The ‘23-‘24 boredom thread.. no square poop allowed

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Kuemper has 3 years left on contract at $5.2M per
Dubois is a 25yo center and has 7 years left at $8.5M per

https://novacapsfans.com/2024/06/19/report-washington-capitals-acquire-pierre-luc-dubois-from-los-angeles-for-darcy-kuemper/




At 4pm CapFriendly made the appropriate changes to the team’s salary cap. It’s a done deal. Officially, at this juncture, Lindgren is the Caps only goalie at an extremely underpaid $1.1M per.

[Mickstix]

We not gonna be fucking suck next year? 

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I’ve seen quite a few people claim the Caps have $20M to burn. Except they don’t. Right now the team cap space is $3.75M. The salary cap is supposed to go up by $4.5M after this season ends but that only gives the team $8.5M. They just spent $3.25M on Dubois and have to pay Kuzy $3.9M next season. Backy still hasn’t made an official decision with his $9.2M.

Pacioretty is a UFA making $2M, plus a couple bonuses. I’m nearly certain he won’t be back. Aubé-Kubel is a UFA as well at $1.25M. I could see keeping him or letting him walk. Malenstyn and McMichael are RFAs at just under $1M each and very likely will be resigned. Who knows what that will cost. The Caps will also now need a second goalie, which appears to be Shepard at just under $1M for one more year.

The Caps don’t have $20M to burn. They don’t even have $9M to burn assuming Backy does officially retire.

[Mickstix]

Sheesh.. I saw the contract amount/term and just assumed Dubois would be a great addition, since we're deprived of a 1c.. Reading up it appears he's a head case like Kuzy.    Hope for the best I guess. Get rid of one bad contract, take on an even worse one.

[BlackIce]

I’ve seen quite a few people claim the Caps have $20M to burn. Except they don’t. Right now the team cap space is $3.75M. The salary cap is supposed to go up by $4.5M after this season ends but that only gives the team $8.5M. They just spent $3.25M on Dubois and have to pay Kuzy $3.9M next season. Backy still hasn’t made an official decision with his $9.2M.

Pacioretty is a UFA making $2M, plus a couple bonuses. I’m nearly certain he won’t be back. Aubé-Kubel is a UFA as well at $1.25M. I could see keeping him or letting him walk. Malenstyn and McMichael are RFAs at just under $1M each and very likely will be resigned. Who knows what that will cost. The Caps will also now need a second goalie, which appears to be Shepard at just under $1M for one more year.

The Caps don’t have $20M to burn. They don’t even have $9M to burn assuming Backy does officially retire.

[BlackIce]

Regarding the salary cap:  Backstrom is essentially a neutral situation.  He is never going to play again.  Either he stays on the roster, on LTIR, and the Caps get a season-long $9.2 million exemption above the nominal salary cap to use.  Or he retires, and they don't have the $9.2 million exemption -- but they don't have his $9.2 million salary cap hit, either.  That's where a lot of the gap between what you perceive as the Caps' cap room and what the salary cap manipulators see as the team's flexibility.


Dubois is interesting.  I don't know how he is rated as a skater, but he will be a big rig at center:  6'4", 225.  Of course, what team officials are hoping for is a rejuvenation in a new environment.  But he has effects beyond what he himself can contribute.  McMichael did emerge somewhat at center this past season, but it was obvious at the end of the year that he wasn't up to being a top-line center.  but having Dubois on board bumps him down to 3rd line center, and that is an entirely different story.  It also keeps Dowd from having to move up in the lineup.  He gets to stay as the 4C, which is precisely what he is, especially as he starts staring down his mid-30's.

[alta]

The nhl has scheduled 3 days off between games 4-5, 5-6 and 6-7. Game 6 is Friday. Game 7 will be Monday.


Hershey game 4 is tonight at 10pm eastern.

[Mickstix]

Yea, they say it's because of the length of travel between cities. What's it take to fly from South Fl to Montreal? 7 hours maybe? On a private luxury jet. They're soft. lol

[Beaglefan2]

When PLD came out everybody loved him, including me. He has since been worthless after signing a huge deal. I hate this deal for the Caps.  We should have just sucked it up and paid Kemper his money for the next three years to be a backup. Now we have 7 years of a guy at 8.5 and he has proven to be a malcontent that can't be motivated.   The Caps are not a Cup contender and we historically have not been a franchise that can motivate guys. 


Realistically, our rebuild will take three years and Kemper would have then been gone, giving us more flexibility.  Now we will have 4 more years after that with PLD costing $8.5. We are REALLY going to regret this one.

[richkrt99]

Wow.  I know Debuois contract is both higher value and longer term, but the dude is what 25?  FFS getting ANYTING for Keumper, or just getting someone to take Keumper's contract without other assets is a well done deal.  This seems like the Caps get the better bargain here.  Especially considering the Caps potentially achieved exactly what they needed - dump Kuemper and get a top line C.
Why would LA want Kuemper?  I mean i guess they going for the same thing we did...a reliable stable GT, but seems like they gave up more than they got.

$8.5 mill per is no joke.  Makes him highest paid Capital NOT named Ovi.  Someone must have thought he was going to be a star to give him that contract to start with.  He's got good size and supposedly skates well.  Coach him up!  FWIW...I think Carberry is a better coach to both help and hold accountable the "younger" players - compared to any coach we have had in recent history

Have to sign Malenstyn & McMike.  NO way should we sign Patches

Lindy was great last year, but I think not really a top tier NHL GT.  I have no problem with giving him the starting job this coming year tho.  I just dont see him as helping this team be a cup-contender.  Shepherd makes a fine backup.  He well traveled and well proven - don't really ever see him getting a real shot at a #1 NHL netminder (anywhere)

[Mickstix]

The Kings were doing what we should of been doing. Offloading a terrible contract by acquiring a bad one. We did it backwards, as usual. 


