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Just below the cap

Created by: rangersandislesfan
Team: 2019-20 Washington Capitals
Initial Creation Date: Jul. 12, 2019
Published: Jul. 12, 2019
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Description
Somebody might need to get traded to make it work with the cap, but i don't think so. I think they can make it work anyway. We'll see though.
Free Agent Signings
RFAYEARSCAP HIT
2$900,000
2$900,000
1$735,000
1$3,000,000
DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
2020
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2021
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2022
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ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
22$81,500,000$71,129,295$1,150,000$82,500$10,370,705
Left WingCentreRight Wing
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$9,538,462$9,538,462
LW
M-NTC
UFA - 2
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$3,900,000$3,900,000
C
M-NTC
UFA - 6
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$5,166,667$5,166,667
RW
UFA - 5
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$3,000,000$3,000,000
LW
UFA - 2
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$6,700,000$6,700,000
C
M-NTC
UFA - 1
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$5,750,000$5,750,000
RW
M-NTC
UFA - 6
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$2,750,000$2,750,000
LW
UFA - 4
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$2,415,000$2,415,000
C
UFA - 4
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$1,375,000$1,375,000
LW, RW
UFA - 4
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$1,500,000$1,500,000
RW, LW
UFA - 4
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$800,000$800,000
C, RW
UFA - 1
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$900,000$900,000
C, LW
UFA - 1
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
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$2,500,000$2,500,000
LD
UFA - 3
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$8,000,000$8,000,000
RD
M-NTC
UFA - 7
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$6,100,000$6,100,000
G
M-NTC
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,275,000$1,275,000
LD
M-NTC
UFA - 4
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,345,000$2,345,000
RD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,100,000$1,100,000
G
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$900,000$900,000
LD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,500,000$2,500,000
RD
UFA - 4
ScratchesInjured Reserve (IR)Long Term IR (LTIR)
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$750,000$750,000
C
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$714,166$714,166 (Performance Bonus$82,500$82K)
LD
UFA - 1

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Jul. 12, 2019 at 12:50 p.m.
#1
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Joined: May 2019
Posts: 242
Likes: 110
Ditch Stephenson, replace him with Leipsic, and use the extra money to sign Vrana to 2 or 3 years at $3.3
ClockReads2113 and MK57 liked this.
Jul. 15, 2019 at 11:21 a.m.
#2
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Joined: Jul. 2017
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Quoting: jspenc40
Ditch Stephenson, replace him with Leipsic, and use the extra money to sign Vrana to 2 or 3 years at $3.3


If Stephenson costs an extra 200k over Leipsic, this makes sense. They're each 25 with 100-150 games. Leipsic has like ten more career points. Stephenson has taken ten times as many faceoffs, but Leipsic wins a bigger percentage of the tiny sample he's tried. Stephenson can kill penalties and Leipsic is untested there, but both get by with good skating. If the difference means Vrana's contract stays low next year to re-sign Backstrom, Leipsic is good enough, and Stephenson can walk, or head back to Hershey.

Some Van fan suggnested trading Stephenson for Goldobin, but I doubt Goldobin is signing for 700k either, unless he's guaranteed a top line tryout, or something crazy like that.
Jul. 15, 2019 at 12:10 p.m.
#3
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Quoting: Eli
If Stephenson costs an extra 200k over Leipsic, this makes sense. They're each 25 with 100-150 games. Leipsic has like ten more career points. Stephenson has taken ten times as many faceoffs, but Leipsic wins a bigger percentage of the tiny sample he's tried. Stephenson can kill penalties and Leipsic is untested there, but both get by with good skating. If the difference means Vrana's contract stays low next year to re-sign Backstrom, Leipsic is good enough, and Stephenson can walk, or head back to Hershey.

Some Van fan suggnested trading Stephenson for Goldobin, but I doubt Goldobin is signing for 700k either, unless he's guaranteed a top line tryout, or something crazy like that.


Neither Leipsic nor Stephenson are going to be taking anywhere near enough faceoffs to matter. Panik and Hathaway can kill penalties, so Stephenson is pretty much rendered redundant at this point.
Jul. 15, 2019 at 12:54 p.m.
#4
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Quoting: jspenc40
Neither Leipsic nor Stephenson are going to be taking anywhere near enough faceoffs to matter. Panik and Hathaway can kill penalties, so Stephenson is pretty much rendered redundant at this point.


The Caps were 24th in PK% last year, down from 15th, the year before. On average, teams playing against the Caps did exactly as well as St. Louis (21.1%).

Their top two defensemen by SHTOI both left, this summer, after they lost their second leading forward, the summer before.

They fell to 31st in faceoffs last year, from 13th the year before. Most of that is also from losing Beagle, but a third of it is from new coaches deciding Kuznetsov should take copious defensive zone draws, even when he fell to about 42% efficiency, just to keep him out on the ice more.

