Lundkvist is the most direct comp for me. Late first round pick that quickly impressed in D+1 and D+2 years, had very strong underlying numbers but not hugely impressive boxcars in very limited NHL minutes, doesn't really claim a spot for himself, but also stuck behind deep organizational depth.

I would prefer to move McM as part of a package for immediate win-now help at forward (praying every night for a Meier trade) rather than just a first, but would say that McM is probably worth around a 1st from a lower end playoff team.

Fair on both of those points. Suzadelev could definitely challenge Stevenson for one of my top 5 spots, but I want to see a bit more of him before I officially put him in there. Same goes for Ludwig Persson, who I failed to mention in HM but is still an interesting prospect.

If I remember, I'll update this mid-year, when we've gotten more data on Hendrix and Iorio in the AHL, Miro getting back to the VHL/KHL, Persson and Suzadelev getting more playing time, and Gibson+Stevenson getting their seasons underway. I will say, this is the most excited I've been about the Caps prospect pool in a decent amount of time, and it's a lot better than the days of hoping Aaron Volpatti, Connor Carrick, Steve Oleksy, Stanislav Galiev, or Riley Barber will end up doing something interesting at the NHL level.

Man I remember people being really upset that we had to give up Carrick to get out of Laich's contract. Those names are a large part of the reason I have no time for people getting upset about losing AJF and Leason -- Barber put up 55 points in Hershey as a rookie and has only gotten into 16 NHL games his entire career.

i have a feeling holtby will sign a one day contract with the caps and retire a cap very soon. like in the next year

thoughts on this base trade. we would add . but it would be


holtz for mcm

to quote from a person from RMNB

"This has long been my theory. There's a core of this team (Ovi//Backy/Carlson/Wilson/Oshie/Kuzy) that have been together forever and essentially run the club, are untouchable and know it. None of these guys have spent a minute worrying about their playing time or role on the team and the coaches are scared of crossing them.

Not saying it makes them lazy - and many are hard workers - but there's just no sense of urgency to this team and I think in addition to the age factor this is why."

we need bedard ngl. are generational talent is to old now.

Curious to see peoples thoughts on last nights game. I missed first half but caught the last half.

It looked to me just another "no urgency" kinda game by the Caps. You would think they would have their legs in this one with having 2 days rest compared to Stars who have played 3 games in 4 days but guess not. Tough one for Ovi also - good opportunities, but puck luck seems to be missing him right now. A few mishandles on some open looks, some missed placed shots, 2 posts - just tough. We all know they will start falling, and he will get his goals eventually, but I hope for everyone's sake, it happens soon.

Top guys need to show up more. Cannot rely on Sheary, Dowd, and I guess Mantha every game. Oshie, Kuzy, Carlson (of course), Ovi (although he has created chances) need to be better.

Also, curious to hear people's thoughts about the short-handed goal. To me, yes everyone will blame Carlson, and yes he should be blamed. But lets not forget about Kuzy. It was a total lazy, mis-communication play between the two so BOTH should be blamed. And maybe blame the slingshot too lol...

But yes, as I didn't watch all of it, and would love to hear from others. How was the game in your opinion, should we be worried (scale of 1 through 10), what needs to change (if anything), etc etc

i fell asleep before the game started

This felt like a game the Caps have grown all to accustomed to, like I was watching the January-February stretch of last year. Felt like the whole team has recently woken up from a long nap and we’re incredibly sluggish as a result. Something feels off about the team as a whole (and the NHL season in general), so while it’s not time to panic yet, being only 8 games into the season and right at .500, it is a bit concerning. While they haven’t started nearly as poorly as the 2004 team, I wonder if things may continue to trend in a bad direction, if the team goes the 2004 route and blows it all up. Granted, I wasn’t alive until a few months after the Caps drafted Ovi in 2004, but talking to people who were around at the time, it starts to feel like some of the play now is reminiscent of that season.

Ignore

i dont care how bad the contract is. karlsson for carlson swap is what i want. make them retain i dont care. make a statement to the lockeroom that nobody is safe. start playing hockey

It is definitely true that is the core and has been for a long time. It is also definitely true that all of those guys either due to injury or poor form have not contributed much this year. However this isn't 2009 or 2016 and I would have hoped we are beyond the lazy/don't want it/untouchable/uncoachable discourse. Kuzy has been demoted to PP2, him and Ovi have been split up quite a lot, Oshie has played on the third line for a lot of the year. The lines are being changed up regularly.

A much simpler explanation I think is that they simply are old and (mostly) no longer elite players anymore. They can all still be very good players on a good team, but the problem is that there is no one at the top of the roster providing that spark that any good team needs to be successful. Ovi, Kuzy, Carlson, and Wilson all did it last year, especially in the first half when so many guys were out injured or with COVID, and there's still plenty of time to turn it around and be those players again. Equating that not happening with being lazy or too comfortable is disingenuous and the exact kind of bs caps fans have been fighting against from the Canadian media for years.

do you think a coaching change could iginte a spark

Maybe? I don't think that they aren't playing hard for Lav or that he's "lost the room" or whatever, but I do think his systems seem to not be quite as effective as the past two years. The big problem is that I don't really know who would replace him. I know a lot of people want Halperin or Carberry and I think those guys are definitely good shouts, but going with a rookie is always risky as we well know from the Rierden years. Bring Bruce back if/when VAN finally moves on?

I will keep beating this drum but I think if they still want to be competitive this year (which I think they correctly still want do), they need to make a big trade for an elite forward that can take some of the pressure of Ovi and Kuz and shift everyone else down a role into matchups they can dominate. Especially with reports that SJ is listening to offers on anyone, Meier or Hertl would be dreams for me. Convincing Kane to leave CHI would also be a massive boost. VAN clearly is willing to shake it up in some way, but Miller/Boeser/Horvat/Garland don't get me quite as excited.

i think we do everything possible and bring back trotz

need your honest opionon on this

Karlsson, Erik ($2,000,000 retained)
Meier, Timo
2023 2nd round pick (SJS)
SJS
Carlson, John
McMichael, Connor
2023 1st round pick (WSH)

do we take away pieces do they add a soild prospect. what would this trade look like

With how his time ended I honestly think neither side would ever want to get back together. Would totally be on board if it were a possibility though

is my proposal that bad of that trade

No but once again I am a big Carlson defender so I would definitely take out the Carlson/Karlsson swap. I am totally fine with trying to get Karlsson but I think the point of any big move would be to add not just change things up. Would be tough cap-wise and almost certainly couldn't add both this year, but I would either go for Karlsson or Meier and only give up futures. Make the team as good as possible -- taking away (an admittedly underperforming) #1D won't help us improve.

i think adding both is making the best team possible and karlsson is one of the best defenders of all time. at one time the best player in the world and he is showing us that again

@NovaSpartan

you made it on washington hockey now
https://washingtonhockeynow.com/washington-capitals-mailbag-ovechkin-injuries-mcmichael-hot-seat/

Oh nice!

love how we are getting looks, great transistion game and we are getting pucks on net. enter the zone well


mantha our best player so far

love how job b just destorys craig every game, its so funny