Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines/etc) | 2023-24 Regular Season Edition

[g00n]

Who cares about the 2024 draft. We weren't getting a good pick in a weak draft anyway. Are they in rebuild? Yes! It may not be a full rebuild like Chicago, however nobody wants to wait years of uncertainty like Buffalo either. Nobody can convince me the Caps are getting a franchise player in the 2024 draft, unless they trade up. Please prove me wrong.

A lot of these guys didn't like Leonard, either.

Wilson, Oshie, and Backstrom are to blame for us not drafting the next imaginary McDavid.

 

[Hivemind]

Who cares about the 2024 draft. We weren't getting a good pick in a weak draft anyway. Are they in rebuild? Yes! It may not be a full rebuild like Chicago, however nobody wants to wait years of uncertainty like Buffalo either. Nobody can convince me the Caps are getting a franchise player in the 2024 draft, unless they trade up. Please prove me wrong.

People talking "weak drafts" and "strong drafts" ahead of time are just blowing smoke. It's mostly a reflection of how good the Top 5 picks are judged to be, and is entirely a crap shoot. The 2012 draft was called weak before it happened, and the middle of that 2012 1st round produced Tomas Hertl, Teuvo Tervainen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tom Wilson, and Filip Forsberg.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Fair enough. It has been talked about plenty.

I don’t think the Oshie is fair comparable as we were still competing then, so we gave him term to keep the Cap hit down. Wilson got the term and a high cap hit.

I am glad Wilson’s still around. If he were leaving as a free agent we’d be scrambling to replace him.

It’s obviously not an apples to apples comparison but I can remember lots of poster being super pissed about the term and being worried about how his body would hold up.

As for Wilson, barring another unforeseen pandemic, the salary cap should continue to rise and his cap hit will be less and less towards the end of his career. We also will have so many players off the books by then that I don’t think it’s that big of an issue

 

[IafrateOvie34]

People talking "weak drafts" and "strong drafts" ahead of time are just blowing smoke. It's mostly a reflection of how good the Top 5 picks are judged to be, and is entirely a crap shoot. The 2012 draft was called weak before it happened, and the middle of that 2012 1st round produced Tomas Hertl, Teuvo Tervainen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tom Wilson, and Filip Forsberg.

This is 2024 and if they can get one of those types I will be happy, however I'm not buying it. This is like the 99 draft imho.

 

[bacchist]

For the people who have complained for years about the older players, who are the younger players stepping up and kicking ass right now? I'm talking forwards primarily. Anyone?

We can delude ourselves and try to spin it, but none of them are lighting it up. Meanwhile, the guy you all are bashing, Tom Wilson, actually leads the team in points for the playoffs.

It's like there's this narrative that just never gets dropped... a perpetual grievance mentality and distaste for age and physicality.

Maybe hockey isn't for you. If you just want to see young frail kids making fancy moves, try figure skating.

Our coach sucks at offense.

 

[HTFN]

Our coach sucks at offense.

dingdong he's a coach that was brought to the NHL to help offenses based on his work with the Bears, and that work with the Leafs got him the full time.... again, the f***?

He's coaching the team in front of him. He could come in and say "we're going high octane all offense" and a group of guys with no legs wouldn't suddenly make that happen. Instead he coached a team we all knew really sucked to a playoff spot by playing the games in front of them. A lot of his team's weapons have conditions he can't really control for because they're old as hell and in their ways, and now in a playoff series... get this, there's another team planning around those moments and (here's the real shocker) their coach was this team's coach last year.

The f*** do you really expect? They're getting the doors blown off because they slid in ass backwards and sucked most of the year. They f***ing sold at the deadline, this wasn't in the cards ever. Let it stick around, let it hurt, it only makes the good players better and seeing the playoffs is better than dreaming them.

 

[bacchist]

dingdong he's a coach that was brought to the NHL to help offenses based on his work with the Bears, and that work with the Leafs got him the full time.... again, the f***?

He's coaching the team in front of him. He could come in and say "we're going high octane all offense" and a group of guys with no legs wouldn't suddenly make that happen. Instead he coached a team we all knew really sucked to a playoff spot by playing the games in front of them. A lot of his team's weapons have conditions he can't really control for because they're old as hell and in their ways, and now in a playoff series... get this, there's another team planning around those moments and (here's the real shocker) their coach was this team's coach last year.

The f*** do you really expect?

I'm not talking about just this series. I'm mainly talking about the 14.6% decline in goals and the 14.7% decline in shots on goal year over year.

