Team: 2024-25 Washington Capitals

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 8, 2024

Published: Feb. 8, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I had a whole thing written to explain this but didn't realize I had to save it first before I published... ugh. Here's take 2.

I want to start by saying I'm not endorsing this course, I just want to throw it out there for discussion. Obviously, the best thing for the Caps to do right now would be to do a full-on rebuild, but that's not going to happen while Ovie's chasing Gretzky. The way I see it, there's three ways the Caps can play this.

1) Stay the course. Keep cycling through UFAs to fill holes while slowly incorporating prospects. The problem is that with no playmaking talent left on the team and no offensive depth Ovie's scoring is drying up. Continuing this way jeopardizes the chase to 894 and the declining attendance and viewership shows the fans don't like it.

2) Go all-in. Sell the farm for the pieces to get the team back to being a real contender, which should get Ovie back on track in the process. With the UFA market for this summer looking like hot garbage this would have to be done primarily through trades, and it would gut the farm system. This doesn't feel likely to me, but who knows.

3) Build the team around the chase. Trade for players with low to negative value due to bad contracts and poor defense but who can still contribute offensively, then staple them to Ovie and tell them their first priority is getting him to 894. The upside is you help Ovie without selling the farm - in fact you probably grow the farm because the other teams would be adding futures if the contracts are bad enough. The catch is that these guys will still be here years after Ovie is gone and could interfere with the opening of the next window.

This ACGM is a potential framework for option 3. I don't see this roster being a whole lot better than the current one, but I think it could get Ovie back on track and at the very least lose in more entertaining fashion. So what do you guys think, is this strategy worth the salary cap headaches it'd cause down the road? If not PLD and Huberdeau, what other players could fit with a plan like this?

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