Well, I read in the paper yesterday that MarJo has finally been signed by the Caps. Yay.
And the cap hit isn't bad, at $2M/yr. That's about where I was expecting things to go (give or take a couple hundred thousand); he just didn't have any leverage, even though that's probably slightly below what he deserves, based on his play.
I'm glad to see it, although with only $700k cap space left, I'm not sure what the Caps will be able to do for the rest of the season.
That is, they're in pretty decent shape, but could really use another defenseman to push Erskine down to the third pairing, and don't have the money.
There's also the possibility of Kuznetsov coming over after the Olympics. I don't think there's any money for that, either.
But, in the grand scheme of things, these aren't terrible problems to have. Maybe McPhee can convince the Toronto brass that they need another heavy-weight knuckle-chucker. Honestly, with his contract, I'd be happy to see him traded for a bag of pucks (sorry, John. I don't think you're a bad player, but you're heavily overpaid for what you bring to the table).
And there's also the thought of Wilson. Not sure how things work if he comes up after the OHL season ends, but they definitely can't afford the cap hit to bring him up to start the season. Again, not a terrible problem to have.
I think the Caps are in great shape if Dima can work his way back up to the Show, although last season is certainly worrisome in that regard. But his showing two seasons ago certainly leaves room to hope. But if he can't, they're going to be pretty exposed defensively. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Oh, and it was definitely weird to find out about a roster move in the paper. Definitely wouldn't have happened on a weekday.
Update: Heard yesterday that Kuznetsov has another shoulder injury, though should be back soon enough to still compete in Olympics (assuming it doesn't keep him from making the team, of course).
Showing posts with label offseason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label offseason. Show all posts
20130910
20130823
Grab the excitement
Since Toronto (inexplicably) used one of their compliance buy-outs on Mikhail Grabovski, I've been hoping that he'd end up on the Caps.
It's been a frustrating two-month wait (exacerbated by Mikey getting married and going on his honeymoon right after the buy out was announced), but today it became official. He's going to be the second center, behind Nicky, where he'll hopefully drive possession (along with Erat and Brouwer, presumably) the same way he did in Toronto.
There are some concerns that he might be a bit of a head-case, although his lambasting of his former manager right after the buy out is not, to my mind, part of that concern.
Roster-wise, it does present an interesting question or two.
I can't see any way that MarJo doesn't re-sign with the Caps, which leaves lines something like:
MarJo - Backstrom - OV
Erat - Grabs - Brouwer
Laich - Perreault - Fehr
Chimmer - Beagle - Ward
Laich/MarJo/Perreault are the big question marks, in my mind. You would think, with Laich having been projected as second center, that he'd naturally fall back into third center, but I hope that isn't the case. Laich could go up to 1LW instead, although I doubt that'll happen unless MarJo refuses to sign.
And I really hope Matty P doesn't get dumped into no man's land, which is what would happen if Laich went back to 3C (although putting the Chimmer - Laich - Ward line back together as a very tough-minutes line wouldn't be bad. If that happens, I hope the 4th line becomes a support-scoring line, rather than the more traditional defensive grinders).
I guess we'll see what Oates wants to do. I'm now more hopeful about this team than I've been since the Montreal series. If they can find someone to push Erskine back to third pairing (whether that's Dima or an outside option), they can go really far this year.
It's been a frustrating two-month wait (exacerbated by Mikey getting married and going on his honeymoon right after the buy out was announced), but today it became official. He's going to be the second center, behind Nicky, where he'll hopefully drive possession (along with Erat and Brouwer, presumably) the same way he did in Toronto.
There are some concerns that he might be a bit of a head-case, although his lambasting of his former manager right after the buy out is not, to my mind, part of that concern.
Roster-wise, it does present an interesting question or two.
I can't see any way that MarJo doesn't re-sign with the Caps, which leaves lines something like:
MarJo - Backstrom - OV
Erat - Grabs - Brouwer
Laich - Perreault - Fehr
Chimmer - Beagle - Ward
Laich/MarJo/Perreault are the big question marks, in my mind. You would think, with Laich having been projected as second center, that he'd naturally fall back into third center, but I hope that isn't the case. Laich could go up to 1LW instead, although I doubt that'll happen unless MarJo refuses to sign.
And I really hope Matty P doesn't get dumped into no man's land, which is what would happen if Laich went back to 3C (although putting the Chimmer - Laich - Ward line back together as a very tough-minutes line wouldn't be bad. If that happens, I hope the 4th line becomes a support-scoring line, rather than the more traditional defensive grinders).
