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

[SecretaryofDefense5]

That's the optimistic view, yes. The prospect pool has certainly improved compared to a few years ago. But this isn't a situation where the team needs a new set of young/cheap players to augment an already established core. This is a situation where the team, well, needs a brand new core. This team is about to lose its franchise player, it needs someone else to build the team around.

If we're incredibly lucky, we have two potential core candidates in Cristall and Leonard. But that's banking on best case scenarios for each of them. I'm firmly in the Cristall believer camp, but thinking he's going to be the kind of player that we can build a franchise around is an incredibly optimistic view. The rest of that batch of secondary pieces, at best. The rest aren't the type of players that represent the core of a contender. Heck, Alexeyev isn't even guaranteed to stick in the NHL beyond a fringe role. And both Strome and Milano are already 27 years old, and were cast offs from teams even worse than we are. While they can both be useful players (and Strome has been some incredible free value), they are far cries away from their peers when it comes to contending teams.

Correct.

 

[MrGone]

At $6,500,000 for Tom Wilson. its one of the worst contracts in the league. People talk about trading him for Marner. While his value is more on the level of Nick Robertson.

The only think he offer is a memory of days past.

 

[hb12xchamps]

At $6,500,000 for Tom Wilson. its one of the worst contracts in the league. People talk about trading him for Marner. While his value is more on the level of Nick Robertson.

The only think he offer is a memory of days past.

Literally leads the team in points in the postseason but go off king. He’s not Tom Wilson of past and doesn’t nearly play as physical but to call him out is laughable when the entire top 6 has been absolute dogshit

 

[twabby]

At $6,500,000 for Tom Wilson. its one of the worst contracts in the league. People talk about trading him for Marner. While his value is more on the level of Nick Robertson.

The only think he offer is a memory of days past.

I think his value is still high. I mean his value has certainly dropped since last year, when they should have traded him. But he'll still carry value. It's their last chance to trade him for anything significant though.

 

[Langway]

Nothing from Wilson in this series shouts Captain-in-Waiting. The mix is spectacularly limited. It's mostly MacLellan's mess...and we'll see WTF they have in order. It's a lot of clunky junk held together with duct tape.

They might as well jettison all of the secondary vets after this timid response. I'd be tempted to cut into the primary ones as well if the right opportunity presents itself. The basic mix and backing philosophy has seemingly run its course. The blueline injuries have been unfortunate but isn't why they've had such a gutless response.

PP1's ineptitude itself should be cause for a shake-up, although with 8/74 here to stay it likely won't matter much. While there's an unavoidable waiting it out that they're held to there remains a lot of layering thereafter that they've not executed all that well.

 

[Lou Sassole]

Nothing from Wilson in this series shouts Captain-in-Waiting. The mix is spectacularly limited. It's mostly MacLellan's mess...and we'll see WTF they have in order. It's a lot of clunky junk held together with duct tape.

They might as well jettison all of the secondary vets after this timid response. I'd be tempted to cut into the primary ones as well if the right opportunity presents itself. The basic mix and backing philosophy has seemingly run its course. The blueline injuries have been unfortunate but isn't why they've had such a gutless response.

PP1's ineptitude itself should be cause for a shake-up, although with 8/74 here to stay it likely won't matter much. While there's an unavoidable waiting it out that they're held to there remains a lot of layering thereafter that they've not executed all that well.

Right? When did we become a soft assed team? It's embarrassing. How many guys are you going to let them knock out? I don't care if he turns down a fight, grab Panarin and ragdoll him. Grab Rempe and start punching his face, he will respond. What are Wilson and McIlrath doing in the lineup if they aren't going to police the damn game. Wilson isn't signed for 6.5 million for his skill.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

Nothing from Wilson in this series shouts Captain-in-Waiting. The mix is spectacularly limited. It's mostly MacLellan's mess...and we'll see WTF they have in order. It's a lot of clunky junk held together with duct tape.

They might as well jettison all of the secondary vets after this timid response. I'd be tempted to cut into the primary ones as well if the right opportunity presents itself. The basic mix and backing philosophy has seemingly run its course. The blueline injuries have been unfortunate but isn't why they've had such a gutless response.

PP1's ineptitude itself should be cause for a shake-up, although with 8/74 here to stay it likely won't matter much. While there's an unavoidable waiting it out that they're held to there remains a lot of layering thereafter that they've not executed all that well.

Preach. BMac has a lot on his plate to try to fix. Personally, I’d like Mahoney to be the guy to over see the rebuild but I know I’d be in the minority so I digress.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Preach. BMac has a lot on his plate to try to fix. Personally, I’d like Mahoney to be the guy to over see the rebuild but I know I’d be in the minority so I digress.

