Author Topic: Off Season  (Read 51316 times)

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Offline zerofox

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #100 on: Monday July 08, 2019, 07:44:44 PM Eastern »
Guys I agree

It isn't just Kempny I'm worried about from an injury recovery standpoint, but Oshie too. Concussions are a dangerous thing, and Oshie might very well never be the same or even decide to call it quits if he gets another concussion.

In the meantime, I'm looking for...

1) Kuzy to have a bounceback season. He's not a bad player at all. He's good and a guy who a lot of teams would love to have. But last season his play took a dive. He didn't have the magic he once had, he sucked at faceoffs, and all too often he tried to dance through 5 defenders like a complete retard, often resulting in us losing possession. Who knew? We all know how important strength down the middle is. He's getting paid big bucks as our 1C. He's got to step up because Backy is getting older and slower.

2) Carlson and Orlov to play at a level we expect out of them and their contracts. Like Kuzy, neither of these guys are bad, but the fucked up plays and mental breakdowns they make are infuriating when you look at what we expect out of them and what we pay them. Carlson needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that yes, making $8 million a year means he better take an hour after each practice to perfect those one-timer passes to Ovi so they hit the wheelhouse 100% of the time.

3) Panik to fill Connolly's shoes. Conno was solid and scored way more than I would have expected for a guy in his role. His loss will definitely hurt, and it's up to Panik to replace a good deal of that scoring. Bad news is that he's a few years removed from his last 20+ goal season. Good news is he played his last few seasons with the garbage Coyotes.

4) Hagelin to continue providing the skills we acquired him for. Hagelin's supposed to be fast and good on the PK, plus he should be able to chip in offensively. But the guy is on the wrong side of 30 and we just signed him to a 4 year contract. We need at least 2-3 good years out of him to not feel like we made a mistake. If he starts the season being a slow defensive liability, I'm going to be concerned.

5) Gudas to be a physical defensive defenseman while not taking too many dumb penalties. That's all we can really expect out of him I guess.

6) Holtby to step the fuck up. Guy has been slipping ever since Mitch Korn left. True goalie whisperer that guy is.

7) Us to get some clarity on the Vanacek/Samsonov situation. Holtby will probably not play well enough to justify the $10 million a year he'll probably ask for. We need a backup in place, and I don't think Copley will be our #1

Offline PUCKNRUSH

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #101 on: Tuesday July 09, 2019, 04:00:04 AM Eastern »
Guys I agree

It isn't just Kempny I'm worried about from an injury recovery standpoint, but Oshie too. Concussions are a dangerous thing, and Oshie might very well never be the same or even decide to call it quits if he gets another concussion.

In the meantime, I'm looking for...

1) Kuzy to have a bounceback season. He's not a bad player at all. He's good and a guy who a lot of teams would love to have. But last season his play took a dive. He didn't have the magic he once had, he sucked at faceoffs, and all too often he tried to dance through 5 defenders like a complete retard, often resulting in us losing possession. Who knew? We all know how important strength down the middle is. He's getting paid big bucks as our 1C. He's got to step up because Backy is getting older and slower.

2) Carlson and Orlov to play at a level we expect out of them and their contracts. Like Kuzy, neither of these guys are bad, but the fucked up plays and mental breakdowns they make are infuriating when you look at what we expect out of them and what we pay them. Carlson needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that yes, making $8 million a year means he better take an hour after each practice to perfect those one-timer passes to Ovi so they hit the wheelhouse 100% of the time.

3) Panik to fill Connolly's shoes. Conno was solid and scored way more than I would have expected for a guy in his role. His loss will definitely hurt, and it's up to Panik to replace a good deal of that scoring. Bad news is that he's a few years removed from his last 20+ goal season. Good news is he played his last few seasons with the garbage Coyotes.

4) Hagelin to continue providing the skills we acquired him for. Hagelin's supposed to be fast and good on the PK, plus he should be able to chip in offensively. But the guy is on the wrong side of 30 and we just signed him to a 4 year contract. We need at least 2-3 good years out of him to not feel like we made a mistake. If he starts the season being a slow defensive liability, I'm going to be concerned.

5) Gudas to be a physical defensive defenseman while not taking too many dumb penalties. That's all we can really expect out of him I guess.

