Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2019 Offseason Pt. 4: Nobody Panik!

[CapitalsCupReality]

The good thing for Kuznetsov is that if he can improve to just being below average defensively (instead of the worst in the NHL) then he will return to being incredibly valuable. There isn't nearly as much defensive talent variation in the league as there is offensive talent variation so being below average defensively is fine as long as he can continue to be effective on the offensive side of the ice.

That’s right, just get back to average for Christ’s sake.....that’s why I feel he’ll bounce back. Shouldn’t be that damned hard for an elite skilled guy to get back to just treading water in his own end.

If he doesn’t, I’ll be extremely worried and open to a hockey trade I fear.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The 2019 NHL front office confidence rankings: Fans weigh in...

“The window is still open, but not for long. Doing what they can to maximize their chances to win another Cup with this group. And frankly, being able to use “another” in that sentence is pretty great.”
“I think they’ve done a great job for a while now. The Caps are always right up against the salary cap, but it feels more like because they are paying whatever it takes to ice a competitive team rather than wasting money on bad contracts for bad players.”
“Master trader and superb roster builder – keeps the core intact and continuously identifies affordable veteran/overlooked talent. Only gripe is drafting record – finally went for some talent up front this year after taking so many defencemen.”

The Capitals’ Stanley Cup win in 2018 is yesterday’s news now and the team dropped as a result. Washington faithful are still mostly confident with some exceptions, but the public veer a little closer to average in a few categories.
The big issue for Washington is that drafting and developing carries the most weight and, by both the public and the fan base, that’s where there’s the least amount of confidence in the team. It’s hard to have a strong pipeline when your team is consistently near the top of the league, but other teams have managed better than Washington has. It’s not enough to push them out of the top 10, but it is concerning enough to drop them out of the top five where they were last summer.

We like our team apparently lol....

 

[txpd]

NBC marketing team is full steam ahead on the Pittsburgh media train. Doesn’t even make a stop for Connor McDavid McMania.

Crosby and Ovechkin and Crosby v Ovechkin means ratings. The NHL's Bird v Magic. The Flyers missed the playoffs last season. The Oil missed the playoffs and have zero interest in the US market. The Network and the league doesn't pick their games at random. They are based entirely on numbers

 

[tenken00]

Caps rookie tournament starts exactly 4 weeks from today and then Caps training camp starts exactly 1 week after that. So close you can almost taste it!

 

[txpd]

I mean it's not that hard to do
Put Kuzy on Ellers wing and have Connor Mac center the bottom six.

But I prefer Kuz at center so he has the freedom to pass to everyone

What do the Caps do with their wings that Kuzy does well?

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

What do the Caps do with their wings that Kuzy does well?

One more season like last and Wilson be back down into Lindros territory with his teammates, coaches, and fans IMO.

I’m expecting him to be a Pro this year and turn it around.

What about, if Tom has another bad season offensively, just move him to center instead of wing before trading him?

 

[Calicaps]

One more season like last and Wilson be back down into Lindros territory with his teammates, coaches, and fans IMO.

I’m expecting him to be a Pro this year and turn it around.

What about, if Tom has another bad season offensively, just move him to center instead of wing before trading him?

What on Earth? Willy is beloved by his teammates and coaches as well as most fans.

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

What on Earth? Willy is beloved by his teammates and coaches as well as most fans.

As Kuznetsov does.

It was irony. Check last page

 

[Calicaps]

As Kuznetsov does.

It was irony. Check last page

That's not how irony works. Stats aside, Kuzy was visibly terrible, especially defensively, last year and got demoted from 1C to 2C.

Wilson had a career year.

 

[Ridley Simon]

What do the Caps do with their wings that Kuzy does well?

Not take faceoffs?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Are we in bizarro world?

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

and got demoted from 1C to 2C

The reason why we choke vs Carolina? With Mr. '-4' Backstrom on 2C we pass Hurricanes. Irrelevant biased visual opinions aside, stats show it.

 

[traparatus]

One more season like last and Wilson be back down into Lindros territory with his teammates, coaches, and fans IMO.

I’m expecting him to be a Pro this year and turn it around.

What about, if Tom has another bad season offensively, just move him to center instead of wing before trading him?

Man, you gotta go outside and smell the roses or something. Your posts are 50% insults and 50% incomprehensible.

