The way drafts go now most GMs are dying for any 1st round picks when at the table.
Ultimately, we can fall back on FA. It's a huge class and we'd have a ton of cap space. Perry, Clowe, Kostitsyn, Ryder, Weiss, Horton, Penner, Roy, Zubrus, Weiss, Higgins/Jones/Cleary/Dupuis/NystromTorres/Clarkson/Antro/Poni/Richardson/Morrow for 3rd line depth. On defense Timonen, Scuderi, Streit, Smid, Regehr, Whitney, Lydman, Roszival, Ference, your favorite Leopold and Murray/Fistric for bottom pairing grit specialists. Backstrom, Nabokov, Howard, Smith as veterans on goal.
The ones in bold I think have legitimate chances to get on the roster and succeed haha. The goalies are borderline starters in the sense as I don't want them to hurt Neuvirth/Holtby's chance of staying with the starting job and Nabokov might be too shakey as a backup.
Leopold and Clowe are dark horses. Smid is actually a decent defenseman. I would love to have Ryane Clowe on our team but I doubt he won't be resigned but he would fit nicely.
In my mind you shoot for Ryder, Leopold, and Clowe. I think Kundratek will be better with an improved season and while though Smid could be solid, he might ask for too much.
If we're lucky we'll end up with Leopold and Clowe. Clowe is a 2nd liner in San Jose with Havlat and Couture. That line is doing mad business right now. Ryder is okay but I would prefer Clowe over him any day.
Last edited by I Am Score*: 01-25-2013 at 04:58 PM.
Based on what...? He's lighting up the SM-Liiga right now..
You do realize how old he is right?
He would be 18 and 1 month if he cracked an NHL roster.
Galchenyuk, for reference, was taken third overall and only made the roster arguably because it's Montreal. He has arguably more talent than Barkov and was almost 19 when he played his first NHL game.
Unless we see another lockout (just kidding) I wouldn't count on Barkov playing next year.
The ones in bold I think have legitimate chances to get on the roster and succeed haha. The goalies are borderline starters in the sense as I don't want them to hurt Neuvirth/Holtby's chance of staying with the starting job and Nabokov might be too shakey as a backup.
Leopold and Clowe are dark horses. Smid is actually a decent defenseman. I would love to have Ryane Clowe on our team but I doubt he won't be resigned but he would fit nicely.
In my mind you shoot for Ryder, Leopold, and Clowe. I think Kundratek will be better with an improved season and while though Smid could be solid, he might ask for too much.
If we're lucky we'll end up with Leopold and Clowe. Clowe is a 2nd liner in San Jose with Havlat and Couture. That line is doing mad business right now. Ryder is okay but I would prefer Clowe over him any day.
Nabokov is still a legit starter, possibly top 20 in the league. Howard is a more than legit starter. Backstrom is a quality starter if not worldbeater as well.
Clowe is a must have if we make a play for Perry, which I think he should. I believe both are gonna at least test the open market. You need a good fighter on Perry's line to protect him and his linemates from all the **** he starts, and Clowe is the best top 6 caliber fighter around. There are no words to describe how dominant Clowe-Backstrom-Perry would be. Clowe-Backstrom-Ryder would be pretty good as well. All we need then is to put Ovechkin with guys who can let him play his game effectively and a lab-made 3rd and 4th lines tailored to a fast, defensive and physical game. Enter Clutterbuck, Winnik, Zubrus, Torres and whoever.
Smid would ask for too much but you need to bite the bullet sometimes. He represents an answer to a problem that has persisted far too long.
I wouldn't want Kundratek above a 7D next year. Let him work his way up.
Perry @ 8, Clowe @ 5 and Smid @ 4.75. There's worse ways to waste cap space. Like our bottom 6 and all our defense beyond Alzner, Carlson and Orlov.
He would be 18 and 1 month if he cracked an NHL roster.
Galchenyuk, for reference, was taken third overall and only made the roster arguably because it's Montreal. He has arguably more talent than Barkov and was almost 19 when he played his first NHL game.
Unless we see another lockout (just kidding) I wouldn't count on Barkov playing next year.
Because age is everything when determining if someone is NHL ready....
Barkov is already in his 2nd season in the SM-Liiga. He might be young but he's bigger than almost half the Caps current roster! Unless he just can't handle the speed of the NHL I can't see why he isn't at least close to NHL ready.
[QUOTE=Halpysback;58330189]Nabokov is still a legit starter, possibly top 20 in the league. Howard is a more than legit starter. Backstrom is a quality starter if not worldbeater as well.
QUOTE]
Haha that's exactly why I don't want them.
If GMGM suddenly feels Backstrom or Howard is a more viable starter than the guy we just payed bank on we're screwed.
I feel Perry and Getzlaf will be resigned though.
I still think Nick Backstrom is a top center. Ribs skates like a bender sometimes.
