The ‘24-‘25 boredom thread..

[BlackIce]

OK, so according to Alta, the Caps have plenty of room to add Leonard.  I hate to say it, but if they have to keep the active roster at 23 for right now, Ethan Frank will probably be sent down.   


Now here's what I don't know/understand about contracts, and the answer could be a big clue as to their plans for him.  He signed a "standard" 3-year entry contract for what I think is the maximum amount allowed for that type of contract.  BUT, when does the contract begin?  Is the remainder of this (2024/2025) season count as the first year, which means the contract runs for only two more seasons after this one (I guess??), or does the contract begin in the 2025/2026 season?  If the contract begins next season, then the organization doesn't have his services for the remainder of this season.  But if it begins right now, as I presume is the case, why would the organization do that if they weren't planning on making use of him now? 


The Caps also signed another player today, a 7th round draft choice who certainly is not in their immediate plans.  I wonder if there is a difference between his contract and Leonard's?   




EDIT:  I just looked at the signing announcements for Leonard and the 7th round pick, Dave Gucciardi.  Gucciardi's announcement said a two year contract, starting NEXT season.  Leonard's contract was stated to be a 3-years contract, with no stipulation as to when it starts.  I assume it starts immediately, which may be the organization's way of kowtowing to him by calling it a 3-year contract, but it's over after 2 more full seasons. 

[Rey Capalpatine]

[BlackIce]

Ha!!  Great GIF, Rey!


I would note that the Caps official website added Leonard to the roster this morning.  If the guy is playing any more this season, it won't be at Hershey.

[Rey Capalpatine]

Yep, and according to this article The "Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery revealed pregame that Leonard will start his Caps career on a line with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas. The top-six assignment will see Taylor Raddysh, a bottom-six winger, come out of the lineup as a healthy scratch.


“I think giving him an opportunity to play inside our top six was objective [number] one,” Carbery said. “Objective two – give him a couple of linemates that can help him through situations. So, whether that’s a communication standpoint or Pro being a really smart, intelligent, in-the-right-spot type of player. I think those are characteristics that can help a young player that’s playing his first NHL game.”
https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2025/04/01/ryan-leonard-nhl-debut-capitals-bruins/

[BlackIce]

Well, color me astounded.   


Maybe this is being done because his friends, teammates, and family will be around to watch.  But really, throwing him into the lineup with only a morning skate to prepare, on a top line, only a couple days' removed from college hockey, with things still at stake for the team in the regular season, shows one of two things:  Either (1) they think he is some kind of exceptional hockey player, to be given this type of responsibility right out of the gate; or (2) Since he is the highest draft pick the team has had in the last couple of decades, they simply want to show him a kind of deference, at least initially, "due" someone of his draft status.

[alta]

McIlrath is also in tonight. Roy did not travel with the team “for personal reasons”. Usually that means someones wife is giving birth.

[BlackIce]

In his pregame interview with Leonard today, Mike Vogel made a comment to him about the rigors of playing back-to-backs, 3 games in 4 nights, etc.  That gives the impression that the team is going to stick him in the lineup and keep him there unless/until circumstances (injury, performance issues, whatever) intervene.  Then Mick's thoughts come to the fore.  IF the team is going to treat him as a lineup mainstay until something changes, do we really assume he won't be in the lineup during the playoffs??

[richkrt99]

Wow.  Shocked as well.  But Leonard IS an exceptional talent.  I mean he did at BC what nobody has done in the NCAA since Johhny Gudreau, so...
Caps don't really need the standings points but they need to change the momentum for sure... they've been warm doo-doo for a while and Carbs said after the last game they needed to move some guys around to get a spark.  I also thought it funny...a reporter specifically asked Carbs the other day if he watched the college games or if he had talked to Leonard and Carbs said he had...literally the night his college season ended, so that was probably telling.

