Washington Capitals - Playoff Hockey - Next Season Guys! Congrats!

[PokerPacker]

I think we really could've used Quintin Laing. Its too bad he only made it one NHL game this season before tearing his spleen. All the best to him and hope he gets a chance to come up next year when we're looking for grit.

[Warhead36]

I like Semin but he's a bit of a knucklehead. Not only is he inconsistent but he takes dumb penalties and lets his emotions control him. I think overtime he'll really prove his worth. Unless we get something spectacular for him I'd keep him.

I like Flash as well. He was really good early on and he's young yet. He may not be a star but I think he's a keeper.

LOVE Dave Steckel. I'd consider C-ing him next year. Also we need to work on a long term extension for Backstrom. Kid is money.

Whats our cap situation? I know we have a couple bad contracts but I don't think any of them last for more than a year. Can we afford a top notch D without hurting our efforts to resign our own?

[Springfield]

The big problem is when your superstar all world player is your physical presence and hardest hitter. We need more grinders willing to hit

Yes and I agree.

[PokerPacker]

Flash is too inconsistent. Maybe he turns the corner next year? There are times he is great, other times he is invisible and he is awful at finishing

Consistency will come with time. He's shown he's got the ability, he'll learn to be more consistent.

As for Gordo, I love the kid, but you can't specialize in today's NHL with simply a faceoff/PK guy. You need a guy who can also be an offensive threat, which Gordo isn't right now

Sure you can specialize. We've got 4 lines of forwards. Top two are scoring lines, third line is the energy/forechecking line. 4th line can hold onto our specialty players who aren't on the top 3 lines. And its not like Gordon couldn't play on a top 3 line, we just have a bunch of others who can. He's being called the 10th forward.

I think perhaps we need to make Fehr compete for his spot. I think we've got a few guys down in Hershey that are itching for the chance to play in the NHL. Oskar Osala is one who I think could legitimately play with the big boys and maybe push Fehr to play to his potential. Also, when Flash isn't playing well, we need to either sit him or put him down on the 4th line to get it into his head that what he's doing isn't cutting it. We put him in the 4th line in the Pitt series and then when we brought him back up he was one of our better forwards.

[PokerPacker]

I like Semin but he's a bit of a knucklehead. Not only is he inconsistent but he takes dumb penalties and lets his emotions control him. I think overtime he'll really prove his worth. Unless we get something spectacular for him I'd keep him.

He takes some bad stick penalties, but at the same time he creates a lot of turnovers with that same stick. He could work on playing smarter with it, but its not like all of his defensive stick-work results in penalties.

LOVE Dave Steckel. I'd consider C-ing him next year. Also we need to work on a long term extension for Backstrom. Kid is money.

I really like Dave Steckel as well, though I wish he'd block shots the way he did last season. As for captain, if we decide to change captain, it should go to either Ovechkin or Brooks Laich.

Whats our cap situation? I know we have a couple bad contracts but I don't think any of them last for more than a year. Can we afford a top notch D without hurting our efforts to resign our own?

I think our cap situation is really tight. If we can find a way to rid ourselves of Theo and Nylander we'll have some breathing room.

[SkinsHokieFan]

I like Semin but he's a bit of a knucklehead. Not only is he inconsistent but he takes dumb penalties and lets his emotions control him. I think overtime he'll really prove his worth. Unless we get something spectacular for him I'd keep him.

I like Flash as well. He was really good early on and he's young yet. He may not be a star but I think he's a keeper.

LOVE Dave Steckel. I'd consider C-ing him next year. Also we need to work on a long term extension for Backstrom. Kid is money.

Whats our cap situation? I know we have a couple bad contracts but I don't think any of them last for more than a year. Can we afford a top notch D without hurting our efforts to resign our own?

We are up against the cap but a few things can happen

Feds is 4 million. No way he makes that money next year

Same with Kozlov, his 4 million comes off the books. If we do re-sign him (which I wouldn't be surprised considering the options out there) no more then 2.5 million.

Theo and Nylander are the big sticking points. A rumor I read on another board is Colorado is looking for a keeper. Perhaps trade him back there?

Nylander has a no trade clause and who wants to trade for him and is signed at 4 million for 2 more years. Maybe he does the noble thing and retires?

If somehow those 4 contracts are resolved, you extend Backstrom for 7 million per year, Semin for 6 (those 2 contracts would add about 8 million to our cap allocation)

So there is potential to clear TONS of space, but it'll take some work with Nylander and Theo

[Warhead36]

Nylander...wow what a ****ing scrub on and off the ice. If he had any conscience he'd retire...he'll he should give us some of his paid salary back. :laugh:

I think Theo has value to us though. Do we really want to rely on a 21 year old for the whole year? Yes Varly was great in the playoffs overall but nothing is guaranteed. Theo isn't a stud but he'd at least be a solid backup.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Nylander...wow what a ****ing scrub on and off the ice. If he had any conscience he'd retire...he'll he should give us some of his paid salary back. :laugh:

I think Theo has value to us though. Do we really want to rely on a 21 year old for the whole year? Yes Varly was great in the playoffs overall but nothing is guaranteed. Theo isn't a stud but he'd at least be a solid backup.