Kuznetsov was a good sport about it, even sharing the coaching staff's optimistic hope that faceoffs don't matter if you can get the puck back later, with the press. But the real test of a new strategy is whether it wins in the playoffs, and that idea didn't get the defending champs out of the first round, so it's time to burn it, bury the ashes pretty deep, and get back to what works.

Do the Caps need a left shot checking center when they have Eller? Not really. But if Stephenson sticks around at a low cap hit, it gives the coaches more freedom to keep Eller rested and maximize his effectiveness.
Jul. 15, 2019 at 1:20 p.m.
#5
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Posts: 242
Likes: 110
Quoting: Eli
The Caps were 24th in PK% last year, down from 15th, the year before. On average, teams playing against the Caps did exactly as well as St. Louis (21.1%).

Their top two defensemen by SHTOI both left, this summer, after they lost their second leading forward, the summer before.

They fell to 31st in faceoffs last year, from 13th the year before. Most of that is also from losing Beagle, but a third of it is from new coaches deciding Kuznetsov should take copious defensive zone draws, even when he fell to about 42% efficiency, just to keep him out on the ice more.

Kuznetsov was a good sport about it, even sharing the coaching staff's optimistic hope that faceoffs don't matter if you can get the puck back later, with the press. But the real test of a new strategy is whether it wins in the playoffs, and that idea didn't get the defending champs out of the first round, so it's time to burn it, bury the ashes pretty deep, and get back to what works.

Do the Caps need a left shot checking center when they have Eller? Not really. But if Stephenson sticks around at a low cap hit, it gives the coaches more freedom to keep Eller rested and maximize his effectiveness.


Stephenson has barely played center at the NHL level. He is nowhere near good enough to replace Eller's minutes on any given night. Eller doesn't even play 17 minutes a night usually, so I'm not terribly concerned with his workload. Taking faceoffs is also not the only thing a center does. The Caps signed Dowd for three more years to play 4C. They'll probably keep Boyd as the 13th forward because he can actually contribute some offense, but if the option is between Stephenson and Leipsic, I guarantee they did not go out and sign Leipsic just to stash him in the minors. Stephenson will most likely end up in Hershey or with another team.
Jul. 15, 2019 at 1:26 p.m.
#6
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Quoting: jspenc40
Stephenson has barely played center at the NHL level. He is nowhere near good enough to replace Eller's minutes on any given night. Eller doesn't even play 17 minutes a night usually, so I'm not terribly concerned with his workload. Taking faceoffs is also not the only thing a center does. The Caps signed Dowd for three more years to play 4C. They'll probably keep Boyd as the 13th forward because he can actually contribute some offense, but if the option is between Stephenson and Leipsic, I guarantee they did not go out and sign Leipsic just to stash him in the minors. Stephenson will most likely end up in Hershey or with another team.


Well, the good news is, they can't end up 32nd in faceoffs for at least another year. smile

Your reductivist straw man is clever, but Beagle and his linemates really did get put out to win a faeoff, break the puck out, and get off the ice in thirty seconds or less, all the way to the only championship in team history,
Jul. 15, 2019 at 1:35 p.m.
#7
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Quoting: Eli
Well, the good news is, they can't end up 32nd in faceoffs for at least another year. smile

Your reductivist straw man is clever, but Beagle and his linemates really did get put out to win a faeoff, break the puck out, and get off the ice in thirty seconds or less, all the way to the only championship in team history,


If you think Stephenson is the answer to all of the Capitals woes after the way he played this past year, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
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Jul. 15, 2019 at 2:02 p.m.
#8
Who adds what?
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Quoting: jspenc40
If you think Stephenson is the answer to all of the Capitals woes after the way he played this past year, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.


You're right that he's not an impact player. Still, Stephenson at 750k would provide better cap value than, say, Eric Fehr at 1M, or any other apparently available option.... and for the Caps to have three left shot centers in their top nine and three right shots on their fourth line/bench would just be a silly imbalance.

A long term answer is for right shot top six wings who sometimes win over 50% of their faceoffs like Oshie, Wilson, and Vrana to start taking a lot more offensive zone faceoffs, when the puck is on their strong side, and to bring back a fourth line of defensive specialists to take defensive zone draws and neutralize top opponents. Starting with possession doesn't always lead to a win, but it does force the other team to chase you and to skate harder, so it might tire them out, over a seven game series. That's the same thing you can say about other little advantages like checking more and blocking more shots, and the Caps haven't hesitated to sign guys who do those things.

Is Stephenson still a better fit in that spot than AJF or Sutter? I don't know. That's what training camp is for. But is he a good enough 4L to win the Stanley Cup? So far, just about 50% of the times he's tried. smile
 
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