I guess we'll see what Oates wants to do. I'm now more hopeful about this team than I've been since the Montreal series. If they can find someone to push Erskine back to third pairing (whether that's Dima or an outside option), they can go really far this year.
20110719
Alz well that ends well
I didn't post, because I was out of town at the time, but the Caps (last Friday, I believe it was) took care of my last major concern of the offseason by signing Karl Alzner to a two-year contract for $2.57M. This was fantastic news.
Not only that he'll be back (since I was planning on getting an Alzner jersey, anyway), but also that it got done so cheaply. Frankly, I couldn't believe that. I can't see why it didn't get done sooner, if that was the final price.
Definitely great news, though, as the Caps now might have a chance to bank some cap space (assuming they can find someplace other than LTIR for Tom Poti). And I assume that DJ King will be sent down to Hershey (I call that addition by subtraction).
In any event, fantastic news that makes the upcoming season even more promising. Now if only we could have found a way to hold onto Eric Fehr. I was definitely disappointed by that trade, although I do understand it (particularly in the context of his shoulders holding up, or not). Still, he was very good when given the chance to play (by his body and by Boudreau), and I wish him well (when he isn't playing the Caps, that is :).
Not only that he'll be back (since I was planning on getting an Alzner jersey, anyway), but also that it got done so cheaply. Frankly, I couldn't believe that. I can't see why it didn't get done sooner, if that was the final price.
Definitely great news, though, as the Caps now might have a chance to bank some cap space (assuming they can find someplace other than LTIR for Tom Poti). And I assume that DJ King will be sent down to Hershey (I call that addition by subtraction).
In any event, fantastic news that makes the upcoming season even more promising. Now if only we could have found a way to hold onto Eric Fehr. I was definitely disappointed by that trade, although I do understand it (particularly in the context of his shoulders holding up, or not). Still, he was very good when given the chance to play (by his body and by Boudreau), and I wish him well (when he isn't playing the Caps, that is :).
20110702
Czech-mates
Yes, that would be the Caps new goaltending tandem. "What," you say, wondering where the Russian likely star went.
Well, the Caps have been very, very busy in free agency the last 36 hours. They got former captain (and local boy) Halpern back. As a 4C, he should be a slight upgrade over Gordon or Steckel, and at a half-mil less than Gordo. Sorry to see Gordo gone, but I like this exchange for the Caps.
They traded the rights to Varlamov to Colorado for a first and second pick. I've had a possible reasoning for why Colorado might have done this explained, but it still doesn't seem like a great move for them. Given that, it seems, the sticking point was Varly being assured of being the starter, this was a fantastic move. And Czech-mate came today, when Tomas Vokoun was signed for a season for $1.5M. Wow. I guess Vokoun really wanted to win. The only hesitation on this (and it's a small one, I assure you) is the possible concern that Vokoun might be thinking of being the passenger this season, rather than the driver. Either way, heist of the highest order.
Joel Ward is another newcomer to the fold. He was recently of Nashville, where he kicked ass in the playoffs. I don't have a good feel for this one, as I'm not too familiar with him. My concern is that he is being signed for too much based on that playoff performance. I hope I'm worried about nothing, there. I mean, if he can repeat that kind of performance in the playoffs, I'm certainly all for it, but that's pretty much the definition of small sample size.
The final new arrival is Roman Hamrlik (incidentally, also Czech), the defender most recently of Montreal. I was hoping the Caps would hold onto Hannan, but Hammer should be pretty comparable while a little cheaper. He's a bit older, but since he's only on a two year contract, that shouldn't be too big a deal. Well, assuming his performance doesn't fall off a cliff, but that seems (without doing a thorough study) to be fairly rare in hockey. But he isn't too expensive, and rounds out a fantastic top six. Plus, he wants to be here, as he turned down a 3-year deal to take the Caps 2-year offer.
Also, I should mention here (since I didn't, back when it happened) that the Caps traded their first round pick to the Blackhawks for the rights to (restricted free agent) Troy Brouwer. He's another that I don't know too much about. A look at his Corsi rating with various teammates at Chicago, though, shows that he improved almost everyone he played with, so I'm definitely liking that.
And I also didn't talk about Brooks Laich being signed for six years and $27M. I was pretty leery about this when it happened (three or four days ago, I think); it was half a million more than I was thinking the top end of what the Caps should pay for him. I do feel better about it, though, after seeing several signings yesterday by various other teams.
