps. They played dirty as Hell a lot of that series, but walked the line just well enough to walk away with the win.

It's still annoying to me that the Caps could get so up for that do-it-for-Oshie-game and then come out so flat the next two. Boston and St. Louis both had a lot of moments like that throughout the playoffs though so, I guess it goes to show, it's hard to maintain that level of play consistently. That's why a championship team needs real depth in heart and soul players though. There has to be someone to pass the relay baton to, who can still truck it, if you're going to win the race.
 

Charles Calvert

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Jun 21, 2019
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I have a hard time calling Lars Eller soft.

I don't think so either. I get more frustrated with Eller when he tries to do too much and coughs up the puck which either kills possession or worse, leads to a quick counter. He did that a lot more than usual last year.

I never look at Eller and think "that guy doesnt care enough to be physical". If anything he cares too much and makes dumb decisions.
 
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
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I have a hard time calling Lars Eller soft.

I don't believe that hits tell the whole tape of who is soft or who is gritty.

But Brett Connolly has outhit Lars Eller in their 3 years here in Washington. Think about that for a second.

I like Eller a lot. His problem isn't that he's soft. His problem is that he disappears on the scoresheet for long stretches. Which is fine for a 3C.

I do wish Marchand would stop being a lil ***** though and take it like a man.
 
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txpd

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Jan 25, 2003
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I don't believe that hits tell the whole tape of who is soft or who is gritty.

But Brett Connolly has outhit Lars Eller in their 3 years here in Washington. Think about that for a second..

Eller is big and plays big. Like Backstrom he is a load and takes the punishment to hold the puck. protect the puck. Battle for the puck. Yea, he goes missing from scoring but what he does is get and hold the puck. You cant beat him off the possession. Being willing to take the punishment is the opposite of soft.

Meanwhile, RH will school you on the NHL stats definition of a hit.
 
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
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Eller is big and plays big. Like Backstrom he is a load and takes the punishment to hold the puck. protect the puck. Battle for the puck. Yea, he goes missing from scoring but what he does is get and hold the puck. You cant beat him off the possession. Being willing to take the punishment is the opposite of soft.

Meanwhile, RH will school you on the NHL stats definition of a hit.

I know. That's why I said I don't think that stat tells the whole story.

But to even be able to seriously compare Eller to Brett Connolly on softness like this shows that he just isn't exactly the terror we hope or project him to be.
 

RandyHolt

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Eller is big and plays big. Like Backstrom he is a load and takes the punishment to hold the puck. protect the puck. Battle for the puck. Yea, he goes missing from scoring but what he does is get and hold the puck. You cant beat him off the possession. Being willing to take the punishment is the opposite of soft.

Meanwhile, RH will school you on the NHL stats definition of a hit.

Why are you singling out Eller for being soft? Eller has a unique skill set in that he is first and foremost a possession hog. He is not a goon he isn't much of a hitter... but he is a workhorse lunch pail beast and is thus difficult to play against, but he doesn't suddenly start walking the dirty line nor upping his game significantly when the playoff start.

It doesn't matter, as how BMac designs the team is what it is. 3 is a checking / scoring line hybrid. It takes more than 1 player to make 6 difficult to play against.
 

RandyHolt

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Hahahaha, yeah, for sure. I laugh but, sadly, Carolina proved your point pretty effectively in their upset of the Caps. They played dirty as Hell a lot of that series, but walked the line just well enough to walk away with the win.

It's still annoying to me that the Caps could get so up for that do-it-for-Oshie-game and then come out so flat the next two. Boston and St. Louis both had a lot of moments like that throughout the playoffs though so, I guess it goes to show, it's hard to maintain that level of play consistently. That's why a championship team needs real depth in heart and soul players though. There has to be someone to pass the relay baton to, who can still truck it, if you're going to win the race.

Thanks, you articulated what happened in that series better than most anyone else I have seen try. I totally forgot that Dougie Fresh Hamilton elbowed Kuzy right in the f***ing jaw dirty as hell.

You nailed it. They were the bad boys in that series, and won. Stench standing up to Ovi as he did was proof they were ready for battle.
 
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tenken00

Oh it's going down in Chinatown
Jan 29, 2010
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Why are you singling out Eller for being soft? Eller has a unique skill set in that he is first and foremost a possession hog. He is not a goon he isn't much of a hitter... but he is a workhorse lunch pail beast and is thus difficult to play against, but he doesn't suddenly start walking the dirty line nor upping his game significantly when the playoff start.

It doesn't matter, as how BMac designs the team is what it is. 3 is a checking / scoring line hybrid. It takes more than 1 player to make 6 difficult to play against.

I think txpd was just responding to me saying that our whole bottom 6 was soft last year.
 
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Futures Passed

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Thanks, you articulated what happened in that series better than most anyone else I have seen try. I totally forgot that Dougie Fresh Hamilton elbowed Kuzy right in the ****ing jaw dirty as hell.

You nailed it. They were the bad boys in that series, and won. Stench standing up to Ovi as he did was proof they were ready for battle.

Indeed. They definitely brought it; where we should have been setting the tone. Also, it's funny how getting your ass kicked in hockey is so often the perfect way to motivate your team, haha. A little dose of martyrdom I guess.

I feel like I had accepted that they would not be champs forever, but I think what actually made it harder for me to swallow was that Ovie and Backstrom really showed up hungry for another Cup and genuinely stepped their games up. What a classic moment when Hamilton scurried away from Ovie behind the net like a petrified chipmunk fleeing from the talons of a hungry eagle. He just gave that goal up willingly. The leaders led. It's on the troops to follow.

If I recall correctly, the second half of Ovie's quote about not enough folks showing up with the same level of all out commitment they had during the Cup run, essentially expressed that "if you're not ready to bring it, then you should take a seat on the bench." I feel like McClellan sort of followed Ovie's lead on this, dismissed a few passengers, and brought in some new, properly lethal, assassins to carry out the mission right this time.
 

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