Bust.

Anything can happen. They just have to get in. The Caps can be very dangerous if they get on a roll. The question is do they trigger a rebuild after this season?

Theyre not dangerous at all anymore it was all trotz. They shouldve rebuilt before this season. Since they didnt they should move pieces at the deadline.

They have Laviolette now. He’s pretty solid. I do agree that Trotz should have been extended. Caps effed up huge giving Backstrom that massive extension. And Oshie.
That’ll hurt for quite a while. I still think they can compete for a Cup if their stars align. With the next 2 years anyway.

Laviolettes good but backstrom terrible contract. Kuznetzovs a top 5 overrated player in the league. Wilson spends 3 quarters of the game in the box (if he wasnt suspended) and carlson while he puts up a ton of points, his plus minus isnt good, hes also overrated. Theyre a washed up team that should be traded now to get maximum value.

They won’t move those contracts now. Not in this market. They’ll go the way of SJ. Loaded up with pricey vets well beyond their prime. It’ll take several years of regression before they start coming around.

If they dont get rid of them now theyre in for a hell of a long rebuild. Also theyll be decent so they wont get top picks.

They are looking at 5 years before they are rid of those deals. Ovechkin will likely get a 5 year deal as well. Could maybe move Eller and that’s about it.

Just saying its going to be a looooong decade for the caps.

They have some prospects. Connor McMichael is trending nicely. Hendrix Lapierre has potential. And they’ve got Samsonov, Alexeyev(?), and a few others. They have not traded too many first round picks over the last ten years. It might not be a cold hard rebuild entirely. You know who will have a cold hard rebuild?? Pittsburgh!! They’ve been trading away all of their futures.

Lapierres a hit or miss. You have some prospects not denying that but in 2 to 3 years those contracts are gonna be killing you. And they all have ntcs. Im still pissed that we passed on mcmichael for holmstrom that was a bad pick.
As for pittsburgh they might make it back to the playoffs before 2050 lol. What a disaster going forward, but they got their back to back cups plus one in 09 i think so they have enough success to look back at over their 30 year rebuild.

FYI : The Caps are not my team. I’m a Bruins fan. I’m just bored on night shift. LOL!!!

My bad. I do other teams also but only caps fans think they have a chance so you mist be reading too many caps AGMs lol. Theyre going to have another very good regular season and get kicked in the first round.
On another note must feel good to have rask back. With him you guys would have had a real shot.

Still waiting on Sweeney to do something. Need to fill the void on LD. Krug leaving hurts a bit but his 5v5 play was not great. They missed the opportunity to snag Schmidt from Vegas. That would have been decent. Overall I like our chances but we are in a spot where we need to pull it off in the next 1-2 years. Chara will likely be done after this season. Krejci only has one more year to go.
A full season with Kase at RW beside Krejci might boost our secondary scoring. Craig Smith chipping in from the middle six RW will help huge. He has a Hunter mentality and has averaged 20-25 goals per 82 games played. Plus player throughout.
I think Sweeney will stand Pat and add at the Trade Deadline.

Lucky that tampas team is coming apart because that should give you the atlantic. Montreals not there yet and frederick andersen should officially be considered a bust. You cant win anything without a goalie so you should be good.

I think Habs will surprise some people especially in a short season.

Trotz was definitely a huge help to our success, but let's not pretend like every single trend in hockey continues that way. Holtby was atrocious in the bubble for us and Samsonov wasn't available then, so an emerging young goaltender could always surprise. If Schultz can regain his 2017 form, we have a really nice top four. Maybe Laviolette gets the best out of Kuznetsov and he can play more like he did during the 2018 run. Vrana is only getting better and Ovechkin isn't slowing down.

Sure, we're banking on more things going our way than most Cup contenders are, but to say a team with all this firepower and potential that's two years removed from a championship is "not dangerous at all anymore" seems a bit out of whack.

Bad takes in here by Islesforthecup. Not worth discussing further.

A team that hasnt won a playoff series in 2 years playing in easily the best division with an unproved goalie a washed up team on bad contracts and not good depth. Hell they might not even make the playoffs. Not worried about them in the slightest.

It’ll be interesting in a shortened season to see how well a veteran older team will compete. I think they are definitely going to be in the playoffs. Just not in first place.

I could easily see NYI, CAR, PHI, and NYR ahead of them. Columbus is the most unpredictable team in hockey and they could also be ahead of the caps but that means the caps are out. Also maybe the caps beat out columbus but are behind BOS, TBL, TOR, and MTL in which case theyre also out. Not saying its likely but not unreasonable.

Your division comment doesn't mean squat since the divisions are going to be realigned for this season. And I didn't realize that having a guy who scored 18 points in 30 games on the third/fourth line (Panik), a 3C on pace for 47 points (Eller) and an elite penalty killer scoring at a 35 point pace (Hagelin) was considered bad depth. That's a third line with every guy capable of putting up a point every other game, which is definitely more than most third lines give you. Vrana would've scored 30 in a full season and I believe only one of those was on the power play. Yeah sure some guys are making a bit too much for a bit too long, but the contracts don't matter once we're on the ice. If they did matter, your Islanders would be screwed since you can't even afford your only dynamic player. You're clearly looking at this with the most negative viewpoint possible. Be objective and recognize the fact that this is a team still capable of doing some damage.

Didnt see any damage done in august. 8 goals in 5 games from the second highest scoring team in the reg season. Not saying its likely for them to miss the playoffs but dont expect them to still be alive in the second round. As for vrana i dont watch every caps game but doesnt he play on the 2nd line. Dont know for sure just thought thats how it was. As for barzal just because we didnt sign him yet doesnt mean we cant afford him. We also want to put out a team that could go far not bow out after 5 games.

I think the Caps still have some gas left in the tank. It’s not over yet for them.
-They have depth as mentioned above.
-They have experience.
-If everything clicks then they will pose a problem in the playoffs.
-The RTP failure could be a one off. Not the only team who didn’t perform. Heck the Blues lost to the Canucks.
-Thats why they play the games.
-I fully expect Washington to be competitive.
-In 1-2 years from now I think their window will be sealed closed and a rebuild will ensue.

So because the Caps didn't play well during the five games in which they came back after a five month layoff, that means they have nothing left in the tank? There's no excuse for how we played in the bubble, but overreacting to that and ignoring the 60+ game regular season is a mistake. Yes, Vrana is on the second line. The point is that you can't say a team with a 30 goal scorer on the second line and three potential 40 point players on the third line is bad depth. That makes up a better middle six than most teams have to offer.