Confirmed with Link: Caps sign C Mikhail Grabovski

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Stepan >>>>> Backstrom

He's sitting pretty, ripe for an offer sheet right now.

 

[ALee10]

What sort of "style" are Shaone Morrissonn and Tyler Sloan "tailored" for, exactly?

I was referring more to the forwards I guess. I know very little about the theory and science of hockey, but it seems like every team searches for the same general composition for a defensive group which includes some mix of offensive, 2-way and defensive defensemen, regardless of the system employed. Beyond that I can't speculate on the styles of defensemen, but I do think that forwards are alittle bit more definable in their roles. With Oates, it looked like high pressure and sound positioning were important, and I think a guy like Perreault or Erat may be alittle more suited to that role than Boyd Gordon or Semin.

 

[RandyHolt]

Objectively, not hatively, how much of Backstrom's success was tied to Ovi. It seems many posters are quick to discount the successes of Ovi's previous linemates, for instance. You know who, and you know who you are.

Why not all of his linemates, including Nick or now MJ. Sure he has all star skills and deserve a free pass to some degree. Even pre concussion, I can't recall many times he has flat out won games for us. I know its not really his game, and a lot of what he brings is not recognized, solid two way play, tough opposition, PK etc. but at his cap hit I would like to think he can drive his own scoring line more than I have seen.

Ironically if Grabs does well enough to deserve a promotion, calls for a promo will be met with resistance that we cannot possibly break up Ovi and Nick.

When they dominate in the playoffs together, I am fine with them together for the entire next season.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Ovi and NB have been split up before with very little hand wringing....

 

[Liberati0n*]

I was referring more to the forwards I guess. I know very little about the theory and science of hockey, but it seems like every team searches for the same general composition for a defensive group which includes some mix of offensive, 2-way and defensive defensemen, regardless of the system employed. Beyond that I can't speculate on the styles of defensemen, but I do think that forwards are alittle bit more definable in their roles. With Oates, it looked like high pressure and sound positioning were important, and I think a guy like Perreault or Erat may be alittle more suited to that role than Boyd Gordon or Semin.

Unfortunately Gordon wasn't really used in his appropriate role when he was here.

I would say that the forwards are deeper now than they have been. The group from a few years ago was probably better, but not deeper. It had a more effective Ovechkin, a better Backstrom, and another elite winger in Semin. The top of the lineup was better, but this one is deeper. Bradley to whomever at right wing is probably a downgrade, but losing Steckel is addition by subtraction, and there isn't a Quintin Laing in the lineup. They don't have real shutdown forwards, but with Perreault, Chimera, Ward, and Fehr in the bottom-six I would say the group is definitely deeper overall.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

You don't score 30-100 being a product of someone else anymore. The days of Rob Brown and Kevin Stevens are over.

You can do pretty well as a mediocre player on Ovechkin's coattails, but the likes of Knuble, Clark, Johansson, Kozlov et al never came close to doing what Backstrom has done.

 

[txpd]

Ovi and NB have been split up before with very little hand wringing....

ding ding. you are correct sir. it happens almost every playoffs.

edit: the reason people discount many of ovechkin's linemates production as ov's coattails is because they have an agenda against those player. nobody used that tact against knuble who is widely known as being a complimentary top line player....or in otherwords a good coattail rider. backstrom doesn't get that because there isn't an agenda working against him.

if one comes up, you will find that argument being used.

btw....its my view that backstrom has proved his worth by the increase in ov's production when backstrom is going well. to over simplify, ov is a 40 goal scorer without backstrom and a 50 goal scorer with him.

 

[RussianMachine]

now all we gotta do is sign Mojo back

 

[RandyHolt]

Oh i knew i was wrong. I just cant recall an Oviless line Nick was on that I would consider a line he drove. Who were his linemates.

I remember a playoff series with Semin or Laich where he looked dominant.

Points.... our fun-n-gun years he hit 88 and 101. He hasn't hit 70 otherwise. PPG is 1 per... but not in the playoffs. Injuries have hit and maybe that's why he was not listed top fiddy.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Oh i knew i was wrong. I just cant recall an Oviless line Nick was on that I would consider a line he drove. Who were his linemates.

I remember a playoff series with Semin or Laich where he looked dominant.

Points.... our fun-n-gun years he hit 88 and 101. He hasn't hit 70 otherwise. PPG is 1 per... but not in the playoffs. Injuries have hit and maybe that's why he was not listed top fiddy.

I think we used the Bureau of Labor and Statistics line (Backstrom, Laich and Semin) twice. Definitely against Philly -which generated the one of the prettiest goals in Caps history and again (I think) the following year against NYR and Pitt.

Memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Fairly simple actually. Since Laich was the 2LW, I compared him to the current 2LW. Since Fedorov was the 2C, I compared him to the current 2C. And since Semin was the 2RW, I compared him to the current 2RW. And that's why my comparisons make more sense than yours in the context of overall team depth.

Laich may still be the 2LW.

My adorning is style of play, not position per say. Grabovski is far more a sniper than Erat. And Erat is far more a playmaker than Grabovski. They will probably play on the same line a lot, so who takes the middle and the face offs won't be that relevant to their overall style of play.

