Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2022-23 Season Part 2: Regular Season

[Alexander the Gr8]

I hope Ovy breaks the single game goal record on Sammie. Yes, I'm bitter. I don't like watching 1st rounders failing for the Caps and then expect them to do well on another team.

With how often he shat the bed in the playoffs, we should absolutely pour it on. Knowing Sammy, he’ll flop around the crease and give us 1-2 softies for sure, but I hope we come away with a big win, 5-0 or 6-0.

 

[Marshall]

I'm surprised we didn't lose LuJo, honestly. Best of luck to Leason and AJF.

 

[twabby]

I hope Samsonov has a successful career in Toronto and I’m sad it didn’t work out in DC.

I hope he plays well on Thursday but loses like 3-2 or something like that.

 

[usiel]

Sammy shutout incoming!

I just drafted Sammy!

 

[895]

I can already see AJF doing well for his team and certain people here shrugging their shoulders. "He wouldn't have been as good here" and "we simply didn't have room for him".

We did have room for him. We just chose to use that room on washed up vets.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Leason never took that next step as a prospect. His Hershey numbers are pretty meh. 18 goals, 29 assists for 47 points in 114 games. I was surprised to see he received a one way contract, especially for over the league minimum, while others in Hershey put up better play and better numbers.

AJF on the other hand has grown every year he’s been in the system. He finally showcased an ability to use his speed to actually put the puck in the net on a breakaway lol. His ceiling was a 4th line PK specialist, but those type of guys are still important to this team. I’m more sad to see him go over Leason.

 

[usiel]

I'm surprised we didn't lose LuJo, honestly. Best of luck to Leason and AJF.

I liked what I saw of Leason last season but unless this team was in a full rebuild probably would be tough. Always hope for the best when Caps draft picks move elsewhere.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I just drafted Sammy!

We thank you for your sacrifice!

 

[ClevelandCapsfan]

With how often he shat the bed in the playoffs, we should absolutely pour it on. Knowing Sammy, he’ll flop around the crease and give us 1-2 softies for sure, but I hope we come away with a big win, 5-0 or 6-0.

 

[usiel]

We thank you for your sacrifice!

I figure it is a win win move...he flops around and loses his stick and the caps win all good...if the goalie gods are laughing I'll salvage a night for the fantasy team.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

I've always liked AJF, to this day, ever since he looked like a surefire NHL player at the WJCs. I think he'll make it eventually, if he doesn't decide to go back to Sweden instead.

Leason never looked like anything other than a big body to me. Whatever.

 

[Ridley Simon]

$2M means we’re going to accrue cap space hat we can use at the deadline, right? Maybe make a huge deal for Kane as a rental?

Negative. Do not accrue LTIR space. We are technically over the cap. So NO, no accrual.

And this is with like 27 skaters or something. They have more space than that, if they actually needed it. Closer to 4m I’d wager

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

It sucks the players that got cut didnt clear waivers. But what can you do? And dont just hate on Mojo who is clearly a NHL player and Lavi likes. I will bet anyone Mojo has a better season then anyone we put on waivers.

 

[HTFN]

Let’s go, Ovi is gonna tear this guy apart. Hat trick coming up for sure

Ovechkin's gameplan for Toronto: do, like... one pump fake on a one timer and then literally pick your empty net candidate.

 

[HTFN]

Leason never took that next step as a prospect. His Hershey numbers are pretty meh. 18 goals, 29 assists for 47 points in 114 games. I was surprised to see he received a one way contract, especially for over the league minimum, while others in Hershey put up better play and better numbers.

AJF on the other hand has grown every year he’s been in the system. He finally showcased an ability to use his speed to actually put the puck in the net on a breakaway lol. His ceiling was a 4th line PK specialist, but those type of guys are still important to this team. I’m more sad to see him go over Leason.

I'm not saying this is necessarily Leason but when you watch how comparatively okay he was at the NHL level looking at his AHL stats, I think some guys won't ever do that. The "next step" won't come until the question is "can you play with the league's best from an IQ standpoint" and that will rarely, if ever, be tested in the AHL. At best you get a glimpse of it in camp and exhibition but the real call to stardom is the injury call-up and the main Capitals have been really lucky for a lot of years in that regard.

I don't think Leason flashes those flashes, to be a Knuble or a Holmstrom or whatever, but I think the Capitals in general don't appreciate this aspect of player development (maybe because they haven't been forced to for some time) while it always seems like those injury riddled teams come away with one diamond in the rough worth polishing.

 

[trick9]

I really don't get that why draft big-body overagers like Leason at all if you aren't willing to wait a little bit longer with their development. They always take more time than others. I don't think Leason was going to be anything special, i don't think he ever even had the potential for that. He was projected to be a big 3rd liner who is good on the cycle. At best a borderline 2nd liner. He's not that yet but he's already an capable NHL'er and i wouldn't be at all shocked if he eventually trended into that 3rd liner he was predicted to become.

In terms of value, no. These aren't huge losses. In terms of asset management, it's yet more assets right down the drain. Our drafting has been ass ever since 2015 and with drafting as bad as it is, we can't afford to throw assets right down the drain. Maybe it's time to start thinking about packaging multiple picks into a package that gets you a higher pick/established prospect so that we can get atleast 1 player that will have some sort of impact on the NHL-level.

