Quoting: HughMann413
Nylander had 87 points last year. Was +10. And had 70 TK compared to 37 GV. Wilson in his BEST year had 52 points. Yes, Wilson is physical. Yes the fans love him. But to get a player like Nylander and put him opposite of Ovi is a no brainer in my mind. Especially with Nylander just now going into his prime. I also don't like labeling most players as "not going to move". The Caps have always been pretty closed lip on their dealings. Also with Carbery just coming from Toronto, I feel like more Leafs are coming out way.
I don't think the difference is as big as you're making it out to be. You're leaving out that Wilson's elite defensively while Nylander's very much not. At ES their production is closer than it seems. Wilson's was down this year, obviously due to returning mid-year from a torn ACL, but over the four previous seasons he had 1.86 P/60. Nylander over the same span had 2.14 P/60. The thing that really separates them is that Nylander gets first unit PP time with Matthews and Marner, while Wilson gets second unit PP time with a tired Ovechkin who was out with the first unit and Lars Eller. I think Nylander's PP production would crater in Washington because A) it's a significantly worse supporting cast, and B) how do you incorporate a right-shot sniper onto a PP that's already built around getting the puck to a different right-shot sniper? If they keep Forsythe's 1-3-1 set up I don't know where you put Nylander. Even if they move to something else though, how do you design a PP around both Ovie and Nylander? I can't think of a way that wouldn't force one of them to go underutilized. If you keep Wilson though and they stick with something built around the 1-3-1, then he slides right into Oshie's slot in the middle and probably adds 10-15 points a year to his total.
Also, the Caps were tight-lipped under McPhee, but MacLellan's a straight shooter. He doesn't dodge questions and he pretty much always does what he says. He just seems tight-lipped because the DC hockey media is non-existent so he never gets any interesting questions. He said he wants Wilson to retire a Cap, Elliotte Friedman got pretty much the same feedback when he probed about the Wilson situation a week or so ago, so the only question for me is how long it takes after July 1 for them to get the Wilson extension finalized.
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Oshies great, but sacrifices need to be made if we are going to follow through with our promise to Ovi.
It's kind of weird to me how you're totally willing to overlook Backstrom's massive decline because of his service to the team, but you also want to kick Oshie to the curb. Backstrom's the much, much more dire medical situation IMO. There's no precedent for a guy making a comeback from the surgery he had, and MacLellan seemed extremely pessimistic about Backstrom's chances of improving this summer.
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How is a 50 point producer with a little snarl a bad fit? And how is a likely hall of famer who can do about everything a bad fit? Especially when there is a connection with Ovi.
I mean, I'd rather just keep our own 50 point producer with a lot of snarl who's beloved in the organization. As for Tarasenko, I don't think he's a likely hall of famer but I wouldn't mind him. What's his connection to Ovie though, aside from being Russian?
The two of them together seem like a bad fit though because you've already created a top line that needs to be heavily sheltered with an aging Ovechkin, crippled Backstrom, and swapping Wilson for Nylander. Then you've constructed another line here with Bunting-Strome-Tarasenko that's also nothing but offense, and you've run out of cap room so you're left with basically two 4th lines that'll be forced to play a lot of tough minutes because of the makeup of the top 6.
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McMike is not a center...never will be. In my opinion as well, he will never be more than a Gustav Nyquist type guy. And that's probably too high of a ceiling. I personally prefer Lapierre. But that's me.
McMichael hasn't been given a shot to be a center at the NHL level, which IMO is a big part of problem - he's a much better fit at center than win. At the AHL level this year he got to play center and definitely outperformed Lapierre. His boxcars won't jump out at you, but the Bears played a very D-focused style and nobody on that team had gaudy point totals. The fact that he was the 2C on a team that won the Calder Cup is enough for me to want him to get a real shot at C in the NHL.
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