Not making a direct comparison except as to age, but Ovie played at 20, Backy at age 19, and Willy at age 18, All three were 1st round pics.
SO...I went and looked at Caps 1st round pics...going back in order.  There are many - okay MOST that played by age 20, but damn I bet most had at least had 1 practice with the team first 

Caps last 15 or so 1st round pics and their NHL debut age:
Leonard   20
Miro   19
Lappy   19
McMike   20
Alexeyev   22
Lucas Johansen 24
Ilya Samsonov   20
Jakub Vrana   18
Andre Burakovsky   19 (season opener)
Filip Forsberg (OUCH...every time i hear his name....)   18
Wilson  18 (game 5 playoffs vs Rags)
Kuzy  21 (season opener)
Mojo   19 (season opener)
Anton Gustafsson (never)
John Carlson   19
Karl Alzner   20
Nic Backstrom   19
Semyon Varlomov 22


Leonard was the #8 pick overall in the 1st round; the lowest pick for Caps since Alzner #5 and Backy #4.  (had no idea Alzner was a #4 overall 1st rounder)
Ovie, was the #1 overal pick in 2004 and made his NHL debut in 2005 at age 20

[richkrt99]

McIlrath is also in tonight. Roy did not travel with the team “for personal reasons”. Usually that means someones wife is giving birth.

Let's hope it's HIS wife that's giving birth (not someone else's) 

[alta]

OV needs 4 goals in 8 games to get it done this season.

[Rey Capalpatine]

https://x.com/Capitals/status/1907215844590960947

[BlackIce]

I presume that Ovie was out there at the end of the game to try to get an ENG with the Caps still comfortably ahead in the Conference.  Otherwise, he has NO business being out there in the final stages of a 1-goal game.  He coughed up the puck along the boards trying to squeeze it out of the zone when he could have just trapped it against the wall and eaten up the last several seconds.  Quicker players can eat up that type of move if they see it coming.  His mistake caused Lindgren to have to make a big save in the last couple of seconds.


I would be extraordinarily surprised to see Ovie on the ice in the same situation during the playoffs.

[Mickstix]

Zero chance Ovi is on the ice at the end of playoff games if we're protecting a lead.

[waynerivers]

It's a shame that Ovie has to be out there trying to get empty netters.  When one considers that he missed his whole rookie season and half of 2012-13 and half of 2020-21 because of issues beyond his control, he missed a potential 153 games.  At his career scoring pace that's another 92 goals which would mean he'd be closing in on 1,000 now instead of 900.  In fact, he might even have more because he was scoring at a .68 GPG clip over those two half seasons vs his career average of .60.

[alta]

Announced April 1 by the NHL, the April 6 game vs the Islanders is a national broadcast on TNT, but, will also be broadcast on Monumental with our normal announcers. Of course this has NOT been announced by anyone in the Caps organization because their PR sucks ass.


Also of note, the April 10 game at home vs Carolina appears to be stream only..
because Buttman hates the Caps and their fans.

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-tune-in-information-for-capitals-alex-ovechkin-s-pursuit-of-gretzky

[Beaglefan2]

So I went to the game last night in Boston and sat about 10 rows behind the bench. I had forgotten how fast the game was in person.  A few takeaways:


Leonard can skate much better than I expected and has really good speed and quickness.  He didn't seem intimidated at all and looks to have high-level skills. He is going to need to be careful with his skating though and not get himself in vulnerable positions.  In terms of his size, he was not as big as I thought and hopefully he will still grow an inch or two and bulk up a bit.   Overall, I thought he was really impressive and I think it is likely he makes the team next year (after just seeing him this one game!).


Tom Wilson is just an incredible beast when he is skating at top speeds and when he is buzzing around.  He just stands out way more when you watch him in person than he does on TV.  I mean he REALLY stands out and it is clear the other team respects him and fears him.

[Mickstix]

I liked Leno's game as well. And also noticed he didn't quite look 6' 200#.. Hopefully they can bulk him up!


And why (did I read on Facebook) that Shepard is starting tonight? Something wrong with Thompson?  * may be fake news, can't find any actual story on the X and can't re-find the story on fakebook.

[alta]

I liked Leno's game as well. And also noticed he didn't quite look 6' 200#.. Hopefully they can bulk him up!


And why is Shepard starting tonight? Something wrong with Thompson? 

Post practice presser coach said “same lineup and Logan will start”. I’m guessing he meant Thompson. Logan Thompson.

[Mickstix]

Yea, I edited my post. Ya can't trust anything on fakebook anymore. Almost all the sports threads are bull  ...

[alta]

I also just checked the Hershey Bears website. They’ve got 8 games left in the season as well. All the guys you’d expect are listed on the roster. The second a guy gets called up from Hershey they take them off the roster, they have guys running the website that care about their job.


I did check the injury report first though, nothing new was posted.