Getting back to the goalie situation, a few more notes. Definitely going to be cheering for the Avs to collapse this season, so that that first round pick comes very early (which is a change; I generally like the Avs).
The Vokoun signing definitely came out of the blue; practically every goalie of any note signed yesterday somewhere. Apparently that left almost every team with any interest in a new goalie situated (Colorado did sign Varly, and got Jean-Sebastien Giguere later in the day), so there was basically no market for Vokoun. Damn, I'm loving that.
I did a little bit more reading into Ward, and I'm not feeling better about that signing. One thing is that he only played eleven NHL games before his age 27 season. One plus is that he's primarily a defensive forward. So he, Halpern, and Hendricks could make one heck of a shutdown line. Of course, with Boudreau at the helm, who knows what the lines will be (or how often they'll be repeated), but the bottom six looks very good.
So now the question becomes one of where this all leaves us. Arnott, Bradley and Hannan are certainly gone. Beagle and King are likely to be sent down, even if that means exposing them to waivers. Poti must be considered gone or presumed to be Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). One of Fehr and Chimera seems likely to be gone, just to clear cap space. The only serious question marks remaining are the two RFAs: Alzner and Brouwer. The reason for the prior several sentences is that there's no money to sign them under the cap, as things stand.
They each stand to make at least $2M (Alzner likely closer to $3M), and there's only half a mil in cap space. As long as they work things out to get both of them signed, this has been an unbelievably good series of moves. The only way things get really dicey is if non-roster players (Sjogren, Eakin, Perreault, and Orlov being the likelies) force their way into contention for roster spots.
With as much good stuff as I've heard about Orlov, I can't see much chance of him cracking the roster without multiple, serious defensive injuries.
The forwards have a much better chance, although still not good ones. Eakin and Perreault are going to find it especially tough, given that it seems that all four center spots are taken. But maybe they can make it as wings. Maybe. I'm actually kind of hoping Eakin will make it, but I definitely don't like his odds.
Anyway, assuming Alzner and Brouwer are (re-)signed, I'm loving this lineup. As long as they don't get complacent, they should be in the running for the President's Cup again, and one of the two or three favorites for the real Cup as well. The offense will hopefully improve just by getting average luck shooting, and the defense should be outstanding.
Complacency will be the biggest concern, but hopefully Ward, Brouwer, and Hamrlik will all help with that. The power play better get some offseason work. Well, and being out-coached in the playoffs is another big concern. That's a serious one. A few weeks ago, Backstrom was interviewed by a Swedish publication about last season, and said that the team basically didn't know what hit them against the Lightning. Man, that was damning of Boudreau's coaching job (I forget his exact words, but it was a lot more specific than what I just wrote).
Well, the Caps have been very, very busy in free agency the last 36 hours. They got former captain (and local boy) Halpern back. As a 4C, he should be a slight upgrade over Gordon or Steckel, and at a half-mil less than Gordo. Sorry to see Gordo gone, but I like this exchange for the Caps.
They traded the rights to Varlamov to Colorado for a first and second pick. I've had a possible reasoning for why Colorado might have done this explained, but it still doesn't seem like a great move for them. Given that, it seems, the sticking point was Varly being assured of being the starter, this was a fantastic move. And Czech-mate came today, when Tomas Vokoun was signed for a season for $1.5M. Wow. I guess Vokoun really wanted to win. The only hesitation on this (and it's a small one, I assure you) is the possible concern that Vokoun might be thinking of being the passenger this season, rather than the driver. Either way, heist of the highest order.
Joel Ward is another newcomer to the fold. He was recently of Nashville, where he kicked ass in the playoffs. I don't have a good feel for this one, as I'm not too familiar with him. My concern is that he is being signed for too much based on that playoff performance. I hope I'm worried about nothing, there. I mean, if he can repeat that kind of performance in the playoffs, I'm certainly all for it, but that's pretty much the definition of small sample size.
The final new arrival is Roman Hamrlik (incidentally, also Czech), the defender most recently of Montreal. I was hoping the Caps would hold onto Hannan, but Hammer should be pretty comparable while a little cheaper. He's a bit older, but since he's only on a two year contract, that shouldn't be too big a deal. Well, assuming his performance doesn't fall off a cliff, but that seems (without doing a thorough study) to be fairly rare in hockey. But he isn't too expensive, and rounds out a fantastic top six. Plus, he wants to be here, as he turned down a 3-year deal to take the Caps 2-year offer.
