GDT: GDT Carolina

[SherVaughn30]

If there were two subjects (aside from 92 still playing meaningful minutes) I’d love to hear Carbs go into, it’s the amount of time the 4th line gets, and the frequent collapses by Keumper.

Uh, pump the breaks on the Kuemper criticism tonight! I didn't see much fault in his play. The team showed up for 1 period jumping out to a 2-0 lead. The 2nd/3rd the Caps were just out played badly by the better team. They were outshot 24-11 combined in the 2nd/3rd. No team wins games with only generating 17 shots on goal total. The lack of offensive production is killing this team.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I think Carberry is a good coach but he has probably a bottom 5 roster. Definitely agree though playing the 4th line so much because they hustle looks nonsensical at this point with losses piling up.

Disagree. The roster is not bottom 5 bad. We have a 1C that doesn't fit this team anymore and it's hurting them that he hasn't been shipped out yet. The roster as is, isn't enough to support Carbery's coaching system. The problem is part of the roster has not been ousted yet for all the good prospects that are playing in Hershey. Holy Crap the Bears are dominating the AHL with a 27-6 record! That Hershey is a combination of excellent coaching, great goaltending, D and forward prospects. This thing that the Caps prospect pool is ranked in the bottom 5 is a bunch of garbage. The prospects might be cooking too long in Hershey and need to grow now with the big club!

 

[max21]

We suck balls

 

[SherVaughn30]

We suck balls

For tonight...

 

[stephenball]

How much of an improvement would it be to the team if we could trade Kuznetsov with 100% salary retained to a team for a hot dog from their stadium?

 

[SherVaughn30]

I might add the Canes just pummeled the Rags @ MSG, 6-1, with Shesterkin in net for the Rags in the Canes previous road game before this one. It would not surprise me if the Canes surge and win the Metro with Rags slipping a bit.

How much of an improvement would it be to the team if we could trade Kuznetsov with 100% salary retained to a team for a hot dog from their stadium?

HUGE!

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

How much of an improvement would it be to the team if we could trade Kuznetsov with 100% salary retained to a team for a hot dog from their stadium?

I mean, addition by subtraction.

 

[SherVaughn30]

This -24 goal differential is starting to look brutal! Just when the PP is starting to click a bit with a little consistency, the goal scoring still struggles and the goaltending is faltering a bit.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

No more GDTs.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Well that was hard to watch. Terrible effort.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

Crashing back to earth. Lack of talent on the roster can’t be hidden forever. I would honestly be curious what players an expansion team would even want from our roster.

 

[SherVaughn30]

No more GDTs.

GDT's have more worth than Kuzy!

 

[SherVaughn30]

Well that was hard to watch. Terrible effort.

Only got to catch about 3 mins worth at the end of the 1st.

 

[Langway]

"A lot of growing to do." Hilarious. Short of that maybe reality-based lineup decisions would help. Who do you think you're coaching? When will you have had enough?

If there was ever a time to make an example out of Kuznetsov it's this game and that penalty in that situation. Enough is enough. There is more development needed for this to be a playoff team...and that probably begins by not lazily relying on the fourth line like a crutch or extending every benefit of the doubt to veteran players who will not learn nor hunt. Lots of tough decisions to engineer this team just right with such a narrow window to hit it. Their recent approach isn't it. It's headed south in a hurry if they're out of ideas.

 

[Holtbyisms]

"A lot of growing to do." Hilarious. Short of that maybe reality-based lineup decisions would help. Who do you think you're coaching? When will you have had enough?

If there was ever a time to make an example out of Kuznetsov it's this game and that penalty in that situation. Enough is enough. There is more development needed for this to be a playoff team...and that probably begins by not lazily relying on the fourth line like a crutch or extending every benefit of the doubt to veteran players who will not learn nor hunt. Lots of tough decisions to engineer this team just right with such a narrow window to hit it. Their recent approach isn't it. It's headed south in a hurry if they're out of ideas.

I mean...they've already exceeded most of our expectations. The metrics say we should be far worse in the standings. He's making something out of nothing, can't really ask for much more than that. This just really isn't a good team. We're a lottery team based on talent. Our only hope going into the season was that Backy was magically healed and back to his old self, oshie was healthy, ovi scored 45-50 goals, John Carlson was a true #1 again and DK was a top 10 goalie again. None of that happened. Reality is setting in.

