Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2021 "Season" Pt. 2

[Ridley Simon]

I am leaving the door open knowing this player. Another of his typical 20 goals in 20 games streaks and it will look different. You are slamming the door on an Ov hot streak? No chance at all? I am not so strong on that.

82 game season, sure. 56 game season when he’s 11 back with 29 to play?

Id be happy if Ovy hits 30 in this shortened season. That would be awesome (20 in 29 games?). I don’t think 30 wins it. Not even close

 

[Ridley Simon]

It's an odd team to try and improve at the deadline. Everybody has a role and there are plenty of NHL caliber players not dressing every game. On the other hand, how many games has Oshie had to play at center? That does not scream 'great depth'.

The other thing that concerns me is Vrana's playoff performance. He is having an impressive offensive season but every time he scores I wonder if that kind of scoring opportunity will be presented to him in the playoffs. It wasn't for the past two years.

One player that would be of major interest to me were he made available is Tomas Hertl. Very comfortable on the wing and a legitimate top-6 center. Love his playoff game. Signed through next season at $5.6m. Asking price would be rightfully very high and we don't have any cap room to play with.

What's everybody's opinion on this player? He would provide us with flexibility to possibly let Kuznetsov go in the future and have a replacement available, if things ever get that far. IMO, if the ask is 1st round pick, Vrana, one of our few good prospects and Panik(to make the cap work), I would grind my teeth and say YES.

I wouldn’t grind my teeth at all. I’d do that in a heartbeat. Hertl is a stud.

I don’t think the Sharks would do it.

 

[CanucksMJL]

Canucks fan here out of curiosity. Do you guys have a thread on the expansion draft? If not, who do you guys expect to protect?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Canucks fan here out of curiosity. Do you guys have a thread on the expansion draft? If not, who do you guys expect to protect?

could be alot of poeple. GMBM has a hard choice

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Do we protect Orlov at this point?

 

[Roshi]

Ovie is also the kind of character that misses the crowds. He likes to react and interact for the mood of the crowd. He is the kind of guy who has ”a fan in every city” that he likes to score for (like Alex was in Tor).

Philly allowed 3k of fans and Ovie looks more alive.

And im pretty sure his gone through some injuries early on. Like many have observed, he was getting off his usual spots to avoid shooting the puck. He would just quickly get rid of the puck if it got to him, avoiding unneeded contact. He was not playing his normal game, and it has looked like he is getting back to it lately.

 

[Roshi]

Do we protect Orlov at this point?

its a race for him and Schultz, right?

I think Fever is eligible? Id be suprised if we left him unprotected. They have been quite high on him before and lots of cap controlled years to come. But maybe if Chara stays for another year they just want to ride the D we have now. They feel comfortable for the ranks as it is, and cup can be the nr1 goal for season 21/22.

 

[txpd]

Do we protect Orlov at this point?

Its Orlov or Schultz you would think.

 

[txpd]

its a race for him and Schultz, right?

I think Fever is eligible? Id be suprised if we left him unprotected. They have been quite high on him before and lots of cap controlled years to come. But maybe if Chara stays for another year they just want to ride the D we have now. They feel comfortable for the ranks as it is, and cup can be the nr1 goal for season 21/22.

Pretty sure they can only block 3. Carlson, Dillon and either Orlov or Schultz. That they would leave both unprotected for Fehervary seems odd

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Fehervary does NOT meet the exposure requirements for the Seattle draft. Seattle canNOT take him from the draft.

 

[twabby]

Which defensemen to protect might change a bit between now and the expansion draft, but right now I guess I'd rank them:

1. Carlson
2. Orlov/Jensen
3. Jensen/Orlov
4. Schultz
5. Dillon

Carlson at 1 is obvious, despite my feelings about his defensive play.

Orlov and Jensen are about equal right now due to Jensen's more team-friendly contract and his recent run of good play. Orlov stank beside Carlson this year but has been very good since being separated from him and has been able to elevate his game the past 2 postseasons where others have not. I give him the slight edge over Jensen due to a longer body of work, but Jensen has been very good his entire career minus last year under Rierden and really deserves a protection spot as of now as well.

Schultz is still a wild-card for me. He's cooled off quite a bit since his good start but he has fit in decently enough. But if they go with 7F/3D he might be the odd man out.

Dillon is a defensive-first defenseman at an organizational position of strength on a not-great contract. He's way down my list of protected players, especially given the year he's having so far.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don’t think there is any chance they protect Jensen. That’s just me.

 

[Misery74]

Last year, Hagelin was miscast on the third line. Most thought he was a fourth line player. Most were right. The fourth line is absolutely thriving right now.

The big question is, what does this mean for Panik? When Eller/Wilson come back, where does Panik play?

It would be ideal to move this salary.

 

[kicksavedave]

Do we protect Orlov at this point?

This is one of those questions only a fan would ask. Zerto chance they leave Orlov unprotected, zero. If they're not happy with his play or his contract, they would trade him, not leave him for nothing in return.

But they won't do either.

 

[Ridley Simon]

This is one of those questions only a fan would ask. Zerto chance they leave Orlov unprotected, zero. If they're not happy with his play or his contract, they would trade him, not leave him for nothing in return.

But they won't do either.

