Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
The ‘24-‘25 boredom thread..
Mickstix:
Knew a girl in high school who took a (horse) kick to the head. She recovered, eventually.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: richkrt99 on Monday November 11, 2024, 11:54:00 AM Eastern ---Caps schedule next 8 games - Oof. It's probably the toughest matchups of any 8-game stretch this year - all good teams.
Toronto, Avs, Vegas, Utah, Avs, NJ, Florida, Tampa Bay. 2 back to backs in there as well.
Guess we see what this team is truly made of in November
--- End quote ---
This is a VERY good point. We are now 1/6 of the way into the season, and we have a first glimpse of what we have, but we need more information.
We now have the full defense corps in place, so we can get a read on them. MAYBE we've got enough, but we'll see as the season plays out.
I think for better or worse we are going to ride the two goalies we have through the season, so there won't be any changes there.
Re: the forwards: With Protas looking like a fabulous complement on Ovie's opposite side and McMichael's breakout, lines 1, 2, and 4 look set. The ONLY uncertainty looks to be line 3. Mangiapane should be a perfectly fine fixture there, but Lapierre has been the one clear offensive disappointment so far, Sgarbossa is a career AHL'er, and I don't know whether I believe in Milano/Vrana at LW. The nice thing is, with some money to spend at the trade deadline this year, one thing that can reasonably be expected to be available at manageable cost would be upgrades to line 3, if it comes to that.
Of course, injuries are something that can derail a team at any time, and could necessitate additional moves, but that's something that can't be anticipated.
It's way too early to draw any definitive conclusions about this team, but the early indications are quite promising.
richkrt99:
I agree with BlackICE - the 3rd line need work. Sgarbossa looked great vs the Blues and that line generated some good scoring chances...but I agree Sgarbossa is a career AHL guy, and only reason he is here is Lappy isnt cutting it. With Lappy, that line has been a total defensive liability to go along with zero scoring threat. Sgarbossa at least settles that line and makes it more defensively responsible, but there has to be better options.
I think we would have seen McMike at 3c already except that he's been tremendous at 2LW.
Sucks for Lappy - he looked better than McMike at times last year, but Lappy has regressed and McMike has just been impressive.
Anyway, time will tell.
Go Caps
Mickstix:
Lappi is same size and weight as McMike. 1 year younger.. I think he'll get there! Like was said, last year he seemed ahead of McMike at times.
BlackIce:
I think part of the reason McMichael didn't look good at times last year was that he was forced by injuries into being a top-line CENTER - which he wasn't ready for. He was competing against higher level opponents, with the Center's primary responsibility of driving the play. Now he is on the wing, where his primary responsibility is scoring the puck. It sure is looking in the early going as if his talents in that area are more suitable to high-line placement than his talents as a center.
Can we send Lapierre back to Hershey without exposing him to waivers? If so, maybe he should go back to get consistent playing time for awhile and hopefully get his mojo back. Or, who knows? Maybe his skill set is more suited to the wing, as well? I don't know here.
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