capcrunch98

I'm sad to hear I'm not the only one, but hardly surprised. At the very least, with all the top prospects they're drafting, they should be really good in 3 years or so. Still pissed to think that if they would've traded Britton in 2016, the rebuild would probably be over by now with the filthy haul they would've pulled in.

Well, we've now got the worst record in the majors. For the first summer in almost 20 years, I just haven't been following the team that closely, and I cancelled my subscription to the Baltimore Sun. So I really have no idea what's going on with the team's top prospects like Rutschman, Hall, Rodriguez, and Kerstad. Anyone have a minute to provide an update? I know we pick 5th in this summers draft, and it's looking like another top-5 pick next summer. So we should be stacked with young talent in a couple years. But damn, I thought we'd be taking a step forward this season.

I'm not a fan who hits the nuclear button after every disappointing loss/setback/elimination. But the fact is the window has closed on this current team. Barring some unbelievably creative moves to give this club a total facelift, I think it's fair to say we peaked 3 years ago and we're on a downslide going forward, probably good for a couple more solid regular seasons based on talent alone, but we'll continue to be exposed as old, slow, and lacking will and appetite when the chips are down in the playoffs. Things were supposed to change after 2018. The guys knew what it took to win. They were going to stop taking games off, everyone was going to sacrifice and pull on the same rope, and we were going to be a championship caliber team for the next few seasons. Instead, we lost in the first round to an up-and-coming but extremely green Canes team in 2019, who were rotating journeyman goalies and were missing their most skilled player, unable to hold a 2-goal lead at home in Game 7. Then we followed that up by being bounced in the first round the next two years - not because of a "hot goalie", not because of officiating, not because of bad "puck luck", not even because of coaching (because we changed coaches this year and got the same result). We lost because the team who beat us each of the past 2 years was just clearly better, and everyone could see that by the end of the series. If you look at the playoff history of the Rock the Red club aside from 2018, this core has always come up short in the playoffs. Since 2008 (again excluding 2018), the only teams we've ever gotten past have been the ultra-lightweights except for once (in 2012, we upset the defending champion Bruins). For 7 weeks in 2018, everything finally came together, and it was awesome, it was unforgettable, and nobody can ever take it away from us. But looking at it in the context of everything else (especially their curl-up-and-die displays the past 2 years), 2018 was clearly an anomaly for this core, and it's almost definite they won't come close repeating it. I'd hate to have GMBM's job. He's not dumb. He knows this team has peaked. He knows that if he could trade Carlson, Kuzy, and Orlov (and Oshie if he's not taken in the expansion draft) he could assemble a stockpile of picks and prospects that would set this team up for another 10 year run. Hell, if the return was right I'd even trade Wilson, whose value is sky high as hockey's premier power forward but who may really start to tail off in the next couple years as he gets older and as the league continues to try to neuter him. But he knows Ovi (and likely ownership) would never accept a firesale and subsequent rebuild, even though the Rangers (who 3 years ago launched a rebuild and are now people's sexy pick to be Cup contenders next year) are proving it can be a quick process if done correctly and with some luck. Thanks to everyone of these guys for the Cup run in 2018. We'll never forget it. But we're not getting back there with this group. They just don't have it in them.

The team that won it all was also down 2-1 in the 1st Round of 2018. Mantha has been all over the ice for 3 games - his shots just haven't been going in. Ovi has been fine, and he's due for a breakout game. The goalies have been fine too - they helped carry this team to second place in the toughest division in hockey, and they're not the reason we're down in this series (and you do realize Lundqvist was never intended to be more than a backup, right?). No offense, but have you been watching the games, or just seeing the highlights and reading the box scores? I've been a Caps fan since the mid-80s and have seen every one of their playoff meltdowns in person at Capital Centre/MCI, Verizon, Capital One Arena, and even a few on the road. I get this sentiment. But come on dude, they just won the Cup 3 years ago. Are we really already back to saying this again? All because we're down 2-1 to a good team, in a series everyone picked to go 6 or 7 games?

Dillon (with the brain fart in Game 2) is one of our top-4 guys. So we could've picked up Victor Hedman and Roman Josi, and Dillon still would dress for us. Regarding Schultz (brain fart in Game 3), just curious which defenseman who was dealt at the deadline would you consider to be an upgrade?

My initial thoughts too, but honestly his numbers are just as good as Brian Elliott's, who looked like Patrick Roy at times last night. He's as good as you're gonna get for a #3 goalie. I've definitely seen the Caps dress worse in the past.