Bingo

 

[Roshi]

Pretty sure they can only block 3. Carlson, Dillon and either Orlov or Schultz. That they would leave both unprotected for Fehervary seems odd

yeah i forgot to write that i see Dillon protected. They like what he brings, and just gave him a 4 year nod.

So thats essential, why i think its race between Olrov and Schultz and as they cant lose both, they might expose both so Seattle makes the choice instead, if Fehervary needs to be protected. Was it that ELCs are out of the eligible list or why isnt Fever eligible? Its his third year as a pro.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don’t think there is any chance they protect Jensen. That’s just me.

less than zero chance IMO....

 

[Roshi]

This is one of those questions only a fan would ask. Zerto chance they leave Orlov unprotected, zero. If they're not happy with his play or his contract, they would trade him, not leave him for nothing in return.

But they won't do either.

While it might be so, do we just trade out all guys who have value? We will lose someone who has better value as traded.

If we trade ”Orlov” for picks, we lose both, ”Orlov” and the next guy on Seattles list. So whatever return you get for the guy you trade is valued for 1+1. For example you get 2x 2nd for Orlov and Seattle takes Vanecek. Which is worth more, two seconds or Vanecek.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

This is one of those questions only a fan would ask. Zerto chance they leave Orlov unprotected, zero. If they're not happy with his play or his contract, they would trade him, not leave him for nothing in return.

But they won't do either.

yup....he’s highly tradable....no chance he’s unprotected.

 

[tenken00]

yeah i forgot to write that i see Dillon protected. They like what he brings, and just gave him a 4 year nod.

So thats essential, why i think its race between Olrov and Schultz and as they cant lose both, they might expose both so Seattle makes the choice instead, if Fehervary needs to be protected. Was it that ELCs are out of the eligible list or why isnt Fever eligible? Its his third year as a pro.

I think they are counting only North America professional years? Not sure.. Fever came over from Europe last year. And the CapFriendly expansion draft calculator shows he is exempt.

Seattle Expansion Draft Simulator - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[txpd]

I don’t think there is any chance they protect Jensen. That’s just me.

Why the hell would we protect Jensen???

Edit: Oh. I see the post now. Shocking to find that the physical defenseman on the heavy hockey team is #5 on the protect depth chart, but hell....What do I know about hockey?? Geez

Edit2: I didnt know that defense first/physical pk left defense was an organization position of strenth.

 

[twabby]

I'm just going by what I'm seeing and what the numbers tell me. Chara has been a better version of Brenden Dillon in pretty much every facet of the game including physicality and overall team defense, both at ES and the PK. At this point I'd much rather the Capitals aggressively pursue re-signing Chara now than just assume he's not in the picture for next year.

And what can I say, I'm really high on Nick Jensen. I don't even really care about his recent goals so much as his career of shutting down the opponents when he's on the ice. I'd take that over Justin Schultz right now, and certainly over Brenden Dillon and his contract given a decent supply of LHD in the pipeline.

If the argument is that there is no way Seattle will take Jensen and for that reason he should be exposed, I guess that's fine but I'm not sure how anyone can gauge what Seattle might want given that everyone was sold that Vegas was going to take Grubauer and that didn't end up happening. Just in terms of the 3 best defensemen on the roster who aren't UFAs I'm pretty confident it's Carlson, Orlov, and Jensen.

 

[tenken00]

If they go the 7F 3D route, it's Carlson, Orlov, ?

One of Schultz, Jensen, Dillon, Kempny.

Everyone else is a free agent so don't need to be protected. Unless they want to free up cap space by losing a Dman.

 

[Roshi]

Looking at trade deadline, month to go. Im suprised to say but i think without injuries we should do _nothing_.

Goalies are doing decently well now. Cant see why we would drag any lotto-goalie to eat their ice/confidence. D is deep and balanced. Panik isnt producing but i think id rather bet for him to go streaky than trade for another guy who might not fit in fast enough, and Sprong/Sheary has been getting results as the depth guys.

Added to Corona, quarantining, short time to adjust. I see us just going with what we have. Do others still see glaring problems that we should rather get insurance or plugs, or go big for some rental?

 

[kicksavedave]

While it might be so, do we just trade out all guys who have value? We will lose someone who has better value as traded.

If we trade ”Orlov” for picks, we lose both, ”Orlov” and the next guy on Seattles list. So whatever return you get for the guy you trade is valued for 1+1. For example you get 2x 2nd for Orlov and Seattle takes Vanecek. Which is worth more, two seconds or Vanecek.

This is simple. We're not trading Orlov and we're not leaving him exposed. I'm not sure why this was even asked but somehow its spawned 15 more responses.

We will protect JC, Orlov and one of the following: Dillon, Schultz, Jensen. I'll leave it up to BMac to decide, but we will likely lose one player who we would have liked to keep. Thats how the ED works. Its not a magic pill to rid us of overpaid underperforming contracts. Seattle will have the pick from one of our solid D men. Which one they choose is less tied to what we think of that player, and more tied to what sort of players they have also selected on D from other teams... in other word what they need most when they get to us.

If they land three physical stay at home D men, they would prefer Schultz from us. If they land three puck movers, they might want Dillon. If they want a cheap 20 goal scorer, they'll take Jensen