some quality players = first round draft choice/Kuznetsov/Holtby going the other way
You have to ask yourself, even if such quality players were brought in, do you see this team competing with the likes of Tim Thomas and the Bruins or Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers come the playoffs. Because I don't.
This team has beaten Henrik Lundqvist twice in the playoffs.
And frankly, unless their level of play changes, nobody's competing with Thomas and the Bruins. But does that mean you give up and don't even bother trying?
I have no problem trading major futures if you're getting high-impact players in return. And assets like Kuznetsov and a high 1st don't get moved for rentals anymore, so those would be for someone with term.
It seems I'm one of the few that doesn't think the team is hopeless, or needs a major face lift.
A few moves and some confidence can turn it around.
Trade away the soft non-producers (Semin, Schultz, Hamrlik) and get an impact forward and top-4 defenseman and they'll be fine. A big acquisition could really give them a confidence boost.
They should have made these moves this past summer. Instead McPhee goes out and gets Ward, Hamrlik, Brower -- dumb, pointless moves that didn't address the teams pressing needs. Getting Vokun and Colorado's first rounder for Varly were nice, but the other moves were a big waste of time.
Yeah, Hamrlik pretty much set the tone for last night with that stupid play 9 seconds into the game. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, our guys right now do not have the mental makeup to overcome a blunder like that, especially in an away game. I just had the feeling that the game was done after the PP goal that came out of that mistake by Hamrlik.
Right now the way they will win away games is by weathering the storm early and slowly ramping up offensively as the game progress. The way they beat Ottawa early this month.
These guys don't have much confidence to overcome early debacles like that.
So once a Cap takes a penalty it is game over...?
At the minimum you expect your PK to kill off 4 out of 5 penalties a team takes. On that kill the Caps' PK parted like the Red Sea and gave up a layup.
But yeah how dare anyone take a penalty on this team...
Yeah I turn around from helping my kid and I see wideman defending a mini 2 on 1 on the pk skating with his chest to the goalie and 3 Caps up high. Never rewound it to see how it came to that but yeash...
I don't see how Ward and Brouwer were dumb, pointless moves, at all. Brouwer's a guy that actually brings the physicality on a regular basis, which the Caps sorely lacked, and provides enough offense to be a top-6 player. Ward's a solid two-way winger who can actually make up part of a shutdown line, and he elevates his game in the playoffs. GMGM overpaid for Ward, but it's not crippling by any means.
Why anyone would bash him for those two, I have no idea.
I think the people that don't like the Ward or Brouwer moves. Would not be saying a thing if the rest of the team was playing better. Its easy to dump on them when you only look at the score sheet.
They should have made these moves this past summer. Instead McPhee goes out and gets Ward, Hamrlik, Brower -- dumb, pointless moves that didn't address the teams pressing needs. Getting Vokun and Colorado's first rounder for Varly were nice, but the other moves were a big waste of time.
Uhh that's EXACTLY what we needed to get...
Some grit and hitting and a veteran defender.
Uhh that's EXACTLY what we needed to get...
Some grit and hitting and a veteran defender.
And exactly how many years do we go without addressing the 2nd line C?
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George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
And exactly how many years do we go without addressing the 2nd line C?
Oh I'm not denying that's what we need.
All I'm saying is those offseason additions were what we needed to add.
Whether they were the right players though, is debatable.
This is not a playoff team. Long season, but they really need to start getting some points.
But it isn't for lack of talent. The Hockey News picked them to win the cup going into this season. Every move McPhee made in the offseason was praised by the hockey media.
But without a doubt the results have not been there.
