lovetoaster Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 The winner of LA/CHI = your Cup winner. The West is playing a completely different level of hockey. With the Rangers coming out of the East, I certainly hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 So the Caps are not planning on using the amnesty at all let alone on Brooks Laich. ...the Washington Capitals are not expected to invoke their second compliance buyout. As first reported by CSN Washington and later confirmed by a team spokesman, rookie general manager Brian MacLellan has maintained there have been “no discussions” involving a potential buyout with Brooks Laich, who is locked under contract through 2016-17 with an annual cap hit of $4.5 million. At his introductory news conference, MacLellan expressed confidence in the winger, provided Laich is healthy.“I think we need Brooks Laich,” MacLellan said. “When Brooks Laich is in our lineup the team plays better – a healthy Brooks Laich. A non-healthy Brooks Laich hurts our chances.” So glad the Caps promoted from within to get a fresh set of eyes on the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 We couldn't amnesty Laich if we wanted to; he failed his physical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticksboi05 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 We can amnesty someone else. This team is a mess, are they seriously not going to use that CBA gift? What a joke, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Who needs to be amnestied? Before we decide they're idiots for not using the final compliance buyout, we need to get an idea of what we want to do with our roster next year. Defense is our most obvious need, so who's available in FA that would fit our need there, and do we have the cap space to sign him? Can we move Troy Brouwer for a defender? It's much too soon to be criticizing the new guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 If Popeman was the GM/coach, accepting that Laich will be on the team: Trade Brouwer and a 1st for Spezza (dreaming). Sign Grabovski. Sign Orpik. 21-19-8 92-Spezza-43 90-84-16 42-83-25 Center depth no longer an issue. ANY C can play between Ward and Chimmers. 4 lines that can score. Would prefer more beef, but cap is limiting. 74-27 52-44 (Orpick) 88-81 Carlson and Alzner will thrive under Trotz. Orpik gives Green a heavy-ish defender next to him allowing him to carry the play up the ice. Schmidt is a solid defender with a heavy shot that complements Orlovs style. I think Orlov will also thrive under Trotz. 70 Ride Holtby, with a cheap vet brought in to spell him every 15th game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 If Popeman was the GM/coach, accepting that Laich will be on the team: Trade Brouwer and a 1st for Spezza (dreaming). Sign Grabovski. Sign Orpik. 21-19-8 92-Spezza-43 90-84-16 42-83-25 Center depth no longer an issue. ANY C can play between Ward and Chimmers. 4 lines that can score. Would prefer more beef, but cap is limiting. 74-27 52-44 (Orpick) 88-81 Carlson and Alzner will thrive under Trotz. Orpik gives Green a heavy-ish defender next to him allowing him to carry the play up the ice. Schmidt is a solid defender with a heavy shot that complements Orlovs style. I think Orlov will also thrive under Trotz. 70 Ride Holtby, with a cheap vet brought in to spell him every 15th game. Definitely an interesting take. A couple of notes, though, I'm not sure I'd choose Schmidt to pair with Orlov. Both being young offensive-minded defenders, I think I'd prefer a defensive-minded complement. I wouldn't be against playing Hillen, Erskine, or Oleksy as a third pairing defenseman with one of those guys as a stay-at-home guy to give the puck-movers some more freedom to join the rush or pinch in the offensive zone. Maybe in time they can become two-way, responsible defenders, but until then, I'd rather not have them paired together. As for goaltending, I'd like to see Grubauer come up and then we ride the hot hand (unlike Oates' strategy of benching Neuvirth no matter how bad Holtby played or how good Neuvi played). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Definitely an interesting take. A couple of notes, though, I'm not sure I'd choose Schmidt to pair with Orlov. Both being young offensive-minded defenders, I think I'd prefer a defensive-minded complement. I wouldn't be against playing Hillen, Erskine, or Oleksy as a third pairing defenseman with one of those guys as a stay-at-home guy to give the puck-movers some more freedom to join the rush or pinch in the offensive zone. Maybe in time they can become two-way, responsible defenders, but until then, I'd rather not have them paired together. As for goaltending, I'd like to see Grubauer come up and then we ride the hot hand (unlike Oates' strategy of benching Neuvirth no matter how bad Holtby played or how good Neuvi played). I can dig Oleksey with Orlov. Hillen? Not just no, but **** no. And Erskine is old, fragile, and slow at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I can dig Oleksey with Orlov. Hillen? Not just no, but **** no. And Erskine is old, fragile, and slow at this point.Yeah, Erskine might not be able to hold up, probably keep him as an injury fill-in or something. I think you're a little too hard on Hillen, though. Poor guy hasn't had the chance to play for us without sitting out 80% of the season first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Even if Laich didn't fail that physical, he wasn't going anywhere The FO loves his personality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Yeah, Erskine might not be able to hold up, probably keep him as an injury fill-in or something. I think you're a little too hard on Hillen, though. Poor guy hasn't had the chance to play for us without sitting out 80% of the season first. He was targeted in the playoffs and coughed the puck up on the regular. People complain about Green giving it up to avoid contact, but Hillen was a moving turnover waiting to get injured. Can't rely on him. Advanced stats showed Green being our best defender by far last season. Ice was tilted when he was on the ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 We couldn't amnesty Laich if we wanted to; he failed his physical. Supposedly he is 100% healthy now. Or so Brooks Laich said. Who needs to be amnestied? Before we decide they're idiots for not using the final compliance buyout, we need to get an idea of what we want to do with our roster next year. Defense is our most obvious need, so who's available in FA that would fit our need there, and do we have the cap space to sign him? Can we move Troy Brouwer for a defender? It's much too soon to be criticizing the new guy. Brooks Laich needs to be amnestied. What position is there for him to play next season as the roster currently stands? 