How much is AO going to help?

[sparkplug]

Well he sure will help them sell tickets.

 

[EroCaps]

I think you're throwing around the term "blue chip" with some abandon.

I guess "blue chip" is debatable. But I consider Eminger/Morrisonn to both have top two potential.

 

[Chimaera]

If Doig is still on that team in 2-3 years time, something is sincerely wrong.


Doig is awful.

 

[txpd]

I meant to imply that between Witt, Doig, and Boumer, we have a couple decent defenseman, to go with 2 (and with a trade up), 3 blue-chip defense prospects, and money to spend on FAs.

Witt is the only defenseman of those 3 that would dress for the vast majority of NHL teams. To call Doig and Boumedienne "decent" is vastly overrating them. Boumedienne may be a late bloomer. He has skills but consistantly commits god awful turnovers that an NHL defenseman only makes on his worst day. Doig is just plain waiver wire fodder.

There is a chance that the Caps will offer Boumedienne an AHL contract and give him a chance to make the next team buy playing with Morrisonn, Eminger, Yonkman and Cutta, building chemistry and eliminating those mistakes. he is not a young player though and that needs to be taken into account. Frankly the mistakes he makes are the same mistakes that Cutta makes and those mistakes keep Cutta in Portland. If he continues to make them, he will remain an AHL defenseman.

As for Doig, he won't be back. I don't see any circumstances where Jason Doig is a Cap again. if there are 3 other NHL teams that he could dress for, i would be shocked.

 

[Chimaera]

I'd take Kiwi any day of the week over Doig as a 7th defenseman.


And that says a lot.


Joel can at least dish out the puck a little bit and offer a change of pace defensemen with some puck handling skills.



And Boumideinne is another story entirely. He's pretty poor, but could run the point on the pp and play some 3rd pairing time on some teams. He does have a little potential left, but like txpd said, still makes mistakes the youngsters consistently make, while being 25-26.

 

[Biscuit Bullet]

I don't know if it works like that. If he's already one of the top players in the RSL, and a two-way force, what more is there to learn there? For two more years? He'd learn more in two full seasons in the NHL than two full ones in the RSL.

Every player takes their bumps in their first season.

Ovechkin scored what, 13-10-23 in fifty something games, right? That's less than half a point per game. Given, the RSL is a very defensive league, but saying that at the age of 18, and scoring >.5 points per game he has little left to learn is incorrect IMO.

 

[txpd]

I'd take Kiwi any day of the week over Doig as a 7th defenseman.

And that says a lot.
Joel can at least dish out the puck a little bit and offer a change of pace defensemen with some puck handling skills.

And Boumideinne is another story entirely. He's pretty poor, but could run the point on the pp and play some 3rd pairing time on some teams. He does have a little potential left, but like txpd said, still makes mistakes the youngsters consistently make, while being 25-26.

My main complaint with Kwiatkowski is his amazing lack of hand-eye coordination.
He is a mobile defenseman who should be able to handle the puck, but his inability to do so is amazing. Specifically, I refer to how he often needs 3 and 4 attempts to fish a puck off the boards when there is no pressure on him. He has trouble stick handling and passing(much less shooting) without looking down at the puck.
For instance he will stop a puck going around the boards in his own zone and take two or three stabs at it to control it. then have to look up for someone to pass to and then look back down at the puck to pass it. by that time he is often hit or someone skates into the passing lane or the guy he is passing to has moved and you get a turnover or an icing.

This is as opposed to Calle Johansson who was often looking for a place to pass while picking the puck off the boards with one motion and then passing it cleanly without ever looking at the puck more than once. That is not a skill that kiwi is going to learn at this point in his career and a major reason why I think he has maxxed out his potential.

 

[txpd]

Let me build on that with one more example. Alexander Semin has great hand-eye coordination and it plays out with him being able to pass and shoot the puck with his head up. Where it contrasts kiwi the most is along the boards. its subtle, but you may recall how Semin could approach two players fighting for the puck in the corner. He often would take two or three chops at the puck and skate away cleanly with the puck after giving what looked like so little effort. He doesnt hit skates and leg pads or baseboards with his stick and he doesn't just make chopping contact with the puck. his stick swoops at the puck often only being foiled by the puck hitting something. the opposite of semin in the corner is kiwi who often hits everything in the corner but the puck.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Agreed, Gravedigger.

I think a lockout or losing season would be very helpful for the caps future. To draft one of Crosby, Brule, Latendresse, Anikeeko or one of the other elite talents in the '05 draft would really help this team in the long run.

......


I really think the Caps have a nice future, which could be a brillant future if they manage to land one of the top 5 talents in next years draft.

I have to admit that I am almost hoping for a year long strike/lockout for similar reasons . . . Pens would get a 50/50 shot at crosby and be guarenteed no worse than number two, likely Brule . . . I would miss hockey and do think that the Pens will be much improved if they do play but they are not competing for the Cup next year, maybe not even a playoff spot, so with the consolation prize of Crosby/Brule, the Pens would likely be best off in the long run if there was no hockey.

 

[Gumby]

I have to admit that I am almost hoping for a year long strike/lockout for similar reasons . . . Pens would get a 50/50 shot at crosby and be guarenteed no worse than number two, likely Brule . . . I would miss hockey and do think that the Pens will be much improved if they do play but they are not competing for the Cup next year, maybe not even a playoff spot, so with the consolation prize of Crosby/Brule, the Pens would likely be best off in the long run if there was no hockey.

Let's not kid ourselves, with these two teams they're gonna be at best still in the bottom 3-5 in the league if they do play next year so they'll still have their shot at Crosby and Brule. Besides, I seriously doubt they'll just keep the lottery order and/or odds the same if the year is wiped out.

 

[oil slick]

Let's not kid ourselves, with these two teams they're gonna be at best still in the bottom 3-5 in the league if they do play next year so they'll still have their shot at Crosby and Brule. Besides, I seriously doubt they'll just keep the lottery order and/or odds the same if the year is wiped out.

I doubt it too. I'm not too sure how it will be resolved, but I have a feeling a lot of teams would be screaming bloody murder if they just kept the same draft order.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I doubt it too. I'm not too sure how it will be resolved, but I have a feeling a lot of teams would be screaming bloody murder if they just kept the same draft order.

That is the scenerio that I have heard . . . not same draft order, but use the finishes of the last year played for another lottery. Hell, the team finishing last has not won the lottery 6 of the last 7 years so what system could they come up with fairer? An even chance for all the teams? . . . how would that be fairer? . . . it is a tough situation, but I can think of no solution more fair than another lottery based on the last standings available, which in that theoretical case would be the year before the strike lost year.