6) Holtby to step the fuck up. Guy has been slipping ever since Mitch Korn left. True goalie whisperer that guy is.

7) Us to get some clarity on the Vanacek/Samsonov situation. Holtby will probably not play well enough to justify the $10 million a year he'll probably ask for. We need a backup in place, and I don't think Copley will be our #1


Hey Zero!
Lots of good points to consider in your post.
I certainly agree with the majority of your observations, but have a different take on a few of the points.


There is no doubt that we need Kuzy to bounce back from last seasons performance. I’m not optimistic that he will, at all. His OWN WORDS have helped us to understand more of what had been a bit of mystique, surrounding the WHYS of his declining performance.
He ACTUALLY said, (confessed accidentally, IMHO), that he “loses his motivation”, to play sometimes, during the regular season grind. It gets a little “boring”, for him!
He added that he had “hoped”, during some of these boredom spells, that “some of the boys” would help pick up the slack, to cover the voids left, created by his resulting lesser performances.


Now, I’ve partly paraphrased here, except for the quoted words, but the media articles,(very few of them), that commented on his post season, and exit interview comments, will easily verify the substance of what he said and meant!
Mind you, Kuzy made NO apology, not even the appearance of feeling any trace of disappointment in himself, when uttering his comments to the press! Made no indications that he thought this was a bad characteristic to have. On the contrary, he spoke quite matter-of-factly about it, as if he regards it as something that just comes with the territory, nothing to see here, let’s move on, type of attitude.


To me, this really says SO MUCH more about his real attitude towards playing here, about his character, and how he couldn’t give a flying fuck what we, the fans, or anybody else thinks about it!


Bottom line, (again IMHO, only), is that he is the Russian version of a pampered, and extremely spoiled, and entitled, millennial youngster, who happens to be blessed with the rare, and unique, talents of a potential NHL superstar!
Who just may end up joining the ranks of those shameful, “coulda beens”, had they been able to pull their heads out of their gifted asses, long enough to realize that their existence, in the NHL, alone, doesn’t make excellence, rather, disipline, hard work, and professionalism, go hand in hand, and can produce REAL excellence in the NHL!
Mr Kuznetsov should simply just ask his Russian mentor, Ovechkin. You practice right alongside of him!


Forgive me Zero,  I got a little carried away!


Rush
Always hopeful, yet discontent -
He knows CHANGES aren’t permanent -
              BUT CHANGE IS!!!

RUSH - from “Tom Sawyer”

Offline alta

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #102 on: Tuesday July 09, 2019, 10:04:00 PM Eastern »
in regards to Venecek, he will be in the system at least three more years...


https://novacapsfans.com/2019/07/01/capitals-re-sign-vitek-vanecek-to-three-year-deal/


goalies were always the better part of the farm system, and losing Korn was a big concern
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Offline DC_1908

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #103 on: Wednesday July 10, 2019, 11:38:36 AM Eastern »

Online richkrt99

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #104 on: Monday July 15, 2019, 06:25:28 PM Eastern »
It appears Burka signed only a one year deal with the Avs for $3.25m.  That's pretty much what he made on the Caps last year.  A one year deal for a guy his age aint saying a whole lot about his new team's confidence in him.
Hope Sakic and his crew can wake the Burka up...such a waste.

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Online richkrt99

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #105 on: Wednesday July 17, 2019, 09:57:44 AM Eastern »
Okay Cap Fans....


Our roster is nearly 100% set for the 2019/20 season.  I'm pretty happy with the acquisitions, contracts, etc. based on what we needed to do with cap space.
Other than being a big giant question mark on D and highly vulnerable to a shortage due to an unforeseen injury, I'm more pleased than I thought I would be at this point.  I like that we added some blue collar toughness, which I think were short on.  We probably lost a bit of scoring touch losing Conno, but he really did not bring that much otherwise and I would be terrified paying him the salary he earned for himself.  I never thought of Conno as a 25 goal guy, but good on him.  I think the net increase from Willie and Vrana this year will more than offset the difference in Conno vs Panik.  Plus Hagelin will hopefully contribute a bit more in goals.


