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Will the new Caps team have enough to contend?

Created by: steveospeak
Team: 2017-18 Washington Capitals
Initial Creation Date: Aug. 29, 2017
Published: Aug. 30, 2017
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Legend
Left Handed
Original Team
Waivers Exempt
Right Handed
Position
Trade Clause
Max Perf. Bonus
Expiry Status
Term Remaining
Logo of the Edmonton Oilers
Waivers ExemptMcDavid, Connor
$12,500,000 (Performance Bonus$250,000)
C
NMC
UFA - 5
Description
Given the Capitals cap situation, they won't be able to field a 23 man roster (assuming Vrana makes the team), and they will have little in cap room to call up other more expensive prospects or add someone via trade.

While the Caps should still be a playoff team, this roster they are going to rely on 2 rookies in their bottom 9, plus a league min guy in Devante Smith-Pelly. In addition they will have a pair of rookies in their bottom two pairings on defense.

From an outside perspective the following is weaker:

2nd line- Vrana has potential and Burakovsky should develop more, but they aren't likely to match the 48 goals and 106 points of Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson.

3rd line: The Caps will replace Burakovsky with one of Wilson, Smith-Pelly or their 2nd rookie (Barber/Stephenson/Walker/Boyd), it's unlikely they can match his 35 points in 64 games output. Wilson has experience, but he had 19 points last season and has never shown himself to be much of an offensive threat. Chances are there is a fair drop-off here.

4th line- Caps also lost Danniel Winnik, who was a very solid 4th line winger for them, scoring 25 points including 12 goals in 72 games.

Bottom 4 defensively: Losing Alzner and Schmidt (to say nothing of the playoff run with Shattenkirk), is going to sting. Alzner's play had slipped some, but he still logged big minutes and put up solid defensive numbers. Schmidt was a 3rd pairing guy, but he would have likely moved up with Alzner leaving. He was starting to emerge as a strong 2 way defender. Replacing them will be a pair of rookies in likely Djoos and Bowery, both have some promise and upside, but both are unlikely to match what Alzner and Schmidt brought to the table.

Special teams: Alzner was their top defender on their PK unit, logging over 3 min per game of PK time. Winnik was the 2nd highest forward on the PK unit last year.

Powerplay, while the Caps retain their top 3 forwards on PP in TOI per game, they lose their 4th and 5th forwards. Also Johansson was 3rd in PP scoring. It's likely that unit sees a slight decline as well.

What do you think can this team still contend given their short roster and cap situation?
DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
2018
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2019
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2020
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ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
22$75,000,000$66,676,773$4,978$582,500$8,323,227
Left WingCentreRight Wing
Ovechkin, Alex
$9,538,462$9,538,462
LW
M-NTC
UFA - 4
Bäckström, Nicklas
$6,700,000$6,700,000
C
M-NTC
UFA - 3
Oshie, T.J.
$5,750,000$5,750,000
RW
M-NTC
UFA - 8
Vrána, Jakub
$863,333$863,333 (Performance Bonus$500,000$500K)
LW
UFA - 2
Kuznetsov, Evgeny
$3,900,000$3,900,000
C
UFA - 8
Burakovsky, André
$3,000,000$3,000,000
RW, LW
UFA - 2
Stephenson, Chandler
$650,000$650,000
C, LW
UFA - 2
Eller, Lars
$3,500,000$3,500,000
C
UFA - 1
Connolly, Brett
$1,500,000$1,500,000
RW, LW
UFA - 2
Smith-Pelly, Devante
$650,000$650,000
RW, LW
UFA - 1
Beagle, Jay
$1,750,000$1,750,000
C
UFA - 1
Wilson, Tom
$2,000,000$2,000,000
RW
UFA - 1
Graovac, Tyler
$625,000$625,000
C
UFA - 1
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
Orlov, Dmitry
$1,275,000$1,275,000
LD
UFA - 6
Niskanen, Matt
$5,750,000$5,750,000
RD
M-NTC
UFA - 4
Holtby, Braden
$6,100,000$6,100,000
G
M-NTC
UFA - 3
Djoos, Christian
$650,000$650,000
LD
UFA - 2
Carlson, John
$3,966,667$3,966,667
RD
UFA - 1
Grubauer, Philipp
$1,500,000$1,500,000
G
UFA - 1
Orpik, Brooks
$5,500,000$5,500,000
LD
UFA - 2
Bowey, Madison
$703,333$703,333 (Performance Bonus$82,500$82K)
RD
UFA - 1
Chorney, Taylor
$800,000$800,000
RD
UFA - 1