Wasted 2 minutes of my life watching this clip. You could fill the Grand Canyon with what these people don't know about hockey and the NHL. But the unfortunate thing is that the news media and social media is filled with nitwits like this, and the NHL is going to feel like they have to fall in line for PR purposes. Never mind the fact these people probably don't spend ten bucks per year on the NHL. BTW, nobody got "paralyzed" in the Bertuzzi incident (or as sham fans like this refer to it: "the time 10 - 15 years ago some guy paralyzed another dude").

Right. Every team in the league has guys who play over the edge and is considered by their opponents as "dirty". The Rangers have certainly had plenty over the past decade. Hey, maybe Daniel Carcillo, Tanner Glass, and Sean Avery helped Rangers management pen their letter crying to the league! Curious, were you this outraged when Anders Lee knocked out Backstrom in the playoffs last year, and the NHL didn't do anything about it? There are things I wish Wilson would cool it on, but I give him credit - he'll look you in the eye and answer to anyone who has a problem with him. The fact that very few players out there can do anything about him except whine to the refs and the media is why he draws so much more scrutiny than your run of the mill pest like Mathew Tkachuk or Nazem Kadri or Brad Marchand. Hope this makes you feel better about Wilson's antics and the Rangers getting fined.

So after all the whining and crying on the part of the entire Rangers organization, the only person who crossed the line and merited a suspension (according to the NHL) is one of their own. Losers.

Take away their '94 Cup, and that organization has been pretty pitiful for the better part of the past 80 years.

NHL just announced that Pavel Douchenevich will have a hearing today for his high stick on Mantha. That guy was making a complete ass of himself last night, definitely deserves a suspension.

NHL teams don't dump top-6 forwards (with top-3 talent) for nothing unless they really cross the line. As frustrating as Kuzy has been the past few years, he hasn't done that yet IMO. For a team in win-now mode to drop a guy with his talent level for a minimal return would be insane. GMBM should absolutely be listening to offers on him (as I'm sure he has), but if the return isn't fair he needs to be kept. And BTW, any general manager in hockey would gamble a lot more than a "late round pick" for a player like him.

This isn't nearly as bad as the Forsberg trade, and GMBMs job is not in jeopardy right now. With this trade, the team had a good idea of what it had in Vrana after several years, and decided to move on. With Forsberg, he was considered a blue chip prospect, and after almost 7 years of people discussing the trade absolutely nothing has come out regarding a possible reason (work ethic, injury, attitude, development) the Caps would've given up on him before he even got a chance to play for the big club. And the guy we're getting is a solid player who is young with some upside - his best years should be ahead of him. The guy we got in the Forsberg trade was over 30 and his best years were behind him (and even his best years were average). It was just an awful, knee-jerk trade McPhee made in a selfish attempt to save his job with a playoff berth. So out of character for him. I don't like this trade overall, but I do think we're a better team now than we were yesterday. It's just the loss of picks that may come back and bite us in the ass a few years down the road.

And to add salt to the wound, this deadline was totally a buyers market. Very few contending teams gave up much in the way of legitimate prospects or high draft picks. Yet we gave up a 1st, a 2nd, and a speedy 25-goal scorer who is still young and has upside. All just to dump a 4th liner, and to get a guy who according to every Detroit message board and media outlet I've scanned today says is "having a down year" after signing his fat contract last summer. I just haven't been this baffled by a Caps trade since the Forsberg brain fart (sorry for bringing it up!). I'm hoping there's more to Mantha's game than I know about.

Mantha is an upgrade over Vrana, but the Caps gave up way too much here. Mantha and a 2nd for Vrana would've been fair. I know Mantha brings a good physical element to the game, but he has never had more than 50 points in his career, and he currently has as many goals as Conor Sheary. He's not Cam Neely (or Tom Wilson). Throwing in a 1st was ridiculous. Even if it was to sweeten the pot to get Panik's contract off the books, that's a fleecing. Wow, not sure what GMBM is thinking here.