Honestly, I like the balance of our roster (at least on the O-side) more now than last year's roster.  (well on paper, anyway)
The D situation worries me a bit.  Nisky took some abuse last year, but he was probably our most stable D man.  Hard to lose a guy who had that much experience and really was a cornerstone on our d-core.  I'm afraid though father time and the hard miles he's had really resulted in a decline in his play that will continue to get worse.  Dollars pretty much forced him being moved, but really that had to be done.  I wish Orpik was healthy enough for 1 more year, as a part time fill in guy - his experience and leadership will be missed.  Kempny sure as hell better come back 100% - we are going to need him to be great.


Only guys left unsigned at this point are Djoos and Stephenson.  Caps have $935,706 in cap space. (from Sportrac)  I don't know that they can get Djoos for that?.  He was on 2-way contract last year for $650k.  Would he sign short term deal for $950K?  He's an RFA, so I would think somebody would pay him more than that, but I really don't know.  I never really cared for him due to his size.  He has performed better than I expected, but his size truly is a problem.  Maybe they can pair him with Gudas so he doesn't get killed.  Also, I am not sure what the rules are on overspending the cap.  I guess maybe if they sign Djoos then Ziggy is sent down and his $$$ doesn't count against the cap?  Maybe they can stay under cap that way?  Don't you usually carry 7d though?


I figure Stephenson HAS to be gone - Caps simply don't have any money.  Although, I certainly don't know all the rules on how to manipulate the cap.


By the way, Sportrac https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/washington-capitals/cap/ is a great site for checking team rosters/contracts.


Is it hockey season yet?


Go Caps






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Offline Beaglefan2

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #106 on: Wednesday July 17, 2019, 11:30:50 AM Eastern »

I hate to lose Stephenson, but I think you are right that he is gone.  I actually would think they could get Djoos signed for the $950 for a year or two - although I really don't care.  Djoos got exposed in the playoffs and he is just another smurf-sized defenseman.  I think they like Seigenthaler better anyway and maybe there is another guy in the system they can plug in.


Generally, I like the other moves they have made and their draft although we will have to wait and see if they pan out.

Offline BlackIce

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #107 on: Wednesday July 17, 2019, 03:46:56 PM Eastern »
I hate to lose Stephenson, but I think you are right that he is gone.  I actually would think they could get Djoos signed for the $950 for a year or two - although I really don't care.  Djoos got exposed in the playoffs and he is just another smurf-sized defenseman.  I think they like Seigenthaler better anyway and maybe there is another guy in the system they can plug in.


Generally, I like the other moves they have made and their draft although we will have to wait and see if they pan out.
 


Stephenson has to be gone.  Djoos must be resigned or some other defenseman brought in to be the 7th under contract, and one way or the other, that will eat up almost all of the remaining cap space.  There literally is no room for Stephenson unless something else happens on the roster.  My understanding is that the Caps intend to go with a 22-man roster this coming season:  13F/7D/2G.


Now one possibility is if Kempney isn't ready at the start of the season and the Caps put him on LTIR, freeing up $2.5 million (AAV) in cap overage exemption.  Then the Caps could conceivably sign Stephenson and Djoos AND bring in a Hershey callup to fill in for Kempney until he is ready to return.  But then BOTH Stephenson and the callup would have to be jettisoned when Kempney is ready to return to get the team back under the salary cap.

Online richkrt99

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #108 on: Wednesday July 17, 2019, 04:55:41 PM Eastern »
Thanks BlackIce....I wasn't sure what the options were with tweaking the cap.


I looked at the cap at some other teams and the Capitals have about the worst cap space issue going.  Hard to tell right now cause most teams don't have their rosters anywhere near completed.
At least we have most nearly 100% of our roster signed, so I'll give them that.


I'm shocked at some of the teams' Cap space:


Ottowa has 22/23 players signed with $20 mil + left in cap space
Colorado has 21/23 players signed and $19.6mil left


Shitsburg is about where we are cap wise; 22/23 signed with $842k left.
Coyotes have 22/23 and $179k left
Vegas has 21/23 and over cap by $850k


I realize teams are still making moves and this will change, but some of these were surprising.


Problem is being right up on the cap doesn't leave any room come trade deadline without moving a piece we already have.



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Offline BlackIce

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #109 on: Wednesday July 17, 2019, 05:33:55 PM Eastern »
Thanks BlackIce....I wasn't sure what the options were with tweaking the cap.


