Caps actually positioned to add a $3-4m forward AND dman for next season, if they want to. of course they might not want to because they have some guys coming up for contracts the next few years, might want to keep that flexibility. don't see many good centers on the market ... the big play would be going allin on a Backes and seeing what happens. would give them a big 2-way C to go up against basically anyone, but that might take $56m/7.

seems legit

I'll try to do one of those in depth posts you guys are so good at, but I'm a cap NOOB, so it may take me some time. Johansson is RFA, so he should get a small raise, maybe around $4.5m/year? I really like him on the third line with Vrana and...somebody? The problem is we know how Trotz treats young, talented guys (See: Forsberg, Filip), so it's probably a pipe dream to expect Vrana to get third line run. I think him and Johansson could really round out a skilled/speedy third line threat, if he's (Vrana) not scratched every other ****in game. Keep Williams in the top 6, that's where he belongs.

Wilson, Latta, Orlov all RFA. Trade Wilson for absolutely anything, sign Latta for 750k if you want, and try to lock up Orlov. Trotz may have actually driven down his value, so maybe they could get him around $2.5/year? Carlson is signed through 2018 for $4m/year which is insane value. Guy was an absolute horse this postseason. They need another piece to make that bottom 6 capable of not being a dumpster fire, but for some reason this ****ing franchise always overvalues grinders. Signing Beagle to 3 years at almost $2m per, resigning Matt Hendricks, Chimera, David Steckel, Matt Bradley (even though I love him) over the years is a clear leak. Those guys are 100% replaceable with young talent (Riley Barber, Chandler Stephenson are both capable bottom 6'ers right now). DO NOT SIGN CHIMERA. FOR ANYTHING. If you can somehow get Backes then my god, do it.

The D corps should be good for a couple more seasons, but it'd be a coup if they could dump Orpik off on anyone dumb enough to want him, or send him to Vegas. Getting rid of him is a must, but I don't know how possible that is when Trotz and Bmac clearly think he's something a lot better than he is. Give me:
Carlson-Orlov (they were excellent together)
Niskanen-Alzner
Bowey-Schmidt

Mistakes will be made, but Trotz needs to grab his balls and live with them. Show some trust in the guys who carried you through the season instead of playing musical chairs. Maximize the talent you have. Get Bowey in the lineup, and mold him into the big minute, puck moving horse he's destined to be. Overall I think the Caps have a couple years to get a cup with the guys they have, and aren't in a bad cap situation at all. It's hard enough to win a cup, but it's all the more difficult when your coach makes at least 2 questionable roster decisions a game.

oh yeah, the other thing i was gonna say was about whether they know what the right things to do are or not. like sure Orpik blows, but do they know that, or do they honestly think he's a cornerstone on the blueline? if they think he sucks, then yeah maybe they can get rid of him, because i'm guessing there's at least 1 guy out there other than Benning who thinks he's good.

same with Wilson. he's relatively young, and cheap, and hits & fights. teams love having at least 1 guy like that around. i doubt he's going anywhere.

also possible with other guys you hate...

are the Caps presumed to be analytics friendly?

I think they think he's an actual cornerstone Dman. I don't know how "analytics friendly" they are, but they did hire Vic Ferrari last year as a consultant. I'll use whether they resign chimera as the canary for whether they're analytics friendly

you can tell I'm german

Sup?

meanwhile, in the AHL playoffs...




also, the Phoenix Coyotes are BACK!?!


and this Nation Network draft series is pretty neat, if you're into that kind of thing...

http://canucksarmy.com/2016/5/13/nat...40-libor-hajek

this 40th ranked Czech dman Libor Hájek ^ is one of the first that sounds good to me

the last point is a pretty good one. all the Canadian teams are in the lottery, this guy played in Saskatoon, Edmonton & Vancouver in particular could be looking defense in the 2nd round. interesting that former Canucks Rome & Sopel are comps, from the descriptions he sounds like another Tanev, which would obv be awesome.

interesting, only knew a bit about him

Can the Preds get any value out of trading Weber and his giant contract?

maybe

i mean, at least the $56m/4 part of his contract is now over, now we're into the $24m/2 leg of it.
(before the $24m/4 stetch, and the $5m/3 anchor)

i assume that he could be traded, but it's certainly a complicated thing considering that he's the captain, face of the franchise, and they just invested $56m in him. a slightly easier deal to make now than last season probably with his salary dropping, and maybe even easier in a couple years when it drops again? obv depends what the team thinks of him as well.

too bad they didn't move him instead of Jones for Johansen...

Really loved Hajek's game when I went to see him a few times this year.

having real mixed emotions about sutter getting a new contract.

not sure I can stand another year of slow plodding unskilled D men being given all the ice time while young fast skilled offensive minded guys ride the pine or languish in Ontario.

Hopefully, the delay was DL and DS getting square about the need to play younger.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I would be scared to death to sign Backes. He's absolutely one of my favorite players of the past decade, but I think someone is going to give him a contract that's too big and too long, considering next season is his age 32 season and, frankly, he looks a step slow even in these playoffs where his team is doing well.

I would think Washington would try hard to find Burakovsky a better role, he looks really good when I've seen him play.

Burakovsky's 5v5 possession and points/60 for his age are absurdly good, and he has a howitzer of a wrist shot. I think he's better than Kuznetsov, but he just hasn't gotten the minutes and favorable ice time (power play) to really see what he's capable of. Another reason why having Chimera pisses me off so much. Trotz will give PP time to ****ing chimera but not Bura.

http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/05/16/...nto-joel-ward/

sounds like they want a do-over on that Brouwer-Oshie trade lol

The team is only holding onto Wilson and giving him all that ice time because of the number 16 (his draft position). The guy obviously does not have the ability to score in the league, and trying to make him into Joel Ward should be an insult to Wardo. BMac's post season interview seemed to be decent. He said he needs to improve the bottom 6, make it more of a top 9, and it doesn't sound like he's gonna re-sign Chimera which is great news. When the guy says he's gonna do something he seems to do it, so I'd anticipate them picking up another forward. Whether or not he's astute enough to bail on Orpik, well that's anyone's guess. I can only hope.

Canucks just signed a 6'0"/185lbs 21yo former 3rd round wing "prospect" that the Coyotes thought so little of they didn't offer him an EL contract. probably because he didn't have a halfway decent season until he was an overager. i suppose they think he's the new Alex Burrows...

plan the parade!

can't wait for Benning's complete and utter shock that none of these minuscule EV swings worked out.

Can the Capitals really afford Backes?

Certainly hoping Chimera will not be back.

http://www.tsn.ca/examining-the-true...-pick-1.491169

looooooool

who says "no"????

Monny signing for 60m today

it's a tripley stupid article given that the Leafs already have like a billion picks over the next couple years, but man it'd be hilarious if a team were this dumb (almost 1000% certain the nerds in Toronto aren't), and listen to them explain to an enraged fanbase why they traded a Matthews-esque superstar for two 2nds, two 3rds, etc or something like that. casualdonks' heads would literally explode, and sportstalk radio would reach an all-time peak.

seems like this would only really work in a weak draft year at the top. after the first 15-45 picks it might be fine to use these pick charts as a guideline, depending on need (if your system is full or not).

i went into that article ready to defend yost, but man sometimes you just have to ask if your model passes the sniff test