100% agree

 

[Hivemind]

Right? When did we become a soft assed team? It's embarrassing. How many guys are you going to let them knock out? I don't care if he turns down a fight, grab Panarin and ragdoll him. Grab Rempe and start punching his face, he will respond. What are Wilson and McIlrath doing in the lineup if they aren't going to police the damn game. Wilson isn't signed for 6.5 million for his skill.

I think this is pretty much proof in the pudding that fighters and goons don't stop the opposition from taking liberties. We have both McIlrath and Wilson out there, and Rempe is still running our players. Hell, Artemi Panarin is running our players. Wilson getting himself thrown out of a game for instigating a fight against Rempe isn't going to change that.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Rebuild? The consensus of many here was that they just wanted to retool the team a bit because a rebuild would go against what Ted and others promised Ovie. You remember the window and all that.

Evidently now we want the band aid ripped off rather then pulled off slowly.

I never envisioned the Capitals making the playoffs this year. I felt that after the TDL and the approaching western road trip, they would nose dive and end up picking in the same neighborhood as last season, around eight. To my surprise over the last month they played just good enough while their nearest competition (Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) all played just bad enough which allowed the Capitals to sneak into the playoffs.

I have no high hopes for the Capitals in the playoffs, though the playoff experience should be beneficial to the young players. However, I don't envision the Capitals making the playoffs for a few years after this and that means this is the last time Ovechkin will get to play in the playoffs.

The changes that need to be made to this team will take time, like turning an aircraft carrier around. You begin with the draft and not this nonsense of pie in the sky trades for the likes of Marner or Zegras where you mortgage the future.

The team now needs to be patient and conservative in their approach with the rebuild.

And the fan base needs to be patient as well.

 

[Hivemind]

Ted made Ovie a promise that he couldn't keep. Not because he didn't want to, but simply because reality wouldn't allow it. Ovechkin isn't capable of carrying this team on his back at this stage in his career. Backstrom is done. There's not much tread left on Carlson or Oshie. That's $23M of cap space ($32M with LTIR) that's not going to live up to its contract, right there. No matter how much Ted wants this team to contend, it has to overcome that.

They needed to be realistic sooner. Now they're stuck in a position where they need to get a new core, but they're also drafting in the later half of the first round in 2024. If there's an opportunity to bring in a player that can be a core piece going forwards, they should absolutely explore it. But they should be exploring it with the intention of that player being who they build around in 2027 and onwards.

 

[stephenball]

Tom Wilson is legitimately one of the only Capitals forwards this series that’s had a pulse, and people are mad at him because he’s not getting himself taken out of the game to fight a chud who will peter out of the league in a few years when the novelty wears off? Listen, I want the caps to show a whole lot more intensity this series as well, but having literally one of your only productive players taking himself out of games to settle some score with a guy who plays 5th line minutes isn’t a winning decision.

 

[g00n]

I think this is pretty much proof in the pudding that fighters and goons don't stop the opposition from taking liberties. We have both McIlrath and Wilson out there, and Rempe is still running our players. Hell, Artemi Panarin is running our players. Wilson getting himself thrown out of a game for instigating a fight against Rempe isn't going to change that.

Yeah the fact that the Caps are clearly being coached to NOT RETALIATE and try to avoid penalties at all costs has nothing to do with this.

Brilliant.

 

[Misery74]

Ted made Ovie a promise that he couldn't keep. Not because he didn't want to, but simply because reality wouldn't allow it. Ovechkin isn't capable of carrying this team on his back at this stage in his career. Backstrom is done. There's not much tread left on Carlson or Oshie. That's $23M of cap space ($32M with LTIR) that's not going to live up to its contract, right there. No matter how much Ted wants this team to contend, it has to overcome that.

They needed to be realistic sooner. Now they're stuck in a position where they need to get a new core, but they're also drafting in the later half of the first round in 2024. If there's an opportunity to bring in a player that can be a core piece going forwards, they should absolutely explore it. But they should be exploring it with the intention of that player being who they build around in 2027 and onwards.

Largely correct. I don’t think this draft is worth getting spun up about.

Ovechkin cannot play hockey anymore. It’s pretty glaring.

 

[DWGie26]

We clearly need scoring. We have $10M in Cap space. We have lots of middle 6 youth that still needs to learn to score. We need someone who can put pucks in the net. I like Zegres but he isn’t the solution for scoring more goals. There will be some playoff disappointments and a lot of teams have decisions to make on their roster and cap space.

GMBM will be opportunistic but this is the first time as a GM that he has really had a sizeable amount to space to make a real move.

