Proposal: New York Rangers/Washington Capitals

[Guyute]

Backstrom is a better player than Stepan.

That said, Stepan outplays Backstrom every time these two teams face each other in the playoffs. It's probably the main reason the Rangers have the Caps number in recent years.

Rangers pass.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Just wanted to throw in that talking away powerplay points from Backstrom and Stepan leaves the two essentially even in points.

That's fine, but you have to remember that Backstrom is the quarterback of the PP. Everything runs through him, meaning that he's the top reason why the Caps' PP is consistently top-3 in the league (along with that turret that they have on the other side of the ice).

Discounting PP points is unfair to him.

 

[trick9]

Brutal for the Capitals, pass.

 

[txpd]

Just wanted to throw in that talking away powerplay points from Backstrom and Stepan leaves the two essentially even in points.
.

Except that power play goals count and so do PP points. The entire *** league knows the Caps are going to try and get Ov his one timer. Backstrom somehow manages to make that happen with consistency anyway. I dont get either the idea that pp points have less value or that collecting assists passing to Ov doesnt prove elite skill.

 

[gorangers0525]

Because rendering someone much less effective when they don't get powerplay opportunities is an issue

 

[Doriva]

I'd be slightly concerned about Backstrom away from Ovie, but still its a risk worth taking 10 times out of 10 when the cost is only the difference between Kreider and Johansson.

 

[Sam Spade]

Best player by a lot is Backstrom, so nope to the deal unless the Rangers add.

Although Marge for Kreider works straight up. But only because I can't stand the soft baby Swede and wish the Caps has unloaded him last season.

 

[gretskidoo]

Because rendering someone much less effective when they don't get powerplay opportunities is an issue

There isn't a team in the league that doesn't get PP opportunities. How is "PP points don't matter" even a thing around here?

What I've learned from this thread is that Backstrom is apparently underrated. Weird to say that about a guy that is 10 points short of being PPG over 652 games.

 

[txpd]

Because rendering someone much less effective when they don't get powerplay opportunities is an issue

Last season the NYR had 226 pp opps. The Caps 251. The Caps pp ranked 5th and the Rangers pp ranked 14th. Any chance that is because Backstrom and the Caps pp unit is better? That Ovechkin shoots it better and Backstrom creates zone time better and gets him the puck better?

 

[Charlie Conway]

I'm not saying PP points don't matter. Of course they do. I was trying to simply level the playing field in terms of Backstrom with more PP time and Stepan getting more PK time. They were deployed differently.

Points per minute, Backstrom was the better player at .049. Stepan was at .041. Not a massive difference.

They're different players. They're both Top-6 centers, but that's where the similarities end. Backstrom has great vision and is a very skilled passer. He's an elite playmaker. I've been a fan for a few years despite not being a Caps fan.

Stepan has good passing skills, but he's also slower and is typically playing more of a defensive role. Is he elite? No, but he's pretty damn good, too.

Do I think Backstrom is the better player? Yes.

But, like I said, I don't think the trade is one that would make much sense for either team, even if the Rangers would do it.

 

[WesMcCauley]

Stepan isn't a #1 center that a team can rely on to carry a significant load. He's better categorized as a high-end 2C IMO.

This isnt true. He has been the #1 center on NYR for many years now and they have been one of the best teams in the league. He is extremely good defensivly and produces top line points. Definetly a #1 center.

 

[txpd]

I'm not saying PP points don't matter. Of course they do. I was trying to simply level the playing field in terms of Backstrom with more PP time and Stepan getting more PK time. They were deployed differently.

Points per minute, Backstrom was the better player at .049. Stepan was at .041. Not a massive difference.

They're different players. They're both Top-6 centers, but that's where the similarities end. Backstrom has great vision and is a very skilled passer. He's an elite playmaker. I've been a fan for a few years despite not being a Caps fan.

Stepan has good passing skills, but he's also slower and is typically playing more of a defensive role. Is he elite? No, but he's pretty damn good, too.

Do I think Backstrom is the better player? Yes.

But, like I said, I don't think the trade is one that would make much sense for either team, even if the Rangers would do it.

I suspect that you are not really aware that Backstrom is also better defensively than Stepan. That the reason he doesnt pk is entirely about trying to have some Backstrom left to use for the playoffs.

The Caps wont trade Backstrom. Not close. That much i agree on

 

[Charlie Conway]

I suspect that you are not really aware that Backstrom is also better defensively than Stepan. That the reason he doesnt pk is entirely about trying to have some Backstrom left to use for the playoffs.

The Caps wont trade Backstrom. Not close. That much i agree on

All I said is that Stepan spends more time on the PK while Backstrom gets more PP time. Stepan is used more defensively and Brassard gets more PP time. I know Backstrom is a great 2-way player.

Personally, I think they're both very good defensive players as they've both excelled in the role, but I know Backstrom gets the offensive edge.

That said, we can all agree this trade would never happen for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that when you get chemistry and a track record like that of Ovi and Backstrom, you don't break it up unless you have no other choice.

Mojo and Kreider are similar. Lateral there. No question the Caps would be downgrading with Stepan even though he is very much a 1C, albeit not an elite offensive one.

 

[MW6]

Stepan is not a 2C.

Here are his PPG averages from the last 4 seasons among centers. 31st, 18th, 35th, 13th. The average of that is 24.25. He's also a very good defensive center. He's a top 25 center. I don't know how you get "top 10 2C" from that.

Giving Johansson a points advantage is crazy. Taking into account the last three seasons, Johansson averages less than 2 more points per game over an 82 game season, not to mention Johansson is mostly assists, Kreider has close to an even split. Kreider also doesn't get to leach points off of the best goal scorer in the league. Kreider also has a potential advantage. If he figures it out, he's one of the best players in the league. He hasn't figured it out yet, and he's a borderline top line player. This is probably Johansson's peak, so its crazy to give Johansson an advantage.

We don't care about Orlov's even strength points/60. He's not close to as good as McDonagh.

So you care about PPG's when it comes to Stepan being a "1C", but not about Orlov's esp/60? That's some nitpicking right there.

I totally agree that McD is better D-man then Orlov, no doubt. But Orlov's offense is as good, if not better.

Johansson hasn't played much with Ovechkin at all the last two season except for on the PP.

So "IF" Kreider figures it out he'll be a top-what player in the league? If he doesn't, he still won't produce as much as MoJo? What "IF" MoJo figures it out? Why has he peaked and not the one year younger Kreider?

 

[Stuzchuk]

WAS pas on that one