Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2019-20 Season Pt. 5: 2020

[txpd]

Fun fact: Panik is over 0.5 ppg average if he played as many mins as he has past two years. He’s playing 2/3 of what he’s used to.

next year it’d be nice to see him, mcmichael, Eller on a 3rd line together

geez. we are back to Hagelin on the 4th line again. LOL

 

[SpinningEdge]

geez. we are back to Hagelin on the 4th line again. LOL

next year I’d say so. Panik seems to be doing better and better lately - and hagelin is older. Less minutes for hagelin and more minutes for Panik = more upside IMO

 

[Portable Mink]

Hagelin is playing great. Worthy of his 3rd line spot when you have a finisher like Kov there.

 

[txpd]

next year I’d say so. Panik seems to be doing better and better lately - and hagelin is older. Less minutes for hagelin and more minutes for Panik = more upside IMO

They are roughly the same age. two years. Hagelin has a job on this team and Panik doesn't do it.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

They are roughly the same age. two years. Hagelin has a job on this team and Panik doesn't do it.

Hardest working player on our team! I don't think I've seen him take a single shift off. He's become one of my fav Caps players.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I wouldn’t bench Kempny. You have to let him figure it out. He was a top pair on the 2018 cup run and has a long term contract.

I would like Gudas tough game in the lineup but that means Seigs out.

Gudas/Siegs are both on the slower side with their skating(Siegs still has bad moments where he doesn't read the situation well so Gudas experience helps the team better in that regard), so it depends on the opponents speed. Siegs is most effective on the PK because it doesn't require as much movement as playing 5-on-5. Overall he's still too young(age 22) to be trusted as a regular #5/#6 d-man. Gudas is a lot tougher and a better mold of a d-man for playoff hockey. Gudas also has the best +- on the team among the d-man and compared to the forwards. Also Gudas can be a scrum magnet which helps Wilson not go over board to focus on his offense ability. Hathaway also helps too.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Uhh why would they split up Orlov-Jensen at this point?

 

[Hivemind]

Uhh why would they split up Orlov-Jensen at this point?

Seems like they want to get Gudas out of the lineup.

 

[Calicaps]

Uhh why would they split up Orlov-Jensen at this point?

because you need 3 pairs that work? you can always reunite them if need be.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I think Gudas’ poor play has soured them on him for good. He’s probably only getting in when someone else gets nacho duty from here on out....

 

[Hivemind]

because you need 3 pairs that work? you can always reunite them if need be.

I think I'll settle for 2 pairs that work and playing them a combined 50 minutes per night at this point.

 

[txpd]

Ok....I admit it. I am totally baffled by the defense pairs

 

[Corby78]

Grasping at straws at this point?

 

[Calicaps]

Ok....I admit it. I am totally baffled by the defense pairs

Makes some sense to me.

Until his injury last season, Kempny was firmly 1LD. I know you don't think he should be, but he was and it seems the team is trying to help him/hoping he can/wants him to regain that form. The coaches want him in that role if he can find his game because Carlson has in the past played very well opposite him and he can be a significant 5 on 5 contributor.

Dillon could play the role with Orlov that Nisky did--more stay-at-home with a good first pass. Jensen can possibly be the Orlov to Siegs' Dillon.

Also, they can, and seem to want to, manage the primary PK d-men's ES minutes, which frees them up for special teams duty.

 

[txpd]

Makes some sense to me.

Until his injury last season, Kempny was firmly 1LD. I know you don't think he should be, but he was and it seems the team is trying to help him/hoping he can/wants him to regain that form. The coaches want him in that role if he can find his game because Carlson has in the past played very well opposite him and he can be a significant 5 on 5 contributor.

Dillon could play the role with Orlov that Nisky did--more stay-at-home with a good first pass. Jensen can possibly be the Orlov to Siegs' Dillon.

Also, they can, and seem to want to, manage the primary PK d-men's ES minutes, which frees them up for special teams duty.

I suppose they are forcing something to get something that isn't working to work. Jensen has been at his best and playing over 20 mins a night for the last bunch of games. He gets dropped into a 15min lineup spot? Kempny has just struggled. Reirden swapped Kempny and Dillon during the Buffalo game and I could sort of see this coming, but that looks like a potential mess. Kempny strugging and Orlov on his right with the team's best player recently dropped to the 3rd pair.

Reirden apparently thinks that Dillon is too slow.

 

[HecticGlow]

Kempny played quite a bit with Carlson during the Sabres game. I think they’ve concluded Dillon-Carlson isn’t working, and recognise Jensen would be better as a high achieving third pair than a competent second pair.

If you actually read what GMBM and HCTR we’re saying at the time of Dillon’s acquisition, they didn’t expect Kempny to necessarily stay apart from Carlson by the playoffs. TR said Carlson knew the system better than anyone, so that’s why you’d start Dillon with him, while GMBM made it clear he was open to playing Dillon with Orlov on either side.