 

[Misery74]

We clearly need scoring. We have $10M in Cap space. We have lots of middle 6 youth that still needs to learn to score. We need someone who can put pucks in the net. I like Zegres but he isn’t the solution for scoring more goals. There will be some playoff disappointments and a lot of teams have decisions to make on their roster and cap space.

GMBM will be opportunistic but this is the first time as a GM that he has really had a sizeable amount to space to make a real move.

Toffoli a less expensive option, 3 goal scorer.

 

[StrikingDistance]

At $6,500,000 for Tom Wilson. its one of the worst contracts in the league. People talk about trading him for Marner. While his value is more on the level of Nick Robertson.

The only think he offer is a memory of days past.

I thought you were MrWent...

It's like clockwork...the Caps start stinking and this bot starts posting.

The vultures are circling!

 

[um]

Literally leads the team in points in the postseason but go off king. He’s not Tom Wilson of past and doesn’t nearly play as physical but to call him out is laughable when the entire top 6 has been absolute dogshit

So do you think it’s a good contract or not? You didn’t really address the post they made.

 

[tycoonheart]

So do you think it’s a good contract or not? You didn’t really address the post they made.

I think he got market value. If we didn't offer that another team would. With that said, this was a disappointing season for Wilson.

 

[OV Rocks]

Rebuild? The consensus of many here was that they just wanted to retool the team a bit because a rebuild would go against what Ted and others promised Ovie. You remember the window and all that.

Evidently now we want the band aid ripped off rather then pulled off slowly.

I never envisioned the Capitals making the playoffs this year. I felt that after the TDL and the approaching western road trip, they would nose dive and end up picking in the same neighborhood as last season, around eight. To my surprise over the last month they played just good enough while their nearest competition (Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) all played just bad enough which allowed the Capitals to sneak into the playoffs.

I have no high hopes for the Capitals in the playoffs, though the playoff experience should be beneficial to the young players. However, I don't envision the Capitals making the playoffs for a few years after this and that means this is the last time Ovechkin will get to play in the playoffs.

The changes that need to be made to this team will take time, like turning an aircraft carrier around. You begin with the draft and not this nonsense of pie in the sky trades for the likes of Marner or Zegras where you mortgage the future.

The team now needs to be patient and conservative in their approach with the rebuild.

And the fan base needs to be patient as well.

Untuck Your Shirt From Your Tighty Whiteys @BiPolar Caps

 

[hb12xchamps]

So do you think it’s a good contract or not? You didn’t really address the post they made.

The post they made was one that is nothing more than a stupid, redundant topic that has been far past beaten to death around these parts. That contract is extremely tough to judge at this point and we won’t know the truth do that question until Wilson has mostly played through his new extension. People on this board were mad at the Oshie extension at the time he signed it too and I’d say he pretty much lived up to his deal the best he could at his age.

It’s just laughable that Wilson is the one who getting hated on during this season when there clearly are some bigger issues at hand.

 

[um]

The post they made was one that is nothing more than a stupid, redundant topic that has been far past beaten to death around these parts. That contract is extremely tough to judge at this point and we won’t know the truth do that question until Wilson has mostly played through his new extension. People on this board were mad at the Oshie extension at the time he signed it too and I’d say he pretty much lived up to his deal the best he could at his age.

It’s just laughable that Wilson is the one who getting hated on during this season when there clearly are some bigger issues at hand.

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.

 

[Hivemind]

Oshie has also played 70+ games just once on his current contract and hasn't hit 60 games since 2020. I don't think too many were outright opposed to his contract (we were in the peak of a contention phase, and Oshie was part of that contending core), but more were upset that we didn't expose him in the Seattle expansion draft (since that seemingly was a golden opportunity to simultaneously get out of the later years of his contract without burning bridges). Nobody is upset about Oshie's play on the ice when he is healthy, it's just the fact that age and injuries are taking their toll on him and he can't be relied upon to be healthy anymore.

Wilson's contract was signed when the franchise was in a fundamentally different part of its contention arc.

 

[g00n]

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.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Ted made Ovie a promise that he couldn't keep. Not because he didn't want to, but simply because reality wouldn't allow it. Ovechkin isn't capable of carrying this team on his back at this stage in his career. Backstrom is done. There's not much tread left on Carlson or Oshie. That's $23M of cap space ($32M with LTIR) that's not going to live up to its contract, right there. No matter how much Ted wants this team to contend, it has to overcome that.

They needed to be realistic sooner. Now they're stuck in a position where they need to get a new core, but they're also drafting in the later half of the first round in 2024. If there's an opportunity to bring in a player that can be a core piece going forwards, they should absolutely explore it. But they should be exploring it with the intention of that player being who they build around in 2027 and onwards.

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.