Post-Game Talk: Caps/Devs GDT 4/2

[Alexander the Gr8]

Dont need to move him. He’s a free agent this summer

He's a RFA, we can trade his rights to another team.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

And opponents' forwards often have easy access to those rebounds.

Fair enough but that particular goal was bad given the complete lack of rebound control.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Caps' next goal will be on a broken play or deflection.

 

[crab]

Terrible call after letting the call against Orlov go

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

Lovely pass by Eller.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

Officiating is atrocious as usual

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Fair enough but that particular goal was bad given the complete lack of rebound control.

Agreed, the rebound couldn't have been directed any worse. But just like we'd like the goalie to stop a breakaway every once in a while, it's nice to have coverage on opponents' forwards to counter those misdirected rebounds.

 

[Capsman]

Once again we inexplicably said “no thank you” to a chance to get out of the zone and went backward, which ultimately led to this PP.

Eller a bit to deferential to OV, he’s had better shots that he’s passing up for a sharp angle OV shot.

 

[g00n]

NJ got jobbed on 2 very bad calls so they may get another Peel Penalty in the 3rd

 

[Hivemind]

What's your solution then? He brings nothing to the table aside from goalscoring, and he doesn't score when he's under pressure (no goals in the playoffs since the Cup year).

Ride it out. The Capitals generally do better when he's on the ice than when he's not, and he brings a lot more in terms of puck possession and tilting the ice than you're giving him credit for. Stop focusing purely on what you think players don't do, and start recognizing the things they do well. His hockey IQ, shot, vision, and ability to not just skate at speed but also make plays at speed are areas that the Capitals benefit from greatly. Even in that 8-4 debacle last night, he set up Carlson with a terrific cross-ice pass for 74's goal.

As for Vrana in the playoffs, your "since the Cup year" is conveniently ignoring some pretty big goals he scored in 2018. Moreover, plenty of people talked the same way about Burakovsky's playoff performances, then he busted out when it mattered most against Tampa Bay and followed that up with 17 points in 15 playoff games for the Avalanche last year. Even Marcus Johansson scored clutch goals against Toronto for us and had a really solid playoff performance for Boston when they had their Cup finals run in 2019. The Playoffs are small sample sizes and are played against only 1-4 different opponents, don't overreact to them when a normally productive player has a quiet stretch. Be more concerned about the players who don't produce who still don't produce in the playoffs.

 

[Capsman]

Or, maybe, just don't trade Vrana. Not sure how many whipping boys we need to see light it up for other franchises before people realize that they shouldn't be demanding all the speedy young forwards on the team be traded away.

No argument from me on that.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

No argument from me on that.

For me it depends. I’ve seen some people on here saying he should get 5.5 to 6.5 million. At that AAV I would say hell no.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

Ride it out. The Capitals generally do better when he's on the ice than when he's not, and he brings a lot more in terms of puck possession and tilting the ice than you're giving him credit for. Stop focusing purely on what you think players don't do, and start recognizing the things they do well. His hockey IQ, shot, vision, and ability to not just skate at speed but also make plays at speed are areas that the Capitals benefit from greatly. Even in that 8-4 debacle last night, he set up Carlson with a terrific cross-ice pass for 74's goal.

As for Vrana in the playoffs, your "since the Cup year" is conveniently ignoring some pretty big goals he scored in 2018. Moreover, plenty of people talked the same way about Burakovsky's playoff performances, then he busted out when it mattered most against Tampa Bay and followed that up with 17 points in 15 playoff games for the Avalanche last year. Even Marcus Johansson scored clutch goals against Toronto for us and had a really solid playoff performance for Boston when they had their Cup finals run in 2019. The Playoffs are small sample sizes and are played against only 1-4 different opponents, don't overreact to them when a normally productive player has a quiet stretch. Be more concerned about the players who don't produce who still don't produce in the playoffs.

Fair enough but what would you pay him on a new contact?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

They won't move Vrana at the TDL, you can't move a player like him if you're a Cup contender heading into the playoffs. They will move him in the offseason if they want to.

at the TDL? Nah....off-season move IMO.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

 

[g00n]

I think the trivia answer might be FLA

 

[Hivemind]

Fair enough but what would you pay him on a new contact?

The absolute high end would be Nikolaj Ehler's deal. They can use that as a benchmark ("you aren't as good as Ehlers, you aren't going to get as much as he did"). So that sets 6x$6M as the upper bound. Guentzel's deal also reinforces that $6M upper bound (he got that after a 40G, 76P season).
Realistically, they're probably looking at somewhere between Tuch's $4.75M and Gourde's $5.16M as the realistic point where they settle.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

How do you not call that interference

 

[Hivemind]

Nice forecheck by Hagelin there

 

[Hivemind]

As someone starting both of these goalies in fantasy, tonight has been okay for me so far. Now let's get me the credit for a Win while also having the Caps win

 

[Hivemind]

I wanted the Big Z stickless breakaway


e; Ooof, terrible neutral zone turnover by Backstrom

 

[g00n]

Throwback OT Joe B and Locker 3rd period tickle fight

 

[troyerlaw]

What the hell, Backstrom? We have plenty of players good at giving puck away in neutral zone. That’s not what you’re on the roster for. Your role is to not do that

 

[Capsman]

We are getting no second shots at all. I guess part of it is Blackwood not giving up many rebounds.

 

[Hivemind]

Dillon.... *sigh*