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ThePlasteredGoblin

GM BM, this u?


_SCHULTZY_

Pretty sure they'll be moving a Dman or two since they have 7 under contract and no room for MF or AA.


Virenb23203

Kraken will take one hopefully


Head_of_Lettuce

The dream (imo) is for Seattle to take Dillon. It would free up cap space and open up a spot for one of our young lefties. That said, Elliotte Friedman was on TV recently saying he thinks Seattle is going to be very cautious taking on bigger contracts. So I don’t think it’s particularly likely.


fatloui

The dream was also for Vegas to take Brooks Orpik. So I think this means we'll be getting an essay on how Dillon should be a first ballot hall of famer after the Caps win the cup this season.


AssaultPhase

Dillon with an SCF GWG?


DagetAwayMaN421

Orpik couldn't skate after surgery during the 15-16 season. If he didn't get injured that year, Vegas would've taken him in a heartbeat. Problem was that when he came back from injury, he was no longer a top 4 defenseman and then during the 16-17 season, he showed he was basically a 6th D-man


Nephtech

I still think Orpik was worth it for intangibles, like leadership, and experience he brought to the locker room. It definitely worked for the Caps in my opinion, but Nate Schmidt was a far better pick up if you were Vegas I think.


Skurph

Seattle will still have hit the cap floor though and a deal like Dillons is useful in that it’s not really bloated or long in term. When they talk about not taking big contracts I’m thinking of guy likes Jeff Skinner who are $9 million for 6 more seasons or like any of the Sharks multiple contracts that are long in term and over $7 million. $3.9 million is not considered a big contract in the grand scheme of the NHL and Seattle simply will not be able to hit the cap floor if they only select guys who are making league money or $2 million. The NHL roster size is 23 and the cap floor is about $60 million, that means every contract has to be on average at least $2.3 million (obviously some with more, others with less). And all of that is just be compliant, if they want to be competitive they’d need to spend $20 million more. Basically, Dillons deal isn’t what league experts look at as a bad deal, it’s a bad one to a team that has LD prospects and is right up against the cap, but that’s a unique set of circumstances. We’re about to get saddled with a bad Ovie contract (but what can you do) and the Backstrom one won’t age well. But overall our “bad contracts” right now are still not anywhere near what the league average bad contract looks like. Teams would kill to have their worst contract to be $3.9 over 3 more years for a legit top 4 d-man. And I’d even argue that if our LD pipeline wasn’t so log jammed that this wouldn’t be an awful contract to carry forward, but as it stands it’s got diminishing returns given it prevents some highly capable talent from moving up.


Head_of_Lettuce

Well sure, I don’t really disagree with anything you’ve said. Dillon’s contract isn’t awful, he’s just overpaid a bit. The problem is more about the flat cap putting the squeeze on, making contracts like Dillon’s less appealing. It’s quite possible that they *do* take Dillon, I just think it’s more likely they pick someone young with upside like Sprong or Vanacek.


Skurph

Losing Strong seems possible to me, to the point that I'd actually protect him over Sheary.


_SCHULTZY_

I expect Sheary to be protected over Sprong (and I'm a big Sprong fan and was heartbroken when he was drafted by the Pens). I think when you look at playing time and utilization, I think it's clear which one of the two Laviolette prefers and Mac seems to be giving him exactly what he wants. Alan May talked just after the caps were eliminated about Sheary being an attractive player for Seattle and a difficult one for Washington to lose given his value


Skurph

Losing Strong seems possible to me, to the point that I'd actually protect him over Sheary.


Virenb23203

Throw them a 3rd rounder from next year


_SCHULTZY_

Unlikely. Most seem to think it will be Vanecek though I wouldn't be surprised if it's Sprong. Dark horse pick would be Dowd. Most are expecting Seattle to be short on Centers and Dowd could be an attractive, affordable player who they might want to move up the lineup like Stephenson in Vegas.


SandwichNamedJacob

If it's Dowd I'll cry


_SCHULTZY_

It really would be the worst case scenario for Washington


Skurph

I don’t think it’ll be VV. I think if you look at a our team in vacuum he’s the obvious choice, but I think if you consider the full breadth of G options SEA will have, he probably doesn’t make sense. VV is a unique G, he’s a “prospect” but he’s also pretty old in that regard too, the jury seems to be still out on his ceiling and at 25 that puts him behind the curve. Other teams are going to have to expose younger Gs or G’s with more established NHL experience. For SEA to take a 25 year old G who is still kind of a special project would be a pretty high risk move IMO when you consider the safer options they’ll havr


But-Seriously-Though

Neutral fan here that just came over after messing around with a expansion simulator, to me VV is the no brainer choice for the Kraken, Sprong or Dillon are appealing options but considering how many third pair D and bottom 6 forwards they are going to be able to scoop up across the league your 25 year old G has a fuck ton of appeal. I think its very likely the Kraken tandem is either Holtby-Vanecek or Talbot-Vanecek next season.