Sorry Hersh, but if you're going to give that jackoff credit for anything it needs to at least be put into proper context 😁

Caps were division champs in 2000 and 2001, but lost both years in the first round to - you guessed it - Pittsburgh. Olie was establishing himself as a top goalie, Bondra and Oates were still producing, they had one of the best shutdown lines in hockey (Kono-Dahlen-Halpern), and Gonchar was one of the top offensive d-men in the league (as long as he was paired with someone who could clean up his messes in his own end). They were a fun team to watch, but as was the case throughout their history, they didn't have a dynamic star to put them over the top. Enter Jagr, the NHL's biggest star and reigning scoring champ. McPhee didn't want him, but Ted was in his honeymoon phase as an owner (going on all the sports talk radio shows on a daily basis, standing on the concourse at games to shake hands and answer every fans email, fresh off trying to court Michael Jordan as part of his ownership group) and he was foaming at the mouth to make a big splash. I don't blame Leonsis for making the move - for the first time in team history, Caps fans saw they had an owner who truly wanted to win and was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Adding the NHL's scoring leader to an already solid team without giving up anyone from the roster should've worked, but it didn't as Jagr put in half-assed efforts on a nightly basis, showed zero leadership on his new team and made it obvious he didn't want to be here, and spent most of his time sulking about being dumped by his model girlfriend and dealing with legal troubles stemming from 7-figure gambling debts. Yes he led the team in scoring - a player like him can do that on skill alone - but his output was 50% less than in his final years in Pittsburgh. The Tampa series you mention - the one playoff series we went to with him - was the low point. We were outplayed and thoroughly outcoached, and Jagr in particular showed the whole league how he had zero heart. Ted went ballistic in the media after that series loss, calling out the team for their flat performance, the fans for not even being able to sell out the building during playoff games, and even Abe Pollin's management group for continually giving the shaft to the Caps on things like arena scheduling. The whole organization was just completely defeated at that point, and after a horrendous start to the following year (where Jagr looked as disinterested as ever) Caps management hit the nuclear button and traded everyone short of the beer vendors to begin the rebuild that led to the Rock the Red era.

😂 Nice, but not a chance in hell. I've heard that Ted absolutely hates that guy, and for good reason. Traded for him in his first big move after buying the team, gave him a bloated contract before he played his first game for us, got everyone's hopes up as this was the most high-profile acquisition in team history up to that point, and then the jackoff just totally mailed it in, and admitted so a couple years later after he was traded to New York. He was truly the Caps version of Albert Haynesworth.

Don't like the jersey, but I appreciate the nod to the old logo that was a big part of Caps history yet seems completely forgotten (I feel like I never see anyone wearing it at Capital One or anywhere else).

Sorry about your Thrashers. Anyone complaining of how generous the expansion draft was for Vegas needs to look at Atlanta. As was the norm for expansion clubs 20+ years ago, they had to pick off the scrap heap to build a team which everyone knew would royally suck for their first 5 years. All while trying to build a fan base in a nontraditional hockey market. Factor in some major whiffs with several of their top draft picks and the sad case of their top player getting in a car accident which killed a teammate and then forcing a trade, and it was clear that team was doomed from the start.

The Coyotes are becoming the modern day Hartford Whalers - can't do anything right on or off the ice. If they don't turn things around, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they end up relocating in 5 years.

So now that we have the entire picture of Holtby's Caps tenure, can we debate best Caps goalie ever? Most of us would say Holtby, and deservedly so. He was a major reason we won the Cup, he was generally considered a top-5 to top-10 goalie for the better part of his 8 years here, Vezina trophy winner, NHL All-Star, The Save will go down as one of the top 5 plays in Caps history. But one could argue Olie Kolzig too. He was our unquestioned starter for 10 years, he also has Vezina and All-Star accolades, and the Caps teams he played behind weren't half as talented as the guys Holtby played with. Olie never won us the Cup, and that alone probably knocks him down a peg from Holts, but honestly just leading the '98 team to the Finals is almost as impressive as winning the whole thing with the loaded Caps team of 2018. Tough call. We're lucky to have had both of them.

As others have noted, it's gonna be a very compressed schedule and no team is going to have their starting goalie play 75% or more of their games like we see in normal years. This season more than any other, it's not really a backup goalie, it's a 1B goalie. They needed a reliable veteran like the King but understandably didn't want to pay too much. I like the move. Lundquist is at the point in his career where he alone probably won't win them games, but he also won't lose them games either. And that's the most realistic expectation a team should have for their backup.

I'm sure Caps management still has nightmares about the King stealing playoff series from them, but they need to realize that was 5+ years ago.

Anyone know why Matt Niskanen retired? Early 30's, $5 mil left on his current contract, seemed to have a solid season last year with Philly, plays for contender. Hope everything is okay with him. Maybe winning the Cup two years ago gave him a sense of closure to his career?