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

[txpd]

Per RMNB, he will still work with the Caps as well. Both are part-time gigs.

I fully expect Orpik to be a primary assistant coach when his life settles down a little. Clearly those that know him want to keep him involved be it BC or the Caps. They make room for him. That said there are many organEYEzations that when someone like Orpik askes to be involved in some way, they tell him they are full and there's no place for him. Good to know the Caps and Boston College are better than that

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Braden Holtby Sells Alexandria, Virginia Home For $4,350,000

So long Holts!

 

[kicksavedave]

Braden Holtby Sells Alexandria, Virginia Home For $4,350,000

So long Holts!

He will be missed! But we'll always have this!

And therefore, this:

 

[tenken00]

With Lundqvist no longer playing, our defense better really step it up. And that includes from the forwards. The last two years were... less than ideal defensively. I think Vanecek will be fine with Samsonov, but the two kids are going to need a hell of a lot of help.

Wasn't sure exactly how well Lundqvist would do in a Caps uni, but at the very least he would have provided Sammy some stability and guidance/mentorship.

We'll see how the youngins do on their own.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

Love this team but they aren’t going anywhere with Sammy and Vanecek as the goalie tandem in a shortened, intense season. Neither have proven diddly in the NHL and seems crazy to put the ambitions of a championship on two essentially rookie goaltenders. Just my two cents. Cheers.

 

[The Instigator]

I liked the insurance of a veteran goalie, especially in a 56 game season. I want to see what Vanacek can do as well, but I would rather it not be this season when every game is so important.

They can run with the tandem they have and pick up a veteran later if necessary but by the time the trade deadline comes around it may be too late. Especially if (god forbid) something happens to Samsonov.

They'll do their due diligence on the remaining free agent goalies I would assume, but there's not a lot of options.

 

[895]

I don't know that this is a playoff team.

 

[Hivemind]

I don't know that this is a playoff team.

 

[um]

I don't know that this is a playoff team.

it was last year and not much has changed.

if we’re all feeling Holtbys loss may I remind everyone that Holtby sucked big time last year. It was by far his worst season. To replace Holtby we need someone who lets in 3 goals a game with a sub .900 save percentage, that shouldn’t be hard.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't know that this is a playoff team.

lol...

 

[Corby78]

Love this team but they aren’t going anywhere with Sammy and Vanecek as the goalie tandem in a shortened, intense season. Neither have proven diddly in the NHL and seems crazy to put the ambitions of a championship on two essentially rookie goaltenders. Just my two cents. Cheers.

If there is any position where a guy can carry a team with little NHL experience, it’s goalie. It also helps that Sammy has always projected as a solid starter and vanny as a backup, so we’re not asking them to reach. Not the greatest situation but not a dooms day IMO

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

If there is any position where a guy can carry a team with little NHL experience, it’s goalie. It also helps that Sammy has always projected as a solid starter and vanny as a backup, so we’re not asking them to reach. Not the greatest situation but not a dooms day IMO

I think it could be a dooms day situation in a shortened season. You have your potential starter in Sammy coming off of an injury and you are playing a shortened season where the margin of error will be much smaller. If you think your team has a limited window left to be competitive it seems problematic to bank it all on an inexperienced goalie with zero plan B.

I don’t have a solution in mind at the moment, just pointing out the obvious. I don’t want to waste a season by banking all championship aspirations on a rookie.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don't know that this is a playoff team.

Let’s save this post. See where we are late next spring.

Get ready to own this, good sir

 

[Ridley Simon]

I think it could be a dooms day situation in a shortened season. You have your potential starter in Sammy coming off of an injury and you are playing a shortened season where the margin of error will be much smaller. If you think your team has a limited window left to be competitive it seems problematic to bank it all on an inexperienced goalie with zero plan B.

I don’t have a solution in mind at the moment, just pointing out the obvious. I don’t want to waste a season by banking all championship aspirations on a rookie.

Laviolette isn’t know for failing right off the bat.

they will have some money to spend at the TDL now. And that’s assuming no other injuries (prob bad assumption).

as much as I wanted to see what Hank could do for this team, I’m not worried.

I also wouldn’t be shocked if he still ended up playing later on, if this can be “fixed”. Maybe it cannot — I don’t know near enough about what he’s dealing with — but we will see.

