Is Dmitry Orlov the best Caps dman this season?

[twabby]

So do all good defensemen.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He still makes the occasional high risk pass in his own zone.

Part decision-making, part confidence from being super skilled. He's improving imo. As far as his troubles, I'd rank high risk passes a little down the list.

 

[RandyHolt]

We don't know what he is asked to do though. Maybe coaches told him to not fear higher risk passes, for the betterment of our breakouts. We do have a Vezina as backup. If there is a place to let a D take some risks, its behind an ace in goal. Let him learn. Being an offensive D takes close to a decade to perfect.

It's just a theory. But I bet if he routinely safely chipped up and out, he would get in trouble for that too.

 

[Hivemind]

I'm not super knowledgeable about our prospect pool. Of the potential NHL D in the system, tho, I'd guess we have more Orlov types than Alzner types. Either way, tho, you have to think the potential for a kid to step into one of those empty spaces will factor into GMBM's decision-making.

We have 3 defense prospects of any real note. Madison Bowey, Lucas Johansen, and Jonas Siegenthaler. Bowey is definitely more on the Orlov end of the spectrum, but Siegenthaler and Johansen would be closer to Alzner (with Siegenthaler creeping into Orpik territory). Lucas Johansen was billed as a 2-way guy, but so was Alzner when he was drafted. Their boxcars parallel one another pretty well, too. Maybe his offensive potential translates and he ends up closer to Niskanen, but it's doubtful he's going to be a dynamic playmaker on the next level.

Among the long shots, Djoos and Hobbs have offensive potential while Lewington is more of a stay-at-home type. Zaitsev is mobile, but doesn't even have an offensive game at the WHL level (0 goals and only 15 points in 49 games this year as a 19 year old). The rest are basically also-rans.

tl;dr - The Caps actually have more Alzner types than Orlov types. Especially among those that have a realistic chance of cracking the NHL.

 

[Calicaps]

We have 3 defense prospects of any real note. Madison Bowey, Lucas Johansen, and Jonas Siegenthaler. Bowey is definitely more on the Orlov end of the spectrum, but Siegenthaler and Johansen would be closer to Alzner (with Siegenthaler creeping into Orpik territory). Lucas Johansen was billed as a 2-way guy, but so was Alzner when he was drafted. Their boxcars parallel one another pretty well, too. Maybe his offensive potential translates and he ends up closer to Niskanen, but it's doubtful he's going to be a dynamic playmaker on the next level.

Among the long shots, Djoos and Hobbs have offensive potential while Lewington is more of a stay-at-home type. Zaitsev is mobile, but doesn't even have an offensive game at the WHL level (0 goals and only 15 points in 49 games this year as a 19 year old). The rest are basically also-rans.

tl;dr - The Caps actually have more Alzner types than Orlov types. Especially among those that have a realistic chance of cracking the NHL.

Read your whole post, but thanks for the Cliff's Notes version too.

That's interesting and a bit surprising to me, but also good. Love the info on Siegenthaler. Given all of that, how far away are these guys from stepping in?

 

[SpinningEdge]

But that is my question. Why will they not scratch Orlov? They were willing to do it in the playoffs last year, when stakes were much higher. What gives him protected status now, especially if, as was surmised above, he may well be left unprotected for expansion draft anyway?

Because Trotz/GM promised a bigger role when negotiating and doing the deal in the summer. If Caps scratch him it's unnecessary possible drama and Caps don't need that right now. Plus, Caps have a huge offseason of negotiations coming up. They can't do anything that pisses off agents or has other agents think when GMBM/Trotz say something they don't live up to their end of the deal. That could result in blacklisting.

Plus, Orlov has much higher upside and can be a game changer on some nights. Schmidt is a bottom half basic roster player.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Alzner was billed as a defense first guy as I remember it. Good at everything, great at nothing.

I don't see anyone we have who's a strong defense first prospect. Replacing Orlov would be easier today (say if Orlov or Alzner went down in the playoffs).

https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/what-others-are-saying-about-alzner/c-461933

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Alzner was billed as a defense first guy as I remember it. Good at everything, great at nothing.

I don't see anyone we have who's a strong defense first prospect. Replacing Orlov would be easier today (say if Orlov or Alzner went down in the playoffs).

https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/what-others-are-saying-about-alzner/c-461933

Siegenthaler is definitely a defense first guy. This was the scouting report from when he was drafted.

Scouting Report:

Siegenthaler is a stay-at-home defender. Do not expect anything big offensively from him. He is a safety-first guy and does not take a lot of risks and mostly goes for a safe first pass. He owns the defensive zone, with his strong defensive play and an active stick which he uses very well to interrupt passes and rushes. His understanding of the game in his own zone is great and he possesses strong positioning. He uses his strength and size to prevent forwards from scoring on rebounds.

Siegenthaler displays a good combination of skating agility and size. Given his big frame, he is not easy to knock off the puck or to be shoved around in front of the net, but I would like to see him get involved in physical battles a bit more often. He is hard to beat in corner battles and often shuts down forwards along the boards. Although there is room for improvement on the offensive side of his game, he will never become a strong two-way defender. He will always use his strong defensive zone coverage and be a shutdown defenceman.

His 6 pts in 5 games at the WJC were a pleasant surprise.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

But no where near Alzner's ceiling IMO, therefor if lucky he's an adequate replacement in what, a few years at best? And yeah, he didn't look like a standard definition stay at home D in the 2 WJC games I saw him in, which surprised me.