The ‘23-‘24 boredom thread.. no square poop allowed

[alta]

maybe you should eat more fish


 

[Mickstix]

 

[Beaglefan2]

So I don't blame Carbs for the Caps play so far and will try not to get down on him the rest of the year, which will be ugly.  He has an old, slow team that has a PP structure in place that he can't change.  If he was totally honest, he would tell you that Ovi shouldn't be on the PP and that would free him up to get more creative.


I think we just get what we can for some rental players at the trade deadline - Pacioretti, Mantha, Kuzy and anybody else that will get us a second round pick and retool for next year.


I bet Carbs could do better here is we brought up 75% of the Hershey team and got some youth and desire up here.

[Mickstix]

Im starting to question the system. They knew we were old, but no way they planned on us being this bad offensively. We get very few high danger chances and those are usually from the NAK, Dowd, Maly types who can only be expected to convert about 5% of the time. You'd think Wilson, McMike, Mantha, Kuzy, Protas, etc would be thriving? Strome leads the team in goals with 16. That's fucking pathetic. We're on pace to have three 20 goal scorers. And nobody close to 40. lol Even teams without a "superstar" have like 7-8 guys who are on pace for 20 goals. We lack talent and system, Im afraid..

[richkrt99]

Well, I think it makes Carbs look bad, but I don't think I'd say its all his fault.  Sure he is ultimately responsible, but FFS...Ovi has 8 goals.  NOBODY expected that.  Everyone is in a slump offensively except for Strome and the Mantha.  The 3rd and 4th lines aren't terrible, but also not where you expect most of your scoring to come from.  It appears now the 3rd line has gone silent again.
They are desperately hurting for a top line center and a top line scorer, and we have Kuzy and Ovi in those roles (and Backstrom).  They just aren't cutting it.  We all figured Ovi would slow down, but I expected him to get at least 30 this year.  Now Im questioning if he gets 25.
Ovi will always and forever get a pass from me, because he basically made hockey in DC and made this team what it was...and brought us a cup.
Just imagine if Wilson had a true top line center and wing to skate with.  His stats would skyrocket.
Strome/Oshie/Patches are basically a secondary scoring line (I'd say a 3rd line on most teams).  They do have ability to generate some chances.  Our third line is okay, but maybe a little green, hence we get the 4th line out there a lot more than other teams because they are our defensively responsible line.

Its ugly, but then, what did we expect?  The overhaul is overdue.  The team won't commit to a rebuild.
Dump Kuzy, Backy, Oshie, Carlson, Mantha, TVR, Jensen...basically anyone over 30 making more than 3m a year and start over.  Oh, and send Kuemper with them.

I mean how much worse would it be.  The games are pretty much boring as hell now and if the other teams score 2 goals you know its pretty much over.
Put some young guys in there, let them make mistakes, let them learn, see who wants to progress and ....actually score.
Keep a couple veterans with good attitudes around and just start over.

I'm moving everyone but:
Offense:  Ovi, Willy, Strome, McMike, Protas, NAK, Malenstyn, Milano, Dowd  (Dowd/Willy/Ovi are my designated old vets).  Bring up Lapierre, Miro, and the next man up. 
D core:  Fever, Alexeyev, Bear, Sandin...and okay if you must.... keep Jenson and TVR if you like (i dont even care if you keep Sandin, but he's only 23).  Fuck it..move Jensen and TVR for couple bags of pucks and bring up Iorio & Johannsen.
Hell at at this point I'd rather see Lapierre center the top line than Kuzy.  Park Kuzy on the healthy scratch list until he demands a trade.

[Mickstix]

Now Im questioning if he gets 25.

Brocephus, Ovi isn't getting 15 this year. Maybe not 10. He's fat and slow and lazy. He stands there waiting and passes the puck more than he shoots. And teams and refs alike are hell bent on keeping the Russian from breaking the Canadians record. There's always a young spry defender within a sticks length of him.    Him scoring goals was the only thing that was gonna make the next 3 years tolerable. Hopefully it doesn't take 3 years for them to get the hint and start acquiring some young talent.

[Beaglefan2]

I'm moving everyone but:
Offense:  Ovi, Willy, Strome, McMike, Protas, NAK, Malenstyn, Milano, Dowd  (Dowd/Willy/Ovi are my designated old vets).  Bring up Lapierre, Miro, and the next man up. 
D core:  Fever, Alexeyev, Bear, Sandin...and okay if you must.... keep Jenson and TVR if you like (i dont even care if you keep Sandin, but he's only 23).  Fuck it..move Jensen and TVR for couple bags of pucks and bring up Iorio & Johannsen.
Hell at at this point I'd rather see Lapierre center the top line than Kuzy.  Park Kuzy on the healthy scratch list until he demands a trade.