 

[HTFN]

I'm not talking about just this series. I'm mainly talking about the 14.6% decline in goals and the 14.7% decline in shots on goal year over year.

... because the team's not better and wasn't expected to be. We can only judge by last season and this season since you're talking about the coach, but this wasn't at all the year to try to make that comparison and it's a dim take.

This is the year they tried to bring Backstrom back and nurse Kuznetsov into giving a shit, saw themselves severely hampered by that, and then saw a glimpse at a playoff push anyway and played a defensive buy-in sort of game to get there because that's what they had going and none of these players want to be told they're just not really trying for the playoffs.

Really, genuinely terrible. You need to think about how this shit actually works.

 

[bacchist]

... because the team's not better and wasn't expected to be. We can only judge by last season and this season since you're talking about the coach, but this wasn't at all the year to try to make that comparison and it's a dim take.

This is the year they tried to bring Backstrom back and nurse Kuznetsov into giving a shit, saw themselves severely hampered by that, and then saw a glimpse at a playoff push anyway and played a defensive buy-in sort of game to get there because that's what they had going and none of these players want to be told they're just not really trying for the playoffs.

Really, genuinely terrible. You need to think about how this shit actually works.

That's a bunch of lame excuses for being measurably worse at offense and one of the worst teams at scoring goals all year long

 

[HTFN]

That's a bunch of lame excuses for being measurably worse at offense and one of the worst teams at scoring goals all year long

Because. they're. bad.

No f***ing shit they're bad at offense, who did you expect to be doing it this year? And yet in stretches, mainly the January-March part... they did okay. A lot of the dead weight was gone. They experienced a notable uptick in, like, everything once Kuznetsov took his absence and that helped them get playoff bound to begin with.

But let's blame the coach.

 

[bacchist]

Because. they're. bad.

No f***ing shit they're bad at offense, who did you expect to be doing it this year? And yet in stretches, mainly the January-March part... they did okay. A lot of the dead weight was gone. They experienced a notable uptick in, like, everything once Kuznetsov took his absence and that helped them get playoff bound to begin with.

But let's blame the coach.

The only difference between before Kuznetsov left and after he left is that Ovechkin shot at 18.2% instead of the 6% he had up until that point.

 

[g00n]

People talking "weak drafts" and "strong drafts" ahead of time are just blowing smoke. It's mostly a reflection of how good the Top 5 picks are judged to be, and is entirely a crap shoot. The 2012 draft was called weak before it happened, and the middle of that 2012 1st round produced Tomas Hertl, Teuvo Tervainen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tom Wilson, and Filip Forsberg.

Let's keep this "crap shoot" analysis in mind the next time our cadre of draft revisionists go back and blame a GM for not picking someone then, eh?

 

[g00n]

That's a bunch of lame excuses for being measurably worse at offense and one of the worst teams at scoring goals all year long

They have no 1C or 2C and almost all their top 6 wingers are either hurt, old, or both.

Somehow this is on the coach, who managed to rally a team that's worse than last year's roster to a playoff spot.

What EXACTLY do you say Carbery isn't doing on offense?

 

[Corby78]

The HC isn’t the problem here and neither is Wilson. The problem is we hung on way too long to an aging core. Ovie honestly isn’t that good a player anymore though he can still shoot. TJ can’t stay healthy, Carlson is over the hill yet still playing 30 minutes. 19 isn’t coming back.

Our issues are because we tried to retool and it didn’t work. Kuzy, fell apart as did guys like Vrana/Sammy etc.. that could have been the bridge. So many traded picks and late picks we just don’t have the kids to fill in. We have some nice players but nothing special, and we haven’t had cap room for years because of paying guys like 19/8.

We need to hit on some more mid to late gems, or get some steals in FA where we aren’t overpaying. If we don’t my fear is our rebuild will create an average team not a good team.

 

[bacchist]

They have no 1C or 2C and almost all their top 6 wingers are either hurt, old, or both.

Somehow this is on the coach, who managed to rally a team that's worse than last year's roster to a playoff spot.

What EXACTLY do you say Carbery isn't doing on offense?

More shooting. More scoring.

 

[g00n]

More shooting. More scoring.

So the problem is the coach is not telling them to shoot and score enough? Is that right?

