Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2019-20 Season Pt. 4: 2020, Act II, Scene II

[txpd]

The question I'd like to see asked is "Why is the power play so crappy and why does Forsythe still have a job when it's obvious he has no ****ing clue and his changes have made it even worse?"

To me this is the team's most significant problem and it absolutely MUST be fixed by the time they start the post season. A powerplay that is only 6.9% effective (or whatever the hell it is the last 20+ games) is NOT going to win you a Cup.

Easy answer: There is no chance that the team with the best record in the league is going to throw a grenade in the locker room like firing an assistant coach. There is no chance.

I would ask how you would fix the power play? The biggest weapon on the unit is Ovechkin and his advantage is his ability to beat a goalie from distance. Bring him closer to the net only makes him easier to cover. Put him in the slot and he never touches the puck again. IMO they are mainly out of sorts. They are not crisp enough and are not scoring away from Ov enough to open Ov back up.

The only thing they could do that they aren't enough is to put Vrana in the rw office and have him shoot one timers himself. But Vrana is no Ov or Kucherov or Stamkos.

 

[traparatus]

An honest answer is not a requirement of a coach or GM when asked about their players. Honest answers don't always benefit the clubc so you're request to just get an honest answer will be denied.

If a club is ready to move on from a player, they simply aren't going to publicly say so and drive down his value for no reason other than to "be honest". There's a reason why "upper body" and "lower body" are all you get from an injury report. There's a reason why coaches use "coach speak" about players to protect them from public ridicule or criticism. Coaches who ignore this rule, like Torts, do so at the risk they they wear out their welcome with clubs in a short order, so being "honest" often comes at a price.

Simple fact, if McLellan was ready to shop Jensen, he would tell other GMs, not the Washington Post, because if he can't get what he wants for Jensen, he still has to deal with him on our roster in some way. Trashing players in public doesn't make future FA's want to come work for BMac. The Caps have carefully created a culture of support for players and now they can get their home grown players to stick around and FA's to WANT to come play here. They didn't do that by trashing players in public, even when "trash" is the honest answer.

Everything you say here is so simple and intuitive that I can't fathom why it would possibly need saying. Yet, here we are.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

Easy answer: There is no chance that the team with the best record in the league is going to throw a grenade in the locker room like firing an assistant coach. There is no chance.

I would ask how you would fix the power play? The biggest weapon on the unit is Ovechkin and his advantage is his ability to beat a goalie from distance. Bring him closer to the net only makes him easier to cover. Put him in the slot and he never touches the puck again. IMO they are mainly out of sorts. They are not crisp enough and are not scoring away from Ov enough to open Ov back up.

The only thing they could do that they aren't enough is to put Vrana in the rw office and have him shoot one timers himself. But Vrana is no Ov or Kucherov or Stamkos.

I think they should go and look at their PP footage from the first 20 games of the season, when (I think?) their PP was the best (or top 3) in the league. I am fairly sure their entries were different (I recall people saying thank God they've stopped the slingshot),
and I think Carlson was taking more shots. I also think Kuzy needs to shoot more (yes I know he's on the 2nd unit now but I think they should bring him back and go with the original 1st unit). He has a v good shot but his passing (in the last few weeks) has been below average. He seems
to be doing a lot of "no look" passes where he just puts it into spots that would be great for his team mates to take shots - except more often than not his team mates aren't actually there. (Admittedly this seems to happen more in 5v5 play).

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

I think they should go and look at their PP footage from the first 20 games of the season, when (I think?) their PP was the best (or top 3) in the league. I am fairly sure their entries were different (I recall people saying thank God they've stopped the slingshot),
and I think Carlson was taking more shots. I also think Kuzy needs to shoot more (yes I know he's on the 2nd unit now but I think they should bring him back and go with the original 1st unit). He has a v good shot but his passing (in the last few weeks) has been below average. He seems
to be doing a lot of "no look" passes where he just puts it into spots that would be great for his team mates to take shots - except more often than not his team mates aren't actually there. (Admittedly this seems to happen more in 5v5 play).

Yeah, Carlson was shooting a lot more. Was very effective.

