164 replies to this topic

[Old Man]

Laviolette's resume sounds a lot like Trotz' before we hired him.  Both guys were in Nashville for a while. Both guys have one cup.  Difference is Trotz had a lot of success in Washington.  I was pissed when they let him go.  I am more pissed they let Reirden go after a covid interrupted season in which the Caps once again finished in first place.   Re-opening the coaching carousel is the stupidest plan they could have come up with. After wasting Ovi's prime years with different systems they now force this old and slow team to adapt to yet another one.  They should blow it up and start over. 

 

On a side note, why does Leonsis fall in love with his GMs and not hold them accountable for anything?  If there were issues with Trotz or Reirden and the front office why does the GM always get a pass under Ted?  Is Ted following his proven plan of success with the Wizards?    

Its like he is taking Joe Gibbs Ownership style 101, too much to heart.

 

Hire very good people and get out of their way and allow them to do what you hired them to do.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Laviolette's resume sounds a lot like Trotz' before we hired him.  Both guys were in Nashville for a while. Both guys have one cup.  Difference is Trotz had a lot of success in Washington.  I was pissed when they let him go.  I am more pissed they let Reirden go after a covid interrupted season in which the Caps once again finished in first place.   Re-opening the coaching carousel is the stupidest plan they could have come up with. After wasting Ovi's prime years with different systems they now force this old and slow team to adapt to yet another one.  They should blow it up and start over. 

 

On a side note, why does Leonsis fall in love with his GMs and not hold them accountable for anything?  If there were issues with Trotz or Reirden and the front office why does the GM always get a pass under Ted?  Is Ted following his proven plan of success with the Wizards?    

Look, we all need a good rant here and there, so hope you feel better.

 

Reirden was so highly regarded, that upon getting fired, he got an opportunity....... as an assistant coach. He was awful, and just because we're in a pandemic, doesn't mean you shouldn't have high standards. Fully disagree on blowing it up, we aren't there yet. I think this team is every bit as talented as whoever wins the Cup this year, and the team that won it last year. They absolutely have a chance for another year or two.

 

And with that being said, what exactly do you think BMac needs to be held accountable for? What roster moves/draft picks have you disagreed with?

[SouthRider]

Look, we all need a good rant here and there, so hope you feel better.

 

Reirden was so highly regarded, that upon getting fired, he got an opportunity....... as an assistant coach. He was awful, and just because we're in a pandemic, doesn't mean you shouldn't have high standards. Fully disagree on blowing it up, we aren't there yet. I think this team is every bit as talented as whoever wins the Cup this year, and the team that won it last year. They absolutely have a chance for another year or two.

 

And with that being said, what exactly do you think BMac needs to be held accountable for? What roster moves/draft picks have you disagreed with?

 

MacLellan strikes me as one of those guys who always has to be the smartest in the room.  He had a winning formula with Trotz, but just couldn't give Barry his due.  It was a ballsy move to let him leave and go with Reirden.  It was done because Reirden was the hot coaching candidate at the time and MacLellan obviously didn't get along with Trotz.   Boy, did that backfire.  Moving on, at least Reirden ran basically the same system Barry did and the Caps responded with two dominant regular seasons.  So far, so good. But then the playoff losses. It happens.  Last year they lost a competitive series to a younger, faster team and this year was covid interrupted.   For an older team with families to worry about during a global pandemic,  I would cut them some slack for the first round dud.  Instead, Reirden gets fired so Ovi can learn yet another coach's system.  And yes, Reirden is still so highly thought of he found a new job only ten days after hitting the market.    

 

So, I am not a fan of BMac.  I would also add that he allowed the Caps farm system to deteriorate and that most of his deadline deals did not work out.  But I hope you are correct.  I would like to see the Caps make another run with Ovi.  I see team after team of younger, faster players in Toronto, Tampa, New York Islanders, etc always making the Caps look old and slow.  I don't see it as the coaches fault.  

[You Play to Win the Game]

He didn't find a new job. He found a demotion. My point is, the league seems to disagree with your view on TR given He didn't get another HC job.

As for the rift with Trotz, whoever is responsible for that deserves a ton of full on criticism. Just a horrible decision of epic proportion. I thought it was between Leonsis and Trotz though, not Mac.

[FlavaDave10]

Look, we all need a good rant here and there, so hope you feel better.

 

Reirden was so highly regarded, that upon getting fired, he got an opportunity....... as an assistant coach. He was awful, and just because we're in a pandemic, doesn't mean you shouldn't have high standards. Fully disagree on blowing it up, we aren't there yet. I think this team is every bit as talented as whoever wins the Cup this year, and the team that won it last year. They absolutely have a chance for another year or two.

 

And with that being said, what exactly do you think BMac needs to be held accountable for? What roster moves/draft picks have you disagreed with?

 

I think GMBM is, relatively speaking, a good GM. There are a lot of GMs who make horrible moves. GMBM does too, but he at least limits them. It's pretty refreshing how honest he is too. He says he's going to do something and he does it. GMBM made the necessary moves to change the culture in 2014. I believe all general managers are bad, but B-Mac is one of the "least bad", so to speak. 

 

Draft picks... Lucas Johansen is the only one that jumps out at me, tbh. Imagine if the Capitals drafted Alex Debrincat (who should have been a first round pick anyway) instead. 

 

Roster moves... Signing Richard Panik to replace Connolly wasn't a good swap. Maybe he misread the market for Connolly? Also, the Evgeny Kuznetsov signing deserves more scrutiny than it's currently getting. Everything else GMBM has done, I've at least been able to see the logic behind it. Sometimes, crap happens and you can't really help it. Example - what if Kempny doesn't get his knee screwed up on a dirty play in 2019? He was good until that injury and he hasn't been the same since. Can't blame GMBM too much for that one.

 

The Kevin Shattenkirk trade is a bit of a head scratcher too. I think GMBM tried to hit a grand slam with nobody on base, so to speak. Seemed to learn his lesson by getting Kempny for peanuts in 2018. 

 

GMBM deserves criticism for the Todd Reirden shenanigans too. I understand why the Capitals didn't give Trotz a long-term deal. There was always a disconnect between GMBM and Trotz. It's very, very, very hard to win when your GM and coach aren't on the same page. GMBM, to my knowledge, never explored any other option than Reirden and didn't even get him an experienced head coach as an assistant to help him learn on the fly. 

 

That said, I respect how GMBM acknowledged his mistake and did what it took to fix it. So many GMs are scared to death to admit they're wrong and B-Mac isn't afraid to.