 

[WanderingCapsFan]

I mean...they've already exceeded most of our expectations. The metrics say we should be far worse in the standings. He's making something out of nothing, can't really ask for much more than that. This just really isn't a good team. We're a lottery team based on talent. Our only hope going into the season was that Backy was magically healed and back to his old self, oshie was healthy, ovi scored 45-50 goals, John Carlson was a true #1 again and DK was a top 10 goalie again. None of that happened. Reality is setting in.

This is the sad truth. They were winning games early on without scoring many goals. That was never sustainable. This is where most of us thought they'd be. Not much goal scoring. Not a great D. OK-at-best goaltending (except when Chuckie decides to go full Ken Dryden). Some guys that don't give a s**t.

Maybe it's time to get aboard the Red Tank again.

 

[Langway]

Sure. But you'd still like to see better management from a macro perspective, particularly in the face of tough headwinds. It shouldn't exactly be a surprise that they're just barely holding on and not in a position of strength against formidable opponents. They're not good. They should know this version of Kuznetsov isn't tenable and that their best secured center is Strome. So...why doesn't usage reflect it? What's the end-game? They're sort of back to square one kicking cans aimlessly down the road trying to get by however possible. But they can't completely sell out some important principles along the way. There are alternatives to 92. They're not forced to play him. This is still largely a veteran group and one that's beyond learning how to be a pro. Those that haven't suddenly aren't going to.

And, sure, the reality is the bulk of the scarce foundational pieces they're going to need to truly contend again are likely not in the system. They're still likely to finish above being able to add premier talents via the draft next summer. It's a tall order engineering this team to the playoffs but also tough to grasp where they're headed in general and how they're making d2d decisions that reflect that path. They're about as mid as it gets. Maybe they'll have a big chunk of cap space to burn next summer--perhaps some at the deadline if they really wish--but they need to be extremely strategic deploying it. As far as the rest of this season goes it's inevitable if they fall off pace in full that decisions need to be made more in terms of who is and isn't part of their future. Without a pretty coherent double focus and sharp approach they're definitely in danger of wilting.

 

[SherVaughn30]

"A lot of growing to do." Hilarious. Short of that maybe reality-based lineup decisions would help. Who do you think you're coaching? When will you have had enough?

If there was ever a time to make an example out of Kuznetsov it's this game and that penalty in that situation. Enough is enough. There is more development needed for this to be a playoff team...and that probably begins by not lazily relying on the fourth line like a crutch or extending every benefit of the doubt to veteran players who will not learn nor hunt. Lots of tough decisions to engineer this team just right with such a narrow window to hit it. Their recent approach isn't it. It's headed south in a hurry if they're out of ideas.

Saw nothing wrong with what he said. Even with this current roster, they have shown to win games the right way. The problem is from the vets, who don't always show the mental commitment to Carbery's system. The country club attitude from the core guys still exists. To those that complain about the 4th getting too much playing time, I actually have no problem with it. They play the way Carbery's system is setup for the players to execute. The 4th line obviously can't produce like the other lines, but they are setting the example of how to play the system and the extra ice time is a reward for that. Why should the higher talent just get a lot of playing time if they are not playing right?

The Kuzy situation, might be above Carbery's decision. I really think he would want to scratch Kuzy every game, but management probably has said you have to continue playing Kuzy. Let's be real, Kuzy being a big reason we won the Cup back in '18, has a lot of leverage to him staying in the lineup.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Sure. But you'd still like to see better management from a macro perspective, particularly in the face of tough headwinds. It shouldn't exactly be a surprise that they're just barely holding on and not in a position of strength against formidable opponents. They're not good. They should know this version of Kuznetsov isn't tenable and that their best secured center is Strome. So...why doesn't usage reflect it? What's the end-game? They're sort of back to square one kicking cans aimlessly down the road trying to get by however possible. But they can't completely sell out some important principles along the way. There are alternatives to 92. They're not forced to play him. This is still largely a veteran group and one that's beyond learning how to be a pro. Those that haven't suddenly aren't going to.

