Confirmed with Link: Kuznetsov 8 year extension

trick9

Registered User
Jun 2, 2013
12,076
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Interesting angle on quality of teammates. Without knowing his winger situation, it would be tough for me to peg a reasonable point target, but I'd have to agree that 65 points would likely be a fairly large disappointment if he gets PP1 minutes.

Agreed.

Sadly, the 65 points you mentioned is about the same as you can expect from Ovechkin these days. He's had 71 and 69 the last 2 seasons and that's while sharing the ice with a top-5 center pretty much all the time during that span. If he gets moved to play with Eller, does he crack even 60 points next season?
 

philip

dismember
Jun 27, 2014
1,538
834
Agreed.

Sadly, the 65 points you mentioned is about the same as you can expect from Ovechkin these days. He's had 71 and 69 the last 2 seasons and that's while sharing the ice with a top-5 center pretty much all the time during that span. If he gets moved to play with Eller, does he crack even 60 points next season?

I don't think Ovechkin gets 70 points again, do you? £9.5m

Maybe if he sheds some weight, moves more and re-discovers the dynamism that saw him score all those highlight reel goals down the years, but sadly nowadays it's a the one timer or the attempt at the dangle past a defenseman.
 

trick9

Registered User
Jun 2, 2013
12,076
4,949
I don't think Ovechkin gets 70 points again, do you? £9.5m

Maybe if he sheds some weight, moves more and re-discovers the dynamism that saw him score all those highlight reel goals down the years, but sadly nowadays it's a the one timer or the attempt at the dangle past a defenseman.

Nope, that's why i would rather see him traded. He still has tremendous value around the league but it's diminishing quickly. This might actually be the last season he'd bring back serious value through a hockey trade. Also think both this team and him could really use a change.

If he stays, i don't really care how much he scores in the regular season as long as they make the Playoffs. It's the Playoffs when he needs to be at his best.
 

Coldplay619

Registered User
Oct 17, 2010
2,807
842
Agreed.

Sadly, the 65 points you mentioned is about the same as you can expect from Ovechkin these days. He's had 71 and 69 the last 2 seasons and that's while sharing the ice with a top-5 center pretty much all the time during that span. If he gets moved to play with Eller, does he crack even 60 points next season?

His ice time will go up this season, played 18 minutes per game last year.

If he played his usual 20 minutes per game he would have been at around 75 points by my calculations.

Playing with Kuznetsov will help, Kuzy fits his style more than Backstrom does these days.

It's unfortunate that Barry didn't realize that last year.
 

Capsman

Registered User
Nov 21, 2008
10,266
3,118
Kuz had better perform or he will quickly become the town villain (and rightly so). Not caring about the team's cap situation is one thing if you are confident that you can carry a load. We'll see.
 

um

Registered User
Sep 4, 2008
15,699
5,295
toronto
Kuz had better perform or he will quickly become the town villain (and rightly so). Not caring about the team's cap situation is one thing if you are confident that you can carry a load. We'll see.

Oshie and Orlov didn't do the Caps any favours, why should Kuznetsov?
 

Dr John Carlson

Registered User
Dec 21, 2011
9,727
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Nova Scotia
Still surprised that people have more issue with this contract than the Oshie deal. The Oshie deal is definitely a fairer AAV but also comes with considerably more risk due to age/injury concerns/potential for regression.
 

Jags

Mildly Disturbed
May 5, 2016
1,768
1,924
Central Florida
Still surprised that people have more issue with this contract than the Oshie deal. The Oshie deal is definitely a fairer AAV but also comes with considerably more risk due to age/injury concerns/potential for regression.

The back half of Oshie's deal is movable. All he has to do is curb his recklessness with his body a bit and his game can age very well. There's no reason he can't have the same type of longevity we're seeing in Williams.

He's the type of player a team looks for at deadline time. His 10-team NMC, reduced salary, the growing salary cap, and his desire to win make trading him a few years down the line doable.

I agree that Kuznetsov's may be a safer long-term bet, but there are concerns with him, too.
 

um

Registered User
Sep 4, 2008
15,699
5,295
toronto
The back half of Oshie's deal is movable. All he has to do is curb his recklessness with his body a bit and his game can age very well. There's no reason he can't have the same type of longevity we're seeing in Williams.

He's the type of player a team looks for at deadline time. His 10-team NMC, reduced salary, the growing salary cap, and his desire to win make trading him a few years down the line doable.

I agree that Kuznetsov's may be a safer long-term bet, but there are concerns with him, too.

