East semis
- Thread starter The Napkin
- Start date
Indeed they are. How do you like that?
I expected more out of the Rangers but am delighted they didn't produce it.
Kolzig has had a great series, but he's going to need to continue standing on his head tonight if the Caps are going to break on through to the other side. However, if Messier and Coffey finally show up for the Oilers, they'll be dancing in the streets of Edmonton tonight.
If the Caps need Kolzig to stand on his head, they truly are cursed. But if the Penguins can get playoff saves from Darren McCord, I guess anything is possible.
As is often the case in sports, after laying an egg in game 6, Fleury is in a zone tonight, he looks unbeatable through two periods.
Caps got unlucky this series. Can't imagine there aren't changes though. They can't keep banging their head against the wall.
Slava Malamud has a few comments on Ovechkin and Leonsis - all 18 tweets in spoilers
1/ #Caps problems extend beyond a bad def pair, an underperforming goalie. The failure is endemic and systematic. It’s the result of choices
2/ fanboy owner Leonsis made in 2004 when he decided his business model would be not building a winner but servicing a marketable megastar.
3/ There’s nothing wrong with building a team around a star, but it has to be the right kind of star. Ovi just isn’t the “win first” type.
4/ I’ve known Ovi since he was 17. Kid was born with a silverware set in his mouth. Always told he is the greatest, teammates must be worthy
5/ but his demands on himself stay the same. He’s not the bloodied inspirational leader. He is the tousled-hair sexy charismatic ruffian.
6/ Yes, he’s the NHL’s favorite stripper who’s been giving the hockey world a lap dance for 13 years. Sorry, but the length of your erection
7/ hockey world, is unhealthy by now. You need to face the truth: the Caps personality-cult culture is counterproductive to winning the cup.
8/ Fueled by innumerable fanboy blogs and media whipped into terrified subservience by CapsPR, the culture feeds on self, kills all dissent,
9/ and spurns all criticism. You know, Caps fans, that despite all the issues Oates and Hunter had, your main problem w/ them was trying to
10/ turn Ovi into a man of the system. You hate that. You want your boy toy wild and free. Everyone wants this of Ovi, even RUS coaches.
11/ Compare this to Crosby who will take any role on CAN w/o complaint. You call 87 a whiner, but who whined the loudest during the lockout,
12/ threatening to stay in the KHL? Who whines now, threatening to leave the league to get an Olympic trinket? While Leonsis bends over
13/ backwards to satisfy all his ridiculous demands. This is a guy who looks out for himself and his public image (Wild and Sexy Rebel,
14/ Patriot of Motherland). His only interest in the Cup is how his reflection will look in it. Problem is, Leonsis has the same priorities.
15/ He has dissolved himself and the team in Ovechkin’s 13-year-long marketing campaign. It worked out great financially. The price to pay
16/ is being humiliated every year by real winners. Congrats, Caps, you've sold lots of t-shirts. Congrats, Caps fans, you've been had.
17/ Oh, and that sound you’ve just heard is your window of opportunity slamming shut. I hope this wild ride on the Charisma Train was fun.
18/ Rant out. Enjoy your Redskins mini camp.
2/ fanboy owner Leonsis made in 2004 when he decided his business model would be not building a winner but servicing a marketable megastar.
3/ There’s nothing wrong with building a team around a star, but it has to be the right kind of star. Ovi just isn’t the “win first” type.
4/ I’ve known Ovi since he was 17. Kid was born with a silverware set in his mouth. Always told he is the greatest, teammates must be worthy
5/ but his demands on himself stay the same. He’s not the bloodied inspirational leader. He is the tousled-hair sexy charismatic ruffian.
6/ Yes, he’s the NHL’s favorite stripper who’s been giving the hockey world a lap dance for 13 years. Sorry, but the length of your erection
7/ hockey world, is unhealthy by now. You need to face the truth: the Caps personality-cult culture is counterproductive to winning the cup.
8/ Fueled by innumerable fanboy blogs and media whipped into terrified subservience by CapsPR, the culture feeds on self, kills all dissent,
9/ and spurns all criticism. You know, Caps fans, that despite all the issues Oates and Hunter had, your main problem w/ them was trying to
10/ turn Ovi into a man of the system. You hate that. You want your boy toy wild and free. Everyone wants this of Ovi, even RUS coaches.
11/ Compare this to Crosby who will take any role on CAN w/o complaint. You call 87 a whiner, but who whined the loudest during the lockout,
12/ threatening to stay in the KHL? Who whines now, threatening to leave the league to get an Olympic trinket? While Leonsis bends over
13/ backwards to satisfy all his ridiculous demands. This is a guy who looks out for himself and his public image (Wild and Sexy Rebel,
14/ Patriot of Motherland). His only interest in the Cup is how his reflection will look in it. Problem is, Leonsis has the same priorities.
