GDT #69 vs Wild @ 7pm

[Beaglefan2]

Some good points Rich.  I think GMBM has done ok - some good some bad.  He hasn't had much to work with in terms of high draft picks and a depth of prospects for trade stock.  I do think the recent Sprong/Mojo deal was a significant mistake but that was probably driven by the coach.  We weren't going to play him (for some reason) but I think we could have controlled him for a couple years? 


Lavi has been disappointing. I generally share your view that coaches can't play on the ice and its the players that need to perform, but Lavi doesn't seem to consistently motivate the team and has let things coast - like the predictable power play, the poor faceoffs and the up and down goalie situation.  You can argue that he is just working with the guys he has, but I think good coaches figure out a way to make things better.


For instance, they could have changed out the special teams coach and brought in coach specifically for faceoffs.  They could have also brought in a different goalie mentor.


Regarding drafting, I don't give them credit for a brilliant draft of Ovi - that was a no-brainer.  I think the drafts over the last 5 or 6 years have been average at best.  Unfortunately, a lot of that is due to trading away picks, but I see a ton of young, fast, skilled players in the league and we don't have anybody that I am excited about.


So we are stuck for a while until some of our big contracts roll off and we can hopefully draft well in the next 2 to 3 years to start ramping up later.

[richkrt99]

I agree Lavi has been a bit of a disappointment...to me anyway.  Maybe I just had high hopes a "real" coach could make a difference.  I do think he inherited a team with not much wiggle room.  But, you have to work with what you got, so...
Realistically Cousin Brucey was probably the most successful coach with this team...except he could never get anywhere except great regular seasons and then he just sort of fizzled.  Obviously Trotz was ultimately successful with the Cup win, but the year before, hell earlier that season, we were all yelling for his head.  Hindsight and all...
I would like to have seen a little more house cleaning when TR was sent packing.  Start over with ALL new coaches. Give the HC the opportunity to select all his own staff and you have a clean slate with every coach and every player.  They all have to earn their spots.
This team now is just old and has some weak spots.  We still have a decent talented group, but they are underperformers sometimes.  Not sure how you solve that underperforming.
Goalie situation is not great, but man....letting Holtby walk was (a necessity due to salary) but a blessing in disguise.  He game was already declining before he left and it has not recovered.  IF one of these guys doesn't work out to be a real contender, we are going to be hurting next year as well.
I think we missed the boat on a couple guys and not making trades to shave salary, but when you are the one trying to dump salary, it usually costs you picks, and Caps have already emptied that cupboard too much.
I believe if they could have gotten a reasonable deal done, Kuzy would have been gone over the summer.  He has however had a pretty decent season.  He always has his ups and downs, but he's a point per game guy this year.


Anyway....I'm a lifelong Cap fan, so maybe I'm just used to mediocracy