Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2020 Offseason Pt. 3

[txpd]

Why are you assuming all D? It would be the forwards as well, obviously (I think).

Would the Caps keep Jensen and Panik over Oshie and a replacement level D? If so, why? I know you are a Jensen supporter, but over Oshie?

it only takes 2 players.

I was concentrating on the defense responding to a post saying they should move the defense and bring up the kids. Where did i suggest keeping Jensen over Oshie? I dont recall doing that or thinking that.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I was concentrating on the defense responding to a post saying they should move the defense and bring up the kids. Where did i suggest keeping Jensen over Oshie? I dont recall doing that or thinking that.

Well, you quoted my post which was in response to keeping Oshie protected and keep him thru his contract. Ergo it seemed as if you wanted to let Oshie go and use his contract money elsewhere.

I stated you could drop other people to keep Oshie, and that they should

 

[txpd]

Well, you quoted my post which was in response to keeping Oshie protected and keep him thru his contract. Ergo it seemed as if you wanted to let Oshie go and use his contract money elsewhere.

I stated you could drop other people to keep Oshie, and that they should

Pretty sure all my posts were about keeping Oshie. I guess I wrote it wrong

 

[Ridley Simon]

Pretty sure all my posts were about keeping Oshie. I guess I wrote it wrong

Nah. I probably read it wrong.

 

[txpd]

Nah. I probably read it wrong.

Its not your fault. Damn it. Its my fault! LOL.

Seriously, I think the league and the players and the salary cap and roster construction and all that is just so fluid that its almost impossible to have that conversation. If any plan they decide on this week can be obsolete by next week, trying to build rosters and deal with contracts and salary cap limits for 2 years from now is just impossible.

Just one example. Lets say that a quarter to half of the teams in the league get killed by the attempt to play this season mostly without ticket sales. The result being significant purging of contracts from teams in financial trouble and piles of good players flooding the open market. At the same time you still have a flat or less salary cap. That would have a massive impact on how the Capitals would do business going forward.

I think it pays to wait and see, unless you we are just playing a game of suppose if because we are bored

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Why did they make such limited amounts of the new Retro jersey. Looks like its sold out everywhere.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Its not your fault. Damn it. Its my fault! LOL.

Seriously, I think the league and the players and the salary cap and roster construction and all that is just so fluid that its almost impossible to have that conversation. If any plan they decide on this week can be obsolete by next week, trying to build rosters and deal with contracts and salary cap limits for 2 years from now is just impossible.

Just one example. Lets say that a quarter to half of the teams in the league get killed by the attempt to play this season mostly without ticket sales. The result being significant purging of contracts from teams in financial trouble and piles of good players flooding the open market. At the same time you still have a flat or less salary cap. That would have a massive impact on how the Capitals would do business going forward.

I think it pays to wait and see, unless you we are just playing a game of suppose if because we are bored

Yeah. I made that comment earlier to @tenken00 We have no idea what will happen after this season. What roster restrictions and salary cap will look like. None.

so play this year to win (assuming it happens) and go from there.

 

[txpd]

Yeah. I made that comment earlier to @tenken00 We have no idea what will happen after this season. What roster restrictions and salary cap will look like. None.

so play this year to win (assuming it happens) and go from there.

Imagine if the NHL decided that they needed to push back bringing a new team into the league because things are so unsettled. Then what?

 

[Ridley Simon]

Imagine if the NHL decided that they needed to push back bringing a new team into the league because things are so unsettled. Then what?

Then......

I still loathe the Penguins??

That answer kinda fits any Caps related question, doesn’t it?

 

[txpd]

Then......

I still loathe the Penguins??

That answer kinda fits any Caps related question, doesn’t it?

Yea. The advantage of no hockey is that there is no talking, tire pumping or whining over or by the Penguins right now

 

[max21]

Why did they make such limited amounts of the new Retro jersey. Looks like its sold out everywhere.

