684 replies to this topic

[DuffMan]

Hopefully they also look into trading Schultz and buying out Poti freeing more space.

I doubt you'll see Poti taking a buy out. They will more than likely place him on LTIR again freeing up that cap space.

[JeremyStrain]

BTW Oates will be named coach in 30 min...


I don't know who could have called that this past week?

[ChaosLex]

BTW Oates will be named coach in 30 min...


I don't know who could have called that this past week?

Awesome news! Thanks!!!

How much can we afford under the cap? I'm guessing we won't be able to trade for any big name players and/or sign any premiere FA's after the Ribeiro trade...

[JeremyStrain]

Awesome news! Thanks!!!

How much can we afford under the cap? I'm guessing we won't be able to trade for any big name players and/or sign any premiere FA's after the Ribeiro trade...

We've got about $15m but half of that should go to Green/Carlson, so maybe $7-8m left. Don't think it's enough to make a big splash, but maybe pull off a little secondary scoring still.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Around the interwebs, it looks like many are skeptical due to his lack of HC experience. That just doesn't bother me. He's been credited on doing some great things with Kovo and the power play in New Jersey, and everything I've read seems to indicate that he has what it takes to command the locker room. I'm excited for this hire. Although all the Kono talk had me hoping for him at first (I blame you for that one AS).

[JeremyStrain]

Around the interwebs, it looks like many are skeptical due to his lack of HC experience. That just doesn't bother me. He's been credited on doing some great things with Kovo and the power play in New Jersey, and everything I've read seems to indicate that he has what it takes to command the locker room. I'm excited for this hire. Although all the Kono talk had me hoping for him at first (I blame you for that one AS).

Yeah I know. Kono had one interview, Oates was the only one with 2, decision was made last week, but wanted to get through the draft first.

Oates is much more of an offensive coach than Hunter, and the players will respect him, they grew up watching him put up 100 points per year. Side note, look for Backstrom to hit 100 points again this year, his system will really favor him.

[DJ MC]

I am totally on-board with Adam Oates as the head coach of the Capitals. Of course, that's only because for a long time his name would have been the only one I could name on the team, along with Paul Carey and later Ollie the Goalie

[DBean]

Around the interwebs, it looks like many are skeptical due to his lack of HC experience. That just doesn't bother me. He's been credited on doing some great things with Kovo and the power play in New Jersey, and everything I've read seems to indicate that he has what it takes to command the locker room. I'm excited for this hire. Although all the Kono talk had me hoping for him at first (I blame you for that one AS).

I like the move. Liked him in his days with the Bruins and liked when the Caps acquired him. I wonder how much HC experience is really necessary though. I understand it is important, but he's also been in the league for a while, so I would think that the players will respect him more because they know where he is coming from.

[JeremyStrain]

I like the move. Liked him in his days with the Bruins and liked when the Caps acquired him. I wonder how much HC experience is really necessary though. I understand it is important, but he's also been in the league for a while, so I would think that the players will respect him more because they know where he is coming from.

HC experience is overrated. Every HOF coach was a first year HC with no experience at some point.

He's one of the smartest hockey minds in the game PERIOD. The players will relate and respect that they saw his game and knows what he did on the ice. He was a take charge leader when he was here, I think he'll be great honestly.

Also, don't be surprised to see them make a creative play for Parise (he loved Oates) don't think it happens myself, and I think Dustin Penner might be more likely, and wouldn't mind seeing a trade for Cammaleri

[DuffMan]

Yeah I know. Kono had one interview, Oates was the only one with 2, decision was made last week, but wanted to get through the draft first.

Oates is much more of an offensive coach than Hunter, and the players will respect him, they grew up watching him put up 100 points per year. Side note, look for Backstrom to hit 100 points again this year, his system will really favor him.

Yeah I'm definitely expecting big things from Backstrom this Fall. Do you think Oates will put MJ90 back at center or is he going to be more of a winger going forward? With Riberio in the mix now obviously he's going to be the #2 center. So the question is do you have Marcus center the # 3 line or put him on the wing? I guess part of the equation is do they want to use Laich more as a winger or Center as well.

[ChaosLex]

HC experience is overrated. Every HOF coach was a first year HC with no experience at some point.