Not a fan of a backup goalie making 4 million plus

Would rather keep Brent Johnson and have him give us 30 games or so next year in net

[herrmag]

Not a fan of a backup goalie making 4 million plus

Would rather keep Brent Johnson and have him give us 30 games or so next year in net

Neuvirth comes up next year, no matter what, if for no other reason than trade bait. BJ's contract is done (I believe), so he's gone too unfortunately. Nylander will most likely be back (I believe he has a trade clause), and regardless, nobody is going to sign him. Expect to see him on the 3rd line, if at all, which is unfortunate, because I'm of the few that believes he can still produce (Coyotes would be a good team for him, but he'd never go).

That being said, kiss Brash goodbye. Unfortunately, probably kiss Poti goodbye as well.

You can't legitimately trade Neuvy for simply a top d-man. He has too much upside. So, that's the quandry. What do you do with him? He backs up the first half of the season, and then hold an auction. I don't see doing much on defense other than bringing up a couple young'ins. Selling the farm would be a redskin-esque move, and this org is too smart for it.

I expect to see Theodore on the clearance rack. What we can get, we get. Even if it means eating a portion of his contract.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Neuvirth comes up next year, no matter what, if for no other reason than trade bait. BJ's contract is done (I believe), so he's gone too unfortunately. Nylander will most likely be back (I believe he has a trade clause), and regardless, nobody is going to sign him. Expect to see him on the 3rd line, if at all, which is unfortunate, because I'm of the few that believes he can still produce (Coyotes would be a good team for him, but he'd never go).

That being said, kiss Brash goodbye. Unfortunately, probably kiss Poti goodbye as well.

You can't legitimately trade Neuvy for simply a top d-man. He has too much upside. So, that's the quandry. What do you do with him? He backs up the first half of the season, and then hold an auction. I don't see doing much on defense other than bringing up a couple young'ins. Selling the farm would be a redskin-esque move, and this org is too smart for it.

I expect to see Theodore on the clearance rack. What we can get, we get. Even if it means eating a portion of his contract.

I don't see anyway in heck that Caps go with Varly-Nuevy as the goalie combo next year with the big club. No way

And I am not talking about selling the farm for a d-man. But you need SOMEONE, preferrably a rugged vet that knows a thing or 2 about D to help lead the blue line. You simply cannot keep relying on young guys who aren't big hitters

[PokerPacker]

I think Theo has value to us though. Do we really want to rely on a 21 year old for the whole year? Yes Varly was great in the playoffs overall but nothing is guaranteed. Theo isn't a stud but he'd at least be a solid backup.

Brent Johnson is a solid backup and costs a fraction the cap space. We also have Neuvirth to call up should anything happen.

[Warhead36]

Well BJ is a FA...I guess if we could trade Theo and sign BJ for less than $4 Mil(which we would obviously)I'd be up for that.

[herrmag]

I don't see anyway in heck that Caps go with Varly-Nuevy as the goalie combo next year with the big club. No way

And I am not talking about selling the farm for a d-man. But you need SOMEONE, preferrably a rugged vet that knows a thing or 2 about D to help lead the blue line. You simply cannot keep relying on young guys who aren't big hitters

I'd still be shocked if we resigned BJ. Can't send him to Hershey. So he's gone.

You keep Theodore. Great. Neuvy spends his contract year at Hershey. That doesn't make sense either. Again, the x-factor is what to do with Neuvy. You want to get something big for him? He can't spend the season in Hershey (well, he can, but you can expect a LOT more for a young goalie with more NHL experience). And then, at the end of the season when he's a RFA, what do we do? Pay big money for him? Like I said, I don't know what they're going to do, but leaving him in Hershey would be a mistake. If only we could keep BJ and let him go down to Hershey on occasion........

[Sticksboi05]

One thing this series showed me, as much as I hate to admit it, is that Sidney Crosby is not overrated. He dominated that series with OV. He (Crosby) may not be as talented but one thing I'd like to see more from Ovechkin is more defensive responsibility and less careless play. I think once he gets those down, he will literally be unstoppable.

I think this series was good for him, he just needs to mature his game a bit.

More importantly, we need to ship out some useless vets we don't need and bolster the D.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

One thing this series showed me, as much as I hate to admit it, is that Sidney Crosby is not overrated. He dominated that series with OV. He (Crosby) may not be as talented but one thing I'd like to see more from Ovechkin is more defensive responsibility and less careless play. I think once he gets those down, he will literally be unstoppable.

I think this series was good for him, he just needs to mature his game a bit.

