The ‘25-‘26 boredom thread..

[richkrt99]

Honestly I am glad to see ovie sign for 1 year.  I agree 8.5 is low for him, but not sure what he discussed with the team so maybe he doesnt care.  I agree the Caps appeared to try and address several items they were missing so overall a pretty good off season.  Team could be exciting to watch. definitely improved our scoring possibilities with TUch and Kyrou, and i like the effort of the moves on D, addressing some issues there as well. 
looks like a better roster than what we had last year.  Thompson will be key for sure.
I love that they let TVR walk, and did NOT sign JC back to the squad.
We need PLD and big pro to be difference makers again.  would love to see Lil Pro just continue to improve and have success at the NHL level as well. 
Go Caps

[Mickstix]

I mean on paper, I don't think anyone did more this offseason to improve, than us? And I already thought if we'd of gotten in, we could play with anyone that made it last year. If LT stays on point, it should be a fun season!

[BlackIce]

Honestly I am glad to see ovie sign for 1 year.  I agree 8.5 is low for him, but not sure what he discussed with the team so maybe he doesnt care.  I agree the Caps appeared to try and address several items they were missing so overall a pretty good off season.  Team could be exciting to watch. definitely improved our scoring possibilities with TUch and Kyrou, and i like the effort of the moves on D, addressing some issues there as well. 
looks like a better roster than what we had last year.  Thompson will be key for sure.
I love that they let TVR walk, and did NOT sign JC back to the squad.
We need PLD and big pro to be difference makers again.  would love to see Lil Pro just continue to improve and have success at the NHL level as well. 
Go Caps

   


Rich, with regard to IPro, I suspect the Caps secretly think they have a huge cornerstone player on their hands.  Think about his circumstances:  He was brought up from Hershey with 4 games left in the regular season, in a situation where the Caps needed to win out to have a chance at the playoffs - and was immediately inserted as the center between his brother and Wilson -- arguably the 2C position.  No moving PLD up and making IPro a lower line center.


IF you believe Strome, PLD, IPro, and Sourdif are the centers, the wings are Tuch, Kyrou, APro, Wilson, Ovie, Leonard, and Jenner as the top 7 of 8.  Alternatively, if you slot Jenner at center, Sourdif is moved to the wing.  That leaves Beauvillier, Frank, Miroshnichenko, and Cristall battling for the #8 wing in the top 20, plus one or two extras.  Last season the Caps went with 13 forwards and 8 d-men, but they could go 14/7 this season, especially until Sandin returns. 

[richkrt99]

Yes I’m curious what they do with the lines. I hope Leonard does not get put on the fourth line, would be a waste. I could see Ovie on a third line, reduced playing time and situations.  Adding Tuchs big body is nice - We have some big boys on our team. Love we have 1 big D-man as well. Not that chicky is small. We should be a tough team to play against. Wilson Dubois Pro, Tuch, Ovi, Pro….all big bodies and reach that’s hard to battle against.
I am little bit excited about this team for a change. I am always looking forward to new season, but if it all works, we could make some real noise

[Beaglefan2]

So I don’t think the Caps need to have the number one line, etc… I think they can put out four strong lines that are pretty equal and spread out the ice time. It would be good if they struck a deal with Ovi to take some games off this year to keep him fresher - maybe the second game iof back to backs and a few more. That would also let them play another forward that deserved to be in the znhL and develop them some more.

[Mickstix]

We have some big boys on our team. Love we have 1 big D-man as well.

https://twitter.com/dhockey13/status/2073111531647328529

[BlackIce]

Well, the other shoe has now dropped regarding the new and upcoming increases in the salary cap, with the Flyers' attempted poaching of Leo Carlsson.  Not only is this a tough decision for Anaheim in isolation, it sets a new, $18 million AAV floor for top talent, which will cascade throughout the league over the next few years as a comp when other top-shelf players reach free agent status. 

[richkrt99]

Beags I agree about the lines and Ovi.  I wonder how they utilize him considering for maybe the first time, we have so much more depth, there is a reason NOT for him to play so many minutes  - not needed him to lead in goals, etc.  I think Carbs did pretty well limiting, isolating his time, defensive starts etc.  I hope/expect they will continue to limit him this year further.  Hope they can walk that line without hurting his manhood.  Glad he is back, but don't see the need to give him too much ice time.
Curious cuz IF they put him with Strome and Tuch, that will give him more minutes that he needs.  GUess we see how it plays out.

[Beaglefan2]

Beags I agree about the lines and Ovi.  I wonder how they utilize him considering for maybe the first time, we have so much more depth, there is a reason NOT for him to play so many minutes  - not needed him to lead in goals, etc.  I think Carbs did pretty well limiting, isolating his time, defensive starts etc.  I hope/expect they will continue to limit him this year further.  Hope they can walk that line without hurting his manhood.  Glad he is back, but don't see the need to give him too much ice time.
Curious cuz IF they put him with Strome and Tuch, that will give him more minutes that he needs.  GUess we see how it plays out.

The other thing about this is yes it is a huge $18.5M contract but I guarantee you that players agents are comping it as more than that - because it will cost the Flyers 4 first round picks!!  They will argue that the value of each fist round pick is another $4 to $5M - so the contract is really about a $23M per year deal!  Philly really changed the market dramatically. Can't imagine other GMs are happy.

