Trades & free agency

[BlackIce]

The scuttlebutt regarding the Caps has been trying to shed salary through dumping either Mantha or Kuzy.


No scuttlebutt about acquisitions.


One place I'd like to see the Caps make a move is right defense.  IF the Caps are serious about using Rasmus Sandin as a key piece on LD, they need a sturdy, defense-first RD to pair with him.  I am assuming Fehervary is going to pair with Carlson most of the time this coming season.  I don't think Carlson is a good fit with Sandin, and neither Jensen nor TVR is a strong enough RD to satisfy me with him.


IF we could possibly sign Scott Mayfield on the free agent market, I'd be open to trading one of Jensen/TVR to make room for him, both roster-wise and cap-wise.  Mayfield is big, solid and defense-first.  Because he doesn't give a lot offensively, his cost might be not too exorbitant (though who knows during free-agent frenzy season.)  He isn't ultra-young - he turns 30 during this upcoming season - but on a 4-5 year deal he'd be essentially the same age commitment for the Caps that Jensen and TVR are now.  Then pair the remaining one of Jensen/TVR with Alexeyev, and let's go.

[Mickstix]

Caps acquire defenseman Joel Edmundson. Looks to be a Lefty though..
https://twitter.com/sammisilber/status/1675175025979080706

Max Pacioretty is D.C. bound
https://twitter.com/sammisilber/status/1675197438376697861

https://twitter.com/Tarik_ElBashir/status/1675235210667991042

[Mickstix]

Sheary signs with the Lightning. 


Irwin goes to the Canucks.

[waynerivers]

Pacioretty?  Really?  An aging, injured guy whose been moved around from team to team.  Completely useless signing, IMO.  They don't seem to get that they are in rebuild mode.  Having a bunch of geriatrics out there won't help Ovie a bit, either.

[Mickstix]

Agree. I'd of rather kept Sheary for the 2m year.


Eller signs with the Pens.


Connor Brown signs with the Oilers. 4m x1

[alta]

I understand letting Irwin walk, he is 35 I believe. He was severely underpaid last season for the roll he filled with all the injuries. I understand letting Eller walk, assuming the Caps have another center to fill the void. I would’ve liked to see what Brown could do when healthy. But letting Sheary walk and signing Pacs is just fucking stupid.


This team is going to be fucking suck this year, and next. The only way to fix that is a salary dump, but Caps management doesn’t have the balls to do that.

[Mickstix]

They're setting up for an Ovi 25 goal year and another lottery pick.. 

[Lybo]

Geez Lars Eller to rival pens 


And 1M$ cheaper. Dammit

[waynerivers]

If the Caps wanted to sign a FA forward they should have looked at Max Domi.  28 years old who had 20 goals and 56 points between Chicago and Dallas last year and 13 points in 19 playoff games.  He'd add some grit up front, too.

[waynerivers]

They're setting up for an Ovi 25 goal year and another lottery pick.. 

They really do look clueless at this point.  Getting rid of Laviolette is the only good thing they've done.

[Caps17201]

I’m just looking forward to the season. I get the games on channel 846 with Comcast, Sports Washington. I figured it’s about time I follow a team that I can watch most regularly on tv. I also can watch the Penguins games, but I am just not interested in them. For years I was a Flyers fan when I lived in the Lehigh Valley near Allentown, but when I moved to Franklin County that all went away, including my access to watching them on tv. Allentown was only about an hour and a half drive for me to Philly. I’m not as versed in all the ins and outs with the team and players and trades etc. but I enjoy a forum like this even though I don’t have that much to contribute. So, I’ll root for the Caps and this year hope that they make the playoffs. I’m sure there was disappointment in what happened this past season, after having made the playoffs for year’s previously, so we’ll see how it goes with some new faces and a new coach. Distance to the Caps’s arena for me now is about two hours.

[richkrt99]

I'm not mad they didn't sign Eller.  I mean I was one of the few who always liked him and thought he was decent 3C for this team, but with a team in rebuild...I'm fine with putting Protas at 3C and see how he fares.  Eller is 34.  We are old enough.
MaxPatch?  Makes no sense for 2m.  I mean I guess he's a steal at 2m, but He's a risk for sure.  He's a bigger guy and can score 25-30g if healthy.  If he's on IR, he's cap relief, so...that's a factor for this team.  No way we were signing Sheary for 2m for THREE years.  Good for him, landed on a decent team, but he's maybe a 15g a year guy.
Sorry to lose Brown, but I always figured he was gone.  Having a chance to play with McDavid again...I can't blame him there.  Not that we could afford a $4m guy.

[Mickstix]

I think Sheary at 2m x3 was a steal. He can skate, play any line, and even slumping (like the rest of the team) averaged .5 points a game for us.


Patch is gonna be skating on a 2x torn achilles tendon. He and Oshie will probably be buds, sitting in the press box injured, for the majority of the season. I don't really buy cap relief angle. We had tons of guys on IR last year and did jack squat with the "relief"..

[richkrt99]

Orlov signed 2 year, $15.5m with Carolina.
Hathaway signed 2 year, $4.75m with Philthy

I guess it's more of a factor of how many FA you have leaving your squad, but....some teams making lots of moves:
Florida signed 12 players (and lost 4)  Wow - guess they wanted to be the early bird in FA.
Rags signed 9 and lost 4
Hens signed 9 and lost 9
Tampa Bay signed 7 and lost 2
Toronto signed 6 and lost 10

As far as the Caps...we lost Sheary, Brown, Irwin, Smith (basically all of our NHL FA's), and Pilon as well.  We have Hags, Fucale, Nardella, Vecchione remaining FA's.  I assume Hags will retire or is on IR (not sure how that works with an expired contract), and the other three pretty much AHL guys.  I could see Fucale getting a shot at a backup spot somewhere.

