Getting some cap-related stuff out of the way first. Backstrom is done and Pacioretty has 2m of bonuses rolling over to next year. I think it's 50/50 that Oshie is done as well.
The biggest priority this offseason should be true top of the lineup talent, no matter what position you can get it at. Ideally that talent would be younger and at forward, but you take what you can get. They already have a fair amount of young guys with medium ceilings in Protas, McM, Lapierre, Sandin, Fehervary, Miro. I don't think getting another one or two of those types of guys (Krebs, Robertson, Brannstrom, etc.) is enough.
Start with making a massive offer to Guentzel or Reinhart. Will either be "worth" whatever deal they end up getting? Almost certainly not, but who cares. Either one gives you a legit top line scoring forward that hasn't been here since Kuzy last decided to try in 2021.
Next, make a higher-level bet on a young player than what they did with Sandin (or MTL did with Newhook/Dach, NYI did with Romanov, etc.). I think the ask for Zegras will be unrealistic, but another good target would be Norris. See the trade itself for a full description.
Sign a mid-level UFA D to help the 2nd pair. There's a fair number of these types of guys available this summer but I went for Carrier. DeMelo, Tanev, Dillon would also be good fits in that same role. This lets you only run one of AA/Bear/Iorio.
Bring back Malenstyn and let GMBM work his pro-scouting magic for the other 4w role. Amadio seems like the exact kind of pickup he would make, but once again there's lots of options out there. No one in Hershey has stood out to me for an internal promotion at that spot.
Don't touch the goalies. $6.3M for a solid starter and capable back-up is completely fine. No need to overthink things here, even if Kuemper was very disappointing this year.
Iorio, Frank, and Shepard are the first guys up from Hershey.
OTT needs to make a change to their current structure somehow and the easiest way to do that is with Norris. Can't stay healthy and a very strong argument to be made that he isn't worth his contract even when he is. Jensen is the capable 2RD they have been looking for and while McMichael doesn't have the ceiling of Norris, has already proven to be at least a solid 3c and will come in much much cheaper.
Caps take a necessary chance on a guy who for 2/3rds of a season looked like a top line goal scorer but has taken steps back and dealt with a ton of injuries since. Basically using their cap space to improve on McMichael.
I don't think anyone is trading for Norris right now. 50pt production pace and is never healthy all for 8m? No thanks
Your loss buddy. Literally 50pts while playing injured and playing like he had a fear of getting injured too. Wasn’t the same player and still got 50. And wasn’t even shooting the same way he was.
Your loss buddy. Literally 50pts while playing injured and playing like he had a fear of getting injured too. Wasn’t the same player and still got 50. And wasn’t even shooting the same way he was.
He will be back and better than ever
He plays like 50 games a season. Too big a risk to take that contract. It's not anyones loss lol
I don't think anyone is trading for Norris right now. 50pt production pace and is never healthy all for 8m? No thanks
I agree he's a big risk but the Caps are the team best positioned to take that kind of risk. Also I think fans don't understand just how bad the Caps' offense was this year. Norris' 30 points in 50 games would've been 3rd on WSH on a per game basis and 7th total ...
I'd pass on Norris. He's a bit overrated. His analytics are always below average. Though at that price I don't hate it, I'd just rather go after someone like Zegras, whose analytics are also meh but are better than Norris' and we need his playmaking.
I'd pass on Norris. He's a bit overrated. His analytics are always below average. Though at that price I don't hate it, I'd just rather go after someone like Zegras, whose analytics are also meh but are better than Norris' and we need his playmaking.
I think both their play-driving metrics are pretty average but I worry greatly about Zegras and the "somebody has to score the points" syndrome of his good years. Also think the ask would be significantly more
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