I expect them to have a massive cup hangover as Ovechkin and his pals don't seem to have the discipline you'd need to refocus after finally breaking through. I think they'll barely make the playoffs and exit in the first or second round.
I expect them to have a massive cup hangover as Ovechkin and his pals don't seem to have the discipline you'd need to refocus after finally breaking through. I think they'll barely make the playoffs and exit in the first or second round.
My take on it. I dont think it's a slight against Washington to say they probably won't, it's just hard to do.Sure they can. But this is the toughest sport to repeat after winning a cup. It takes such a big toll.
Got to trust the process and clear a path for Pinho, Gersich, or Boyd, maybe leave them enough money for Kempny or another acquisition down the road.Beagle is pretty important to the team dude! He's not easy to replace!
My take on it. I dont think it's a slight against Washington to say they probably won't, it's just hard to do.
Reasons to say "No":
1. Carlson and Trotz may be gone.
2. It is generally very hard
Reasons to say "Yes":
1. A number of players on upswing, and the core is ageing well.
2. Very convincing wins against other contenders. Two best teams in the East (PIT and TBL) were beaten quite convincingly. The team that went through West like knife through butter (VGK) was systematically dismantled in the finals. Seems like there might be some headroom left.
Wow that's a hot take.
Caps are 14:1, Tampa favorite at 9:1, I feel like that's low for the Caps if you assume they're resigning Carlson but I'd make them 12:1 or 11:1 at best. Their offseason moves are pretty easy to forecast: Carlson, Wilson, DSP probably back in increasing likelihood; Beagle, Grubby almost certainly gone; Kempny and Trotz unsure.
Kempny is UFA, DSP RFA, so I just can’t come up with a scenario where they lose DSP.Kempny is more important to resign than DSP. Not discounting what DSP did because he had some insanely timely goals for us. Grubs almost certianly gone to free up cap space for signing Carlson or to include in a trade for Carlson’s replacement (likely the former).
But Kempny was a rock back there for us with Carlson. I’d hate to break them up.
It’ll be interesting to see the caps vs pens series in 2019 with the shoe on the other foot. Pens were clearly running on fumes in the Washington series this year.