Caps certainly haven't improved their roster so far in FA.  Basically we picked up Max P and lost Sheary

Caps HAVE TO sign Fever and then I think will be out of money unless they can move Mantha or Kuzy

[Ozzies09tc]

You guys will enjoy Joel Edmundson.


Our D has been atrocious since he and Pietrangelo left.


Likes to hit, plays the body, smart plays with the puck, not the most offensively gifted, good stay at home D-man, instantly improves the PK


Stanley Cup winner also

[BlackIce]

You guys will enjoy Joel Edmundson.


Our D has been atrocious since he and Pietrangelo left.


Likes to hit, plays the body, smart plays with the puck, not the most offensively gifted, good stay at home D-man, instantly improves the PK


Stanley Cup winner also

Thanks for the optimistic assessment!!  I'd rather he be a RD - has he played both sides?  Of course, it COULD be that Sandin's injury is worse than is being let on, in which case he will slot with Jensen or TVE.


The Pacioretti acquisition seems to answer some questions about the Caps's offseason supposed plan to revamp the top 6 on offense.  He's a total crapshoot - proven goal-scoring, which is a priority, and relatively cheap for the possible return IF he can remain healthy.  This suggests to me that neither Kuzy nor Mantha could be moved for anything significant, so they stick around, like it or not, which necessitates low spending on any revamps.  Thus, Pacioretti.  And Pacioretti's contract is only for one year, so he can be gone next offseason, WHEN THE SALARY CAP IS EXPECTED TO JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AWHILE. 


Like it or not, the Caps have gotten themselves in a bind with these expensive, bloated contracts for declining veterans, and we aren't going to do a thorough rebuild until those contracts are off the books.  Though by that time, Tom Wilson will be the bloated contract that we may regret (they WILL resign him) as he declines due to many years of rough play.  We can only hope he maintains his capabilities to the same extent Ovie has, though Wilson has already undergone a major injury now.

[richkrt99]

I saw posted somewhere Edmundson played both sides, but can't find it now.
It will be nice to have a real solid D man.  6'-5" is a big boy.  He's been a plus player his whole career except for last year in Montreal (-29).  But hard not to be a minus player in Montreal last year.


And I agree with BlackIce...Max is a big risk but basically a throw of the dice based on what Caps could actually afford.
I watched the interview with GMBM and that's pretty much what he said....looking for a goal scorer they could afford and also they needed to save some money for Fever's contract.  Sounds like they are shopping guys but not getting any action.  Also said they will work on Fever's contract now that draft is over.


So, yeah, unless a miracle happens later this summer, this looks to be our team next year.

[Mickstix]

Good deal! (Steal actually) We keep Fever for 3 more years!


Wilson's gonna need 6-6.5m imo, and he probably wants at least 5 year deal. Hope they can afford him, somebody will..

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1676305972556361733

[Ozzies09tc]

Thanks for the optimistic assessment!!  I'd rather he be a RD - has he played both sides?  Of course, it COULD be that Sandin's injury is worse than is being let on, in which case he will slot with Jensen or TVE.


The Pacioretti acquisition seems to answer some questions about the Caps's offseason supposed plan to revamp the top 6 on offense.  He's a total crapshoot - proven goal-scoring, which is a priority, and relatively cheap for the possible return IF he can remain healthy.  This suggests to me that neither Kuzy nor Mantha could be moved for anything significant, so they stick around, like it or not, which necessitates low spending on any revamps.  Thus, Pacioretti.  And Pacioretti's contract is only for one year, so he can be gone next offseason, WHEN THE SALARY CAP IS EXPECTED TO JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AWHILE. 


Like it or not, the Caps have gotten themselves in a bind with these expensive, bloated contracts for declining veterans, and we aren't going to do a thorough rebuild until those contracts are off the books.  Though by that time, Tom Wilson will be the bloated contract that we may regret (they WILL resign him) as he declines due to many years of rough play.  We can only hope he maintains his capabilities to the same extent Ovie has, though Wilson has already undergone a major injury now.

He played both sides out of necessity when we had alot of injuries, but he is definitely more comfortable playing the left side.


The player you want and acquired will show up on the left side  another "run of the mill why did we sign him" will play on  the right


Think like someone who is...partially ambidextrous. They CAN do things with both hands, but one side is definitely more dominant

[Beaglefan2]

Caps are now officially stuck in the middle. Signing old guys to fill spots to try and stay competitive and sell the dream of being a Cup contender.  We knew they would not do a re-tool with Ovi still playing so it is what it is.


I don't mind adding Edmundson, except it will take minutes away from Alexyev - but somebody will probably be hurt so he may play a fair amount anyway.


I hated the Pacioretti deal for a number of reasons.  He most likely will get hurt so it may be a waste of money and when he does play, he will be taking minutes away from developing younger guys.  There is a 10% chance he doesn't get injured and plays really well.  In that case, however, he may earn a $2 million bonus - which I believe will count against our cap next year?  If that is the case, it will make it harder to sign Willy and others.


I am glad they resigned Fever, but wish it had been a longer term deal - like 6 years.  Doing the 3 year deal just gets us to a point that he will have developed to a top level d-man and will command huge dollars.  We should have more money at that point, but the Caps need to lock some younger players up on long term deals so we have some cap-friendly contracts mixed in. Fever is one guy I would do that for.