 

[Langway]

Watching someone like Marchand manipulate time and space or Patrick Kane or various other poised forwards shows that it's not just speed but, more crucially, being able to read and manipulate that makes effective attacking players. Everything the Caps have done and still do offensively is mostly shallow, straight-forward, predictable, shoddy and largely ineffective. Making the game about winning races has always been a losing battle from the start. As an organization for years they've failed to acquire and accentuate a coherent, foward-thinking approach offensively. The disappointing development thus far from Carbery is that there have been no new wrinkles in that regard. Maybe in time he will once MacLellan actually revamps the roster but it continues to be about defensive structure and doing just enough to get by. That basic approach can't continue without at least some more dangerous firepower. As-is they're a team that neither can effectively grind it out and crush teams nor one with any creativity to do damage in open play. Structure remains their main calling card but that in itself isn't nearly enough to lean on. This is decidedly not the 90's Devils nor the environment where such a strategy is viable. From the standpoint of what the coaching staff has the ability to improve their fundamentals aren't improved. Some of their ineffectiveness can be pinned on blueline absences. Being less effective attacking as five man units makes its presence felt in their play style. But it's also a lot harder to execute those regular season weaves and looping, lulling attacking in more intense environments where attention to detail and urgency doesn't allow for such shallow possession control. Everything is contested and they're mostly out of their depth.

Roster construction remains poor, particularly with the fourth line deserving to be on a milk carton. The Rangers in this series have hardly had to dial it in too seriously. They haven't feared Washington's punch whatsoever. Not having a true tonesetter up front gives them little reference point and leadership. Carbery has always seemed like a coach itching for the next more vigorous core that will have more in the tank to offer. But it's also his responsibility to get the most out of this roster and, through three games, it's hard to say he's done it. Again, unfortunate blueline injuries but offensively there's so little confidence to what they do. Carbery's not going anywhere so as an organization what's the headline? A need to more seriously revamp the core group to offset the loss of 19/92 and help offset further decline? If they're the only team that gets swept in the opening round it's going to be tough to have much confidence in their existing leadership given how little pushback has been offered.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Here's hoping that something like the following happens before the draft: Building on whatever feedback/input/convos took place over the course of the season, Carbs, BMac and others as appropriate like the pro scouts go through each guy under contract and identify who fits best where in the coach's ideal roster scenario. Weaknesses are identified, as well as potential short- and long-term solutions. Carbs now has 3 seasons behind NHL benches, so he should have a decent idea of which current NHL players would do well in a "tethered to reality" 2024-25 roster. Will they be able to solve all the problems? Of course not. But they now all have a better idea of which of the young'uns are NHL-caliber, and the upcoming off-season is a great opportunity to better align the roster to fulfill Carbs' vision of what this team could be.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Our coach sucks at offense.

Wtf? Look what happened to the Caps this year:

No Backstrom
No Kuzy
Oshie missed how many games?
Patches out to pasture
Lots of new players

Luckily:

Ovi woke up after the all star break
Chuckie being clutch
Carlson carrying most of the Heavy D minutes
Strome
4th line

Otherwise, we're bottom dwellers squabbling about what pick we'll get this summer.

Sure, Carbs has made mistakes (Ovi in shootouts, not tinkering more with the PP, playing Patches over anyone, etc), but come on, I place most of the blame on the deck of cards he was given.

 

[DWGie26]

I can’t believe we are bitching about Carberry. Here is my take:

* he tried to play a more offensive style early in the year - didn’t have the players (including Kuzy) to make it work
* When you don’t have a lot of skill players you play a defensive / opportunistic style

I would argue that we made the playoffs because Carbery figured this out and changed the system to play to the players he had strengths.

And this is why we need to use that $10M in cap space to bring in goal scorers that can finish.

It is also why you don’t want to go full rebuild with youth. It takes time for them to figure out the speed of NHL game and how to finish. We have a lot of those which requires patience.

 

[tycoonheart]

I can’t believe we are bitching about Carberry. Here is my take:

* he tried to play a more offensive style early in the year - didn’t have the players (including Kuzy) to make it work
* When you don’t have a lot of skill players you play a defensive / opportunistic style

I would argue that we made the playoffs because Carbery figured this out and changed the system to play to the players he had strengths.

And this is why we need to use that $10M in cap space to bring in goal scorers that can finish.

It is also why you don’t want to go full rebuild with youth. It takes time for them to figure out the speed of NHL game and how to finish. We have a lot of those which requires patience.

100% accurate. We did try a more balanced approach earlier in the season. And we did okay up to a point. And then we had that losing streak towards the end of the season, that's when we went with a more defensive approach.