Post-Game Talk: Buffalo Bills @ WFT -- Hockey Edition | Nick Backstrom's 1000 NHL Game | 4/15/2021 | 7p ET

[BiPolar Caps]

After watching this game, I'm wondering if Seattle might just take a pass when it comes to picking an exposed Capitals player.

From the Washington Capitals, Seattle selects a French Canadian by the name of DeCline.

 

[twabby]

After watching this game, I'm wondering if Seattle might just take a pass when it comes to picking an exposed Capitals player.

From the Washington Capitals, Seattle selects a French Canadian by the name of DeCline.

They'll probably just pick the Capitals best defensive player: Nick Jensen.

 

[txpd]

I see. So Pens fans were right. Schultz sucks.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Dillon...meh. Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it when he 'dotted' Shrek's eye(what seems like many moons ago!) and I believe he has cut back on his time in the sin bin, but he still strikes me as too inconsistent, seriously.

Schultz...meh and... meh... and a little more meh.

I look for consistency from the D, and it's not a strong suit for either of these guys in my opinion. I wish the Caps could do better for $4mil per year. Maybe some of it is due to the line juggling by Lavi, but I'm just not sold on either of these guys right now.

Cap hits being about equal, ages being the same, I'd be more inclined to protect Schultz since he's got a shorter term remaining on his contract. If Dillon isn't picked up in the ED, then BMac sends him away like Mojo during the offseason.

 

[HecticGlow]

I didn’t think Orlov-Schultz was performing badly before the switch-up, whereas Dillon-Carlson wasn’t pretty. Now, Orlov-Carlson seems to be on track and Dillon-Schultz is struggling. If we can get Dillon back on track, I’m confident Schultz will follow.

 

[zappa4ever]

The Pre-Game show was way better than the game, lol

I guess it's better to drop this turd now instead of against some of the big boys coming up on the schedule, plus Aisles lose in reg. and PIT loses in SO

hope BUF and NJD can play spoiler a bunch more to all the other teams now that we're done with both of them

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Tough crowd. Schultz has been way better than advertised and is allowed to have a bad game or a bad string of games, it happens. And his contract is fine since it expires next year, and we have a much shallower pool of talent for RD. Not sure what all the angst over him is about but it's not warranted, I don't think.

 

[Bananas]

It’s looking like Dillon is the anchor...but I’m not particularly angsty about it. Playoffs are what matters now...and he could put together a good run.

 

[twabby]

Tough crowd. Schultz has been way better than advertised and is allowed to have a bad game or a bad string of games, it happens. And his contract is fine since it expires next year, and we have a much shallower pool of talent for RD. Not sure what all the angst over him is about but it's not warranted, I don't think.

The underlyings for Schultz are not good. Overall he's at 47.5% xGF which is the worst among the 6 regular D on the team. And while I don't think zone starts or QoC matter too much he does get the easiest zone starts and QoC among the top 6 D on the team, so it makes the xGF number look even worse for anyone inclined to weigh his context.

Further, every LD has been markedly better away from Schultz than with him:

	xGF% With Schultz	xGF% Without Schultz	Difference
Orlov	47.98%	54.18%	-6.20%
Dillon	44.77%	48.53%	-3.76%
Chara	49.02%	52.41%	-3.39%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I think he's been fine on PP2 but at this point Schultz really should be a sheltered 3rd pairing D on a contender. His PDO has really obfuscated the fact that he has been a drag at ES this year. And even now he has the same number of 5v5 points as Dillon, 2 more than Orlov, and 3 more than Jensen so that's not even a distinguishing characteristic of his.

 

[Rayquaza64]

4 is doing just as wonderfully

 

[g00n]

I trust both the stats and my eyes on this one. That pairing has been trouble. They need to be broken up or someone has to get this squared away.

 

[twabby]

4 is doing just as wonderfully

Yeah this is the exact tweet that led me to take a look at Schultz. I suspected Schultz has had a similar effect on LD as Dillon has had on RD.

But even outside of the 4-2 pairing I haven't really been impressed by Schultz this year. I think Orlov doing the bulk of the work on the 9-2 pairing has really made Schultz look better than he has been at ES.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

So... we don't have a second pairing?

 

[Rayquaza64]

So... we don't have a second pairing?

ding ding ding we have a winner

 

[tenken00]

Yeah this is the exact tweet that led me to take a look at Schultz. I suspected Schultz has had a similar effect on LD as Dillon has had on RD.

But even outside of the 4-2 pairing I haven't really been impressed by Schultz this year. I think Orlov doing the bulk of the work on the 9-2 pairing has really made Schultz look better than he has been at ES.

