Speculation: Offseason changes. You are the GM.

[caps4cup]

Green drove possession more than anyone on the Caps last year according to Adam Vingan. Use him on the PP, and let him jump in the play and he's a very valuable player.

On a side note, I'd absolutely love to get Sobotka.

 

[msrulo]

Green isn't likely to be traded, he becomes a UFA in the summer of 2015. If he is traded for anything, its for a bag of pucks. He isn't better than Kulikov in defense and that says a lot.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

what would the caps be looking for in a trade for him? specifically the leafs

With his health in question, a solid role player or bottom 3 defenseman.

I don't think any team trades for him until they see him on the ice though.

 

[OldHat]

Throwing out other random names....various positions.


Pierre Lacroix
Mark Messier
Pat Lafontaine

You've GOT to be kidding. No way on LaFontaine - I would consider Messier however.

 

[OldHat]

With his health in question, a solid role player or bottom 3 defenseman.

I don't think any team trades for him until they see him on the ice though.

That's really all he has ever been - a role player. If he gets traded then it is very likely it will be to a team that will understand how to use him and pair him with defensive monster. I would expect him to be extremely productive on another team.

 

[txpd]

That's really all he has ever been - a role player. If he gets traded then it is very likely it will be to a team that will understand how to use him and pair him with defensive monster. I would expect him to be extremely productive on another team.

role players aren't usually Norris trophy finalists. if a role player leads your team in minutes, its a really big role.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

role players aren't usually Norris trophy finalists. if a role player leads your team in minutes, its a really big role.

Brooks Laich was a Norris Trophy finalist?

 

[txpd]

Collecting picks and prospects for high value players not in the long term plans allows us to more ammo to trade for replacement players.

If extension is not in the plans for Green

Trade him for the best package we can get hopefully its more then dallas got for Ribs

and then go get Kesler or another impact player for picks and prospects

I doubt seriously the caps get better than they got for ribeiro. Eakin was a good player and a like player would be a nice get for Green, but the Caps getting younger isn't productive in my view.

do you think Kesler could be gotten for a pick and a prospect?

 

[txpd]

Brooks Laich was a Norris Trophy finalist?

obviously, I thought the subject was green.

 

[OldHat]

role players aren't usually Norris trophy finalists. if a role player leads your team in minutes, its a really big role.

Mike Green has never been worthy of the Norris. He had some great offensive years under BB because his talents were highlighted. On another excellent defensive team he doesn't come close to leading the team in minutes - not then and not now.

While he was treated like a #1 D here, his ideal situation would be to use him as a role player - pair him with a great defensive dman and let him skate and use him on the pp.

 

[SDBondra]

Do I even have to say Barry Trotz would be a huge upgrade?

 

[Devil Dancer]

Do I even have to say Barry Trotz would be a huge upgrade?

This roster so vastly different from the Preds' roster, I'm not sure what would happen. An improvement? Definitely. A good fit? Not so sure about that.

 

[RandyHolt]

Our core is so lazy that I fear the only coach that can get a full effort out of them will employ a system that will bore the fans.

 

[txpd]

Our core is so lazy that I fear the only coach that can get a full effort out of them will employ a system that will bore the fans.

so...back to hunter hockey, rh? out with ov and backy and green and who else?

 

[RandyHolt]

so...back to hunter hockey, rh? out with ov and backy and green and who else?

What do you do to your car that isn't firing right. Keep stomping on the gas and hope the problem goes away - Oates, or do you back off the gas find an optimal spot and make the best of it, slow and steady wins the race - Hunter.

You'd pull into the pits, bench them. Or give up and use the backup the car. Trade them. Immediately address the problem. You'd wouldn't think twice about it.

George has been watching his race cars circle the track at half speed for 4 years now.

 

[BobRouse]

What do you do to your car that isn't firing right. Keep stomping on the gas and hope the problem goes away - Oates, or do you back off the gas find an optimal spot and make the best of it, slow and steady wins the race - Hunter.

You'd pull into the pits, bench them. Or give up and use the backup the car. Trade them. Immediately address the problem. You'd wouldn't think twice about it.

George has been watching his race cars circle the track at half speed for 4 years now.

Hunterhockey=Schoenfeldhockey=WilsonCenterLockhockey

Did we really have success with any of those methods? Hunters is different only that its in the NuNHL were you collapse and block as many shots as possible.

I can tell you one thing...under Schoenfeld and Wilson we had a roster for more condusive to that type of game.

I don't know why you clamour for this brand of hockey. As if it is the ONLY way that works.

Its a boring snoozefest which in the end will yield similar results until we actually address the D and top 6 forwards.

If we are going to lose we may as well lose in style with some excitement.

 

[marcel snapshot]

When they were young, the core of this team - Ovie, Nick, Green - played with youthful energy and exuberant-passion-over-how-much-fun-it-was-to-be-young-and-succeeding-in-the-NHL. That effectively served as a substitute for the work ethic/commitment/relentlessness/will to win that successful NHL teams have infused through their roster.

Well, they're not young anymore and they don't play with that zeal and energy. Meanwhile, they never cultivated (and never were made to develop, because they were so "special") a work ethic/commitment/relentlessness/will to win and thus, unsurprisingly, the team that they lead has not been successful.