 

[Hivemind]

$2M means we’re going to accrue cap space hat we can use at the deadline, right? Maybe make a huge deal for Kane as a rental?

No. The Capitals are still over the salary cap and using LTIR exemption.

 

[Hivemind]

Do I think AJF or Leason are ever going to become world beaters? Nah. But I'm pretty confident that AJF can be a 4th line role player and Leason has the potential to be a complimentary player. Do I think the Capitals mismanaged their assets to get to this point? Absolutely.

AJF was already claimed on waivers last year, and it was only due to COVID protocols restricting his ability to play in pre-season games for the Sabres that he ended up being returned to Washington. While I was initially skeptical he could find that next level offensively to become an NHL player, his offensive game took steps in each season in Hershey, including a relative breakout in 2021-22 (34 points in 44 games). AJF could absolutely be filling in as a PKing 4LW role player, basically a younger Carl Hagelin with only a $750K cap hit instead of a $2.75M cap hit. And he'd have a little more offensive possibility (even if it's never achieved), and hopefully wouldn't become a pumpkin in the playoffs. Do I think he's going to break out like Chandler Stephenson? Probably not. But using young, cheap, cost-controlled assets to fill out their depth roles is precisely how the Capitals should be freeing up money for the top of the line-up, not splurging on guys like Hagelin or signing roadblock contracts like Johansson.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Leason last year, I thought his level of play in the NHL left something to be desired. But he's also not a finished project (hopefully), and has some room to really learn to utilize his reach and his frame. He vaguely reminds me of someone like Brooks Laich (albeit he's probably not going to become the PP garbageman that Laich was in his prime). If he continued to progress, I think he would have been one of the candidates to take over 4RW for Hatheway next season. Now Protas is the de-facto heir to that position, but he's already pushing for consideration to be higher in the line-up.

But the bigger issue with Leason is precisely what @trick9 just mentioned. When you draft a 20 year old in the 2nd round of the draft, you need to have a plan of how you're going to integrate that player into your team. This isn't the same as drafting an 18 year old, where you have 5 years of runway for things to change before they have to be exposed to waivers. I'm not saying the Capitals needed to guarantee a roster spot to Leason, and Leason definitely needs to hold up his end of the bargain in terms of development (and it can be argued that he didn't meet those expectations), but I don't see any signs from the Capitals that they were even attempting to create a roster slot for bubble players like him heading into this season. As a result, the Capitals have already lost their 2nd round pick from the 2019 draft, barely three years since the draft occurred.


TLDR - AJF should have already been on the Capitals last season as a cheaper 4LW than Carl Hagelin, and the Capitals should have had a better plan for dealing with Leason's development given that he was drafted as a 20 year old in the 2nd round

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Thanks to the capologists for clarifying LTIR. It’s always been confusing as hell to me.

 

[HecticGlow]

I really don't get that why draft big-body overagers like Leason at all if you aren't willing to wait a little bit longer with their development. They always take more time than others.

I mean, they were prepared to wait longer on his development. They just didn’t feel he was NHL ready, and preferred for him to develop further in the AHL. It’s not like they traded him or let him walk.

AJF didn’t look that great in his NHL games last season - fast, yes, but not in control of the game at all and not a big producer. Yes I think he can be a long term bottom six NHLer in time, but those are a dime a dozen players. We’re not losing a Cup because a borderline 4th liner was lost on waivers.

And to those suggesting MoJo is to blame - there was never a scenario in which CMM, Protas, Snively, AJF and Leason were all making the roster this season. It just wasn’t happening.

 

[Hivemind]

I mean, they were prepared to wait longer on his development. They just didn’t feel he was NHL ready, and preferred for him to develop further in the AHL. It’s not like they traded him or let him walk.

That's not an option when you draft 20 year olds tho. You have a set period of time before any prospect has to be exposed to waivers, and when you draft someone two years overaged, you don't have the luxury of slow cooking them in the AHL. When you're drafting a player that's 3 years out rather than ~5 years out, part of that strategy has to be a plan to incorporate them into your NHL roster.

And to those suggesting MoJo is to blame - there was never a scenario in which CMM, Protas, Snively, AJF and Leason were all making the roster this season. It just wasn’t happening.

A lack of MoJo means at least one more of them gets to stay. More importantly, MoJo is a symptom rather than the root cause. He's a symptom of the coaching staff and management deferring to the milquetoast veterans rather than allowing the younger and cheaper players to develop. He's just one of a repeated pattern on this front. Johansson blocked AJF this year, but it was Hagelin last year. They opted to keep a whole lot of these middling vets around, and didn't clear out any spots for these younger assets that could fill depth roles for cheaper (and in some cases have substantially higher upside).

 

[g00n]

Leason scored 18 goals across 3 years in Hershey.

Do we think he's going to turn into a 20-30 goal NHL player in the next 3-4 years?

Maybe it was always a depth pick, eh?

 

[twabby]

Another Swede with a bum hip.

 

[pman25]

who's ready for Strome Szn?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Another Swede with a bum hip.

Tariq mentioned in his mailbag yesterday that he didn’t think Hagelin would play this season and it wasn’t because of his eye. I guess we now know why. This also explains his production and play falling off a cliff recently.