Orlov might have been doing the bulk of the work on the 9-2 pairing, but I don't remember that pairing being that bad either way. Wasn't a problem at all.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The underlyings for Schultz are not good. Overall he's at 47.5% xGF which is the worst among the 6 regular D on the team. And while I don't think zone starts or QoC matter too much he does get the easiest zone starts and QoC among the top 6 D on the team, so it makes the xGF number look even worse for anyone inclined to weigh his context.

Further, every LD has been markedly better away from Schultz than with him:

	xGF% With Schultz	xGF% Without Schultz	Difference
Orlov	47.98%	54.18%	-6.20%
Dillon	44.77%	48.53%	-3.76%
Chara	49.02%	52.41%	-3.39%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I think he's been fine on PP2 but at this point Schultz really should be a sheltered 3rd pairing D on a contender. His PDO has really obfuscated the fact that he has been a drag at ES this year. And even now he has the same number of 5v5 points as Dillon, 2 more than Orlov, and 3 more than Jensen so that's not even a distinguishing characteristic of his.

I'm going to pretend I didn't read this and carry on thinking we don't have a problem at 2RD since that's better for my mental health.

 

[twabby]

So... we don't have a second pairing?

No they just need to trust Nick Jensen on the second pairing. And protect him in the expansion draft.

If it were me I'd at least try 33-74 and 9-3 for a few games. 33-74 was pretty good early this year, and 9-3 has been an excellent pairing since last year. Maybe swap in TvR or Kempny (assuming he's healthy) on the third pairing if Schultz or Dillon can't hack in on the third pair.

 

[twabby]

Orlov might have been doing the bulk of the work on the 9-2 pairing, but I don't remember that pairing being that bad either way. Wasn't a problem at all.

I mean it wasn't a problem in the sense that it wasn't a disaster, but it was still underwater which isn't great.

 

[tenken00]

I mean it wasn't a problem in the sense that it wasn't a disaster, but it was still underwater which isn't great.

But the drop off from putting 4-2 together is greater than the benefit of putting 9-74 together.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

No they just need to trust Nick Jensen on the second pairing. And protect him in the expansion draft.

If it were me I'd at least try 33-74 and 9-3 for a few games. 33-74 was pretty good early this year, and 9-3 has been an excellent pairing since last year. Maybe swap in TvR or Kempny (assuming he's healthy) on the third pairing if Schultz or Dillon can't hack in on the third pair.

Agree on Jensen being great, just wondering if he's better off being kept in a role that's clearly working for him or if he's ready for more minutes. 33-74 is concerning... seems like it'd be one of the slowest top pairs in the league and a rehash of Carlson/Orpik which wasn't effective.

I've figured it out; they just need to solve the space/time continuum and go back to 2019 and bench Kempny in that late regular season game versus Tampa so he doesn't tear his hamstring and then we'll be fine.

 

[twabby]

Agree on Jensen being great, just wondering if he's better off being kept in a role that's clearly working for him or if he's ready for more minutes. 33-74 is concerning... seems like it'd be one of the slowest top pairs in the league and a rehash of Carlson/Orpik which wasn't effective.

I've figured it out; they just need to solve the space/time continuum and go back to 2019 and bench Kempny in that late regular season game versus Tampa so he doesn't tear his hamstring and then we'll be fine.

I mean the role is working for Jensen but he's shown he can succeed playing second pairing shutdown minutes as well. He's done it in Washington and Detroit, and now seems like the best opportunity to try to elevate his role in order to maximize the talent on the blue line.

Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to keep the pairings the same but increase the minutes 33-3 get and decrease the minutes 4-2 get.

 

[g00n]

I mean the role is working for Jensen but he's shown he can succeed playing second pairing shutdown minutes as well. He's done it in Washington and Detroit, and now seems like the best opportunity to try to elevate his role in order to maximize the talent on the blue line.

Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to keep the pairings the same but increase the minutes 33-3 get and decrease the minutes 4-2 get.

That could be the plan for the playoffs and the current ice time is about making sure nobody burns out.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don’t think for a second they do or WILL trust Jensen as is being suggested here.

I suspect the playoffs will further clarify that.

 

[twabby]

That could be the plan for the playoffs and the current ice time is about making sure nobody burns out.

In that case I'd at least like to see TvR get in a few games to make sure he isn't ice cold if needed in the playoffs. Kempny too if he is healthy enough to play. Give players like Dillon, Chara, and Schultz some rest.

 

[kicksavedave]

I mean the role is working for Jensen but he's shown he can succeed playing second pairing shutdown minutes as well. He's done it in Washington and Detroit, and now seems like the best opportunity to try to elevate his role in order to maximize the talent on the blue line.

Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to keep the pairings the same but increase the minutes 33-3 get and decrease the minutes 4-2 get.

We all think Chara needs a rest break, not increased minutes. Curious your take on that?