Lindy and Shep are both better goalies than we deserve, imo. Lindy was playing against NHL teams, behind the S.Carolina Stingrays, most nights.

[Beaglefan2]

Rich - the problem is that we are not going to be a contender for the next 3 years, so eating Kempers contract during that time didn't hurt us.  Now, we have really hurt ourselves for the 4 years after that with a guy that has been a dog for multiple coaches. Maybe we can turn him around, but other teams said the same thing and got burned. We are going to hate this deal in about 18 months.

[richkrt99]

Rich - the problem is that we are not going to be a contender for the next 3 years, so eating Kempers contract during that time didn't hurt us.  Now, we have really hurt ourselves for the 4 years after that with a guy that has been a dog for multiple coaches. Maybe we can turn him around, but other teams said the same thing and got burned. We are going to hate this deal in about 18 months.

Yep, you right.  I actually typed my post prior to your previous post, but I agree with what you are saying.  I really lost sight of rebuilding, with the hope of someone that could actually help this team, in a position we desperately need.
I really have not followed Dubois, so I don't know him, but him being moved 3 times aint exactly promising.  A 3rd overall pick in the 1st round, and big body Center sounds great to me, but there has to be a reason LA would move him for Kuemper...although they NEED a goalie.

Maybe we get lucky and this lump of coal polishes up and ages well?   Please?  Pretty please?

[BlackIce]

Here are the facts as I think the organization saw/sees them:


(1)  To be competitive in the NHL, you need to be strong down the middle.   Backstrom's demise and Kuznetsov's implosion decimated the center corps.  The Caps had no replacements, and won't have for at least a few years.  You can only get top NHL centers at the very top of the draft, or through draft luck you can't foresee.  Where the Caps have drafted for the most part, you can't get anyone that you can even be moderately sure could be a top-6 C.  In this year's draft for example, the Caps have pick 17, and if they are lucky might be able to get Michael Hage, who has promise but is far, far from a sure thing to be a top 6 forward.


(2)  Kuemper was a waste, and a mid-30's waste at that.


(3)  Nobody is going to trade the franchise or near-franchise centers without warts.  So how were the Caps going to try to improve themselves at center ice?  The only real other option, if one wants talent, is to acquire talent with warts, UNLESS a top-flight center hits UFA.   


The nice thing about this trade is that it addresses all of (1) - (3) above with one move, and a move that gives up nothing we didn't want to give up.  I don't know the FA and trade market this summer.  Is there any really premium center (Dubois tools or better, without the warts), that the Caps could possibly acquire, and if there is, would we have had to break the bank to get that person, either with money as a UFA or players/prospects/draft choices in a trade?


Then there is the elephant in the room:  Ovie for his last two seasons to try to break the scoring record.  He needs a center to work with.  I wouldn't be surprised if Dubois comes to camp with the expectation that he will be Ovie's center.

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Yea, they say it's because of the length of travel between cities. What's it take to fly from South Fl to Montreal? 7 hours maybe? On a private luxury jet. They're soft. lol

According to the interwebs, Miami to Edmonton is 7 hours 28 minutes. But top tier professional teams don’t fly coach. There are planes available for charter that sports teams use and the entire plane is first class seating. They have room to stretch.


Miami to Montreal is a 4 hour flight.
 

[Mickstix]

Here are the facts as I think the organization saw/sees them:

I agree with most of that. But what they "should" of done is play on with what they had, w/o trying to stay relevant. Be the suck that they are and actually get a draft pick in the top 5 the next year or two.


They just keep spending money to be irrelevant, imo. Only realistic goal I can see from this trade is hopefully Ovi doesn't shit the bed and Dubois can feed him enough to break the record.
 
It's gonna end up (at best) being the most expensive, drawn out, tearing up of a franchise, NHL record ever broken.  lol

[alta]

Hershey ties it at 2 games each. There will be a game 6 at home.

[Beaglefan2]

Mick - you are right on.  We need to bottom out quickly and get high picks for the next 3 years.  If we were in a different spot as a top contending team, motivating PLD might work and would be worth the risk.  We just went through 5 years of frustration with trying to get Kuzy to play up to his talent and I would have thought that team management would have not gone down this path.


Even if it works out and PLD is really good, he helps us make the playoffs but we still won't contend for a Cup - so we draft about 20th.   This is a massive mistake.

[richkrt99]

the problem i see with this "be suck now so we can be great later" scenario is...the Caps are basically mediocre now.  They are not terrible.  I don't think (even without this trade) that they would be in the bottom 10 in the league so the reality of them getting a really top tier draft pick is minimal.

In a fantasy team scenario you could just sell of all your top talent and shit the bed and tank for a few seasons and draft really high...HOPEFULLY. But even then, who knows what the luck of the draft brings you each year.
And...what about commitment to your current players and fans?  Guys like Wilson and Ovi and Carlson and even Strome wouldn't be too happy playing on team that the franchise has just written off.  Plus these guys are really competitive - they WANT to win.

I'm not knocking the rebuild concept, its long overdue, but I think the reality of managing and implementing all of it is much more complicated and challenging than just saying lets do this and that will happen for us.

[Mickstix]

I just look at the Redskins, trying to stay relevant for 30+ years and cringe when I see the Caps making the same mistakes, doing the exact the same thing. The odds of rebuilding successfully through FA and trades is far less successful than drafting well and building from within.