Also, I should mention here (since I didn't, back when it happened) that the Caps traded their first round pick to the Blackhawks for the rights to (restricted free agent) Troy Brouwer. He's another that I don't know too much about. A look at his Corsi rating with various teammates at Chicago, though, shows that he improved almost everyone he played with, so I'm definitely liking that.
And I also didn't talk about Brooks Laich being signed for six years and $27M. I was pretty leery about this when it happened (three or four days ago, I think); it was half a million more than I was thinking the top end of what the Caps should pay for him. I do feel better about it, though, after seeing several signings yesterday by various other teams.
Getting back to the goalie situation, a few more notes. Definitely going to be cheering for the Avs to collapse this season, so that that first round pick comes very early (which is a change; I generally like the Avs).
The Vokoun signing definitely came out of the blue; practically every goalie of any note signed yesterday somewhere. Apparently that left almost every team with any interest in a new goalie situated (Colorado did sign Varly, and got Jean-Sebastien Giguere later in the day), so there was basically no market for Vokoun. Damn, I'm loving that.
I did a little bit more reading into Ward, and I'm not feeling better about that signing. One thing is that he only played eleven NHL games before his age 27 season. One plus is that he's primarily a defensive forward. So he, Halpern, and Hendricks could make one heck of a shutdown line. Of course, with Boudreau at the helm, who knows what the lines will be (or how often they'll be repeated), but the bottom six looks very good.
So now the question becomes one of where this all leaves us. Arnott, Bradley and Hannan are certainly gone. Beagle and King are likely to be sent down, even if that means exposing them to waivers. Poti must be considered gone or presumed to be Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). One of Fehr and Chimera seems likely to be gone, just to clear cap space. The only serious question marks remaining are the two RFAs: Alzner and Brouwer. The reason for the prior several sentences is that there's no money to sign them under the cap, as things stand.
They each stand to make at least $2M (Alzner likely closer to $3M), and there's only half a mil in cap space. As long as they work things out to get both of them signed, this has been an unbelievably good series of moves. The only way things get really dicey is if non-roster players (Sjogren, Eakin, Perreault, and Orlov being the likelies) force their way into contention for roster spots.
With as much good stuff as I've heard about Orlov, I can't see much chance of him cracking the roster without multiple, serious defensive injuries.
The forwards have a much better chance, although still not good ones. Eakin and Perreault are going to find it especially tough, given that it seems that all four center spots are taken. But maybe they can make it as wings. Maybe. I'm actually kind of hoping Eakin will make it, but I definitely don't like his odds.
Anyway, assuming Alzner and Brouwer are (re-)signed, I'm loving this lineup. As long as they don't get complacent, they should be in the running for the President's Cup again, and one of the two or three favorites for the real Cup as well. The offense will hopefully improve just by getting average luck shooting, and the defense should be outstanding.
Complacency will be the biggest concern, but hopefully Ward, Brouwer, and Hamrlik will all help with that. The power play better get some offseason work. Well, and being out-coached in the playoffs is another big concern. That's a serious one. A few weeks ago, Backstrom was interviewed by a Swedish publication about last season, and said that the team basically didn't know what hit them against the Lightning. Man, that was damning of Boudreau's coaching job (I forget his exact words, but it was a lot more specific than what I just wrote).
20110504
Or Not
Well, I thought the Caps would come out and take it to the Lightning tonight, but they pretty much laid a goose egg. I certainly wouldn't say they outplayed Tampa for any significant stretch of time (there were a few shifts, but that's about it), so they'll be coming home without fanfare. It was a disappointing end, though perhaps not terribly surprising after last night's game.
I feel even more sure than I did before tonight that Boudreau needs to go. If I was GM, I'd give him a week to watch video and whatnot, then give me a convincing presentation on how he'd beat what the Lightning did to win. If he can't (and I don't think he can), then he needs to go. Yes, he's been good in the regular season (to be fair, more than good), but he's been outcoached in every playoff series he's been in at the NHL level.
Also, he hasn't yet managed to instill discipline and accountability among the players, with the result that they're not playing enough like a team. I do think that the Caps were the better team, overall, but they sure didn't play like it. And all those bad line changes and too many men on the ice penalties? That's not getting it done.
Well, we've now arrived at another off-season too early. I think I'm going to try not to think about the Caps again for the next week. This is just entirely too depressing (and typical, for the Caps).
I feel even more sure than I did before tonight that Boudreau needs to go. If I was GM, I'd give him a week to watch video and whatnot, then give me a convincing presentation on how he'd beat what the Lightning did to win. If he can't (and I don't think he can), then he needs to go. Yes, he's been good in the regular season (to be fair, more than good), but he's been outcoached in every playoff series he's been in at the NHL level.
