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Off Season
richkrt99:
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
[size=78%] [/size]
Beaglefan2:
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.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: Beaglefan2 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.
--- End quote ---
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.
richkrt99:
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.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: richkrt99 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.
--- End quote ---
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.
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