A 34 year old Oshie is more moveable than a 29 year old Kuznetsov? even for the extra 2 million you can't possibly believe that.
 

Jags

Mildly Disturbed
May 5, 2016
1,768
1,924
Central Florida
A 34 year old Oshie is more moveable than a 29 year old Kuznetsov? even for the extra 2 million you can't possibly believe that.

It's not one versus the other. I didn't say it's more movable than Kuznetsov's. I just said it's movable.

A team on the rise like Toronto could easily take on a deal like that for Oshie at 34 at the TDL if they're making a run. It's movable.

It's not an anchor tied around our necks like Orpik's deal. At least not yet.
 

Hivemind

We're Touched
Oct 8, 2010
37,009
13,425
Philadelphia
Still surprised that people have more issue with this contract than the Oshie deal. The Oshie deal is definitely a fairer AAV but also comes with considerably more risk due to age/injury concerns/potential for regression.

Like I said in the Orlov thread, I'd much rather pay for what a player will do in his prime rather than pay for a what a player did in their prime.
 

SpinningEdge

Registered User
Feb 12, 2015
7,719
3,492
Fairfax, VA
I know a lot of people are talking about Ovi being traded - not worth his contract now.... etc - but as a small/semi-hockey fan who became a super die hard hockey fan after I moved here to D.C. When Ovi started his career here I feel like the Caps winning a Cup or going after one has to be with him or it won't feel the same. He made the Caps into a small hockey town into a place that sells out arenas all over the US. Hell, I love hockey so much I don't miss any games at all during the season, playoffs, etc any more.

If Caps moved Ovi for ANYONE it just wouldn't be the same for me as a fan.... as long as he can play I want him in a Caps sweater trying to win the Cup. After that a discussion can be made about his contract. I'd be happy/stoked regardless if we won a Cup - but seeing Ovi hold the Cup would be so much sweeter and a feeling of accomplishment - AND like the past decade wasn't a failure.

Anyone else feel this way? We can talk about changing the core, etc - but this whole thing is still the Ovi era until he's gone.
 
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CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
64,388
19,089
Like I said in the Orlov thread, I'd much rather pay for what a player will do in his prime rather than pay for a what a player did in their prime.

You're making a rather large assumption that 92 will "do it" to the tune of 7.8 mil per in production, but yeah in a perfect world you're not paying for past performances. However, you can look around the league and see it often doesn't work that way and there's not a lot to do differently when you're trying to hold on to the last vestiges of a playoff team.
 

Bananas

****
Mar 26, 2007
3,760
1,817
It's not one versus the other. I didn't say it's more movable than Kuznetsov's. I just said it's movable.

A team on the rise like Toronto could easily take on a deal like that for Oshie at 34 at the TDL if they're making a run. It's movable.

It's not an anchor tied around our necks like Orpik's deal. At least not yet.

A whole hell of a lot can happen to a player over four years in their thirties - let alone 8. This league chews up and spits out players who lose the ability to skate and Oshie is not fleet of foot...today. There's a good chance the Oshie deal blows up in our faces. I like it a lot in the near term, however.

Kuzy on the other hand is gonna start carrying this franchise or stand idly by as it falls into the abyss.

Kuznetsov holds the keys to this franchise now imo...his upside is top 5 center and as long as Nicky is still up there as well we have the top two centers to compete.

Our top end players are gonna have to earn their paychecks this year. Who knows maybe this will galvanize them to raise their games? We're definitely gonna need it and I think there's a good chance that Kuzy leads the charge...
 

HecticGlow

Registered User
Mar 14, 2016
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Kuzy spent most of the last two seasons playing with Williams, and more often than not with Mojo. He was inconsistent playing with Ovechkin, Oshie and Bura - which is troubling considering these are his wingers next season.

He also was put on PP1 for a stretch last season, but they swapped him again for Mojo when Kuzy wasn't getting it done on PP1. Maybe he'll do better in that position next season if given a longer look, but I also think it's possible Vrana beats him to that spot at some point in the year.

I think it's a significant overpayment for a guy who got 59 points last season (with great teammates and usually not facing top opponents) who so far hasn't been trusted to play more than about 15 minutes a game. If he's getting 1C money, he better produce like a 1C and be fighting Backstrom for ice time.
 

maacoshark

Registered User
Jul 22, 2017
9,629
3,723
I've never had a problem with the Kuzy deal. He is a very skilled player entering his prime.
I didn't like the Oshie deal from day 1 because of the longevity of the deal. The deal is front end heavy so I'm pretty sure for a shorter deal the salary per season would have been a bit higher.
 

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