It will be interesting to see what kind of production the Caps will get from a fully healthy Eric Fehr. The shoulder injuries may have really derailed his development and he could possibly be a late bloomer and good signing for Washington
Wild and possibly mildly retarded idea: Sign Gomez for league min.
Any takers?
I'd take him. He can still skate, is responsible defensively, and (if the numbers are to be believed) is pretty good at driving possession. As long as you're not expecting him to score I feel like anyone who signs him will be pleasantly surprised with what they get.
I'd take him. He can still skate, is responsible defensively, and (if the numbers are to be believed) is pretty good at driving possession. As long as you're not expecting him to score I feel like anyone who signs him will be pleasantly surprised with what they get.
Still a force on the PK, too.
He's going to go for more than the league minimum, and I'd guess for multiple years as well.
Phoenix seems like a great fit for Gomez. If he's smart he'd go there for a year and see if he can't rebuild his stock. Anaheim, Chicago or Vancouver wouldn't be bad fits either.
But, yeah, I'd take him as 3C driving possession for the right price.
We make Holmgren look like a prospect hoarder but thats like 3 cups right there. Then trade Green in the offseason for like 8 2nd rounders with Orlov taking his role and quietly get the farm back on track
Last edited by Halpysback: 01-17-2013 at 02:03 AM.
Looking at Cap Geek, the Caps currently have 5 forwards that are playing for their next contract this season (Ribeiro, Wolski, Fehr, Hendricks and Crabb) along with 4 defenseman playing for their next contract (Hamrlik, Poti, Erskine, Hillen).
I would think Orlov and possibly Schilling joining the defense ranks next season and perhaps Wey the year after. The 4 that I listed, their play this season will certainly dictate whether to resign them for next year, but right now not overly enthusiastic about seeing any of them in a Caps sweater next season, though we definitely will need to have an experience d-man added to Orlov and Schilling for next year.
Regards to the forwards, the Forsberg/Kuznetsov watch will certainly play a role regarding the roster changes for the next two years. I can't imagine Wilson cracking the line up until probably 2014. Again the play of the listed 5 will have a lot to say.
That's 9 roster positions that will be in play, that's a good number of possible changes occurring to this team in the next 8 to 9 months.
Obviously it has to be overpayment for other teams to consider. This is the price for putting 3 excellent forwards that do not need to be upgraded at their positions and have a game that translates well to the playoffs, as well as finally plugging the hole next to Mike Green. Plus these players would be here for a long time, it's not just selling for vets. The positions they occupy won't need to be filled with other players for the duration of their contract/their next contracts should they be resigned, so the #1 drawback to not having prospects is eliminated. Ultimately it's the price for having that type of roster at the same point in time. Imagine if we had present Carlzner in 2009 when going up against the Pens. It's the same idea.
You may disagree but from what I've seen of Benn once he's done developing he'll be a Toews/Kopitar clone. The three will essentially be 3 different shades of the same player - PPG center with great defense, good physical game and playoff intangibles and whatnot. I think Toews will be the best at defense in terms of faceoffs/pure shutdown ability, Kopitar will be the most talented offensively (though not by much more than the others), and Benn will be the most physical. Benn would also be best at playing wing of all three since that's where he started out. Right now he's a significantly better player than Johansson, especially when physical and defensive play is considered (ie the playoffs), and even if Johansson catches up and Forsberg impresses I think Benn overall will still be better than both combined. O'Reilly would also be a gamebreaker for us, dude makes Parise look like a lazy mofo.
Also, I'm not sure how you can say Kuznetsov>Ryan. I'm guessing you're only looking at Kuznetsov after he pans out fully, in which case he's an 80-90 point player to Ryan's 70 points. Did you consider the fact that Ryan is one of the most consistent scorers in the league (one of only like 5 players to get 30 goals each year since he was in the league). Did you consider the fact that Ryan plays a much more physical style than Kuznetsov, and probably better defensively (though I'm willing to call it a wash). Did you also consider that Ryan would be here for the next 2 years, contributing to cup runs while Kuznetsov would not? And that it would probably take Kuznetsov at least 2 more years to get up to speed to be on the same level as Ryan.
Last edited by Halpysback: 01-17-2013 at 11:37 AM.
Maybe talent wise. Until Kuznetsov comes to the NHL and shows the consistency to score the way Ryan does,that won't be true.
I do agree that's too much for Benn. His value is someone like Carlson. Though I wouldn't do that trade.
You wouldn't do Forsberg and Johansson for Carlson if we badly needed a Carlson?
Though I think Benn will be a step above in their respective positions. Much, much better hockey IQ and more physical as well. If Alzner was an all situations D and stockier that would be the best comparison.
any chance that the caps trade 7 roster players and their top recent draft picks? no. next?
You wouldn't do it for Crosby?
Holmgren does it all the time and they've generally been ahead of the curve, ahead of us as well. I'd say it all depends on whether it improves your team or not. You can argue about whether the team is better or worse, or if the total annihilation of the farm overshadows essentially having every roster spot cemented and plated in gold. I don't see how throwing it out on the principle of more than x roster players and more than y recent picks is valid.
But no, we should hoard those roster players. They'd been so successful for us after all.
