Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) -- 2018-19 We Are The Champions Edition - Pt. 6

[francaisvolantsparis]

That's not how it went down though.

We never surveyed all 3, picked our favorite and shipped the rest off. Essentially each guy in front of Holtby burned his bridge and was shipped off. Varlamov didn't want to be in competition and it was clear he was not going to be a guy who worked with management, Neuvirth then felt like the space was free for him and he infamously threw Holtby under the bus in a Czech interview (basically saying Holtby wasn't serious competition and the spot was his), when Neuvirth clearly wasn't the guy it was obvious that it was toxic to have him around. We also tried to plug in several veteran stop gaps during this time (Vokoun/Halak/Peters) to try and provide some consistency but that failed too. Finally, Holtby emerged as our #1 and by pure luck we had Grubauer in our system who had developed nicely as well. There was never a point that management looked over all three, picked Holtby, picked Grubi, and discarded the rest. It was a very, very, very messy process and required tons of trial and error.


I also don't understand why we're magically leap frogging Samsonov in the depth chart. We have half a season of sample size for Samsonov, and half of that isn't even that great. Meanwhile we've got 7+ years of Holtby, 3+ of Vanecek, and 5+ of Copley. Simply being of a higher draft spot than the rest of the depth chart doesn't earn you anything. The history of this organization (and league) is rife with first round G's that couldn't hang, Samsonov will need to earn his spot and playing 1/4 of a good season in the AHL does not allow him to dethrone a Vezina and SC winning G or any of the other guys in front of him.

Holtby will ask a 9x9+M contract next year.

The only difference with the Varlamov/Holtby/Neuvirth case is that we choose Holtby but brought in Vokoun and Halak 'to be sure'. That was an overkill. This lesson in mind we will do the same exact thing with Holtby/Samsonov/Grubauer but instead of bringing in a veteran G to 'push' Samsonov forward, we have signed Coppley for three years. Smart and brilliant.

 

[Sam Spade]

I want Hagelin because he won't cost much and he will immediately help the putrid PK. Not super complicated for me.

And Holtby will not be a Capital after next season if not sooner unless he takes the same salary on a say, two year deal, to re-up (which he won't).

 

[traparatus]

We have only one wing forward (Wilson) who can PK. We need at least three. Oshie is more than terrible this year. And honestly with all his injuries should not PK any second more. DSP and Stephenson are hurting 5v5 lines production and CF%. No one from Burakovsky, Connolly, Boyd, Jaskin and Vrana can PK right now. So, as a medical evidence, Zuccarello will be the instant second best wing forward with PK duties on Caps.

This makes no sense whatsoever. Better 5-on-5 production does not make Zuccarello a better PKer that DSP or Stephenson. That's absurd. He is worse than either in every measurable way. If he replaces either of them on the PK, it will get worse.

What does 'medical evidence' mean?

 

[traparatus]

I want Hagelin because he won't cost much and he will immediately help the putrid PK. Not super complicated for me.

And Holtby will not be a Capital after next season if not sooner unless he takes the same salary on a say, two year deal, to re-up (which he won't).

An honest question. Can you make an argument on how having Hagelin versus Stephenson makes us a better team?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

New thread.