More importantly, we need to ship out some useless vets we don't need and bolster the D.

I think Ovie was just trying to make things happen. A lot of the crazy moves and blind passes were a roll of the dice, so to speak. I don't think Crosby dominated as much as he was the finisher of easy opportunities. Easy putbacks, great setups by Malkin. If anything, this series showed me that Malkin is incredible at quarterbacking inside the blue line, and our D needs new players.

Ovie can't do everything. Next we're going to want him to play goalie, too. You give us the Pens' defense and Crosby's cherry picking party would have been short lived.

[Old Bay]

Such a frustrating game. And thanks to the fella who gave me the link for the stream. It worked out well.

Crosby's skill set was highlighted in this series. He's good in front of the net, at stick handling and passing. That's how he gets his points. He's not as 'good' as Ovechkin, but then again they don't play the same style. I hated seeing the way he scored so many goals, because most of them were mucking goals that bounced around to him. But a goal is a goal, unfortunately, no matter how mundane it is.

Varly deserved better than to be chased like that. But Boudreau had no choice but to protect him.

[jrockster21]

One thing this series showed me, as much as I hate to admit it, is that Sidney Crosby is not overrated. He dominated that series with OV. He (Crosby) may not be as talented but one thing I'd like to see more from Ovechkin is more defensive responsibility and less careless play. I think once he gets those down, he will literally be unstoppable.

I think this series was good for him, he just needs to mature his game a bit.

More importantly, we need to ship out some useless vets we don't need and bolster the D.

Eh, I disagree. Ovi had more points, and was the first guy in forever (maybe history?) to average 2 poitns a game in a 7 game series. We wasted his 2-goal effort in game 3. The difference in this series was defense, plain and simple.

[rdsknbill]

One thing this series showed me, as much as I hate to admit it, is that Sidney Crosby is not overrated. He dominated that series with OV. He (Crosby) may not be as talented but one thing I'd like to see more from Ovechkin is more defensive responsibility and less careless play. I think once he gets those down, he will literally be unstoppable.

I think this series was good for him, he just needs to mature his game a bit.

More importantly, we need to ship out some useless vets we don't need and bolster the D.

Crosby is great at picking up garbage goals on the crease, and clean breakaways.. Ask him to check somebody, ask him to play physical defense. Overrated? Nah I don't think so. but he gets WAY to many accolades for basically "picking up the trash".

I am with you on the cleaning out the old garbage

[JetSkins]

Varlamov, good chance to win Calder next year

[pjfootballer]

Geez, at least we could have shown up. Par for the course with my teams. Capitals make the playoffs and always lose, Wizards will end up 42-40 again next season and lose in the first round, Redskins will be 9-7 or worse and lose in the 1st round or not make the playoffs and O's/Nats will end up in 5th place. WHooppeee...my teams are average to bad.

[SkinsHokieFan]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Chatting-with-Malkin-Varlamov-and-Semin-about-G?urn=nhl,163474

Interesting Semin quote

Can you say that you took a step forward comparing to the last season?

Honestly? In my opinion we played better last season. I think that despite the fact that we got a lot of points and finished second in the regular season this year, I really liked last year. This year we were like on a swing. I mean the playoffs. It was just different.

[LaxBuddy21]

We have plenty to work on this off season. We need to learn to pass. I dont know how many times I got tired of seeing what could have been a great opportunity squandered because a pass was off the mark or the guy receiving took 2 or 3 swipes of the stick to control it. Look at the Pens passing. It was fast and on the mark. Thats how they generated so many opportunities. If your passing is fast and on point, you get the defense out of position.

We also need to work on our toughness on the boards. I think the Pens won 90% of the battles on the boards. They were always in position when the puck squirted out and we were always standing around watching. The team that controls the puck controls the game. Can you imagine if we could control the offensive zone as well as the Pens do what kind of numbers our offense would be able to put up?

And of course we need to step up on defense to give our young goalie some help. He is going to be great but if we cannot get him help in front, we may actually ruin his career.

[jnhay]

Crosby is great at picking up garbage goals on the crease, and clean breakaways.. Ask him to check somebody, ask him to play physical defense. Overrated? Nah I don't think so. but he gets WAY to many accolades for basically "picking up the trash".

I am with you on the cleaning out the old garbage

You don't get that many points by just "picking up the trash."

[[[ghost]]]

You don't get that many points by just "picking up the trash."

All but one or two of his goals were in the crease.

Garbage goals.

Hard worker, and played his best when it counted, but still, garbage goals.

[Pskins]

I gave up on the Caps a while ago.

I'm sad to say I saw outcome before the series started.

My brother and I argued for hours on this topic and I hate being right.

They were garbage against the Pens in the 80's and early 90's

They are garbage against the Pens now.

This won't change any time soon.

Unless they get some guts and heart they will always be a runner up.

Negative comments, yes, but still the truth.