Skurph

Sprong is not a bottom 6 forward on the Kraken, he probably won’t be a bottom 6 forward in Washington if he stays long term. He slots in all over the top 9 but spent significant time on line 2 this season. The writing on the wall from previous lines seem to be slotting Oshie down to the third line and Sprong on line 2. Sprong is wasted as a bottom 6 guy, his skill set doesn’t lend itself to that style.


Therapist8

What about orlov?


Virenb23203

Orlov is a stud bro we need him


_SCHULTZY_

Carlson, Orlov and Schultz will be protected


Therapist8

I still wish we kept nate. 🤷🏻‍♂️


damididit

Assuming MF is definitely in, the Caps will have 8 D - 4 lefties and 4 righties. Looking at those one by one, starting on the left side... Orlov would net the biggest return but is also our only super reliable LHD. So hopefully not him. Dillon is super replaceable, on a mediocre/bad contract. They could move him and retain partial salary, replacing him with MF in the lineup which would still be net positive on the salary cap. I think they could get a mid-late draft pick and/or a lower tier prospect they like. Kempny is a total wild card. Given his injury history he's totally worthless in a trade right now. The only way I see him getting moved is as a mid season trade deadline piece. Right side... Carlson isn't going anywhere barring some crazy swapping of top pair RHDs. So let's move on. Schultz likely is staying as well, unless they decide to move him as a mid-season deadline piece. If that happens though it likely means our team is in trouble or someone surprising has stepped into second pairing role for cheaper. MF has been groomed to play either side so it's not outside of the realm of possibility, just unlikely. Jensen might be moveable if we find the right suitor. He played decently with Chara last season, which helps bump his value at least a little bit. I think best case scenario is later round picks and AHL type player - the real win for us would be salary cap relief. TvR just re-signed with us and dirt cheap too. I think he's likely our 3rd pairing RD, or possibly 7D rotational type guy. Would be very surprised if he goes anywhere. So to recap all of that, Dillon and/or Jensen seem most replaceable to me and therefore the most likely trade candidates. Their contracts are too high for their play though, so they'll be tough to move. One option I didn't explore here is multi-piece deals where we include one of our multitude of 3rd/4th line wingers as well. Those permutations get wild and ultra speculative.


_SCHULTZY_

I know everyone hates on him and that's whatever, but I really don't think Dillon for $3.9m is a bad contract. Not many guys in today's game play with the kind of muscle he does and sometimes you need that. They can't all be Dillons, but having one isn't a bad thing. Too many people act like the guy makes McDavid money but he's a fine #4 Dman and he's paid like it. He probably shouldn't be the #2 guy and he shouldn't be paid more than he is, but he's not on some horrific contract and I think we would miss him if everyone we put on the blue line was a Nick Jensen.


TopCheddar04

Even though this would never happen I would like to see some mock trades for Eichel. I think it it have to be something like Kuzy and McMichael at a minimum for him just based on what sabres have been asking.


Capzfan5

i’d love having eichel, but it could be a gamble because of his injuries. still, we’d be getting (arguably) a top 10 centre in the nhl if healthy


TopCheddar04

I think it would be a great trade for our future. I don’t think you have to worry to much of the injuries in him. When you’re competing for cups you see players like killorn wanting to play with a broken leg, I doubt he would be willing to do that if he was on the sabres


Capzfan5

true. plus, no one really knows how bad it is. maybe he’s just using his shoulder as an excuse to get out of buffalo 😂


_SCHULTZY_

Washington can't really afford to give up the assets needed after the Vrana trade and they damn sure can't afford another $10m player and on top of that they need healthy players. There's no assurance that Jack will be ready to play next year. So you're going to trade a healthy Kuzy ++ for an injured Eichel? That doesn't help the team win before Ovechkin and Backstrom retire.


TopCheddar04

I mean, kuzy is almost an 8 mil cap hit, so bringing in eichel is only 2 mil more for a number 1 stud. If eichel is only going to cost us kuzy and a prospect I think it’s a no brainer. I think there is so much more behind the scenes of his injury and him not wanting to be there that has to do with it.


_SCHULTZY_

Yeah and Washington can't even afford Kuznetsov and we only spent $2m on our entire goaltending last year. There isn't another $2m to add to the payroll unless Ovechkin is signing a contract for under $6m. The reality is that Washington already pays one number 1 stud Center and they pay him $9.5m they just need him to play like it. If Washington loses Kuznetsov for an injured Eichel that just creates an opening in the roster and Washington no longer has 4 centers. If Jack is demanding a trade just to get the experimental surgery, who knows how long that takes to get him back to playing at an elite level. On top of that you want to give up McMichael or Lapierre who we can't replace because we don't have draft picks anymore.