 

[kicksavedave]

I count 5 times since Patrick Roy in 1986 where a rookie goalie led a team to a Stanley Cup win. Roy, Ward, Niemi, Murray, Binnington. 6 if you include Ken Dryden, but we're not the 1970s Habs, so lets not make that leap.

Point is, its not out of the question, and Sammy technically isn't a rookie anymore anyway. I didn't bother to research experience level of Stanley Cup winning backups, but someone else may want to knock that out

 

[Hivemind]

I count 5 times since Patrick Roy in 1986 where a rookie goalie led a team to a Stanley Cup win. Roy, Ward, Niemi, Murray, Binnington. 6 if you include Ken Dryden, but we're not the 1970s Habs, so lets not make that leap.

Point is, its not out of the question, and Sammy technically isn't a rookie anymore anyway. I didn't bother to research experience level of Stanley Cup winning backups, but someone else may want to knock that out

That’s more times than Lundqvist has won the cup!

(This is obviously a joke post, don’t get upset)

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

That’s more times than Lundqvist has won the cup!

(This is obviously a joke post, don’t get upset)

That’s cold. Ice cold.

 

[txpd]

I count 5 times since Patrick Roy in 1986 where a rookie goalie led a team to a Stanley Cup win. Roy, Ward, Niemi, Murray, Binnington. 6 if you include Ken Dryden, but we're not the 1970s Habs, so lets not make that leap.

Point is, its not out of the question, and Sammy technically isn't a rookie anymore anyway. I didn't bother to research experience level of Stanley Cup winning backups, but someone else may want to knock that out

5 times in 34 years says it can be done. I could be wrong about Roy but its possible that not one of the five were the goalie plan for that season. At least 3 of them were back ups and Binnington wasnt even thought of as an NHL player. It can be done and has worked as an emergency in the past.

The Caps have tried this before. Varly was a rookie twice. Neuvirth. Holtby. With Ovechkin years burning I would rather not trust the net on a cup contender to a crap shoot.

 

[TheLegendOfPatPeake]

5 times in 34 years says it can be done. I could be wrong about Roy but its possible that not one of the five were the goalie plan for that season. At least 3 of them were back ups and Binnington wasnt even thought of as an NHL player. It can be done and has worked as an emergency in the past.

The Caps have tried this before. Varly was a rookie twice. Neuvirth. Holtby. With Ovechkin years burning I would rather not trust the net on a cup contender to a crap shoot.

This x 10.

 

[HecticGlow]

My worry is more consistency and longevity within the season, rather than a lack of talent. Can Samsanov win us some games? Absolutely. Can he lose us some games too? Yes. He didn’t have a consistent first year in the NHL, after having an inconsistent first year in the AHL. Hard to imagine finding a solid backup isn’t on GMBM’s shopping list during the season.

 

[Cappy76]

Problem being that teams for this upcoming season are talking about running with 3 goalies are we going to even have options if Sammy falters. At the Trade Deadline I'm willing to bet that goalies aren't moved at all this year and if so only for a premium.

 

[Melkor]

Goalies are overrated. Sam and Van need to be just above average for this team to be.. let's say a sure fire playoff team. How far they'll go depends on how much speed they have added this offseason. If it's the same old fart hockey everybody has been witnessing all last year long..well at least I'm glad for Schultz. That guy bamboozled a whole damn hockey franchise.

 

[The Instigator]

As far as free agency goes there's really only 5 "options."

Ryan Miller (40) - Best underlying stats of the remaining goaltenders, but had been trending downwards the last three seasons, is the oldest option and has been pretty adamant about remains on the west coast for the past 6 or 7 years.

Craig Anderson (39) - Decent numbers on a very poor, rebuilding hockey team. Could show some life and has been relatively consistent but at his age its tough to judge what he could bring season to season.

Jimmy Howard (36) - He was god-awful last year but was an all-star in 2019 (not that there were a ton of options on Detroit). His 2-23-2 stat-line from last year is likely enough to scare most teams off.

Cory Schneider (34) - Likely not an NHL calibre goaltender and is fairly likely to sustain some sort of injury throughout the season. Very risky.

Me (26) - Likely not an NHL calibre goaltender and is fairly likely to sustain some sort of injury throughout the season. Very risky.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Craig Anderson would be my choice if we go the FA route, followed by Howard. Miller supposedly wants to stay out west.

 

[tenken00]

Me (26) - Likely not an NHL calibre goaltender and is fairly likely to sustain some sort of injury throughout the season. Very risky.

I like Me