Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2019 Offseason Pt. 2: The BMac Attack

[hockeykicker]

so jaskin doesnt get a QO

 

[Charles Calvert]

so jaskin doesnt get a QO

Is anyone surprised?

 

[SherVaughn30]

I never would have thought their plan was to just return the same team minus Niskanen and Connolly.

That's not what "go for it" means to me.

I hope there's a major move coming but I don't see it.

Hockey media labeled the Caps as going for it. BMac did not say that as he indicated the Caps are always competing to be a contender.

 

[ThreeOfAPerfectPair]

Oilers media guys seem convinced Connolly is going to sign at $3 mil x 3/4/5

 

[Corby78]

Jaskin doesn’t surprise me. I really wanted him to work, but at 1.1 he can easily be replaced. Have to think his next move is overseas

 

[tenken00]

Oilers media guys seem convinced Connolly is going to sign at $3 mil x 3/4/5

Doesn't really matter any more unless there is a corresponding move to the Burakovsky QO.

Hope he gets a nice contract and situation, he deserves it. We wish him well, he'll be missed here.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Really really surprised to see Colby Williams get a QO. They must be worried about the extreme tilt of LD compared to RD for the organization

 

[Marshall]

Really really surprised to see Colby Williams get a QO. They must be worried about the extreme tilt of LD compared to RD for the organization

That's the only one that gave me pause, as well. Hadn't thought about the righty thing. How was he last season?

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[The Dude]

Wouldn't you rather have the 3.25 in cap space though?

Part of me wonders if this QO represents a reluctance by the team to tie up money past this year that could be needed to re-sign Backstrom and Holtby. It's hard to imagine getting anyone worth a 3+ cap hit who would be willing to take a one-year deal. Here, you get a player who could be a solid top 9 piece, and if he isn't, could be included as part of a package for a rental.

 

[895]

They can start the season with a player on LTIR. See the Nathan Horton and David Clarkson contracts.
However, they can never go more than 10% above the salary cap during the off-season (where no LTIR exemption exists). ​

I think the Leafs proved LTIR in the off seasons exists one of these past few years.

 

[hb12xchamps]

That's the only one that gave me pause, as well. Hadn't thought about the righty thing. How was he last season?

Wasn’t great but also battled injuries all year long so this is probably his last hoorah with the organization. He was in and out of the lineup and adding Sproul to the lineup meant Hobbs or Williams sat each night

 

[SherVaughn30]

Kind of strange to me because that was Don Beaupre's #.

 

[hockeykicker]

Kind of strange to me because that was Don Beaupre's #.

Well his old number is taken, as is 13 and 23 so he went with 33

 

[HandsomeTom43]

I've been a huge 65 proponent this off season because of his potential to hit 20 goals, which we are going to need with the seemingly obvious departure of Connolly. I'm happy he's coming back, that being said regardless of what happens this season, if he's not a 40 point player--even if injuries happen--I'll be happy to move on from him.

 

[ovikovy817]

Well, maybe Bura at 3.25 is the best option available for 3rd line winger.

 

[Langway]

The downside is they're really open to an offer sheet at the moment. Maybe it's not a factor at all but nonetheless it's a risk. $6M for Vrana and three skaters (two likely being Stephenson/Djoos) doesn't leave much. As it is they're slated to have a fourth-line again that couldn't get on the ice against Carolina. Even if they manage to get Vrana at more like $3.5M and then Stephenson/Djoos near the $715k QO number that's only about a million left. It would allow them to have a $925k prospect make it if they earn it but it's still a thin 22 player roster. It's going to be tight to the point where they won't bank much cap space and have minimal room for call-ups if needed.

I have to agree with those that see last year's roster minus Niskanen, Connolly & Orpik with just Gudas added as pretty underwhelming. It's early but absent a trade there's just not much to go around otherwise. A $700-800k fourth-liner swap or two won't change much either even if they are active on that level. Brett Ritchie & Hartman weren't qualified by Dallas. They might be worth looking at for RW depth. Small potatoes, though. (Noesen & Aberg could be interesting also.)