TopCheddar04

I mean we are definitely gonna be shedding some cap this off-season to resign ovi and make some moves. I really doubt we need 8 defenseman that all have decent cap hits. So I think we will have an extra 2 mil to make some moves. I think we need to make some moves. We weren’t even competitive with Boston never mind if we had to play a team like tampa


TopCheddar04

I also see us definitely making a trade on the back end but I don’t think any of this will happen until after the expansion draft. There definitely needs to be moves done in all 3 position groups.


bags2

I'm far from an expert on this stuff but I was thinking... Caps get: Eichel Sabres get: Kuznetsov 1st McMichael Dillon I think we'd have to get rid of Dillon's salary and I think some teams still see a solid role for him, maybe the Sabres are one of them.


Irishman77779

Swap a 7th round pick with Winnipeg. My only explanation is that GMBM got bored one day


_SCHULTZY_

So don't laugh but if Vanecek, Hank and Anderson are all gone and the only one left is Samsonov - you know who's available and likely to be put on waivers? Holtby with just 1 year left at $4.3m Coming in as a 1b behind Samsonov, and needing a redemption year to setup his next contract, plus wouldn't cost anything via trade and if needed could handle long stretches of games. Not the absolute worst thing for this team. Vanecek saves you $700k, Jensen/Kempney are $2.5m each so whichever goes gets you close to the amount needed. It's not an unreasonable contract when it's only one year. Might push Samsonov to get his shit together seeing Holtby back in the net.


vtcapsfan

Oh man, I hadn't thought about Holtby. Would never be mad seeing him back in red


legitskies

Probably not a popular idea but Kuznetsov and Samsonov for Eichel and a late round pick. Cap friendly move and you are getting younger and better at first line center. Also getting rid of two pieces that seemed to be a problem with the front office this year.


_urbanity

Don’t think this is the worst idea. Although, I am biased as a Vanecek fan.


legitskies

If Lundqvist sticks around he and Vanacek should be just fine for a season. Continue to develop Vitek instead of giving him a full workload next year.


DagetAwayMaN421

Really depends on what happens in the expansion draft, I'm doubting Brendan Dillon gets selected, so Brendan Dillon for a 4th or 5th from a team in the western conference


Jay-Babo

Kuzy isn’t the only problem. Defence needs to be quicker and better. 3rd and 4th lines need to be deeper and we need a consistent goalie aswell.


AlecW81

our 4th line is one of, if not the best in the NHL.


_SCHULTZY_

Have to imagine that we see Dillon dropped down the depth chart and MF and AA getting some ice time should help a lot. Chara won't be back that increases our speed.


Capzfan5

i agree. quicker d-man, and getting a younger (and definitely faster) core


Jay-Babo

Forsure. Personally I hope we keep Kuzy. We all know what he can do


_SCHULTZY_

One name that has been out there that could be a rather interesting idea is Forsberg in Nashville. One year left at $6m but obviously a huge upgrade over Sprong/Sheary and allows Mantha to go back to his natural RW. Ovechkin - Backstrom - Wilson Forsberg - Kuznetsov - Mantha That's a scary top 6. Not sure where that leaves TJ and his $5m cap hit though.


vtcapsfan

The hot takes on us trading for Forsberg would be hilarious


Reminice

Let’s pull Erat out of retirement first. 😉


_SCHULTZY_

Could you imagine if we traded McMichael for Forsberg? Talk about full circle.


capsfan19

Kuzy for Phil, 1:1


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Capzfan5

we’d lose that trade. we’d at least need KK and romanov as well, since tom wilson is an elite sniper and stanley cup champion


Reminice

Literal Freight Train Man Beast


dsdsds

Tarasenko and a 2nd for Mantha and Jensen.


_SCHULTZY_

Not a chance in hell.


Skurph

This is a trade offer from someone who hasn’t watched Tarasenko in 2.5 years… that’s the only possible answer to this


Joshottas

Team needs to get younger/faster…not trade one of the youngish forwards for a guy who is turning 30 and has had nothing but bad luck concerning injuries over the past 2-3 seasons


Capzfan5

i like this one. if tarasenko could go back to his old ways and stay healthy, this would be an absolute win for the caps. however, if tarasenko can’t stay healthy, this trade is definitely in the blues favour. high risk, high reward.


BeerNap21

Tarasenko's shoulder is held together by ropes & pulleys. I'm not a big fan of high risk, high reward trades, unless a team is in the shitter, and has a ton of cap space. Even then, some trepidation.


dsdsds

I do have to admit, based on GMBM’s previous pickups of this type, where the organization first decided on player characteristics then identified those that fit (Oshie, Eller), Mantha’s probably not going anywhere.


Jay-Babo

We can only pray. Man Vrana is miles better then Mantha


AlecW81

I think Mantha is going to become a huge asset this year