What should the Caps do before the trade deadline?

[Beaglefan2]

Get ready for $9M plus on a 6 to 8 year deal for him.  He is the kind of player that some GMs will fall in love with and become convinced that he will be a great offensive defenseman for a long time. Heck - it might be over $10M.  Look at the contract that San Jose signed Erik Karlsson to back in 2019 - it was $11.5M/year for 8 years.  Turned out to be a terrible contract but it shows you what some teams will do when they are chasing the shiny new toy.


The Caps are actually pretty well positioned to do a long-term deal with Chychrun as they have a bunch of money freeing up after next year with both Carlson and Ovi's contracts finishing up. I love the guy, but I'm not sure how high I would want to go if it gets stupid.

[Mickstix]

Problem is, what is good news regarding the salary cap for the Caps is equally good news for the other 31 teams in the league.

Yea, if he makes it to UFA day, he's gone.

Get ready for $9M plus on a 6 to 8 year deal for him.

If I was GM, 9+x6 would be hard to swallow. I wouldn't want to extend past 6 years though. I'd shoot for 8 or 8.5x6 and hope he really likes it here.

[GRob83]

I think re-signing Chychrun who has spent his career on bad teams should be the top priority.  He hasn't been on a Playoff team in 5 years.  He'll only be 27 at the start of next season so even an 8 year deal would only take him to age 34.  He's tied in Points with Carlson who may be gone in the next couple years.  Chychrun has 17 Goals, the rest of the defense has combined for only 12. 


The Backstrom and Oshie contracts are off the books completely after this season.  Mangiapane, Eller, Raddysh, Vrana, Dowd and Lindgren are all UFA.  Dowd and Lindgren are the only 2 of that bunch I'd look to bring back as the rest could be replaced with cheaper in-house options like Leonard, Miroschnichenko, Lapierre and Trineyev.


If they make deadline moves, I don't expect anything big.  The chemistry of the team is the ultimate strength.  Even on a 3 game losing streak (for the 1st time all season) I think they should stand pat unless they can upgrade 3C without giving up too much.

[alta]

The Oshie and Backstrom contracts may be off the books after this season, but the cap space provided by them being on LTIR has been used up. Next season won’t matter as far as that goes.

[Beaglefan2]

Their cap relief will come after next season (25/26) when Carlson ($8M) and Ovi ($9.5M) drop off.  They can probably bet the farm on Chychrun and give him what he wants on an 8 year deal, but obviously it will restrict them in other areas. i'm becoming more convinced that the price is going to be at least $10M/year. Every goal he scores just raises the price.

[Beaglefan2]

Looks like they resigned Chucky Lindgren to a 3 year deal at $3M per year. Seems a little steep but not too bad.  Combined with Thomas, I guess we are at the same level that other teams are that have top goaltending.

[alta]

The goaltending seems good. I think they could use a boost on D. If not this season, definitely next.

[richkrt99]

I'd love to get Chicklets signed.  Not sure we can swing it.  I think a big factor is just how well does he like it here.  The Caps seem like a really good group adn the Coach seems legit. He's been on bad (well non playoff teams) basically his whole career.  This team is certainly a regular contender for at least making the playoffs.  But you could say the same of Florida or Tampa and he's a FLA native (you can tell by the redneck mullet and missing tooth like all them other redneck Floridians) 
I mean the dude is gonna get paid, but IF he likes it hear, does he take 8.5 per to stay in a good spot he likes, or go for the 10+ mil in FA and risk going to an unknown.  These are things we just don't know about him. With FA deal he certainly get to approve where he's going, but lets hope he WANTS to stay with this team.

[Beaglefan2]

Even with the cap going up, its going to be hard for top contending teams to take on a $9M+ contract.  I think the Caps can do that with Carlson and Ovi coming off after next year. Ovi will likely retire, but Carlson may want another couple of years and my fear is that the Caps will want to stay flexible to keep their guy.


Your point about Florida is good though and TB always seems to find a way to work around the cap. They have Hedman for 4 more years at $8M and Kucherov for 2 more at $9.5M - but it never seems to matter to them how tight they are against the cap.

[richkrt99]

So to answer the question which is the title of this thread...


play better

[Surreylily]

I want to put in my tuppence regarding Eller.
Yes, he had a stinker last night, but this is rare  So did all the D.   The amount of blocked shots were ridiculous..

Eller is usually steady and reliable, something we need at 3C, on the line where many of the newbies will start.  His experience is a great asset to this team.   In fact I like all our C's.   Our problems are absolutely NOT there.

If we need to focus anywhere it should be at our D corps.  The inability to get the puck out of our own zone is our greatest weakness at the moment.