And, sure, the reality is the bulk of the scarce foundational pieces they're going to need to truly contend again are likely not in the system. They're still likely to finish above being able to add premier talents via the draft next summer. It's a tall order engineering this team to the playoffs but also tough to grasp where they're headed in general and how they're making d2d decisions that reflect that path. They're about as mid as it gets. Maybe they'll have a big chunk of cap space to burn next summer--perhaps some at the deadline if they really wish--but they need to be extremely strategic deploying it. As far as the rest of this season goes it's inevitable if they fall off pace in full that decisions need to be made more in terms of who is and isn't part of their future. Without a pretty coherent double focus and sharp approach they're definitely in danger of wilting.

I hear ya, but we'll need 4 functional lines to move forward. Putting black hole kuzy with black hole Phillips/Lappy and a handicap Patches is a total 0. Much in the way Mikey and Protas have jump started Mantha I think he's hoping Willy and Ovi can jump start Kuzy. They're trying to use Strome to get a third line going and balance it all out... If the argument is just fire kuzy off into the sun and bench him I'm not sure that does much either in terms of creating a functional third line. You then rip Protas away from our best line to become 3C or push a undercooked Lappy into a big role he's not ready for. At this point you stay the course, play the hand you've been dealt and try to improve the roster in the off-season. The window got boarded up last year no matter what public statements BMac makes about staying competitive.

 

[SherVaughn30]

This is my take on Kuzy. Ted is not willing to retain enough of his salary cap hit to trade him. I think other teams that might have interest, probably said something along the lines of that the Caps have to retain 50% of his remaining cap hit or retain a bad contract back. They may have also added that the Caps have give up a reasonable draft pick or good prospect. Overall when you look at how the Caps have been retaining salary in trades or on buyouts, Ted has been a good deal stingy in that regard. He's an idi0t marketing guru, so trading away a 1st round picked player, who was a big integral part of the team winning the Cup, plus still having the talent level of a 1st line player, for Ted this is negative marketing and not something he will approve of.

 

[usiel]

"A lot of growing to do." Hilarious. Short of that maybe reality-based lineup decisions would help. Who do you think you're coaching? When will you have had enough?

If there was ever a time to make an example out of Kuznetsov it's this game and that penalty in that situation. Enough is enough. There is more development needed for this to be a playoff team...and that probably begins by not lazily relying on the fourth line like a crutch or extending every benefit of the doubt to veteran players who will not learn nor hunt. Lots of tough decisions to engineer this team just right with such a narrow window to hit it. Their recent approach isn't it. It's headed south in a hurry if they're out of ideas.

I appreciate he didn't try to sugar coat what any hockey fan eyeball could see taking in the game as a whole.

Zooming out for a sec trying to keep some competitive team while AO goes for the goal record might be better served blowing some veteran deadweight out maybe.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I wanted to 2nd review the goals on Kuemper. The 2nd one was a leaky goal Kuemper should have had. His positioning was a bit off the post and it was a shot that he should have squeezed. The other goals were just weak defensive coverage with players confused or caught standing around. 3 of the goals were a blast from the middle point and two from inside the right circle. Kuemper or any other goalie had to move side2side too much to be square with the shots.

Why was Sandin not playing tonight? His absence definitely had a negative effect on the D pairs tonight.

 

[Corby78]

The one thing we were good at was keeping leads late. Whelp we now can’t do that. So little speed, so little skill, average goaltending. I’m getting very close to getting on the tank bandwagon again this year.

 

[SherVaughn30]

The one thing we were good at was keeping leads late. Whelp we now can’t do that. So little speed, so little skill, average goaltending. I’m getting very close to getting on the tank bandwagon again this year.

I see some ppl commenting with excuse type stuff. The Caps still have some speed and skill, and more youth is being implemented. Carbery's system works, but parts of the roster don't play smart enough. I don't see enough will and commitment from all the players on the roster. The hard work commitment is not all there with this roster. The prime example is Kuzy does not buy into this system and therefor he should be shipped out! There are some bad apples that refuse to fall from the fruitful tree!

 

[trick9]

Seems like the wheels are falling off as they slide away from that crazy 17-0-5 record in games where they score atleast 2 goals. They've now lost 2 of those in a row in regulation.