4th line somewhere? If they do something I think is good, I'll be on here saying as much. Getting rid of an oft injured player with a terrible contract shouldn't be a difficult decision. Hoping a player is going to stay healthy when he hasn't been able to is a very risky way to spend $4.5 million in cap space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 He was targeted in the playoffs and coughed the puck up on the regular. People complain about Green giving it up to avoid contact, but Hillen was a moving turnover waiting to get injured. Can't rely on him. Advanced stats showed Green being our best defender by far last season. Ice was tilted when he was on the ice. Green is very helpful in the possession game. One of the best defenses is keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Reminds me of a time I was playing beer league hockey, and our goalie showed up late and didn't join us until the second period. Most teams, when placed in that situation, get a skater to play back and try to protect the net. We decided it would be much more effective if we instead used him as an extra forward and kept the other team pinned in their own zone. By the time our goalie joined us for the second period, it was only a one goal game (we may have actually had the one goal lead, but I can't remember anymore). That's one of the things that was great about Boudreau Hockey. He won the possession game. The biggest problem he had were the odd-man rushes when the other team did get out. Oates, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about possession, all he worried about was what zone the puck is in. If it's in our defensive zone, dump it to neutral ice where the other team will pick it up and bring it right back in; certainly not a good use of our endless numbers of puck-moving defensemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Even if Laich didn't fail that physical, he wasn't going anywhere The FO loves his personality. He changes strangers and the women love him and buy his jerseys. Of course Steady Teddy want's him. He sells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Jeff Schulz will now have his name immortalized on the Stanley Cup. Let that sink in..., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Jeff Schulz will now have his name immortalized on the Stanley Cup. Let that sink in..., Who cares. A lot of average guys are immortalized on it. That said, Jeff isn't going to get his name on the cup. He wasn't on the team long enough. He is a Stanley Cup winner for life though. Maybe had we not bought him out we would have won the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Exactly. I really don't get why so many Caps fans are tripping over this. It's not like we let him go and he turned into a key cog on that team. He's still the same ****ty player he was here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Who cares. A lot of average guys are immortalized on it. That said, Jeff isn't going to get his name on the cup. He wasn't on the team long enough. He is a Stanley Cup winner for life though. Maybe had we not bought him out we would have won the cup. He's not guaranteed his name on the cup, as he did not play in the finals, but it would be pretty ****ty of the organization to deny him a spot on the cup when he came in and played top-4 minutes for them in the playoffs when they needed him. edit: perhaps I misunderstood how it works. My understanding was that the team could elect to put his name on the cup, but it looks like it's more of a process where they have to petition the league to put him on and see if they accept it? Well, either way, he still gets to hold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskin4ever Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 You know, we hear hockey players talk about they play for the cup. That is what matters. Stats don't matter. It's all about the cup. Well, congrats to Schultz because he achieved the ultimate goal for a player in hockey. It doesn't matter what is stats were, the picture of him holding the cup is what he has worked for his whole career. No one can take that away from him. Good for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 He's not guaranteed his name on the cup, as he did not play in the finals, but it would be pretty ****ty of the organization to deny him a spot on the cup when he came in and played top-4 minutes for them in the playoffs when they needed him. edit: perhaps I misunderstood how it works. My understanding was that the team could elect to put his name on the cup, but it looks like it's more of a process where they have to petition the league to put him on and see if they accept it? Well, either way, he still gets to hold it. Yes, it's a process. He won't have his name on the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capcrunch98 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Caps to host the Blackhawks in the Winter Classic. Pretty surprised, as I thought the NHL would go for the traditional rivalry game, with Rangers being the frontrunner after their SCF appearance, or maybe Pens or Flyers. Can't argue with the Hawks, who are an awesome team and Original Six club. But I didn't see that coming. Aside from the Caps always losing at Chicago Stadium, and McFail punching out the Hawks coach after a dirty preseason game 15 years ago, there is practically no history between these teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Ovi murdering that one defenseman during that Sunday afternoon game? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 While I will definitely be goint to the Winter Classic, this is easily the least excited I've been about the Caps in a long time. I'm still disappointed that "needing a fresh set of eyes" became promote from within. I'm bracing myself for the roster to be nearly identical to the one we had last year with zero major FA signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 While I will definitely be goint to the Winter Classic, this is easily the least excited I've been about the Caps in a long time. I'm still disappointed that "needing a fresh set of eyes" became promote from within. I'm bracing myself for the roster to be nearly identical to the one we had last year with zero major FA signings. Give the GM a chance. He is on record that he wants to upgrade the defense both through the draft and FA/trades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capcrunch98 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Give the GM a chance. He is on record that he wants to upgrade the defense both through the draft and FA/trades. I agree. This team has a solid core and a few moves could really push them over the top. This was our worst season in 7 years, and we only missed the playoffs by 2 points. Don't get me wrong, they are not a contender right now and work definitely needs to be done. But a couple bold signings / trades could make a huge difference. If they have roughly the same lineup on Opening Night, it will be obvious that ownership is content with mediocrity and guys like OV and Backstrom will play out their time here with little chance of winning a championship. But it's a long way until training camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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