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Top Comments

Aug. 30, 2017 at 10:19 p.m.
#1
palhal
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First, it would hard to believe that even with all the changes they will slip so badly that won't be competitive. But there are a changes which always causes disruption and some of those new players, are they really NHL ready or NHL good? To answer your question, well they might win a first round, but no more.
Aug. 30, 2017 at 10:23 p.m.
#2
steveospeak
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Joined: Aug. 2017
Posts: 302
Likes: 27
Quoting: palhal
First, it would hard to believe that even with all the changes they will slip so badly that won't be competitive. But there are a changes which always causes disruption and some of those new players, are they really NHL ready or NHL good? To answer your question, well they might win a first round, but no more.


Yeah I probably should have made that clear, when I said "have enough to contend" I'm talking about being in a position to at least advance to the Eastern Conference Finals if not the Stanley Cup Finals. I do think even with their turn over and playing in the tough Metro division they still have enough to make the playoffs. I don't think it's a guarantee they make the post season b/c one other factor is will their luck change with injuries as they were one of the healthiest teams in the league last year.
Aug. 30, 2017 at 10:24 p.m.
#3
rangersandislesfan
Black Lives Matter
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Joined: Mar. 2017
Posts: 29,923
Likes: 4,651
I actually think they win the cup in 2018.
Aug. 30, 2017 at 10:28 p.m.
#4
krakowitz
Emotionally in 2018
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Joined: Nov. 2016
Posts: 9,291
Likes: 3,387
We Caps fans always have the ability to look at it with the glass half-full, so I do think there is a shot. A few reasons behind that

1. Obviously, anything can happen. Who expected Nashville to be in the Finals when the playoffs started? Who expected LA to win the Cup in 2012 when the playoffs started? It's plausible, albeit unlikely.

2. Look at Pittsburgh's roster from the last two seasons. A decent amount of those players were guys that nobody knew about, came out of nowhere and became key for the Pens in winning championships (Guentzel, Sheary, Rust, etc). We need to start bringing in guys that could have similar effects. Players like Djoos, Walker, Barber, Bowey, etc can have similar effects. Not saying that they will, but it's possible.

3. When the pressure isn't on, we thrive. When we were supposed to lose to the Rangers, we went up 3-1 in the series. Then came the pressure. We blew the lead and lost the series. This season, when we went down 3-1 to Pittsburgh, we were supposed to lose Games 5 and 6. We absolutely dominated them (more than we had before) in Game 6. It wasn't even close. Then came Game 7 where we were supposed to beat them. We lost. Now that there isn't any pressure, this may be the year we advance
Aug. 30, 2017 at 10:31 p.m.
#5
palhal
LongtimeLeafsufferer
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Joined: Jul. 2015
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Likes: 22,820
My thought right now are in the Metro ....it's the Pens, Rangers, Columbus, Washington.....and then one of the Isles or Canes could still make the playoffs as the wildcard too. Five teams in the Metro is definite possibility.
In the Atlantic....I have Tampa winning, and then the Leafs/Sens/Bruins really close. Montreal out of the playoffs. Of course anything can happen once you get in the playoffs. Nashville was an 8th seed last year, and the Kings won a Cup as an 8th seed in the Conference.
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