WSH Trading w NJD and NSH 19-20

Arvidsson's 8 SHG over the last two years would help the PK, but giving up Orlov to play AAyev might be hard on it. Trading Burakovsky for cap space and getting essentially nothing back is kind of rough.

Mostly I'm surprised you signed Dowd and Jaskin over Connolly and Smith-Pelly.

Eh did you not see Orlov play yesterday? He was directly responsible for 4 of those 6 Ducks goals. He was absolutely horrendous and isn't even AHL worthy with the play he put out on the ice yesterday. If the league watches that tape of him yesterday, ain't no one going to want him. So I don't think he's got a lot of stock right now, and they aren't giving up a 25 year old back-to-back 61 point winger for Orlov and a goalie prospect.

I still think the Caps need a strong solid defensive defenseman more than anything right now. Orlov is a mess at times. Niskanen is doing decent, but not quite up to his former level. Bowey's solid play this year has helped though. If he wasn't playing solid, then the Caps would have even bigger D woes.

I like signing Dowd, he's turned out to be a good 4C for the Caps. Although I definitely wouldn't be resigning him over Connolly if I can help it. The way Connolly is playing though, he's going to need more than 1.5 mill come next year.

Also, I don't think Vrana ever signs a 3x3 deal if he keeps up his current pace. He'd probably want more AAV than that for such a short contract.

And Dowd > Boyd.

Oh, well, if he's having a bad week, then, sure.... trade away the best defensive defenseman off of the Champs.

The last two years Orlov and Niskanen have played Opponents' top lines and they've finished with decent defensive stats, plus they've each finished each of the last two years in the top 31 defensemen in even strength points. I think that pair is, very quietly, what makes this team tick, at both ends of the ice.

Arvidsson is a 30 goal scorer with Nashville, where he gets 68% offensive zone starts, 18 minutes a night, and plenty of PP1 opportunities. At even strength, so far, he's maxed out at 23 goals a year, playing with some good players. Does he make the Caps' top power play unit? Or does he get stuck on the second unit that plays the last 15 seconds of a power play, with a faceoff in their own zone, and basically doesn't get any points out of it? I think Arvidsson in Washington gets 25 goals a year, so I don't think he's worth Orlov.

I made the exact same argument this summer regarding a suggestion of Orlov for Nylander.

Dowd isn't as bad offensively as I expected, or as great on faceoffs and defense as I expected. Dowd and Boyd are fairly similar. They're decent 4Cs, better with the puck than a lot of guys who play that position, and they keep all four lines offensively capable. Neither of them is Beagle. If any of the centers in Hershey takes a huge step forward this year, 4C might again be an open casting call in training camp. Or maybe Dowd or Boyd has a great playoffs this Spring and gets a three year 1M contract? Who knows.

Orlov hasn't been any good at all this year, aside from a couple of offensive bursts. He's looked pretty lost defensively most of the year. Yesterday was just the culmination of his rather bad play this year.