 

[txpd]

I think they should go and look at their PP footage from the first 20 games of the season, when (I think?) their PP was the best (or top 3) in the league. I am fairly sure their entries were different (I recall people saying thank God they've stopped the slingshot),
and I think Carlson was taking more shots. I also think Kuzy needs to shoot more (yes I know he's on the 2nd unit now but I think they should bring him back and go with the original 1st unit). He has a v good shot but his passing (in the last few weeks) has been below average. He seems
to be doing a lot of "no look" passes where he just puts it into spots that would be great for his team mates to take shots - except more often than not his team mates aren't actually there. (Admittedly this seems to happen more in 5v5 play).

I have to guess that the league has adjusted to what they were doing earlier and looking at that video while probably done, wouldn't help.

From what I see penalty kills are standing right in Carlson's shooting lane and they shadowing Ov. The other two pk players squeeze Oshie and what is left is the shot off the right wing, Backstrom or Kuzy or Vrana. All of which are no better than the 4th best shot on the pp.

Kuzy is off the pp1 because he is a turnover machine in part because of the blind passing and over passing. The fix for this pp will have to come from Backstrom, Vrana and Kuzy.

Lastly, moving Ov and Carlson around and recently moving Ov and Backstrom around does disorient the pk. They are prepared for one thing and moving Carlson into the Ov office always opens that up. Carlson is just far less effective at that shot than Ov and Ov the same passing it to Carlson

 

[Portable Mink]

The PP tries to force a certain type of entry.
The opposition plans against this and cuts off half our entries.
PK units, as txpd said have found a way to squeeze the puck to the halfboard side where Backy is. We waste time trying to get that to change but teams dont over commit anymore.

One thing to do would be to rotate up high. Not swap sides, but Ovi go down low but still to the side of the net, not in front.
Carlson then slides between where he and Ovi were.
This gives Backy/Vrana/Kuzy space to either step in and shoot, which they are all capable of doing, or force defending forward to cover Carlson or the guy with the puck.

All PP/PK changes need to usually just be subtle tweaks and not wholesale changes imo. the bones is there.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Everything you say here is so simple and intuitive that I can't fathom why it would possibly need saying. Yet, here we are.

worth “chewing on” isnt it? (I think I just chipped a TOOTH)

 

[Raikkonen]

They arent dumb and know PP is messed up right now. Yeah, they probably watch the video from earlier too.

Maybe its the end of PP effectiveness league wide... But doubtfully

I will watch that in April but for now Forsythe's head on the platter is ok for me just for laughs.

 

[Melkor]

Lmao I appreciate the effort to guide me on a true path but, as was pointed out, the points that were made by a couple of you guys here are so obvious that I couldn't help myself but cracked up. I really don't care about anything Jensen related aside from him getting canned to another team. What value Maclellan gets for him really ain't something that's worth discussion. He won't get anything for him that you could use in a Stanley cup final and win games. Just let it go. He ain't worth shit at this point.

worth “chewing on” isnt it? (I think I just chipped a TOOTH)

Ridley, man, I know a very talented dentist for you. Lemme know if you need one.

 

[txpd]

The PP tries to force a certain type of entry.
The opposition plans against this and cuts off half our entries.
PK units, as txpd said have found a way to squeeze the puck to the halfboard side where Backy is. We waste time trying to get that to change but teams dont over commit anymore.

One thing to do would be to rotate up high. Not swap sides, but Ovi go down low but still to the side of the net, not in front.
Carlson then slides between where he and Ovi were.
This gives Backy/Vrana/Kuzy space to either step in and shoot, which they are all capable of doing, or force defending forward to cover Carlson or the guy with the puck.

All PP/PK changes need to usually just be subtle tweaks and not wholesale changes imo. the bones is there.

Ov slides down the post now. He is so much easier to cover there. If done as a primary set up, he is effectively out of the play

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I would like to see the PP with Kuz in backstroms spot. This has never been tried on the 1st unit.
Backy is to slow and everyone knows he’s not going to shoot and is looking for the pass to Carlson or Ovie.