 

[txpd]

Hockey media labeled the Caps as going for it. BMac did not say that as he indicated the Caps are always competing to be a contender.

MacLellan, IIRC, said that the Capitals are always in win now mode. Not sure there is anything untrue about that. If your design is to project a cup contender for the remaining years of Ovechkin's contract, you cant throw all your future chips in for one run. I don't expect that he has any interest in doing that. He doesn't need to

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Charles Calvert]

The downside is they're really open to an offer sheet at the moment. Maybe it's not a factor at all but nonetheless it's a risk. $6M for Vrana and three skaters (two likely being Stephenson/Djoos) doesn't leave much. As it is they're slated to have a fourth-line again that couldn't get on the ice against Carolina. Even if they manage to get Vrana at more like $3.5M and then Stephenson/Djoos near the $715k QO number that's only about a million left. It would allow them to have a $925k prospect make it if they earn it but it's still a thin 22 player roster. It's going to be tight to the point where they won't bank much cap space and have minimal room for call-ups if needed.

I have to agree with those that see last year's roster minus Niskanen, Connolly & Orpik with just Gudas added as pretty underwhelming. It's early but absent a trade there's just not much to go around otherwise. A $700-800k fourth-liner swap or two won't change much either even if they are active on that level. Brett Ritchie & Hartman weren't qualified by Dallas. They might be worth looking at for RW depth. Small potatoes, though.

We all said the same thing after the 17-18 chips-all-in season ended and we lost a hole host of guys. Underwhelmed. Not deep. Lost a ton of high-end role players. No one really thought the Caps would contend for a Cup, how could they I'd THAT loaded squad couldn't. Looked what happened.

This team WILL contend until the core stops being elite. None of us know when that will be. But as long as Ovechkin and Backstrom and Carlson and Holtby are themselves, thebrest of the compliments like Wilson and Kuznetzov and Orlov we know are good enough to help.

Once those big fish start to fade, that's when we say okay, time to think about what needs to be done.

 

[Langway]

Sure but that team also had some depth grit step up in a big way. It's really the combination of both weaker depth up front and also on defense that stands out. It's only June 25th of course but there's not much flexibility. It's okay to get weaker at one or the other, less so both and without much NHL-ready youth ready to step up.

The big danger in lazily relying on the core group through the regular season is them being gassed by the playoffs. They're going to need a more sustainable and varied path to regular season success or else it's likely just a mirage.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

He had 5 points from March 1st on, he was the suck. For perspective, in that same time span Boyd (800k) had 4 points, Dowd (65ok) had 6 points, Connolly (1.5) had 11 points. All three, with 450k to spare better than Burakovsky.

He was a fine player if he made a million per, or even two million per, at 3.25 he is a horrible waste of cap space.

If you stat sheet watch that's a reasonable conclusion, if you watch those games though you would have seen him making the right decisions and being more involved in play. If he enters this season the way he played the latter half of last season he will experience success on the score sheet eventually.

 

[peterthegreat12]

I hope BMac qualified Bura to trade else I question how they put out an NHL competent bottom 6.

 

[Hivemind]

Hartman's QO was rather small, so this is curious. First Philly traded him then Dallas didn't QO him, must mean that he and his agent are very clear that they're willing to go to arbitration to meet his salary demands, and both Dallas and Philly weren't comfortable doing that (the arbitration walk-away amount is significantly above what he will receive). Will be interesting to see how his market shifts now that he's a UFA instead of RFA.

That being said, if they wanted a relatively cheap 4th line winger who doesn't kill penalties, they likely would have kept Jaskin.

 

[tenken00]

When is the deadline for players to sign qualifying offer sheets? I'm assuming that if there is another corresponding move with this, nothing can happen until he signs it?