In the playoffs, the Caps had four out of five overall leaders in hits. They had five of the six top defensemen in blocked shots. Hamilton has one season over one hundred in each, out of five. Orpik has one season below a hundred blocks, and zero seasons below a hundred hits, out of.........more than five.

Hamilton is a great young puck moving defenseman with some offensive skills. He had two more even strength points than Niskanen last year, but i you take away his power play points, by putting him on a team where the power play defensemen are Ovechkin and Carlson, all the way, he's like Niskanen without the hitting and shot blocking.

Winning a poker game isn't about getting all the best cards you can. If I'm holding four twos, I'm not trading in two of them to see if I can get a face card. Hamilton is absolutely the kind of player who can win... somewhere else.

We wouldn’t be able to sign JC for that cheap, and Bowey and Connolly would bring back a ton more than a third

very well said. But I'm also curious as to whether you think the trade is fair value or leans one way. Also, what do you think we should try to get in return for Grub? Picks, instead of players? A forward? I thought maybe we could go for a defenseman, but u make a good point about Dougie...Do you also think that we should put all our money towards Kempny and Carlson, instead of other options?

i mean, who knows how much Carly will make. I'm sure he could get more somewhere else, I was just taking an artistic liberty and saying he gives the caps a hometown discount. On a non-caps note, I don't think John Carlson is worth anymore than 7 mil (and not even the 7.25m Letang is making). Carly is not a stud on D like letang is or other players in the 7m range, but he is a beast on offense. Personally, if I'm paying north of 7m, I would want someone who is a stud on both ends...How bout ur thoughts?

It may not fit Washington’s needs, but it’s not a deal Calgary does Washington would need to add

Offense makes the money for defenseman, and while it wasnt great in the regular season, his defense was solid in the playoffs. I’m baffled that you can watch the Caps-Pens series this year and think Letang is a stud tho. And we also don’t have much of a choice, we need to bring him back. The only option to not bring him back is if we sign Green for a short term deal and let Bowey develop into a top four role. But this team’s contention window is clearly open, so if 8x8 is what it takes, I’d do it. I wouldn’t want to do it, but I’d do it. Preferably a number in the 7.5 range, but I think we desperately need him back if we seriously want to win right now.

honestly, I didn't notice anything wrong with Letting's defense. His offense was not that great in that series, but his defense has been consistently solid. In the past 8 years, he has finished in the top 10 of Norris voting in 5 out of those 8 years. Maybe he didn't do so great in the playoffs as you say (again, I didn't really notice), but he's still quite consistent. He also does produce offense, not quite at Carlson's clip, but its still stud-worthy (he had 51 points last season). I just think Letang is ahead of Carlson from a holistic perspective, and I don't think they should be on the same contract.

what do you think would need to be added? Right now its our best D prospect, a potential #1 goalie, a young scorer (which Calgary needs to add more of), and an early 2nd. Personally, I think the value DC sends is fair, but id love to hear ur opinion

Flames aren't shopping Dougie. They don't want to trade him. In order for a team to get him they will have to offer something Treliving can't refuse.

This isn't it.

Also, retention is for contracts where the player is over paid. No way would the Flames retain on Dougie if they traded him.

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Thanks so much! Since the Caps outhit and outblocked some incredibly talented teams, I've been looking at the regular season leaders in hits and blocks, and trying to identify young guys among the top twenty or thirty who also have some unrealized offensive potential. Ristolainen is too expensive based on his power play points, but Hagg and maybe Zadorov are tempting. Guys on each team want Burakovsky, and he only played half the playoffs so... maybe that makes sense. I'd also try to lowball Komarov on July 1st.

I'm for keeping Carlson. His chemistry on the power play with the same four guys over the last few years has been great. He led all defensemen in points through the regular season and the playoffs this year, and obviously the team did okay off that.

I would not overpay Kempny, though. Carlson was fine playing with anybody, all year. Paired with Orpik? Led the league in points. Djoos? Led the league. Kempny? Led the league.

Kempny has 20 career NHL regular season points, oKempny might get offers around 3M, and he's too unproven for me to think it's a good gamble. Play Carlson with whoever,and he will produce.

Kempny blocked a ton of shots... 4th most in the playoffs. http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=realtime&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20172018&seasonTo=20172018&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=blockedShots But Niskanen and Orpik were 1st and 2nd, and Orlov and Carlson were 5th and 6th, and only behind by one and three, respectively.

Kempny was 45th in the league in hits, and 11th on the Capitals. http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=realtime&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20172018&seasonTo=20172018&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=hits Carlson outhit him, even though that's not his main job. He had more hits than Djoos. A lot more.

But if Kempny was picked up for being able to chip in a little bit of offense while still doing his part in terms of hitting and shot blocking, I think Hagg or Zadorov would be big upgrades in all three aspects, and Kempny's UFA rights might be a sweetener.

If he wants to come back a 1M, definitely keep. At 1.5M.... see what kind of team friendly deal Carlson wants?

If they keep their top three of Carlson, Niskanen, and Orlov rolling, this team can get to the playoffs with a bottom three of Bowey, Djoos, and Johansen. That's the best long-term answer in terms of developing talent from within, through the draft. I'd keep Johansen in the AHL, tell him he's there until he gets fifty points, and add a guy in his early 20s with 200 hits and 100 blocks. I think having guys like Wilson, Orpik, Ovechkin, and Smith-Pelly all in the top five in hits was a big part of why the Caps did better at the ends of each series than at the beginning: they wore down their opponents by relentlessly directing them into the wall. Little bruises add up into a slight distraction here, and a slight limp there, until suddenly fast teams like Pittsburgh, Tampa, and Vegas didn't look so fast at all. I'm sure all those guys are fine by now (at least I hope so) but each team is going to add some muscle this summer, and the Caps should, too.

Well... each team is probably going to add some muscle. It'd be cool for the game if one of them keeps adding finnesse and skates their way to a Cup. But for the Caps to stay successful, they should keep building on the areas where they are stronger than any other playoff team.

CGY wouldn't retain on a good contract

Agree. Why would Calgary do that trade for Hamiltion period, much less do that trade and retain 3 years of salary?