Drastic changes need to be made here - if the 3 core guys above aren't willing to alter their off-season preparation and in-season commitment, they need to be broken up. Those guys are now entering the wrong end of their career arcs - they might have another year or two where they're at, but they're not going to get better, and certainly not if they don't change their level of preparation and commitment.

The Caps for the last 5 or 6 years have constructed their team around Ovechkin - I don't think they can do that anymore. That doesn't necessarily mean trading him, but it does mean don't construct the team on the assumption that his success will equate to team success. This season, where Ovie lead the league in goals and the team sucked, is a complete negation of that notion, and if the brass can't see that then they are truly blind.

Even one of the bright -- if not the brightest - spots this year, Chimmer and Ward are getting up there in years. Chimera will be 35 when next season starts, and Ward will turn 34 during the year. Based on the typical rate of physical decline and the type of game they need to play to be successful, it's highly likely that we just saw their best season.

If the Caps don't face these facts -- and address them -- the decline we will witness will be rapid and ugly.

 

[Zoidberg Jesus]

The Caps for the last 5 or 6 years have constructed their team around Ovechkin - I don't think they can do that anymore. That doesn't necessarily mean trading him, but it does mean don't construct the team on the assumption that his success will equate to team success. This season, where Ovie lead the league in goals and the team sucked, is a complete negation of that notion, and if the brass can't see that then they are truly blind.

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say the team is constructed around Ovie. What would a team with Ovie but not 'constructed around him' look like?

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say the team is constructed around Ovie. What would a team with Ovie but not 'constructed around him' look like?

It would look like the Caps have since he was drafted. It's Ovechkin and then a whole lot of crap that doesn't make any sense.

 

[Zoidberg Jesus]

It would look like the Caps have since he was drafted. It's Ovechkin and then a whole lot of crap that doesn't make any sense.

That's how I'd interpret it, maybe that's what marcel meant too and I just didn't understand. I don't think teams are every constructed around a player in hockey. Maybe in basketball, or a football offense, but individual players just aren't that important in hockey. Whoever your star player is, you're going to need four top 4 defensemen and a competent second line in order to contend for a cup.

 

[txpd]

What do you do to your car that isn't firing right. Keep stomping on the gas and hope the problem goes away - Oates, or do you back off the gas find an optimal spot and make the best of it, slow and steady wins the race - Hunter.

You'd pull into the pits, bench them. Or give up and use the backup the car. Trade them. Immediately address the problem. You'd wouldn't think twice about it.

George has been watching his race cars circle the track at half speed for 4 years now.

so....you are good with trading the skill players and going grit and trap?

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

so....you are good with trading the skill players and going grit and trap?

Niedermayer and Elias weren't able to succeed and produce in the trap?

 

[txpd]

Niedermayer and Elias weren't able to succeed and produce in the trap?

I would not compare Elias with Ovechkin or close. Your point though, washes over the fact that the Devils were a trap team built on trap style players. Not run and gun style players.

that's my point. this current roster and the prospects coming are not trap style players. it would require a good bit of turnover to effect that change. don't you think?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

When they were young, the core of this team - Ovie, Nick, Green - played with youthful energy and exuberant-passion-over-how-much-fun-it-was-to-be-young-and-succeeding-in-the-NHL. That effectively served as a substitute for the work ethic/commitment/relentlessness/will to win that successful NHL teams have infused through their roster.

Well, they're not young anymore and they don't play with that zeal and energy. Meanwhile, they never cultivated (and never were made to develop, because they were so "special") a work ethic/commitment/relentlessness/will to win and thus, unsurprisingly, the team that they lead has not been successful.

Drastic changes need to be made here - if the 3 core guys above aren't willing to alter their off-season preparation and in-season commitment, they need to be broken up. Those guys are now entering the wrong end of their career arcs - they might have another year or two where they're at, but they're not going to get better, and certainly not if they don't change their level of preparation and commitment.

The Caps for the last 5 or 6 years have constructed their team around Ovechkin - I don't think they can do that anymore. That doesn't necessarily mean trading him, but it does mean don't construct the team on the assumption that his success will equate to team success. This season, where Ovie lead the league in goals and the team sucked, is a complete negation of that notion, and if the brass can't see that then they are truly blind.

Even one of the bright -- if not the brightest - spots this year, Chimmer and Ward are getting up there in years. Chimera will be 35 when next season starts, and Ward will turn 34 during the year. Based on the typical rate of physical decline and the type of game they need to play to be successful, it's highly likely that we just saw their best season.

If the Caps don't face these facts -- and address them -- the decline we will witness will be rapid and ugly.

Good post. Caps fans might have to face the ugly truth...

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

That's how I'd interpret it, maybe that's what marcel meant too and I just didn't understand. I don't think teams are every constructed around a player in hockey. Maybe in basketball, or a football offense, but individual players just aren't that important in hockey. Whoever your star player is, you're going to need four top 4 defensemen and a competent second line in order to contend for a cup.

When you're paying one player, your best player, $10 mil, you're "constructing around him" by my definition. He's the center piece, the most talented, most valued and costly player. The Pens build around Crosby and Malkin trying to squeeze in appropriate pieces often at budget prices to accommodate the high priced talent.