Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
R1G5 Capitals vs Bruins @ 7:00pm
alta:
The salary cap freeze is probably a blessing in disguise for this team. The players know there aren't going to be any pay raises for a couple years, not big ones anyway. Then having Chara come in for not much above the league minimum just because he still wants to play must've made an impression on OV. The team still needs to dump salary big time though. Kuzy appears to be a cancer that should've been removed long ago. I think he helped Vranas attitude here, and Sammys. Caps clearly need to improve secondary coaching though, goalie coach, PP/PK coach as well.
Just getting rid of Kuzys cap hit won't be enough. I'd leave Carlson unprotected, and if that didn't work start looking for trade deals, primarily because of his cap hit. Having the two young goalies wasn't that big of a deal this year, and wouldn't be a consideration if the rest of the team played up to expectations.
I could see this team keeping OV until he retires, as long as OV realizes he needs to give up some cap space. He's just about achieved Michael Jordan status anyway, he makes about the same money if not more from endorsements. Plus he's still the kind of player that brings in other talent. Fan attendance will take a hit though, unless the team can keep winning without him.... and keeping OV wouldn't be nearly as bad as a political party inserting a 77 year old dementia patient into office.
:raspberry:
interesting note, Jagr is still playing at a level where he contributes. It's in the ELH(Czech league) and he owns the team, but still. So if push comes to shove I'm sure OV would do the same, in Russia obviously.
After the playoffs, we can start a discussion about the entry draft and what kind of team the Kraken have assembled. I'm guessing that will move Nashville to the east permanently.
capsfanpdx:
Ultimately they do care more about sales than trophies and letting go of Ovi would definitely hurt sales. I am ready for a rebuild, but they don't always go so well ( eh Sabes?).
alta:
--- Quote from: capsfanpdx on Monday May 24, 2021, 03:03:45 PM Eastern ---
Ultimately they do care more about sales than trophies and letting go of Ovi would definitely hurt sales. I am ready for a rebuild, but they don't always go so well ( eh Sabes?).
--- End quote ---
there is something else going on in buffalo, Hall has been on fire since he left and that's not just from the talent around him
richkrt99:
We lost to probably one of the weaker playoffs team this year in Boston, but Boston did improve their squad near end of season so were better going into playoffs than regular season. Taylor Hall did make a difference for them.
Basically Boston showed up and theirs stars were stars. Ours didn't and it showed. Backy was invisible - wonder if he is ailing and not just old and complacent. Johnny Q. Norris was also invisible which is rare. We all (well I do) like to rag on him for his D but he is usually at least a plus on the scoring side. Our goaltending was less than average overall so we deserved to lose. When your 3rd and 4th lines are consistently your best lines on the ice night after night, and you goaltending is suspect at best....you are going to lose in the playoffs.
Hopefully we make some changes in the offseason. Hopefully they do not overpay Ovie, but I'll bet they do. Normally, I wouldn't care too much because he was the franchise and almost single handedly built hockey in Washington. But it would be selfish of Ovie now to demand top salary in current market conditions because it will FURTHER handicap the team's ability to get help to actually win. Dumping Kuzy is probably best in the long run, but we sure as hell can't succeed with Backy/Eller/Dowd/Raffl/Sgarbossa as the only centers. I like Eller at 3c, but we are going to need a top line center for sure. Maybe McMichael is ready - not sure how much development play he got this year. Might come to that with our salary cap issues.
I'm not all that enthralled with Chara, so I'd let him walk. We have enough other D less than 4 decades old. I'm still pissed about sending Ziggy packing. He was ready to play NOW and at a bargain cost. Most of the player movement decisions this team has made in recent years is directly due to the cap problem. Got to stop selling off the future to finance your over burdened cap. We knew this was coming. Next year is going to be worse I think - depending on what happens with Kuzy and Ovie.
Problem is the whole team is aging and that is just going to continue to decline the level of play. Ovie, Backy, Oshie have all seen their best days come and go. Some of the youngins need to be brought in to get some real chance to play. The whole current roster is getting old. ALL the D are about the same age 30-31. We don't have a single D under the age of 30?
Spronger and Big Willie are the only forwards under 30? Geez. No wonder we look old and tire - we ARE old and tired.
Goaltending is about the only place we have any youth.
Time to bring up some young talent and let them earn their spots. Fever and Alexeyev both look to be close to ready on D. McMichael, Pinho, Gersich, Pilon.....Bring em all up and let some old meat go by the wayside. Trade Kuzy and Orlov (cause the Caps aint letting Johnny Q Norris go) and use that cap space to bring in a 1/2C and let the youngins fill in the rest.
The youngsters glaring mistakes costing playoff goals can't look any worse than a bunch of old fucks too tired to compete.
Curious to see how much moving Caps actually do in the off season. Hopefully they make some adequate changes.
Surreylily:
Ovi aint going anywhere. Fact. End of. The rest are up for grabs, imho.
I would keep Oshie. For sure. Not just because of his on ice perfomances. I like the wa hpe crshes the net...sometimes.... , but his influence in the lockerr room.I woud b gine with letting most of the rest go. Although I do like Sprong and "Halfway!. I oud be okay wiggth eeping Willy, but I think he'kkryptonite now.
Willy is fucked. No matter what he doea. No matter wwht he doesn't's. Hes fucked.
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