welcome @All_Knowing

feel free to let other caps fans on here know about if you want to

Names of note: Hunter Shepard, Mike Sgarbossa, Mike Vecchione, Riley Sutter, Alex Alexeyev

When’s the time Alex will return.

I think i heard something about some time in November, but I'm unsure right now. I believe Capitals Prospects/jon_m_sorenson on twitter had something on it a while back.

Thanks for including me!

Anyone know if the game tonight is going to be streamed anywhere?

Yes your here. Happy to have you. Tag more caps fans in this so we can get the thread going. Anyways. That’s a great question. Nova do you know?

I was so close.

Sorry, wasnt online to tell you but it was going to be on the caps website. Should be the same location for tonight

Feels like these are the lines for the start of the year, only question is who the 3rd scratch is. My guess is Snively or Jonsson-Fjallby, but I could see Protas or Leason sneak in instead. Going 2 D scratches and 1 F scratch with this depth feels like a mistake, but oh well.

I think if Mcmichael doesn’t show up. Snively will replace him. I’m onboard with him going to Hershey, his only problem is his finishing. Advance stats are almost perfect and top 5 on the team. We need him to start finishing

If he isn't getting adequate minutes, that may be the best thing to do for him. I think he'll figure it out with Strome and Mantha, however.

Well, sh**.

Any thoughts on last night? Stand-outs (both negative / positive)?

I have been pretty tough on McMichael and last night, he played very well. Went in on board battles - scored a nice goal where he had to get open himself - had an assist - and had at least 3 very noticeable defensive plays / recoveries. Thought he had a nice outing.

I thought Ovi looked really determined - throwing his body around, shooting the puck, and honestly, looked quick. To go off that, I would say the same for Brown. Strome also looked great, imo. Jensen also impressed.

Thought Kuemper was very, very sharp. SO nice watching a goalie make above average saves...

I thought Borgstrom was not noticeable. I thought Protas, while didn't play bad, was somewhat unnoticeable / slow-ish as well.

As an extra thought, I thought the powerplay moved the puck really well. 2 opportunities (not including the 6on5) - thought they moved the puck fast and got good looks. That was missing last year - I felt like Kuzy or Backy would hold the puck skate around then pass it up to Carlson then try to force it over to Ovi. Last night, just seemed a little more energized.

For standouts, I'd point to Brown and Jensen especially looking good, Brown has seemingly made his final effort to secure 1RW over Protas and done it well, while Jensen just continues to prove how underrated he is. Also would give a shout to McMichael, who really stepped up when he needed to. Borgstrom and Protas, like you said, went unnoticed and I doubt either make the roster now after that game.

While I didn't Snively too much, he looked alright when I did see him, and the Johansen-Van RIemsdyk line looked like a legit 3rd pairing, unlike the "TvR drags Schultz around" song and dance we saw far too often last year.

Also agree on the Powerplay, even in the first couple games with Snively, Strome, and Brown on the PP it looked so much better than last year. I think some of it tonight had to do with Oshie being around (even though he went down before the end of the game), and part of it seemed to be the Capitals maybe finally feeling like they don't have to rest all their efforts on one player's shoulders. It seems Forsythe finally has enough faith in letting guys like Kuzy, and maybe the new depth of Strome and Brown, to not draw up the same "feed it to Ovi at all costs" and we may see the more balanced PP attack of old.

Happy for Snively and Protas, both of them excelled this preseason. But if it’s the end of AJF or Leason’s time in Washington, it’s a real shame.

It is a shame, I certainly agree. Especially losing AJF (imo, Leason was the odd man out). Losing both AJF and Leason is tough since those are 2 bottom 6 guys. When Alexeyev comes back, another decision will have to be made to avoid losing another to the waivers (either him or a forward).

It is a shame, but I was curious - what else could have been done (besides trading a veteran like MoJo or Eller, but that probably was never going to happen).

I'm not sure they could have done much except for maybe waiting to bring Protas up for when injuries inevitably occur, and keeping Leason/Jonsson-Fjallby up for the time being in his place. I think we'll see Protas get sent down in favor of Alexeyev when he returns as Protas will still be exempt, though it wouldn't shock me if the Caps risked sending Alexeyev down mid-season.

Completely my thought as well. I could see Irwin getting sent down for Alexeyev (highly doubt Irwin gets taken in waivers) and then when Wilson gets back, send Protas down.

Not sure the caps will do that because Irwin does provide a sort of confidence as the 7th d man, but we shall see. I would hate to see Alexeyev get taken. That would be worse than AJF or Leason.

Was the mojo sent to the minors thing a mistake?

Fairly certain that yes, it was a mistake. No notification from Friedman, Pell, Caps themselves, or anyone else probably means its a eff up(unfortunately)

Ngl. I hope we keep eller. He is still one of the top 3c in the league I think. His production was the same as it always was last year and he played 10 less games than he always does. If he gets moved to winger when Wilson is back which affects Mikey, that is fine

I wanna see your guys list for the caps

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3703451

Hate it for McMichael, love it for Protas. That second line is going to be a Bi*** to play against, and hopefully McM can unseat MoJo for the 3LW spot soon.

Game day!