He's one of the smartest hockey minds in the game PERIOD. The players will relate and respect that they saw his game and knows what he did on the ice. He was a take charge leader when he was here, I think he'll be great honestly.

Also, don't be surprised to see them make a creative play for Parise (he loved Oates) don't think it happens myself, and I think Dustin Penner might be more likely, and wouldn't mind seeing a trade for Cammaleri

I've always liked Cammaleri. It's probably just because of the name.

[JeremyStrain]

Yeah I'm definitely expecting big things from Backstrom this Fall. Do you think Oates will put MJ90 back at center or is he going to be more of a winger going forward? With Riberio in the mix now obviously he's going to be the #2 center. So the question is do you have Marcus center the # 3 line or put him on the wing? I guess part of the equation is do they want to use Laich more as a winger or Center as well.

Depends on what else they bring in. MJ90 looked comfortable at wing, but he's no scorer, he's a playmaker. The problem is you don't need a playmaker at wing, you need a scorer. There are a couple pieces missing so it's hard to fill in a lineup. I'd say right now Laich is either 2nd line LW or 3rd line C, MJ90 is either top line RW, 2nd line LW, or a 3rd scoring C. It depends on if Oates plays 3 scoring and one checking line. Hunter played 2 scoring, 1 grinding and 1 checking line (dif between grinding and checking is that grinding can score too, Chimera-Laich-Brouwer is a good illustration) Hendricks-Beagle-Ward should be checking. That leaves something like Ovi-Backstrom-MJ90, and Ribiero needs wingers, or you put Brouwer up top and MJ on the 2nd line with Ribeiro and move Hendricks with Chimera/Laich.

Check back at the end of next week and I'll be able to tell you. Right now I'd say they need

[ChaosLex]

Any validity to the Caps pursuing Cammalleri? Or is that just an idea you threw out there?

[JeremyStrain]

Any validity to the Caps pursuing Cammalleri? Or is that just an idea you threw out there?

Nah that is just me. I think he is exactly the kind of winger we need and shouldn't cost a fortune. Penner could be a solid 20 goal guy for you but I'm thinking 30 potential. Shane Doan could be a wildcard as a veteran leader if he leaves phx.

[ChaosLex]

Caps just traded Wideman to CAL. It wasn't for Cammalleri though.

[JeremyStrain]

If I would have called that one I should have been promoted to Caps beat writer.

Actually Henry is a pretty good prospect for a rights trade. He's experienced for a prospect at 26 and I think coming up on FA, but he's a good two-way defenseman who can score and defend. Great 5/6 defenseman. Good depth move if he stays.

[JeremyStrain]

Look for Caps to deal Semin's rights in the next day or two. I've heard Islanders.

Thought with Oates getting the job and looking for 2nd line scorer they might try to keep him, but it would eat a lot of the $12m in space we have. (15 after LTIR for Poti if that's where he goes) That is enough room to go get a Parise (they tried for J. Staal before Ribeiro, PIT hung up on them).

Heard possibility of Schultz to ANA, but I think they would try for a package for Ryan if that's the plan.

If they can get a couple 2-3 year gaps covered right now, they are set for the next 5-6 years with Forsberg and Kuznetsov looming in the next couple years.

I wish they would have landed MG (#12 to BUF) too, he would have looked AMAZING at LW on the 2nd line. Could feasibly see making a big splash for RW on 2nd line and then playing Wilson on the 3rd with Chimera and Laich.

[Luke Jackson]

Look for Caps to deal Semin's rights in the next day or two. I've heard Islanders.

Thought with Oates getting the job and looking for 2nd line scorer they might try to keep him, but it would eat a lot of the $12m in space we have. (15 after LTIR for Poti if that's where he goes) That is enough room to go get a Parise (they tried for J. Staal before Ribeiro, PIT hung up on them).

Heard possibility of Schultz to ANA, but I think they would try for a package for Ryan if that's the plan.

If they can get a couple 2-3 year gaps covered right now, they are set for the next 5-6 years with Forsberg and Kuznetsov looming in the next couple years.