 

[Langway]

It's not an awful time to experiment but, then again, it does also show something of a lack of feel to essentially demote Jensen and promote Kempny. I suppose they do need to get Kempny going and it's not a head-to-head or anything due to handedness but it's another move where the thinking behind it seems a bit questionable.

More than anything I don't much like the idea of Orlov at RD, esp. not when Jensen is actually playing well. It's yet another needless experiment that doesn't really need to happen. It's an attempt to find a solution but there are thirteen regular season games left. The sooner they can just set it and play the better off they'll be. Orlov at RD is only going to postpone that groove getting worked into. They collectively haven't really brought the work ethic regardless but it's getting very close to time to just go with their best look to date and to simply focus on making small improvements down the stretch. They're doing that up front but given the state of their defending they very shortly need to make the call on D and just stick to it. I think it'll be this six but this shake-up seems pretty questionable.

The problem with Dillon-Carlson isn't Dillon, it's Carlson playing like ass for the past month and a half regardless of who he's with. Kempny seems like just about the worst idea.

 

[tenken00]

In theory, the move to reuniting Kempny and Carlson and seeing if they can make it work again is a good one. My concern is that this would be a good move in theory if Carlson was playing up to his ability, which he is currently not.

It's putting two struggling D back together. Or at least two currently struggling D.

Edit: I just saw Langway's post above me. Agree 100%.

 

[zappa4ever]

Reading a bit too much into D changes I think, for now, it's 1 game not desperation
Maybe Kempny/Carlson rekindles and is good again, maybe not
Maybe Gudas is out until more physical games
Still 13 games left, I have no problem with some changes to see if they work
It's been Dillon/Carlson the whole time so far, let's see how he works with someone else

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I suppose they are forcing something to get something that isn't working to work. Jensen has been at his best and playing over 20 mins a night for the last bunch of games. He gets dropped into a 15min lineup spot? Kempny has just struggled. Reirden swapped Kempny and Dillon during the Buffalo game and I could sort of see this coming, but that looks like a potential mess. Kempny strugging and Orlov on his right with the team's best player recently dropped to the 3rd pair.

Reirden apparently thinks that Dillon is too slow.

I think the idea is that Jensen helps solidify Siege on the 3rd pair.

Also sadly Dillon hasn’t helped Carlson (not that Carlson helped Dillon either), so its back to seeing if Kempny can play up again.

this is going to keep rotating until the players solidify their spots, or we get eliminated....

 

[Rayquaza64]

Is it bad I don't see Evgeny Kuznetsov in the long term plan of this team's future? Connor McMichael is going off on the OHL and Kuznetsov has been atrocious defensively, while being ok offensively. If McMichael continues to develop and play the way that he is I could very well see us trying to move Kuzy as he gets older

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Is it bad I don't see Evgeny Kuznetsov in the long term plan of this team's future? Connor McMichael is going off on the OHL and Kuznetsov has been atrocious defensively, while being ok offensively. If McMichael continues to develop and play the way that he is I could very well see us trying to move Kuzy as he gets older

Nope....anyone looking at this team objectively should be considering his longterm viability.

In regards to CMM however, I would not be basing any 92 decisions based off his projected future success.

You move Kuzy you need a big hole filler immediately and a team looking for another Cup or 2 in the next 5 years can’t rely on a CMM to come in and help fill that void from the get go.

 

[Rayquaza64]

Nope....anyone looking at this team objectively should be considering his longterm viability.

In regards to CMM however, I would not be basing any 92 decisions based off his projected future success.

You move Kuzy you need a big hole filler immediately and a team looking for another Cup or 2 in the next 5 years can’t rely on a CMM to come in and help fill that void from the get go.

Moving Kuzy should probably get a decent haul, assuming it happens sooner rather than later.

 

[Langway]

this is going to keep rotating until the players solidify their spots, or we get eliminated....

I know which of those I expect...

I'd be a lot more interested, given Jensen's performance lately, in trying Dillon with Jensen and, as with their trailing go-to plan, loading up with Orlov & Carlson. If it's their go-to then why not just run with it? Shrug. No one is going to make Carlson right again but the man himself.

Just as no one configuration at this point is going to magically slide everything in place. It's more likely to be about team defense and generally finding a better rhythm and emphasis on things they've consistently managed to do well. Shortly they'll just need to come to terms with the areas they struggle with, live with them and try to focus more constructively on being the best somewhat mediocre team among many. There's no real power house out there and they need to primarily concern themselves with what a run for them is likely to resemble (ie. probably not lockdown defense).

 

[twabby]

Yeah it's a baffling decision to demote Jensen now of all times. He's finally in a groove and making plays in all three zones and now he's on the third pair?

Meanwhile Orlov has been the Capitals most consistent defenseman this year playing primarily on the left side and now's the time to move him to the right side?

Carlson needs to get his act together and I still want them to try a Siegenthaler-Carlson pairing. He's a bit raw but Siegenthaler still sports some of the best defensive numbers on the team.

Siegenthaler-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Dillon-Kempny/Gudas

The above seems to make the most sense going into the postseason, with Orlov taking a few shifts with Carlson in certain situations.