[alta]

Caps bring in another Dman..

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2026/07/05/jacob-macdonald-contract-washington-capitals-hershey-bears-one-year/

[alta]

Longer season this year, with a shorter preseason. The entire schedule is going to announced in a week, but it will take two more months before the Caps post it on their website..

https://media.nhl.com/public/news/19973


NEW YORK (July 7, 2026) – The National Hockey League (NHL) today detailed plans for announcing the 2026-27 season schedule.

On Wednesday, July 15, the League will unveil opening night matchups, which will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the U.S. and on Sportsnet in Canada. The announcement will be made during the day, prior to the 2026 ESPY Awards (8 p.m. ET, ABC), that will feature several NHL nominees, including the 2026 Olympic Gold Medal-winning USA’s Men’s Ice Hockey team for Best Team. Wednesday’s announcement will also detail the League’s 2026-27 signature events.

The following day, on Thursday, July 16, the complete 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced at 1 p.m. ET. Coming off the 2025-26 season that saw record-breaking viewership and attendance, the 2026-27 regular-season schedule will feature 1,344 games – 84 games per team – which includes two additional divisional games per team.

(7/7/2026)

[richkrt99]

well adding 2 more games...means 2 more back to backs after travel for the Caps, cuz the NHL always hoes them on the schedule whenever they can.  Guess the league has to recoup some $$$ after raising the cap.

[BlackIce]

I've been expecting the schedule expansion to 84 games for awhile - it only makes sense.


The 82 game schedule had each team in a division playing each of the 8 teams in the other Division in their Conference 3 times each - 2 home and 1 away against 4 teams; 1 home and 2 away against the other 4.  That accounts for 24 games.  Teams then played 2 games - 1 home, 1 away - against each of the 16 teams in the other Conference, accounting for 32 games. 


So now 56 games are accounted for, leaving 26 against the other 7 teams in the Division.  That's 4 games against each Division rival - EXCEPT that you're two games short in an 82 game schedule, so the NHL had to select two Divisional opponents each year that a team would only play 3 times.


Increasing the schedule to 84 games creates perfect balance, because the two added games are Division games, allowing a team to play each of its Division rivals 4 times per year.


Adding the two games to the schedule doesn't have to add to schedule compression if the two games are removed from the exhibition schedule.  It just means that the season starts marginally earlier and is slightly more stressful, since preseason games are just exhibition and a chance for young players/players on the bubble to impress.  If there is any player on the Caps that this may hurt, it's Cristall, because he'll have less chance to impress and claim a spot on the opening roster.  The team also might be hurt a little, because Carbery is going to have to experiment with line combos with the new players on the roster.

[Mickstix]

I'm down for the season starting early! Sign me up.


Been hearing Cristall could use another year in Hershey? Don't see a roster spot for him this year anyway, unless it's to wear suits and watch. Or they still have moves to make.


Ovi (or Anastasia) said 1, maybe 2 more years.. What if he's a handful shy of 1000 after that? 

[richkrt99]

Yes with this lineup, I'd expect Cristall is left out.  I too am excited for the season start.  I like the moves they have made to improve the team.  Hope they all work out well, and we have a real contender.  Just never know how it plays out.


I don't see Ovi staying for 3 years.  He has the record, does it matter if its 980 or 1005 really?  I think this is his last year unless the team does really well, yet falls just short in the playoffs, then maybe he'd stay 1 more (if he had a good season).  Another legit shot at a CUP is about the only reason i could see him staying.

[Mickstix]

I dunno.. 1 more year was all we heard until lately, then it became "maybe 2". lol If he's like 7 goals shy of 1k after 2 years, I could definitely see him coming back for a 3rd.. I could also see him scoring 10 goals next year and calling it quits. Who knows. But, now that the "maybe 2" is out there, will he continue to rebuff any handshake lines at the end of games (arena's) where he could possibly not be back? I guess we'll have to see what kind of shape he shows up in and if he's lost any more steps as the season goes on. My wish is he takes the offseason more serious than ever and shows up lean and mean, though I doubt that's gonna happen. Ovi gonna Ovi.

[alta]

The Redskins are going to retire Riggins jersey this fall.

[richkrt99]

The Redskins are going to retire Riggins jersey this fall.

Nice.  one of my employees is a sports memorabilia nut (as of recently) and is going to a sports memorabilia show this weekend.  he is using a spare office next door to mine right now and he has about 300 signed jerseys.  He has a signed Riggo jersey, signed Riggo card, and a signed Riggo mini-helmet.  Might have to tell him to hold that stuff for a while.  He also has a weird combo jersey that has all three Skins SuperBowl MVP's signatures; Rypien, Doug Williams, and Riggins
He has a signed Bo Jackson Jersey thats pretty nice. 
He has a framed Ovi Jersey and signed puck.....Told him he can leave that here as long as he wants....i will even hang it on the wall and display it for him :-).

[alta]

He has a framed Ovi Jersey and signed puck.....Told him he can leave that here as long as he wants....i will even hang it on the wall and display it for him :-).

That’s awfully generous of you.


 

[richkrt99]

He gave me a signed Adam Oates Jersey, and a signed Olaf Kolzig pic holding the Cup...