I looked at the cap at some other teams and the Capitals have about the worst cap space issue going.  Hard to tell right now cause most teams don't have their rosters anywhere near completed.
At least we have most nearly 100% of our roster signed, so I'll give them that.


I'm shocked at some of the teams' Cap space:


Ottowa has 22/23 players signed with $20 mil + left in cap space
Colorado has 21/23 players signed and $19.6mil left


Shitsburg is about where we are cap wise; 22/23 signed with $842k left.
Coyotes have 22/23 and $179k left
Vegas has 21/23 and over cap by $850k


I realize teams are still making moves and this will change, but some of these were surprising.


Problem is being right up on the cap doesn't leave any room come trade deadline without moving a piece we already have.




There is another point that needs to be made about the salary cap.  The Caps COULD resign both Djoos and Stephenson, and then they would be over the salary cap.  BUT that is OK now -- a team can be up to 10% over the salary cap up until rosters have to be finalized (usually a day or two before the regular season starts.)  At that point the team would have to get down to the salary cap.  So how would the Caps do that?  They'd have two options:  (1) trade somebody away; say, Stephenson, for probably a low-round draft choice; or (2) put someone through waivers, with the intention of sending him down to Hershey if he isn't claimed.  Now Stephenson might well be claimed by someone, and then we'd just lose him from the organization.  But there is one tricky thing for the receiving team.  I THINK if they claim Stephenson they can't just jettison him; they have to keep him on their NHL roster.  If the Caps don't waive Stephenson until a few days before the regular season, most other teams will have their rosters essentially set.  Claiming Stephenson would be a last-minute change to their roster that might cause a lot of teams some logistics problems.  So maybe if you want to try to sneak someone through waivers, just before the start of the regular season is as good a time as any to try to do it.


You are of course right that, however things play out between now and October, the Caps figure to have little or no room to simply add someone at the trade deadline unless something significant happens personnel-wise between now and then.  Of course, hockey being a rough sport, something like a serious injury could happen and give the team an over-cap exemption to replace them.  But that wouldn't necessarily help the team -- they'd be looking to replace someone who might be a key team member, not add to the team at the deadline.

Offline DC_1908

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #110 on: Thursday July 18, 2019, 08:45:57 AM Eastern »
Thanks BlackIce....I wasn't sure what the options were with tweaking the cap.


I looked at the cap at some other teams and the Capitals have about the worst cap space issue going.  Hard to tell right now cause most teams don't have their rosters anywhere near completed.
At least we have most nearly 100% of our roster signed, so I'll give them that.


I'm shocked at some of the teams' Cap space:


Ottowa has 22/23 players signed with $20 mil + left in cap space
Colorado has 21/23 players signed and $19.6mil left


Shitsburg is about where we are cap wise; 22/23 signed with $842k left.
Coyotes have 22/23 and $179k left
Vegas has 21/23 and over cap by $850k


I realize teams are still making moves and this will change, but some of these were surprising.


Problem is being right up on the cap doesn't leave any room come trade deadline without moving a piece we already have.
That’s what overpaying for two-many years does.


The biggest issues is the health and readiness of Kempy and Oshie.  With those twos heading and readiness being unknown, (at least to the public),it’s hard to tell if an extra forward or extra D is needed at the start of the year.


If both are ready, it males more sense to move or drop Djoos as we have another D more than ready in Lewington (that will help are PK FAR more), and leave us with an extra forward that can play all three forward positions. . . But, then again this is GMBetaMale and Reidon who just love the weak, soft  puckmoving Dmen of “Today’s NHL”

Offline DC_1908

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #111 on: Thursday July 18, 2019, 08:47:16 AM Eastern »
Thanks BlackIce....I wasn't sure what the options were with tweaking the cap.




I looked at the cap at some other teams and the Capitals have about the worst cap space issue going.  Hard to tell right now cause most teams don't have their rosters anywhere near completed.
At least we have most nearly 100% of our roster signed, so I'll give them that.




I'm shocked at some of the teams' Cap space:




Ottowa has 22/23 players signed with $20 mil + left in cap space
Colorado has 21/23 players signed and $19.6mil left




Shitsburg is about where we are cap wise; 22/23 signed with $842k left.
Coyotes have 22/23 and $179k left
Vegas has 21/23 and over cap by $850k




I realize teams are still making moves and this will change, but some of these were surprising.