I know TR doesn’t have the balls to bench his vets but I can hope

 

[kicksavedave]

Lmao I appreciate the effort to guide me on a true path but, as was pointed out, the points that were made by a couple of you guys here are so obvious that I couldn't help myself but cracked up. I really don't care about anything Jensen related aside from him getting canned to another team. What value Maclellan gets for him really ain't something that's worth discussion. He won't get anything for him that you could use in a Stanley cup final and win games. Just let it go. He ain't worth **** at this point.

Ridley, man, I know a very talented dentist for you. Lemme know if you need one.

Ok, so then just ditch Jensen for nothing valuable. Who plays 2RD the rest of the way?

 

[Melkor]

Ok, so then just ditch Jensen for nothing valuable. Who plays 2RD the rest of the way?

Pack up an offer based on picks and/or prospects and go for whoever you think is worthy. And add Nicky to that for cap purposes.

 

[kicksavedave]

Pack up an offer based on picks and/or prospects and go for whoever you think is worthy. And add Nicky to that for cap purposes.

LOL. so throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks. Your scenario is to replace 2RD and 1C before the playoffs and deplete the future. Got it. Thanks for the talk... good stuff.

If you had just said bring up Fever and Djoos for 5/6 and promote Siegs/Gudas or something actually possible, I'd have taken you seriously.

 

[Melkor]

LOL. so throwing **** against the wall to see what sticks. Your scenario is to replace 2RD and 1C before the playoffs and deplete the future. Got it. Thanks for the talk... good stuff.

If you had just said bring up Fever and Djoos for 5/6 and promote Siegs/Gudas or something actually possible, I'd have taken you seriously.

Who's the 1C you're talking about?

Deplete the future? Who gives a f*** about the future if you're getting non-rental legit top-4 RD?

 

[Hivemind]

Melkors plan for success:

Sign a franchise cornerstone to a 5 year extension designed to take him to retirement with the same team he was drafted with.

Immediately trade that player before his new contract kicks in

 

[txpd]

Pack up an offer based on picks and/or prospects and go for whoever you think is worthy. And add Nicky to that for cap purposes.

Ok. Lunch?

 

[Melkor]

Melkors plan for success:

Sign a franchise cornerstone is a 5 year extension designed to take him to retirement with the same team he was drafted with.

Immediately trade that player before his new contract kicks in

Before sounding this dumb make sure you're talking about the same player I was talking.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Before sounding this dumb make sure you're talking about the same player I was talking.

Were you not talking about trading Backstrom?

 

[Melkor]

Were you not talking about trading Backstrom?

I was not.

 

[Hivemind]

Before sounding this dumb make sure you're talking about the same player I was talking.

Nicky is the universally accepted nickname for Nicklas Backstrom among Caps fan. Before sounding this dumb, don’t use that nickname to refer to other players.

 

[Melkor]

Nicky is the universally accepted nickname for Nicklas Backstrom among Caps fan. Before sounding this dumb, don’t use that nickname to refer to other players.

I really don't care what is accepted as a nickname for Nicklas Backstrom. I didn't mention him once and you chose to try and make fun of me instead of asking who is Nicky. Congrats, you played yourself.

 

[txpd]

I really don't care what is accepted as a nickname for Nicklas Backstrom. I didn't mention him once and you chose to try and make fun of me instead of asking who is Nicky. Congrats, you played yourself.

Do what you want but you don't really need to antagonize most of the board to have a good time. Do you? I saw Nicky and read Backstrom. Who calls Jensen Nicky?? Since most people misunderstood wht you posted maybe its not their fault and being more friendly would be better for all?

My 2 cents. Moving on now

 

[hb12xchamps]

Everyone knows "Nicky" is in reference to Nicklas Backstrom

 

[Melkor]

Do what you want but you don't really need to antagonize most of the board to have a good time. Do you? I saw Nicky and read Backstrom. Who calls Jensen Nicky?? Since most people misunderstood wht you posted maybe its not their fault and being more friendly would be better for all?

My 2 cents. Moving on now

I'm friendly when you're friendly. Trying some witty jokes and acting like a mob is not being friendly. Also I didn't antagonize anyone except Hivemind. You can clearly see that.