Because age is everything when determining if someone is NHL ready....
Barkov is already in his 2nd season in the SM-Liiga. He might be young but he's bigger than almost half the Caps current roster! Unless he just can't handle the speed of the NHL I can't see why he isn't at least close to NHL ready.
I'm willing to bet money that he won't start next season.
Where would you put him? Forsberg was 18 since last August and wasn't even considered to be on the NHL roster just yet and he won a gold medal in the WJC and almost won another this year.
If USA didn't have a stellar team this year Sweden likely would've won again. That's two gold medals.
i'd rather have mike green than jay bouwmeester anyday. green was good in the playoffs last season. it looks like his legs are back to normal this season.
the main complaint of green is his playoff performance. bouwmeester has never played in a single playoff game.
The main complaint of Mike Green is that he can't stay healthy. The secondary complaint is that his offense has completely disappeared. The third complaint is that he sucks in the playoffs.
He did have a pretty good playoffs last season. He played a Brad Stuart like game. Too bad we're paying him $2.5 million more than Brad Stuart.
I'm willing to bet money that he won't start next season.
Where would you put him? Forsberg was 18 since last August and wasn't even considered to be on the NHL roster just yet and he won a gold medal in the WJC and almost won another this year.
If USA didn't have a stellar team this year Sweden likely would've won again. That's two gold medals.
Filip Forsberg is listed as 6'1" and 188 lbs and is still playing in the second-tier Swedish league as far as I can tell
Aleksander Barkov is listed as 6'3" and 205 lbs and is playing in the top-tier Finnish league and has been there since fall 2011
The main complaint of Mike Green is that he can't stay healthy. The secondary complaint is that his offense has completely disappeared. The third complaint is that he sucks in the playoffs.
He did have a pretty good playoffs last season. He played a Brad Stuart like game. Too bad we're paying him $2.5 million more than Brad Stuart.
ok...i'll give you this much. trading green means the green hate/whining will stop like the semin complaining has. thats good. bouwmeester will be a fine candidate to pick that goat mantle up and run with it
Forsberg is also touted as one of the better European prospects in awhile.
What's your point????
Listen, Barkov is the BEST Finnish prospect since Selanne, and if not for WJC, he could have had somewhat legit chance to win the whole scoring in the league, as a damn 17-year old! At the moment he is 11th in scoring in the whole league, and his overall play is just so ready right now, and he is the most important skater in his team too (which is in the 2nd place now). So, I am quite confident that whichever team gets him that he will be playing in NHL next October.
Listen, Barkov is the BEST Finnish prospect since Selanne, and if not for WJC, he could have had somewhat legit chance to win the whole scoring in the league, as a damn 17-year old! At the moment he is 11th in scoring in the whole league, and his overall play is just so ready right now, and he is the most important skater in his team too (which is in the 2nd place now). So, I am quite confident that whichever team gets him that he will be playing in NHL next October.
Just that Barkov could be more NHL ready than Forsberg, despite being younger
Agreed. While the debate regarding which of the two will become the best player eventually, there's no doubt that Barkov is more NHL ready than Forsberg.
The Finnish league has become really competitive and surprisingly physical, especially over the last 5 years. Barkov has been very productive in a physical environment and could in my opinion be the most NHL ready prospect in the entire 2013 draft, at least physically.
The biggest question mark isn't really if he can handle the physicality of the NHL, nor the speed, but rather what production that can be expected from him playing with much more skilled forwards than those in Tappara.
Yes. I am finnish, and I have been following our domestic league for 20something years, and Barkov really stands above all other skaters since Selanne, no doubt about it.
How bad did the Caps eff up at 2003 lol. I just realized this, wow.
The players taken after Eric Fehr at #18:
Ryan Getzlaf
Corey Perry
Ryan Kesler
Mike Richards
Loui Eriksson
Patrice Bergeron
Shea Weber
David Backes
20/20
I believe at the time Fehr with his size and shot was coming off back to back 50 goal seasons in Jrs he was projected to be a decent scoring winger at the time if I remember correctly
ok...i'll give you this much. trading green means the green hate/whining will stop like the semin complaining has. thats good. bouwmeester will be a fine candidate to pick that goat mantle up and run with it
Yes for me too. Barkov is absolutely ridiculous. So polished and talent for days, the only knock on him to be found, really, is that as a growing youth, his skating can get kind of clunky. Not necessarily bad, just not as top end as it can be, and given his talent, I don't doubt that when he stops growing he'll find his stride. I personally value him above the top of last year's class.
I believe at the time Fehr with his size and shot was coming off back to back 50 goal seasons in Jrs he was projected to be a decent scoring winger at the time if I remember correctly
He was not even a PPG when drafted. His 50 goal season cam the following two years. He was a good player. Health problems and skating really hurt him.
