Mr. Madison, what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Noted.

Let me clarify a little. Could the Caps sell off an asset or two and collect picks and prospects and still not harm their cup chances this year? It's a different approach and a risk but what if it worked? The team could have more at their disposal for the summer's draft and free agency etc...

I don't think there's any real reason to do this, nor do I think that you're going to get anything really of value from players that would be integral to the Caps' potential cup run. The Caps prospect pipeline is still really top heavy with little depth, but have four picks in the first three rounds next draft. I also think that McMichael is going to be a very good player, and he was drafted late in the first. It's all about scouting at this point, and the Caps have drafted pretty well the past five years, especially with depth draft selections.

To your point though, I think the Caps can really hold onto their draft capital this season. Adding a player like Justin Williams mid-season (if he doesn't sign with Carolina) for free could be huge, and the Caps would maintain their selection of picks going into the off-season. There's not a ton of holes in this lineup, other than maybe improving the third line offensively and MAYBE another defenseman. That being said, Panik is starting to get back to the form we expected when we signed him, and Jensen has been playing pretty decently.

Good question. If any team can afford the risk, it should be a first place team. The Caps' best guys are thirty-ish, so they want to win right away, but that's just as good of a reason to get younger and spread out their chances.

Of pending UFAs, it sounds like Backstrom plans to re-sign, and the possible trade options are Holtby and Gudas. But the offers for each on this board are just ridiculously bad.

edit: They could try to deal someone with term for futures, if they're comfortable playing some younger guys in the playoffs. Kempny's on a 35 point pace, and it's helping Carlson a lot, but if they have other guys they can play at top pair LD, Kempny might bring back a 2nd.

Panik's got three points in his last five games, and five in his last ten. Seems to have snapped out of his slow start, but probably wouldn't bring much back. With Hathaway and Boyd able to move up and down the lineup, the Caps could move Panik for a 3rd round pick or a #7D. Buffalo fans keep talking about wanting to trade D for wings, but they just picked up Frolik for a pick, so maybe not. Their available defenders are offensively talented but defensively inconsistent. Not really anything the Caps need, but if the cap works, and Panik covers half of either, then Miller or Ristolainen might be interesting risks, just for the sake of adding a right shot?