Rich - couldn't agree more! We fell into the trap of waiting too long to rebuild - based on Ovi.  I'm not complaining, because I think Ovi deserved that, but it is what it is, and now I am afraid we are going to be in for 10 years of sucky teams with draft picks in the 12 to 15 range.


Ironically, our farm team is killing it - but without top prospects. Maybe Miro will develop and I do like Lapierre, but there is nobody that will be a 30+ goal scorer in the NHL.


If I am an NHL owner, I trade my first round pick away every year for future 1st round picks, plus a second round pick and accumulate several years where I have two or more first round pics and two or more second round players each year.  That is going to be the only way to build a team that can win cups in the new NHL - where the young talent is getting better and better!

[Beaglefan2]

Wow - that was fun watching McKinnon and McKar!!  I was hoping McKinnon would score 6 or 7 - which I think he could have done if he kept his foot on the gas and didn't decide to start passing and not embarrass the Caps any more than necessary.


The Avs are a fun team to watch with incredible speed and skill.  I starting thinking if there was one player on the Caps - just one, that they would trade anybody off their roster for and the only guy I could come up with was Wilson.


We are gonna have to suffer through a long rebuild period before we are even in the same zip code as some of the elite teams that now have incredible talent.   In the meantime, maybe I'll just watch the Avs games.

[richkrt99]

Hey that MacKinnon guy is pretty good.  Wonder if the Avs would consider trading him?  We could use a top line Center. 

[richkrt99]

Also.....the Caps usually wait until after the all-star break to take a shit on the season.  Glad to see we started early this year 

[justwincaps]

RMNB with an article that CBus is shopping Laine and Provorov.   

It'd be our luck that we get on a mini-heater and win just enough games to be in the playoff hunt, and then GMBM mortgages draft picks on a disgruntled, underperforming Laine.

[alta]

There’s a race in Daytona this weekend, I don’t remember it being this difficult to watch on tv…

[richkrt99]

Strome leading the Caps in goals (18) and total points (30)
Strome 18, Mantha 14, Willie 12, Ovie 8, Oshie 8, Dowd 7, McMike 7  ALL have MORE goals than Kuzy 6.

I'd say Strome and Mantha are the only two guys on the roster having a "good" season.  Although I'd say the bottom 6 guys are not having bad seasons

Can't wait for that Saturday nooner in Dallas.  I'm certain the Caps will be up and focused on the game an not thinking about the needed upcoming break at all.

[alta]

Caps at Dallas at 2pm eastern on Saturday

[richkrt99]

Oilers have won 15 in a row.  Wow.  Having that McDavid guy makes a difference.  Must be nice to watch exciting hockey.  Although they started the year badly, but the have always had goalie struggles....personally I think the main reason they don't have a cup yet.
I think I will root for Edmonton and Colorado in the playoffs this year.  I like how hard the Avs work, and McDavid is just fun to watch.

Connor Brown has played 37 games with Oilers and has 0 goals and 4 assists, and is a minus 8.  He played 4 games with Caps last year and had 0 and 0.  He hasn't scored a goal since 2022.  Ouch.  Did the Caps break him?  Damn.
Oh, and he signed a 1 year league minimum with Oils...apparently.  Salary listed as $775k

[Mickstix]

Strome leading the Caps in goals (18) and total points (30)

Our best C compared to the top C in the league: MacKinnon goals (30) total points (82) 

[Beaglefan2]

Ya - I would love to see an Avs-Oilers final, but I think they are in same conference?  Anyway, McDavid deserves to get a Cup.  That guy is a generational player and he just doesn't get enough credit. If he were on the Rangers, or Montreal, or another major market team, he would be more recognized. I mean he is recognized now, but not like he should be.  You could argue that by the time he is done, he will have been a better player that Ovi, Crosby, all of them....

[alta]

What a lame finish. They announced two laps to go and threw the checkers a 1/2 lap later.

[BlackIce]

Our best C compared to the top C in the league: MacKinnon goals (30) total points (82) 

And McKinnon was a #1 pick.  As is McDavid.  Look at the real stars in this league, and look where they were drafted.


We got Ovie at #1, Backstrom at #4, and essentially rode it for a decade and a half, getting picks in the mid 20's all that time.  It's tough to pick up game-breakers in that range.  We were the top scoring team that decade and a half ago, and have slowly deteriorated over time until we are now near the bottom.  That era is over, and we have to start over.  Just the way it is.  The problem is if we stick in the 12-15 range with draft picks.  We really need to sink to the bottom of the league, get our due in the draft, and start getting the really top talent. 

[Mickstix]

Yep, we waited too long this year to get one of those. Can't just stink for half a year.