League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2020 Offseason Edition - Vol. 10

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I know pragmatically it makes sense to jettison Osh to Seattle given age and contract but he's going to leave a huge void on and off the ice if he goes. He's as much of the core of this version of the Caps as are Nick or Ovi or Carlson and we have no one on the team or in the system that can bring what he brings on the ice. Going into this season I thought for sure this would be it for him in DC but I don't see how they get rid of him and expect to get better. Maybe he ages out of a top 6 role in the next year or two but he could still be a very effective (albeit expensive) third liner that could take more minutes on the PK and PP as he gets less minutes at ES.

I guess a lot depends on how the season goes but losing him would really hurt.

 

[895]

My opinion is that you are losing Oshie no matter what anyway. If not to Seattle, then to age.

Leave him exposed, if Seattle bites, it hurts but you were going to lose someone good anyway.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Its going to be one of the top 4 D if we can only protect 3. Pretty simple

 

[um]

Its going to be one of the top 4 D if we can only protect 3. Pretty simple

that will be the case for every team in the league... Seattle will have to take forwards from someone.

 

[kicksavedave]

Its going to be one of the top 4 D if we can only protect 3. Pretty simple

Well duh, its gotta be Carlson

 

[895]

I don't know who our 4th best defender is but whoever he is, he's probably not better than the average 4th best defenseman around the league.

 

[Neil Racki]

I understand Oshie is getting up their in age and wont be worth the 5.75M in 2023-2025 ... but hes a huge consistent player on this team. We dont have anyone coming up the pipeline. If we let Oshie get plucked ... its basically the beginning of the end for this Cup winning nucleus. (Hell it might be the end already and it doesnt matter what they do)

Ovie
Back
Kuz
Wilson
Vrana (do we have to
Oshie
Eller or Sprong

Carlson
Orlov
Dillon

---

Shultz or Jensen are exposed.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Ovie is a FA and does not need a spot as of now

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I don't know who our 4th best defender is but whoever he is, he's probably not better than the average 4th best defenseman around the league.

Our 4th best defenseman, depending on your flavor, is either Orlov, Schultz, or Dillon. You don't think one of them is better than the average 4th best defenseman across the league?

 

[Neil Racki]

Ovie is a FA and does not need a spot as of now

So we dont resign him, wait for the entry draft on July 21st to pass .. then sign him when FA starts on July 28?

 

[kicksavedave]

Ovie is a FA and does not need a spot as of now

This is actually a pretty important detail. There is some risk to Ovi, and to the Caps, to hold off on signing Ovi til after the ED. I don't know if there is any potential CBA issues, like when the Redskins followed the letter of the CBA but the league fined them a crap ton of cap space for violating the "spirit" of the CBA. But if there isn't any legal/CBA impact, its still a risky move. If he becomes a UFA, other teams are free to offer him anything they want. Ovi likely would not sign with someone else but it creates the perception of the Caps paying him less than market value and the NHLPA would not love that. Ultimately its the kind of shady practice that I'm not convinced Ted or BMac would actually do. But I'm almost always wrong, so there you go.

 

[tenken00]

In regards to losing a top 4 defenseman, you lose who you can most easily replace with Fehervary, Alexeyev, Siegenthaler (if re-signed) or a Nardella. Doesn't necessarily have to be the best or worst defender, but the more easily replaceable one for us.

 

[Neil Racki]

In the same train of thought as exposing Oshie ... what about exposing Carlson and his 5 yrs remaining at 8M?

Id hate to do it and perhaps we are being to harsh on the guy but hes 31 and only going to get slower. He doesnt take the best angles and IQ to make up for slow speed and agility.

edit - I wouldnt

 

[zappa4ever]

If I'm rating our D :
(not 1-8th best rankings but as a #1 1st pair D, #4 2nd pair D etc...)

JC = #1
Orlov = #3
Dillon = #4
Chara = #4
Jensen = #4
Schultz = #4
TVR = #5/6
Sieg = #6

Protecting JC/Orlov + ? (almost a tossup btwn Dillon/Jensen/Schultz

 

[kicksavedave]

Assuming we're going 7-3 (protect the top 6 plus Eller and call it a day), the D corps shapes up like this I think:

Protect JC, Orlov, and then choose between Dillon and Schultz, who are the next two highest paid D. No one else enters the conversation. I cannot imagine them protecting Jensen over Dillon or Shultz based on what they pay each player and what each player brings respectively.

 

[tenken00]

Hate to see it, hope all goes well

 

[txpd]

Could Crosby miss, say, 4 games?

 

[zappa4ever]

Could Crosby miss, say, 4 games?

Didn't Vrana just miss 1 game mid-Feb for his Covid protocol listing?
So, who knows if it's a false-positive, or a possible contact-tracing issue, or an actual positive or ??

I mean, I wouldn't be offended if he misses all 3 PHI games this week with live crowds at PPG for the 1st time this season

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Ovy’s already said only the Caps in the NHL....so unless you don’t take him at his word, waiting should be fine.

 

[txpd]

Didn't Vrana just miss 1 game mid-Feb for his Covid protocol listing?
So, who knows if it's a false-positive, or a possible contact-tracing issue, or an actual positive or ??

I mean, I wouldn't be offended if he misses all 3 PHI games this week with live crowds at PPG for the 1st time this season

Its just a Crosby Ovechkin thing

 

[895]

Our 4th best defenseman, depending on your flavor, is either Orlov, Schultz, or Dillon. You don't think one of them is better than the average 4th best defenseman across the league?

If we had six defensemen around the level of a NHL-wide top 4, we would have one of the best and deepest defense corps in the league. I don't think we do.

 

[txpd]

Ovy’s already said only the Caps in the NHL....so unless you don’t take him at his word, waiting should be fine.

He has said that. You think that will quell the media? ok

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He has said that. You think that will quell the media? ok

Who gives a damn about the media...what the player does matters ultimately.

If he isn’t signed early it will be pretty apparent why they’re waiting IMO.

An aging Ovechkin might be a flyer idea for some crap franchise looking to make a splash, but other than that.....it’s all BS whatif’ism.

The agent can politely listen to offers and he can tell them his client isn’t interested....this media circus you’re drumming up probably won’t be anything like you’re suggesting, especially if his game continues to age...

 

[kicksavedave]

Ovy’s already said only the Caps in the NHL....so unless you don’t take him at his word, waiting should be fine.

There's no risk he signs with someone else, agreed. But there is some risk that it looks fishy, runs afoul of some hidden CBA stuff, etc. And if something, heaven forbid, were to happen to Ovi while he's not under contract, that would suck for all parties. He could take out insurance for something like that, but without a contract there has to be some agreed upon future value, plus that will cost some money. So again, some risk, small probably, but not nothing.

And ultimately, it would be for what, so we could protect one of Panik, Hags, or a 4th liner? Why bother? Assuming we do 7+3 which we all seem to think makes sense.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

There's no risk he signs with someone else, agreed. But there is some risk that it looks fishy, runs afoul of some hidden CBA stuff, etc. And if something, heaven forbid, were to happen to Ovi while he's not under contract, that would suck for all parties. He could take out insurance for something like that, but without a contract there has to be some agreed upon future value, plus that will cost some money. So again, some risk, small probably, but not nothing.

And ultimately, it would be for what, so we could protect one of Panik, Hags, or a 4th liner? Why bother? Assuming we do 7+3 which we all seem to think makes sense.

as long as it’s not flaunted (talked about at a tactic), I think they have a hard time penalizing us for signing him in any valid off-season window.