Problem is being right up on the cap doesn't leave any room come trade deadline without moving a piece we already have.
That’s what overpaying to many overrated players for to years does to ya.

The biggest issues is the health and readiness of Kempy and Oshie.  With those twos heading and readiness being unknown, (at least to the public),it’s hard to tell if an extra forward or extra D is needed at the start of the year.


If both are ready, it males more sense to move or drop Djoos as we have another D more than ready in Lewington (that will help are PK FAR more), and leave us with an extra forward that can play all three forward positions. . . But, then again this is GMBetaMale and Reidon who just love the weak, soft  puckmoving Dmen of “Today’s NHL”

Online Mickstix

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #112 on: Thursday July 18, 2019, 10:29:01 AM Eastern »
That’s what overpaying to many overrated players for to years does to ya.

The biggest issues is the health and readiness of Kempy and Oshie.  With those twos heading and readiness being unknown, (at least to the public),it’s hard to tell if an extra forward or extra D is needed at the start of the year.


If both are ready, it males more sense to move or drop Djoos as we have another D more than ready in Lewington (that will help are PK FAR more), and leave us with an extra forward that can play all three forward positions. . . But, then again this is GMBetaMale and Reidon who just love the weak, soft  puckmoving Dmen of “Today’s NHL”
^^^^ Cause it needed to be said a third time!  :snicker: 


I wouldn't expect much on the "sheet" from Hagelin.. Think "Beagle 2.0". Hopefully his work ethic will pay off. Wilson and Vrana will need to stay consistent to offset any scoring we lost from Conno, imo.. Kuzy getting off his ass and having a decent season won't hurt. Just gonna have to cross fingers as far as Oshie and Kempney are concerned.


Saw today that there's 77 days until Caps hockey! Im bout ready for some!  :hearts:

Offline DC_1908

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #113 on: Thursday July 18, 2019, 08:03:33 PM Eastern »
^^^^ Cause it needed to be said a third time!  :snicker: 


I wouldn't expect much on the "sheet" from Hagelin.. Think "Beagle 2.0". Hopefully his work ethic will pay off. Wilson and Vrana will need to stay consistent to offset any scoring we lost from Conno, imo.. Kuzy getting off his ass and having a decent season won't hurt. Just gonna have to cross fingers as far as Oshie and Kempney are concerned.


Saw today that there's 77 days until Caps hockey! Im bout ready for some!  :hearts:
Heh, well they asked the 50mil question I’ve been holding off on:
https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/capitals/20-burning-capitals-questions-what-adjustments-will-coach-todd-reirden-make-his-second

Offline alta

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #114 on: Friday July 19, 2019, 08:39:39 AM Eastern »
I don't mind Oshies contract, he has and still earns it. The one that still annoys the crap outa me is on D 8)
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Offline DC_1908

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #115 on: Friday July 19, 2019, 12:36:54 PM Eastern »
I don't mind Oshies contract, he has and still earns it. The one that still annoys the crap outa me is on D 8)
Damn Right!!!


There’s also Kuzy, who just can’t have another year as bad as last again.

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #116 on: Friday July 19, 2019, 02:46:11 PM Eastern »
I don't mind Oshies contract, he has and still earns it. The one that still annoys the crap outa me is on D 8)


Quit saying he is a defenseman!  :P
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Offline OnlyCaps2

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #117 on: Friday July 19, 2019, 05:24:52 PM Eastern »
So what will be our projected line up?

Offline alta

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #118 on: Friday July 19, 2019, 11:41:49 PM Eastern »
Knowledge is knowing that the Tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is knowing that you shouldn't include it in a Fruit Salad; Philosophy is wondering if a Bloody Mary counts as smoothie

"Oh bother" said Poo, as he chambered another round

Offline alta

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Re: Off Season
« Reply #119 on: Wednesday July 24, 2019, 07:44:54 PM Eastern »
Knowledge is knowing that the Tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is knowing that you shouldn't include it in a Fruit Salad; Philosophy is wondering if a Bloody Mary counts as smoothie

"Oh bother" said Poo, as he chambered another round