I couldn’t find any online, I want a Wilson authentic one

 

[OV Rocks]

Can't tank this shortened season. We are definitely going to be gunning for a Cup for at least the next two season. Probably the end of our window. Maybe it is a crapshoot, but maybe that also helps the Caps.

I totally agree, it is not for the Caps this season. If anything a shortened season is a great advantage for the Caps and their older core of players, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Carlson, Lundqvist, Oshie, etc.

But a team like the Rangers, that strategy could be interesting. Play all their young kids and add another 5-8 pick into the pipeline after going 2 and 1 in the previous years with young goalies. Minnesota could benefit from this to add high end young talent, the Kings should do the same.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Why did they make such limited amounts of the new Retro jersey. Looks like its sold out everywhere.

I just left the Caps store at Cap One Arena and they had a decent selection left still but that could change as the line to get in was around the block when I left. I spent way too much money in that store. The stuff looks really nice in person. I'm not a jersey guy but I ended up getting a Backstrom jersey since I don't have anything of his... felt like it would be a crime not to have Ovi and Backstrom jerseys to commemorate the 8/19 era and I have a few Ovi jerseys from over the years.

One thing I found odd: there were no Kuznetsov Reverse Retro jerseys, or at least none in sight. They had Backstrom, Ovechkin, Vrana, Wilson, Oshie, and Lundqvist but no Kuznetsov. No Carlson either now that I think about it. Maybe they had limited shelf space so they have Carlson and Kuznetsov somewhere in the back waiting for space to open up (they brought out the Lundqvist jerseys while I was in there) but I found it a bit odd that Kuzy wasn't out there.

 

[kicksavedave]

Just one example. Lets say that a quarter to half of the teams in the league get killed by the attempt to play this season mostly without ticket sales. The result being significant purging of contracts from teams in financial trouble and piles of good players flooding the open market. At the same time you still have a flat or less salary cap. That would have a massive impact on how the Capitals would do business going forward.

A likely scenario. I see at least a few teams getting hammered financially here, and dumping players. Those players will have very few landing spots as well, so there could be a massive an strained re-shuffling of rosters next year. A few teams with deep pocketed owners and caps space could make out like bandits, but some teams could become nearly insolvent, if they don't get full stadiums back soon as in the 21/22 regular season opener. Clearly the whole 2021 season will be played in empty arenas.

Another possibility is an all out work stoppage if the league tries to claw back too much salary from the players given the loss of revenue. I expect that negotiation to be a s#it show.

 

[Devil Dancer]

So, any talk of teams folding is absolutely absurd. It will not happen.

No one voluntarily gives up a $100m minimum property, and the NHL isn't going to start buying out owners.

If a team is seriously distressed, it will be sold, or transferred in bankruptcy.

 

[txpd]

So, any talk of teams folding is absolutely absurd. It will not happen.

No one voluntarily gives up a $100m minimum property, and the NHL isn't going to start buying out owners.

If a team is seriously distressed, it will be sold, or transferred in bankruptcy.

Thats true, but the Canadian media is already talking about teams being forced into selling. What i expect could happen is 5 to 8 teams struggling enough that they cut payroll significantly. That there would be enough of them to push the league into making it easier for them to purge contracts. There will be more high dollar players that could be acquired for next to nothing for any team that can find the cap space and budget.

My point basically is that its hard to project who you construct a roster for 21-22 because the conditions are totally unknown today.

I cant imagine a franchise folding. At the minimum the league would grab it and find a buyer

 

[OV Rocks]

Thats true, but the Canadian media is already talking about teams being forced into selling. What i expect could happen is 5 to 8 teams struggling enough that they cut payroll significantly. That there would be enough of them to push the league into making it easier for them to purge contracts. There will be more high dollar players that could be acquired for next to nothing for any team that can find the cap space and budget.

My point basically is that its hard to project who you construct a roster for 21-22 because the conditions are totally unknown today.

