Rate your team's July 1st

[forty_three]

 

[forty_three]

I give the Flyers a B.

Andrej Mjhgjhjhd is a nice add. As is signing Coburn. I would have liked Carbomb and Powe back but oh well. I wish we got a tender, too. Jody Shelly makes me angry but the D we have now looks beautiful.

You will like him, as long as there is someone who can do the physical stuff with him.

I hated to see him go, but the Sens had a critical need to have a pussy on the IR.

 

[JustAsking]

I give the Pens a B+ only for this reason. Volchenkov signed for only 250K (plus one extra year) than Michalek. I would rather have Volchenkov I think... at least me playing GM from my couch. I know the Pens talked to Vol. perhaps he was just not interested in coming to Pittsburgh, or perhaps his price dropped throughout the day.. I have no idea. But I have been saying the Pens need to sign 2 of the top 5 defenseman out there, and they didn't disappoint me.

Now, two things need to happen. First move Malkin to wing on Sid's line and move Staal to center 2nd line. Secondly, either 3rd/4th line center is up for a rookie or go after Madden (only could afford about 1 million on him) to be the 3rd line center.

The Pens lose the '+' on the B if they resign Guerin.

edit:
I would much rather use Letestue, Johnson, or Jeffery, etc to fill the the 3rd/4th line center position and save the 2+ million in cap space for a trade deadline deal. Plus next year when our 3rd and 4th lines contracts are up, we would have been playing rookies all year for experience for next year.... if that makes sense. The Pens will have to make some decisions in the 2013 yr, until then, this team is pretty much set.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

So far the Islanders get an INCOMPLETE. It's hard to judge when you don't sign anybody. However it's better than overpaying.

 

[Automattic]

bored as usual

 

[elocomotive]

We did not overpay for the hot commodity (6 foot, 200 pound tweener defensemen this year)...
Caps = A
We blew away the regular season with this roster.
We outplayed and outshot a team that beat us in a 7 game series in the playoffs because of a hot goaliu and a lot of 1 goal games.

We needed to not overreact, and we didn't.

I largely agree with you... but the trouble is, neither did New Jersey.

$4.25/year for what Volchenkov brings is very reasonable. The Caps don't have tons of cap room, but they had about $4 million to make a splash and get one guy this offseason to really improve this team. Not only would a solid D-man have upgraded our entire defensive unit, but it would have taken some pressure off Mike Green and let him log fewer minutes. While I think we have a great team, you can't tell me that our PK and our defense couldn't use some improvement. The price was right and the team let a good value pickup slip by.

While I agree with the "stay the course" mentality generally, I think the Caps have taken the Nylander/Jagr experiences and gone a little too far to the other extreme. We've seen FA pickups push great teams to Cup titles the last two years. The Caps don't need to blow anything up, but there should be some recognition there that one more guy could be the difference right now, and I think they let an opportunity slip by today. Picking up a guy like Volchenkov would not have been an overreaction - it would have been a prudent and measured move that would have shored up this team's weakest unit at a price that would not have busted the cap going forward.

Grade = I (incomplete)

 

[IPostedWhat]

Same as last year, only blue.

 

[Destroydacre]

Another F for Doug Wilson just like the draft. Could have really upgraded the D and did jack shit. If there was ever a time for Doug Wilson to get in on the UFA frenzy it was this year with the Sharks being so close. With Wallin, Huskins and Murray making up half their defensive corps, they must have the slowest, weakest defense of any contender. Really sad. Any of Martin, Hamhuis, Volchenkov etc would have been a tremendous help and the Sharks did have the space to add one of them. And on top of all that, they let Malhotra get away as well. Just a horrible off season so far from Wilson.

 

[davnlaguna]

What grade does non-existant get?

Kings lost 3 players and gained none. I think they forgot what today was

 

[puckhead]

Canucks: A

Needs were a better third line and more depth on D with the emphasis on a better top 4.

Results: Malhotra and Hamhuis

really, really pleased.
overpaid for Malhotra (and a NTC for a 3rd liner?), but that's forgivable in the grand scheme of things.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

We got better so I guess that all you can ask for. Not many teams can say that today (here's some salt for that wound)

B

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I largely agree with you... but the trouble is, neither did New Jersey.

$4.25/year for what Volchenkov brings is very reasonable. The Caps don't have tons of cap room, but they had about $4 million to make a splash and get one guy this offseason to really improve this team. Not only would a solid D-man have upgraded our entire defensive unit, but it would have taken some pressure off Mike Green and let him log fewer minutes. While I think we have a great team, you can't tell me that our PK and our defense couldn't use some improvement. The price was right and the team let a good value pickup slip by.

While I agree with the "stay the course" mentality generally, I think the Caps have taken the Nylander/Jagr experiences and gone a little too far to the other extreme. We've seen FA pickups push great teams to Cup titles the last two years. The Caps don't need to blow anything up, but there should be some recognition there that one more guy could be the difference right now, and I think they let an opportunity slip by today. Picking up a guy like Volchenkov would not have been an overreaction - it would have been a prudent and measured move that would have shored up this team's weakest unit at a price that would not have busted the cap going forward.

Grade = I (incomplete)

I have to agree to disagree with you on this particular point. Although Volchenkov signed for only 4.25 a year (still a lot for a stay at home guy who was abused by our biggest rival in the playoffs), it is not the price that bothers me....it is the term. 6 FUCKING YEARS! No way. We have great system depth on D. Patrick Wey played fantastic this year for BC and may be ready sooner that even i expected. Add in the guys we know about and I just do not want to sign anyone on the blue line, not from within our system long term. As far as I am concerned we have already upgraded our defense by committing to Carlson and Alzner full time for next season. If the experiment fails, the trade deadline is always there and players are always available. Volchenkov, martin, Michalek, Tallinder et al... do not provide what we need. We need a defenseman with a nasty streak that makes it painful to run to the front of our net, not a 6-0, 200 pound tweener who is good at a lot of things but not great at anything. I would like to see us make a short term move and bring in an Andy Sutton or even resign Juice for another year, but that is really it. Unless we can get the physical guy we need (Jackman, Komisarek) I just do not want to commit long term to another Brian Pothier. If Carlson and/or Alzner blossom, we can extend their deals before they explode and price themselves out of DC down the road with the cap space that we are holding. Resign Schultz and put him up there with Green on the first pairing. Put Carlson and Alzner at number 2 and play Erskine, Poti, new guy maybe, et al... on the third pairing.

Rememebr how badly we outshot Montreal in the playoffs. This defensive deficiency is a bit of a reactionary myth for the Capitals fans in my opinion. Did we make some mistakes on D...yes. Do we have a talented back end...ABSOLUTELY!!! We completely dominated an opponent that beat us with a mega-hot, Jed in net and dominated the regualr season. I would be happy to go into the season with the same setup, plus or minus a few little tweaks again and I would be fully confident that we would be a major Cup contender.

 

[filosofy29]

You asked how I'd rate my teams offseason so far right? Well my team is the Sharks and the GM is Doug Wilson.....

Here's what I'd tell GM Doug Wilson on what he's done so far at the draft.....and since Happy Canada Day started.....