Zucker on the 3rd line is a joke. Just wasting his talent there.

Hardly. The Caps like to roll 4 lines he'd get 14-16 min a night and could play 2nd PP unit instead of Leipsic there now. If Oshie slows down he jumps to the Kuzy and Vrana line and he'd be good at either spot...I think Zucker is a great fit, and an energy boost.

Currently he's on a pretty depth starved team getting 15:36 per night...he'd benefit from a trade to DC.

Holtby is maybe worth 2nd and dube. Hard to sell a product that’s defective.

Caps coach isn’t great.

I’m not a fan of advanced stats (aka imaginary points) but Pánik seems to be good in advanced metrics just not in real life. Ha

Holtby needs to not play till samsonov is tired.

Are we going to do this every ****ing time we lose? You guys are unreal! It's 7 games in! We have one of the best underlying numbers in the game. The issue? Our PDO (luck) is one of the worst in the league, bottom 5. It's going to turn around and we're going to win like crazy.

Reirden is very good. System is working. Just need to get Lewington out of here.

Panik is fine. It takes awhile for some to adjust to a new team. Con had 1 point (assist) in his first 11 games with the Caps. It happens.

Don’t think that gets you zucker tbh.

I mean doesn’t help that Holtby didn’t make a save today ha. Caps were a goal challenge away from making this very very interesting. Imo ride the hot hand in net and let Holtby chill for awhile

Goaltending by far has been their biggest issue. There the 4th best team in the league at limiting chances against, but have the 5th worst save percentage. So we're making it easy on Holtby and he's letting in the easy ones.

Probably have to throw in a 2nd to get Zucker for that, now that Panik is picking up, while Minnesota is thinking firesale. Zucker is streaky but at his best he's a good two-way player. Panik's contract would blow Minnesota's minds. Like... it's a veteran wing, but it's under $6M. That alone has to get them interested.

Another option for Johansen--MTL has spare center prospects and the Caps have spare LHD prospects. Given that Johansen's been injured a bit last year and this year, but still seems to be developing fine when he plays, a trade for a decent center prospect and a pick could be fine for the long term health of the org (pun intended): https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/288781&post_id=1178512

Not in love with the value, but if there's any team that has the guys to mentor a 23 year old Swedish center and help him become a decent NHLer...



Same issue early last year. Holtby will find his groove.



Agree on taking some stats with some healthy skepticism.

Over the last five postseasons, of goalies with 10 total games played, Holtby is 1st in wins, 3rd in spct, 3rd in GAA, 4th in shutouts. http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?aggregate=1&report=goaliesummary&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20132014&seasonTo=20182019&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,10&sort=shutouts

We go through this every year. He's not bad. He just doesn't get to the top of his game until the trade deadline, while guys like Rittich, Greiss, and Korpisalo come out of training camp playing for their jobs, and throw off all the stats. The Flames currently aren't in the goalie market. But if a market should develop, the Caps still have better odds at this year's Cup if they keep Holtby, so it's a question of what their odds are post-Ovechkin, and whether an extra late 1st pick makes much difference in that. Maybe? Maybe not. Wouldn't be a disaster to let him walk if they can't afford him as a UFA after they take one more kick at the can together. Columbus can't afford him with Anderson and Korpisalo due big raises. Calgary might just sign Rittich to starter money. Edmonton doesn't have a ton of space. The market rate for goalies went up this past summer, but a lack of demand could drive it way back down next summer. If there are no other offers, maybe Holtby takes a one year cheap deal to get one more shot at the Cup with Ovechkin and Backstrom?