I cant imagine a franchise folding. At the minimum the league would grab it and find a buyer

There are plenty of billionaires that are willing to buy. No team is folding up shop

 

[txpd]

There are plenty of billionaires that are willing to buy. No team is folding up shop

I didnt say there were teams folding up. I did say and there is reporting on the table that some teams are not stable and that there are teams for sale right now. Not every team spends to the salary cap. Some of those have internal caps. Those teams are vulnerable. The Caps arent but Ottawa and others might well be. I am thinking of either the Islanders or the Devils for instance. The Panthers were already talking about drastic cuts in payroll before the COVID thing started.

 

[kicksavedave]

There are plenty of billionaires that are willing to buy. No team is folding up shop

I haven't seen anyone, including tx, suggesting teams might fold up shop. But a firesale of players, a work stoppage, or distress sales of franchises are all possibilities if the NHL has to play a full season without fans.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Another possibility is an all out work stoppage if the league tries to claw back too much salary from the players given the loss of revenue. I expect that negotiation to be a s#it show.

Can certainly envision this. The owners take on a lot of financial risk (but presumably some have taken out some insurance against this sort of thing), but the players take on a ton of risk to their physical health and well-being, especially if the league discards the bubble approach. I can see the owners hard-balling the players, the players saying f*** this - it's not worth the risk to my health and possible knock-on effects to my family's health," and a lot of owners that are already in dire financial straits saying "Fine, let's not play."

 

[kicksavedave]

Yeah its already going sideways pretty fast, the pandemic not cooperating is only part of it.

As the calendar flipped to December, the NHL’s target date of Jan. 1 for the start of the 2020-21 season is looking less and less attainable.
Between the coronavirus pandemic continuing to ravage the country and the NHL’s request to the NHL Players Association to revisit specific areas of the collective bargaining agreement, just four months after agreeing to a six-year extension, there are various issues that need to be resolved before the season can begin.

Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the current state of the league in a wide-ranging interview on the Sports Business Journal’s “Dealmakers in Sports” program Wednesday, noting the Jan. 1 start date is “a work in progress, influenced largely by what we’re hearing from the medical experts.”

He added the NHL’s focus is finding a way through the 2020-21 season with the help of vaccinations to get back on a normal schedule a season that runs from October to April, by next fall.

When you're asking to revisit four months after signature, someone didn't do all their proper planning. And vaccines aren't going to save the NHL '21 season, unless instead of hockey players, they use nurses and senior citizens to play the games.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The majority of the players would rather earn something than nothing IMO so unless the owners call it, there won’t be a work stoppage. I suggested they (players) would be asked for further concessions and here we are. The season will probably be shorter even, but there will be a season. I don’t see any fire sales on good players coming, or rush distress sales of franchises (that were not already on shaky grounds).

 

[kicksavedave]

The majority of the players would rather earn something than nothing IMO so unless the owners call it, there won’t be a work stoppage. I suggested they (players) would be asked for further concessions and here we are. The season will probably be shorter even, but there will be a season. I don’t see any fire sales on good players coming, or rush distress sales of franchises (that were not already on shaky grounds).

Well there has been no less than three owner initiated lockouts since 1994 resulting in more than two full lost seasons. Each one occurred because the players and the owners could not agree on a CBA, but clearly the players did not agree to the owners demands, so the owners locked them out. So I would not underestimate the owners trying to claw back from the players salary so large that the players simply refuse to play along. There was also one player initiated strike but it was only 10 days.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’m just saying the owners will be the ones that stop it if any, the players won’t, so let’s not pretend that’s a real threat. They don’t have the deep pockets as a whole by comparison. It’s not really a threat except from one side. And yeah some may say screw it, I have the $ to sit out a year.....but it won’t be many IMO.

There will be more player concessions. Hopefully it all works out in the short term....because it will all rebound in the long.

 

[tenken00]

The original Wonder Woman and big Caps fan Lynda Carter