Also, he hasn't yet managed to instill discipline and accountability among the players, with the result that they're not playing enough like a team. I do think that the Caps were the better team, overall, but they sure didn't play like it. And all those bad line changes and too many men on the ice penalties? That's not getting it done.
Well, we've now arrived at another off-season too early. I think I'm going to try not to think about the Caps again for the next week. This is just entirely too depressing (and typical, for the Caps).
20090608
Number one is open?
So, the Stanley Cup finals are going on right now, between my two least favorite teams in the league. And frankly, I can't decide which of them I like less. I'm still trying to figure out a way in which both teams can lose.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I couldn't possibly care less about who wins the Cup this year.
But the Post was talking about the Caps prospects this morning, and there were a couple of interesting tidbits.
The first was saying that management has told all three likely Caps goalies for next season (Varlamov, Neuvirth, and Theodore) that the number one spot is open for next year. If that's true, then they haven't been paying attention at all.
Barring serious injury, Varlamov should have the top spot locked up. And ideally, the Caps would find a taker for Theodore. For something good, you know; maybe a bag of pucks. Ok, that's a bit mean; Theodore isn't that bad. Actually, he did show flashes of brilliance from time to time last year, but man, was he frustrating.
Frankly, I don't see any way around Varlamov as primary, with Theodore backing him up. Unfortunately, that leaves Neuvirth stuck in Hershey, which is certainly unjust. I wonder if it would be better for all involved to see about trading him for a very good defenseman or center. While Neuvirth has done everything asked of him, I just can't see them sitting Theodore and his $4.5M salary on the bench for the whole season.
I guess we'll see.
The other interesting tidbit was about Giroux. My first experience seeing him was in the playoffs, and he looked pretty good. And he seems to have torn up the AHL last season, which is pretty cool. But it's pretty hard to get excited about a 27-year-old player who's played less than half a season at the NHL level.
I don't really know about aging trends in hockey, although I doubt they're hugely different than in baseball. And in baseball, a player almost invariably reaches their peak at twenty-seven or -eight. So it's pretty tough to call someone that old even a prospect, let alone a likely difference-maker for your team. Yes, once every few decades you might find someone like Ryan Howard, but that's really, really rare. (And, btw, Ryan Howard should not have been nearly that close to winning the MVP last year. He wasn't even the best player on his own team, let alone in the league.)
So, we'll see what happens. I'm more interested in John Carlson; a 19-year-old who's even borderline NHL-ready is very exciting. Hopefully, he'll stay healthy, and we'll hear a lot more about him next year.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I couldn't possibly care less about who wins the Cup this year.
But the Post was talking about the Caps prospects this morning, and there were a couple of interesting tidbits.
The first was saying that management has told all three likely Caps goalies for next season (Varlamov, Neuvirth, and Theodore) that the number one spot is open for next year. If that's true, then they haven't been paying attention at all.
Barring serious injury, Varlamov should have the top spot locked up. And ideally, the Caps would find a taker for Theodore. For something good, you know; maybe a bag of pucks. Ok, that's a bit mean; Theodore isn't that bad. Actually, he did show flashes of brilliance from time to time last year, but man, was he frustrating.
Frankly, I don't see any way around Varlamov as primary, with Theodore backing him up. Unfortunately, that leaves Neuvirth stuck in Hershey, which is certainly unjust. I wonder if it would be better for all involved to see about trading him for a very good defenseman or center. While Neuvirth has done everything asked of him, I just can't see them sitting Theodore and his $4.5M salary on the bench for the whole season.
I guess we'll see.
The other interesting tidbit was about Giroux. My first experience seeing him was in the playoffs, and he looked pretty good. And he seems to have torn up the AHL last season, which is pretty cool. But it's pretty hard to get excited about a 27-year-old player who's played less than half a season at the NHL level.
I don't really know about aging trends in hockey, although I doubt they're hugely different than in baseball. And in baseball, a player almost invariably reaches their peak at twenty-seven or -eight. So it's pretty tough to call someone that old even a prospect, let alone a likely difference-maker for your team. Yes, once every few decades you might find someone like Ryan Howard, but that's really, really rare. (And, btw, Ryan Howard should not have been nearly that close to winning the MVP last year. He wasn't even the best player on his own team, let alone in the league.)
So, we'll see what happens. I'm more interested in John Carlson; a 19-year-old who's even borderline NHL-ready is very exciting. Hopefully, he'll stay healthy, and we'll hear a lot more about him next year.
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