15/ He has dissolved himself and the team in Ovechkin’s 13-year-long marketing campaign. It worked out great financially. The price to pay
16/ is being humiliated every year by real winners. Congrats, Caps, you've sold lots of t-shirts. Congrats, Caps fans, you've been had.
17/ Oh, and that sound you’ve just heard is your window of opportunity slamming shut. I hope this wild ride on the Charisma Train was fun.
18/ Rant out. Enjoy your Redskins mini camp.
I read the "Wild and Sexy Rebel, Patriot of The Motherland" part in Fred Toucher's Jagr Russian accent.
That was an awesome rant. Two teams, the Caps and the Rangers, might look a lot different next year. The window to win a Cup around Lundqvist is shutting fast. He's 35 and is not capable of carrying a team through the playoffs anymore.
Lundqvist had a .927 save percentage this postseason. He is certainly still capable of carrying a team. I think in some ways he's been so good that it's disillusioned the Rangers FO into thinking the team in front of him is better than they really are. The truth is they've sucked for years. Their D corp is bottom 5 in the league in my opinion and they've wasted years without addressing the problem. No real end in sight with the Girardi and Staal contracts.
As for Ovechkin and the Caps....I don't know where they go. I don't think this series, or any of their previous post season failures fall on him. This series was a combination of some bad luck and an uncharacteristically poor performance from Braden Holtby. They were the better team for stretches of the series but just couldn't take advantage. Trotz non-calling out, but calling out of Ovechkin last night is the first time anyone in the organization has done so. It feels like this series might be the straw that broke the camels back in DC. They've been at it with this core for a decade now. I'm not sure what the appetite is for the Caps to let this group take another run. It's probably the wise play, but again, it's been a decade of the this. Something has to give at some point.
As for Ovechkin and the Caps....I don't know where they go. I don't think this series, or any of their previous post season failures fall on him. This series was a combination of some bad luck and an uncharacteristically poor performance from Braden Holtby. They were the better team for stretches of the series but just couldn't take advantage. Trotz non-calling out, but calling out of Ovechkin last night is the first time anyone in the organization has done so. It feels like this series might be the straw that broke the camels back in DC. They've been at it with this core for a decade now. I'm not sure what the appetite is for the Caps to let this group take another run. It's probably the wise play, but again, it's been a decade of the this. Something has to give at some point.
Yup, might be time to blow it up in DC. Too bad, they just can't get over the Penguins hump, in some ways like the Bruins inability to get over the Canadiens hump in the 1970's, although outside of 1971, those 70's Canadiens were a better team than the Bruins. Not so sure in 1979, but 0-4 is still 0-4.
Hockey is a funny game, the Capitals won big in Pittsburg in game 6, but couldn't carry that momentum into game 7, I thought for sure after coming back from the dead at 3-1 and tying the series at 3-3 they'd pull it off, but it wasn't meant to be.
As great as the NHL playoffs are, it's a head scratcher as to how the two best teams in the conference end up meeting in the second round, I'm sure most of you guys have a much better understanding as to how the NHL playoffs work than I do, but it's a shame really.
Can the Senators give them a run? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
Comparing the hockey playoffs to the NBA playoffs, it's no contest as to which is more compelling; regarding the NBA, Cleveland/Golden State in the finals is a virtual lock, no drama or intrigue there.......................
Hockey is a funny game, the Capitals won big in Pittsburg in game 6, but couldn't carry that momentum into game 7, I thought for sure after coming back from the dead at 3-1 and tying the series at 3-3 they'd pull it off, but it wasn't meant to be.
As great as the NHL playoffs are, it's a head scratcher as to how the two best teams in the conference end up meeting in the second round, I'm sure most of you guys have a much better understanding as to how the NHL playoffs work than I do, but it's a shame really.
Can the Senators give them a run? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
Comparing the hockey playoffs to the NBA playoffs, it's no contest as to which is more compelling; regarding the NBA, Cleveland/Golden State in the finals is a virtual lock, no drama or intrigue there.......................
Lundqvist had his worst regular season GAA and save percentage of his career. In the playoffs he was really good against Montreal but not good against Ottawa. He used to be capable of taking a team through multiple rounds despite the talent around him. That's not to say he isn't still a good player because he most certainly is. I just don't think he can be counted on to play at a Vezina level. They made so many short-sighted decisions to "go for it" that they've set themselves back a long time with trading draft picks and prospects. They're now going to have to give up a really good forward plus whatever draft capital they have left if they want to get a top-level defenseman because they have no cap space.
I don't think this team will be able to make another run. They have 6 significant UFA's (60 games or more), and 5 RFAs who were significant contributors.
UFA:
Shattenkirk $4.25
Oshie $4.175
J. Williams $3.25
Alzner $2.8
Winnick $2.25
Connelly $0.850
RFA:
Kuznetsov $3.0
Orlov $2.75
Burakovsky $0.875
Schmidt $0.812
Grubauer $0.750
There is no way all of those players are coming back, and some of them will be looking for significant pay increases (Oshie, Kuzie, Burakovsky, Schmidt).