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Your posts are 50% insults and 50% incomprehensible.

... and 100% copy-paste of the @Employee427 and @CapitalsCupReality posts from the previus page on Kuznetsov.

I am happy you find them "insulting" and "incomprehensible". Me too I had this normal reaction. This is why I wrote my IRONIC post on Wilson to show the evidence of hate on Kuznetsov by the two previus posters.

Spoiler: quotes

What about, if Kuzy has another bad season defensively, just move him back to wing instead of center before trading him?

Caps moved him to C, he was playing wing in KHL..

One more season like last and he’ll be back down into Semin territory with his teammates, coaches, and fans IMO.

I’m expecting him to be a Pro this year and turn it around.

Into

One more season like last and Wilson be back down into Lindros territory with his teammates, coaches, and fans IMO.

I’m expecting him to be a Pro this year and turn it around.

What about, if Tom has another bad season offensively, just move him to center instead of wing before trading him?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

[Mod edits]

Go back to floating player evaluation “math” formulas. Much more entertaining to see the stats posters heads explode.

If Kuzy wasn’t a massive disappointment to you last year, maybe try to find your lost objectivity is all I can suggest.

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

That's not how irony works. Stats aside, Kuzy was visibly terrible, especially defensively, last year and got demoted from 1C to 2C.

Wilson had a career year.

Irony was about "insulting" and "incomprehensible" nature of other's posts on Caps player not about Wilson skills. Since I know you liked one of the posts targeted in my post, I do not see why we should togather unobjectively discuss the subjective irony perception.

 

[hb12xchamps]

The reason why we choke vs Carolina? With Mr. '-4' Backstrom on 2C we pass Hurricanes. Irrelevant biased visual opinions aside, stats show it.

Show the zone starts and competition between the two players. I’m willing to bet Backstrom’s were much harder

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Show the zone starts and competition between the two players. I’m willing to bet Backstrom’s were much harder

You see, together we like talk stats. I'll be more than happy to do some stat researches for you tomorrow. It will take some time and concentration from my part. Now it is too late here and I am tired. By the way, my apologies to everyone forced to read my irony experiments. The best way with haters is to ignore them. I know.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Irony was about "insulting" and "incomprehensible" nature of other's posts on Caps player not about Wilson skills. Since I know you liked one of the posts targeted in my post, I do not see why we should togather unobjectively discuss the subjective irony perception.

Your apology was your best post of the day.

You don’t like to talk hockey about Kuzy, you would rather deflect about some nonsense with Backstrom? Even if we entertain the idea that Backstrom wasn’t at least pretty good, Kuzy was a massive disappointment by comparison.

Don’t hate the truth.

 

[Langway]

I do not speak to hysterical haters of Caps players.

Unless the players belong in your local beer league, amirite?

 

[txpd]

There was a poster that used to stir the pot a lot and disappeared. We are told that poster has returned under a new name. I forget who that poster was but ive figured out the new name

 

[txpd]

At the risk of being called hysterical, IIRC Backstrom as recently as this past playoffs was described as a Selke Trophy level defender and handling the matchup assignment when Reirden gets his matchups.

 

[twabby]

The cool thing about this Kuznetsov/Backstrom discussion is that everyone is correctly pointing out that Kuznetsov had a pretty poor year despite his on-ice goal totals being better than Backstrom's so from now on please no one ever cite +/- while trying to make an argument thanks.

 

[txpd]

RMNB
Nicklas Backstrom: 2018-19 season review

You could argue that Backstrom was Washington’s best forward in 2018-19. On top of his consistent scoring output, he had a positive impact on his linemates, drawing their on-ice percentages up whenever they were lucky enough to take a shift with Backstrom.

Backstrom’s transition play and play without the puck is dramatically better than his nominal competition for 1C, Evgeny Kuznetsov. And that reliability didn’t seem to come at the cost of offensive creativity, which we saw plenty of in a too-short postseason. Those Backstrom rush goals were a compelling reminder that this player is never not dangerous, even as he gets older. Actually, it kind of looks like he’s getting better with age.

 

[Silky mitts]

There was a poster that used to stir the pot a lot and disappeared. We are told that poster has returned under a new name. I forget who that poster was but ive figured out the new name

One poster likes offense way more than defense and uses unusual stats, the other poster liked defense way more than offense and loathed all stats.