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Forums/Armchair-GM

My thoughts

Created by: qc14
Team: 2022-23 Washington Capitals
Initial Creation Date: Jul. 13, 2022
Published: Jul. 13, 2022
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Description
I think the Caps are probably done for the day after the Brown trade. There could still be a larger move coming later in the offseason once they get more clarity on Backstrom and Hagelin's status, but for now I will assume this is the roster.

I get people being slightly underwhelmed with the dreams of Gaudreau or Kadri with Backstrom out the entire year, but this was another A+ day from MacLellan. The difference between Kuemper -- a top 5 goalie in the league the past 3 years -- and Samsonov/Vanacek is much larger than a lot of people realize imo. Connor Brown is another great pickup, who is a legitimate top 6 winger with good underlying numbers at a very good cap hit and only cost a future second. Gustafsson is a perfectly fine 6/7d and worst case scenario they bury him completely in Hershey.

Is this team the truly elite president's trophy contender that it was from ~2014-2019? Not at all. But, the defense and goaltending is sneakily very good, and Brown gives the forward group just enough to not be completely terrible until Wilson gets back, especially if McMichael takes the step a lot of us think he can. It won't be quite the cakewalk to a playoff spot it was last year when they were basically in by Thanksgiving, but do I think three of Pittsburgh, Boston, NYI, OTT, NJ, DET, BUF are definitively better than this team? Absolutely not. If things do come off the rails, they have a lot of very good expiring assets to move at the deadline, and the long contract for Kuemper doesn't really matter as they truly will be horrible years 3-5 anyways.

A long way of saying people should be a lot more optimistic about this team, and give MacLellan the credit he is due for continuing to be one of the best GMs in the league.
Trades
OTT
  1. 2024 2nd round pick (WSH)
DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
2023
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Logo of the WSH
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2024
Logo of the WSH
Logo of the WSH
Logo of the WSH
Logo of the WSH
Logo of the WSH
Logo of the WSH
2025
Logo of the WSH
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ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
23$82,500,000$63,940,000$100,000$132,500$18,560,000
Left WingCentreRight Wing
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$9,500,000$9,500,000
LW
M-NTC, NMC
UFA - 4
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$3,900,000$3,900,000
C
M-NTC
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,500,000$1,500,000
LW, RW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Ottawa Senators
$3,600,000$3,600,000
RW, LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$863,333$863,333
LW, C
RFA - 2
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,850,000$2,850,000
LW, RW
UFA - 2
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$800,000$800,000
LW
UFA - 2
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,415,000$2,415,000
C
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$5,750,000$5,750,000
RW
M-NTC
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$750,000$750,000
LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,300,000$1,300,000
C
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,500,000$1,500,000
RW, LW
UFA - 1
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$791,667$791,667
LD/RD
RFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$8,000,000$8,000,000
RD
M-NTC
UFA - 4
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$5,250,000$5,250,000
G
M-NTC
UFA - 5
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,275,000$1,275,000
LD
M-NTC
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,500,000$2,500,000
RD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$1,100,000$1,100,000
G
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$800,000$800,000
LD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$950,000$950,000
RD
UFA - 1
ScratchesInjured Reserve (IR)Long Term IR (LTIR)
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$762,500$762,500
LD
RFA - 2
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$863,333$863,333
LD/RD
RFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$2,750,000$2,750,000
LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$863,333$863,333 (Performance Bonus$50,000$50K)
C
RFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$5,166,667$5,166,667
RW
M-NTC
UFA - 2
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$9,200,000$9,200,000
C
NMC
UFA - 3
Logo of the Washington Capitals
$789,167$789,167 (Performance Bonus$82,500$82K)
RW, LW, C
UFA - 2

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Jul. 13, 2022 at 11:15 p.m.
#1
Typical Caps Fan
Avatar of the user
Joined: Oct. 2018
Posts: 702
Likes: 346
"and the long contract for Kuemper doesn't really matter as they truly will be horrible years 3-5 anyways."

Uh, well that means we have 2 seasons to win another cup or we are done for the foreseeable future. If what you say is true, these moves are not enough. What are we now? Maybe wildcard #2 again and first round bounce fodder?

Why not go for a big move, if we're still in win now. What's the point of doing these medium moves just to get bounced in round 1 again?
Jul. 14, 2022 at 8:03 a.m.
#2
Thread Starter
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Joined: Sep. 2020
Posts: 3,236
Likes: 1,852
Quoting: Kylonetic8
"and the long contract for Kuemper doesn't really matter as they truly will be horrible years 3-5 anyways."

Uh, well that means we have 2 seasons to win another cup or we are done for the foreseeable future. If what you say is true, these moves are not enough. What are we now? Maybe wildcard #2 again and first round bounce fodder?

Why not go for a big move, if we're still in win now. What's the point of doing these medium moves just to get bounced in round 1 again?


I mean I see Kuemper as a pretty big move, and Brown as an underrated move at a pretty low cost. Unfortunately, their hands are tied with Backstrom wanting to come back this season. If they had more clarity on his status then yea I'm sure they would've gone for Gaudreau or Kadri but they really can't add a big name without some salary going out, and I don't know who that would be. Miller is still the only guy through trade that makes sense to me, but I don't see a trade like that happening until later in the offseason when Backstrom and Hagelin's status are better known.

More broadly though, I disagree with the maximal efficiency tanking view that if you're not going to be an elite team you're better off selling everything and being terrible. Being a fan of a tanking team sucks. It's not fun to watch, it makes every big event except draft day boring, and there is no guarantee it actually works. Detroit has been tanking for 5 years and they still probably won't make the playoffs this year! This team will fight for a wildcard or third in the division, and I'm perfectly fine with that. It should be fun to watch them battle for the playoffs and continue to watch Ovi's chase.
 
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