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Capitals offseason report


yave1964

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2016-17 A QUICK LOOK BACK:612910270.0.jpg

  The Caps the year before won the Presidents trophy as the leagues best regular season team and did so handily before bowing out to Crosby and the Pens in the second round, they entered 2017 hoping to finally get Ovechkin past the second round. Instead they again were the leagues best team in the regular season before bowing out in the second round to.....yeah, those damn Penguins.

  The big trade deadline player whom everyone wanted was Shattenkirk who joined the team and while he didnt fizzle surely didnt sizzle either. Holtby was solid but not as good as the year before, Ovie slipped to 33 goals and 69 points, still respectable but not as good as in years past. Backstrom was among the league leaders in scoring as usual, Kuznetsov slipped a bit but was still solid. Marcus Johansson overcame a slow start to finish strong, Oshie led the team in goals scored and vet Justin Williams had 24 goals and 48 points.

  A lot went wrong for a President trophy winning team however. Orpik looks done, Niskanen was ordinary, Carlson had a (for him) sub par season so the defense was down which resulted in a slippage in the numbers by Holtby. Burakovsky showed flashes but was a non factor for long stretches as well. Tom Wilson saw his offense go missing and Lars Eller was the most recent failure in the Caps attempt for years to add a 3C. At seasons end young coveted defenseman Nate Schmidt was taken by the Knights in the expansion draft.

 

FREE AGENTS:

JUSTIN WILLIAMS left for Carolina

SHATTENKIRK  followed the money to New York

OSHIE was resigned for too much and too long

ALZNER left for Montreal

KUZNETSOV who was down to one year to go on his deal signed a massive long term contract.

WINNICK is still unsigned and probably wont be back.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS:

 

1) They lost half their defense, who repalces them?

 

Shattenkirk took his puck moving skills to the Rags, Schmidt and Alzner moved on leaving craters in the defense. Now what?

 Carlson looked bad last year but hopes to be healthy, Niskanen will be expected to play a more vital role, Orpik looks done or close to it, Orlov was brilliant and was paid accordingly at seasons end locking him up. That leaves two massive holes, three if Orpik continues to slip. They have one decent prospect in Christian Djoos who is rail thin and soft and gets pushed off the puck but is fast, and another in Madison Bowey who plays a tough game and can move the puck so they arent barren back there, both should stick. Beyond them is the awful Taylor Chorney. They really need to figure out a way to add a defender before the start of the year.

 

2) IS THE OVECHKIN WINDOW CLOSED? SHOULD THEY TRADE HIM?

It may not be closed but it is close. Losing Shattenkirk, Williams and Alzner is not the final nail but Ovie is aging and it is showing.

As for if they should trade him, who wants to trade for a 32 year old winger whose numbers are trending down who makes ten million a year for the next four years? The question is not should they trade him but can they which is likely a resounding no. 

  The team probably has one more run in them at best. There last best chance may have just passed them by with Sid once again stealing Ovie's cup.

 

3) JOHANSSON, WILLIAMS, SHATTY, ALZNER ALL GONE, DID THEY ADD ANYONE?

They still can role two very solid lines and the hope is that Wilson and Beagle will take the next step up and become solid third liners, Connelly too. As for additions, they added Devante Smith-Pelley who hits hard and every now and then can score, Anthony Peluso who is rugged but has no skill and Tyler Graovac who the Wild ran off because of his inconsistent play with a low hockey IQ so no, nothing much coming in. But Burakovsky, Stephenson, Wilson and Beagle are the hope of the franchise, middle six wise. It is following the Penguins model if you look at it, they rotate kids in with regularity and see who sticks and then nurture them. The Caps hope the same thing will happen for them.

 

The window is close to being closed the Caps hope that players who have shown flashes in the past will mature all at once. It is about like trying to draw to an inside straight. It can happen but likely will not.

 

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This just in........

The Washington Capitals, in just the month of July of 2017, have ALREADY been given the President's trophy as the NHL feels they will be the best regular season team once again...

 

Of course, this also means, that here in July, the Caps are eliminated in the 1st round par the course.

So get a head start on your golf equipment boys.... :VeryCool:

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1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

Yeah i know it's not the right thread to lazy to make one for the Caps...

 

 

Hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

I like Lars Eller, I really do, nice complimentary player and I know the Caps have been desperate for five years to fill the holes created when Brooks Laich and Boyd Gordon quit producing as the 3C and 4C they even threw the dice (and crapped out) on the ghost of Mike Richards a few years ago, but wow, too much for too long is the only way to describe this. Eller types can be had on the bargain rack every day of the week on one year deals for half that.......

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