I wish they would have landed MG (#12 to BUF) too, he would have looked AMAZING at LW on the 2nd line. Could feasibly see making a big splash for RW on 2nd line and then playing Wilson on the 3rd with Chimera and Laich.

As we spoke about on Twitter, it's hard to believe that Wideman fetched a 5/26ish deal from Calgary -- that's top d-man pair kind of money, which Wideman simply is not. His best qualities this past year were that he logged a lot of ice time, stayed healthy and played a lot on the power play. Nothing he did on the ice was particularly extraordinary; he was a liability on D, especially in the playoffs when his lines gave up an alarming amount of the goals scored. When Hunter first took over, he played Wideman a lot (maybe because he knew Wideman's game from before), but by the end of the year Wideman was never out there for "high leverage" situations -- the majority of those had been handed over to Alzner/Carlson. He's not a great skater so he struggles to create offense from the back end. He doesn't have a great shot from the point. Really struggling to rationalize this signing for the Flames.

The Oates presser: not a whole lot of interesting things said, but thought it was funny when they brought up that Oates was named captain back in the day during a press conference held outside of the White House. No one showed up; it was just tourists looking on with odd looks on their faces. Also said they would have had two reporters show up for this kind of head coach press conference back in the day; believe it was said that 70 media types were there Wednesday. The other thing that was interesting was how everyone seems to think so highly of Oates' hockey mind. Obvious that he has a mind for seeing things a little differently than most, particularly offensively; McPhee said it was Oates that suggested Bondra play the point on the PP and shift Brendan Witt up to his line. Looking forward to see what wrinkles Oates has for the offense.

As for free agency. Seems clear Semin isn't returning and Kuznetsov isn't coming over for awhile, so the Caps will be looking for some scoring -- probably a winger. GMGM generally doesn't overpay for guys (but I bet he's kicking himself over the Joel Ward contract), so it's tough to put any names on the Caps. Shane Doan is a player fans will want, but I think he'll get more years/money than the Caps can afford. That's a shame because he's basically exactly what the Caps need -- he's a bit on the older side, but it'd be like the Knuble signing three years back but Doan has more skill and a bit of a fighter too. With the way Doan plays, I do worry that he'd wear down quickly at this stage of his career but he's been a very durable player in the past and he'd score 50-60 points next year.

[Luke Jackson]

I'd bet against the Caps making a splash on Parise.

[JeremyStrain]

You're more harsh on DW than you should be. First half he was one of the top offensive Dmen in the league, 2nd half his defensive liabilities were highlighted, I think you're giving more weight to the 2nd half, when he was terrible. He's pretty good defensively and he didn't mesh with Hunter's style, with another coach he'll be a top pair Dman again, no question. His shot is much better than you are giving credit. When Hunter took over he basically asked him to give up his game (which is similar to Green and most effective carrying the puck in on a rush, or one timing, not the set, long redirected shots from Hunter's system.

Yeah I mean it's no secret I know some people, and a couple of them have RAVED about how good of a coach Adam was when he was still playing, so I had no reservations about him coaching at all. People have focused on his offensive game, and they should, he was one of the best playmakers of our generation, BUT he was also our best defensive forward, so I don't know if he's going to expect that of his Centers or will cater to their strengths, but I know he will play more and better D than Bruce did.

From what I've heard, Semin was written off months ago, BUT in the past 2 days started entertaining the idea, Oates was informed of his habits and defensive lapses though, so unless he takes much below market, they are going to deal his rights this week.

GMGM actually overpays pretty often, but he does it on mid tier guys (Knuble, Poti, Nylander, Ward) and not top guys. The Parise thing wasn't a real consideration until Oates asked for him, even now it's a long shot and I don't think it's worth the money it'll take, but it would be nice...

We have a lot of players like Doan right now, I don't think we need any more rugged physical leaders, unless he's willing to sign fairly cheap. I wouldn't pay market for him. 2 years around $3-4 per would be my max. Ward's contract is KILLING me still. If he can unload him I will do a happy dance like no one has ever seen.

Penner plays RW and LW and could score 20-30 here. But he'll want more than $5m per. J. Cheechoo could be a worthwhile gamble. He'll come cheap, and he's been an elite scorer. Stick him on RW and see what he can do next to Nicky and Ovi to start the year.