[waynerivers]

I'd love to get Chicklets signed.  Not sure we can swing it.  I think a big factor is just how well does he like it here.  The Caps seem like a really good group adn the Coach seems legit. He's been on bad (well non playoff teams) basically his whole career.  This team is certainly a regular contender for at least making the playoffs.  But you could say the same of Florida or Tampa and he's a FLA native (you can tell by the redneck mullet and missing tooth like all them other redneck Floridians) 
I mean the dude is gonna get paid, but IF he likes it hear, does he take 8.5 per to stay in a good spot he likes, or go for the 10+ mil in FA and risk going to an unknown.  These are things we just don't know about him. With FA deal he certainly get to approve where he's going, but lets hope he WANTS to stay with this team.

If they let Chychrun walk then they aren't serious about contending.  The guy has been tremendous.  Speaking of the defense, I think a guy like Ristolainen would look good on our blueline.  What we have now isn't cutting it.  We know Carlson will never go, though he'd be #1 as far as I'm concerned.  However, I'd move TVR or Sandin if it meant toughening up the backline.  Sandin has had a very good season but he does get pushed around on the boards quite often.

[richkrt99]

If they let Chychrun walk then they aren't serious about contending.  The guy has been tremendous.  Speaking of the defense, I think a guy like Ristolainen would look good on our blueline.  What we have now isn't cutting it.  We know Carlson will never go, though he'd be #1 as far as I'm concerned.  However, I'd move TVR or Sandin if it meant toughening up the backline.  Sandin has had a very good season but he does get pushed around on the boards quite often.

Yes, i would like very much to toughen up our Blueline.  It seems with the scoring drought we had last season, the whole effort was to create more scoring (which they have done tremendously well), but we moved toward puck moving d men and not guys who can clear the crease.  It's pretty to watch and fun when we are clicking and the passes are crisp and our puck moving d men just glide up the ice.  HOWEVER, when the bounces don't go your way, or you get hemmed in by a good forechecking team, we simply do not have the muscle to move guys out, take the puck away from them and GTFO of the zone when needed.
We have Alexeyev wasting away and MacIlrath just riding the pine.  We desperately NEED to have gotten these guys into games to evaluate IF they are NHL worthy because Mac is exactly the type of guy you need in the playoffs and I believe last year that's where he earned his place on this team...playing well in the playoffs.  Can't expect him to do the same this year when he never plays.  Same goes for Alexeyev.  Hell i would have moved TVR and given ALexeyev the year to prove the spot and if he didn't cut it then slide Mac in there.
I'd still move TVR now - he has one more year at 3mil then FA ....and he's barely hanging on IMO.  Honestly I think he is done - he will be trash next year
Sandin is undersized, but I agree he has played well most of this season. They just extended him with a contract so he might be harder to move, but hell there are teams who likely need some puck moving O-minded D.
Caps actually have 3.8m in cap space right now.  THey could move TVR and bring in a 6m guy with TVR money and cap space.  Problem is, if he's got a contract into next year - then you've tied up money you want to sign Chicklets with.
Caps need to sign Chicklets NOW.  Sign him for 6 years at 9mil.  Do it and be done with it.  Guy is 27 - he has 6 good years left in him easy.

[Mickstix]

Sandin, if he wants to be a OD, needs to be more aggressive with his O. He almost always passes or shoots wide looking for, something.. Shoot the fucking puck toward the net bro! Half of Chicky's goals are just because he took the shot. No idea why coach let AA (and Mac) rot away on the bench all season. It's not like our D has been anything to speak of. Goalies constantly bailing them out.

[Beaglefan2]

I fear that they will trade away Alexyev.  This conditioning stint could just be to showcase him. For some reason they are committed to TVR so I doubt they trade him.  He is clearly our weakest link, although Carlson is actually our worst defensemen in our zone.


I agree we need more physicality on D. Fever is the only guy that will hit anybody.  I thought Roy was supposed to be pretty physical, but I haven't seen it. He is very solid defensively so I don't mind him, but he is not physical.


Sandin has a really good first 20 games, but I think he has declined since then. 

[Mickstix]

Welp, looks like the 2nd helping of The Snake is over.. Too bad he couldn't catch fire and stay in the lineup.


https://twitter.com/sammisilber/status/1897362254796095656

[alta]

That’s too bad, but not at all surprising. He should be able to contribute on a team with a little less offensive depth.


This also tells me Milano is ready to come back into the lineup. Whether that’s playing or riding the pine is the question.

[Surreylily]

Dylan aside, the only Dmen I would keep are Fever and Chych.

[BlackIce]

Seven hours until the trade deadline.


An eerie silence emanating from DC ......

[Mickstix]

I don't recall ever going through a trade deadline w/o making a move?