 

[Brave Sir Robin]

I would actually like to see the Grabo - Nick - Ovi line, at least for a few games. Unlike MJ, Grabo actully knows how to hold and distribute the puck. I swear, MJ's feet are quicker than his brain.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I would actually like to see the Grabo - Nick - Ovi line, at least for a few games. Unlike MJ, Grabo actully knows how to hold and distribute the puck. I swear, MJ's feet are quicker than his brain.

If you want a possession line (and I do) I'd like to see Erat-Grabo-Ovechkin....assuming that Erat is still capable of scoring points.

That leaves Laich-Backstrom-Brouwer, which SHOULD be a solid 1A line.

 

[Brave Sir Robin]

If you want a possession line (and I do) I'd like to see Erat-Grabo-Ovechkin....assuming that Erat is still capable of scoring points.

That leaves Laich-Backstrom-Brouwer, which SHOULD be a solid 1A line.

I'm not a fan of separating Nick and Ovi. Backstrom hasn't been exactly lighting it up without Ovi as of late (even when he had Semin).

 

[Calicaps]

If you want a possession line (and I do) I'd like to see Erat-Grabo-Ovechkin....assuming that Erat is still capable of scoring points.

That leaves Laich-Backstrom-Brouwer, which SHOULD be a solid 1A line.

Now that's interesting.

Here's hoping Oates isn't so in love with his own best guess that he won't experiment in camp.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I'm not a fan of separating Nick and Ovi. Backstrom hasn't been exactly lighting it up without Ovi as of late (even when he had Semin).

I want the Backstrom who manhandled Callahan just for fun to come back

 

[MrGone]

I want the Backstrom who manhandled Callahan just for fun to come back

Or the guy the drove to the net with Lucic on his back. He was next to impossible to know off the puck.

 

[SashaSemin28]

I think we used the Bureau of Labor and Statistics line (Backstrom, Laich and Semin) twice. Definitely against Philly -which generated the one of the prettiest goals in Caps history and again (I think) the following year against NYR and Pitt.

Memory isn't what it used to be.

You are correct, 2009 was

Ovechkin/Fedorov/Kozlov
Laich/Backstrom/Semin



Trying to remember was it 09/10 when we used Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin then after game 4, Ovechkin/Backstrom/Knuble
Laich/Morrison/Semin or something?

 

[Roughing]

Erat-Backstrom-OV
Laich-Grabo-Brow
Fehr-MoJo-Ward
Chimer-MP-Volpat
(Beagle)
[Latta,Wilson,Kuz]

 

[Halpysback*]

2 forwards off of my ideal-ish forward lineup

??? Backstrom Ovechkin
Erat Grabovski Brouwer
??? Laich Ward (good shutdown line, I refuse to acknowledge the team without one)
Chimera Perreault Fehr (easy minutes scoring line)

I had those ??? be Penner on the top line and Galiardi on the 3rd line, but Johansson on top and Beagle/Wilson/Laata on the bottom would be passable til the playoffs at least.

 

[Ajax1995]

2 forwards off of my ideal-ish forward lineup

??? Backstrom Ovechkin
Erat Grabovski Brouwer
??? Laich Ward (good shutdown line, I refuse to acknowledge the team without one)
Chimera Perreault Fehr (easy minutes scoring line)

I had those ??? be Penner on the top line and Galiardi on the 3rd line, but Johansson on top and Beagle/Wilson/Laata on the bottom would be passable til the playoffs at least.

Well considering they could theoretically go into the playoffs with something like this up front:

Kuznetsov-Backstrom-Ovechkin
Erat-Grabovski-Brouwer
Laich-Johansson-Ward
Chimera-Perreault-Fehr

They could do a heck of a lot worse...

 

[Stewie G]

What will Kuznetsov's cap hit be if he comes over this year?

 

[brs03]

What will Kuznetsov's cap hit be if he comes over this year?

Probably high (3 mil+?) but mostly bonuses so they can use the cushion to cover that (and few of them would likely be attainable I imagine so the risk of penalty probably wouldn't be high).

 

[fedfed]

What will Kuznetsov's cap hit be if he comes over this year?

If he comes over this year, it'll most likely be (925k/total number of days in the regular season*number of days he spends with the Caps).
Everything else will be in the bonus cushion that will not hurt us year because A) it's impossible to reach performance bonuses in like 10 regular season games, B) we don't have other youngsters with high bonuses so we won't spend to the "bonus cap" ($4.825M this year).

 

[Halpysback*]

Well considering they could theoretically go into the playoffs with something like this up front:

Kuznetsov-Backstrom-Ovechkin
Erat-Grabovski-Brouwer
Laich-Johansson-Ward
Chimera-Perreault-Fehr

They could do a heck of a lot worse...

True, though they're relying an awful lot on a guy who has yet to play in the NHL and Johansson is no fit for 3C whatsoever.

I also had us chucking Johansson + whatever premium was necessary for Sekera at half salary and finding a cheaper benchwarmer than Neuvirth. Then for once in our lives we could have witnessed Super Perfect Caps.