UFA:
Shattenkirk $4.25
Oshie $4.175
J. Williams $3.25
Alzner $2.8
Winnick $2.25
Connelly $0.850
RFA:
Kuznetsov $3.0
Orlov $2.75
Burakovsky $0.875
Schmidt $0.812
Grubauer $0.750
There is no way all of those players are coming back, and some of them will be looking for significant pay increases (Oshie, Kuzie, Burakovsky, Schmidt).
In terms of points by defensemen, Shattenkirk was 4th in the regular season (although a noticeable gap below the top 3 of Burns/Hedman/Karlsson). He was also top-30 in shot attempt % while on the ice. (Colin Miller! was #1, Krug was 3rd). He'll get a raise to at least top-30 money too (5.25+).
Boychuk and Mike Green are making $6M.
Phaneuf is making $7M.
I think his agent has some leverage.
Phaneuf is making $7M.
I think his agent has some leverage.
Shattenkirk already turned down 7/$42 million from Tampa. He's a goner. Oshie picked the right year to shoot 23.2% so some team will foolishly throw bags of money at him on 7/1. I don't seen him staying. They seem to like Burakovsky, so I assume work something out. Kuznetsov is in line for a significant pay raise. I wonder if he could be the casualty. He's probably the easiest player for them to move, and he can bring back a pretty nice return. It leaves a C vacancy behind Backstrom, but maybe they shift Johansson over to play 2C. The rest of the forward free agents are mostly JAG's. Maybe Williams stays as his contract will be cheap-ish and short term.
On the backend, they can afford to lose Alzner with Schmidt and Orlov being better players, but both need new deals and there are expansion issues. They'll likely protect Niskanen and Carlson, leaving them to choose between Schmidt and Orlov for the 3rd spot (or make a side deal with Vegas). The best thing they could do is try and clear Brooks Orpik's $5.5 million off the books. Woof.
In terms of moving one of the core guys signed long term (Ovechkin, Backstrom, Niskanen, Carlson, Holtby), I'm not sure if can or will be done. Ovechkin carries a $9.5 million cap hit. That's a sizeable hit and there's basically no team other than Vegas that could trade for him without sending significant money back. Weber for Subban happened so who knows, but trading Ovechkin seems like a stretch. I don't think trading Backstrom solves anything other than opening a gaping hole at C. Niskanen was their best defenseman, and Carlson is only signed for 1 more season at a reasonable contract. I think they would hang on to them, especially if they're forced to lose Orlov or Schmidt in the expansion draft. That leaves Holtby. He's 27, has a career .922 save percentage in the regular season, and .932 in the post season (including a .909 clunker this year). He's signed for $6.1 million for 3 more seasons. Scapegoating him and trading him would be incredibly short sighted. He is excellent.
I guess the short version of this is that I don't really see too many changes that make sense for them other than letting the free agents walk and/or trading an RFA. I guess they could try to trade Ovechkin if they think he's a problem or starting to regress, but he has some kind of NTC that'll muck things up and his cap hit will be very tough to move.
On the backend, they can afford to lose Alzner with Schmidt and Orlov being better players, but both need new deals and there are expansion issues. They'll likely protect Niskanen and Carlson, leaving them to choose between Schmidt and Orlov for the 3rd spot (or make a side deal with Vegas). The best thing they could do is try and clear Brooks Orpik's $5.5 million off the books. Woof.
In terms of moving one of the core guys signed long term (Ovechkin, Backstrom, Niskanen, Carlson, Holtby), I'm not sure if can or will be done. Ovechkin carries a $9.5 million cap hit. That's a sizeable hit and there's basically no team other than Vegas that could trade for him without sending significant money back. Weber for Subban happened so who knows, but trading Ovechkin seems like a stretch. I don't think trading Backstrom solves anything other than opening a gaping hole at C. Niskanen was their best defenseman, and Carlson is only signed for 1 more season at a reasonable contract. I think they would hang on to them, especially if they're forced to lose Orlov or Schmidt in the expansion draft. That leaves Holtby. He's 27, has a career .922 save percentage in the regular season, and .932 in the post season (including a .909 clunker this year). He's signed for $6.1 million for 3 more seasons. Scapegoating him and trading him would be incredibly short sighted. He is excellent.
I guess the short version of this is that I don't really see too many changes that make sense for them other than letting the free agents walk and/or trading an RFA. I guess they could try to trade Ovechkin if they think he's a problem or starting to regress, but he has some kind of NTC that'll muck things up and his cap hit will be very tough to move.
A trade of Ovechkin would make sense for the Caps, but who'd be their dance partner? You'd need to offer multiple young, talented players for the Caps to bite, but I don't know if Ov is worth that any more at his age. You'd basically need a veteran team ready for GFIN mode because their window is about to close. But the only team I'd describe that way is the 2016-2017 Capitals.
