Vegas Says HELL NO.

Carlson will get at least 6 years $36 million on his next deal, Once McDavid's $12.5 million kicks in in the 2018/19 season no way can Edmonton afford Carlson doing RNH for Carlson makes zero sense.

Try posting it on their side. They get four players from the back to back President's trophy winner, plus, more importantly for the way McPhee builds teams, a first round pick, in exchange for two of their eleven defensemen and a forward they were likely going to move for a 2nd rounder at the deadline.

Totally see your point. An Oilers fan proposed RNH+1st for Carlson on here a couple weeks ago. I figured the Caps would be more interested in another solid defensive prospect than just a future draft pick. Edmonton is certainly going to have to cut salaries at some point in the next year and a month, with or without this trade, so for them I'm saying it makes sense only becuase their fans think Carlson helps them win, more than RNH, right now. If there's a variation of the above that helps them work out salaries long-term, I'd love to see it. Please, make your own! My focus here is on looking at how the Caps might rebuild while staying good enough to make the playoffs, in general, and build an absurdly deep group of fowards to help them beat the Penguins, specifically. This side of the trade certainly makes sense for the Caps, but you'll notice I've shown 24 potential roster players, and still have a million in cap space, so, if Vegas takes on all the salary above in exchange for getting proven players and a top pick, there's a bit of leeway for the Caps to take back a small salary dump... but I know more about the Caps, so I wouldn't presume to know who that is. I've seen some Oilers fans trying to trade Kris Russell... and maybe if the Caps give back Beagle, that helps the Oilers... but in this scenario, it still puts the Caps a bit over the top, I think? Let's see your version!

Yeah it is really bad from the Vegas side, like tremendously bad. What amazing things do they get from the President's trophy winner? 1 year of Eller, who is a solid-to-good 3C, but is he that much better than the numberous 3C's Vegas currently has on their roster? No not really, and most of those guys are cheaper and all are under control for multiple years. So best outcome is they can flip Eller for a 2nd or a 3rd at the deadline.

2 years of Brooks Orpik, who is an old, highly expensive, bottom pairing, stay at home defender, something Vegas has in spades (except they aren't as old or expensive), this is negative value (esp. since the Caps are in a major cap crunch and can't currently fill out their roster) and doesn't help Vegas improve at all. He has zero positive trade value to deal at the deadline or flip in the offseason.

Taylor Chorney has never been an NHL regular, he's 30 years old and in the final year of his contract. In his 73 games over the last two years for the Caps he has all of 9 points and terrible possession numbers. Even with Vegas trading away two defenders in this deal he wouldn't even make their roster.

Anthony Peluso, who wasn't even with the Caps org for these last two years, and has an amazing 14 points in 142 NHL games as a winger. He's 28 and not an option, Vegas could have easily signed him this offseason if they wanted him.

Zach Sill, has been part of the Caps org these past two years, but in that time he's played all of 10 games and scored 1 point for the NHL club. He's 29 and hasn't even shown much in the AHL and also is a FA after the year.


How can Vegas turn down so many appealing assets??? Yes you "give them a 1st rounder", but that alone doesn't cover what it would take just to dump Orpik's contract. Not to mention Vegas has to give up 2 2nd rounders, and a 5th. And oh year Marchssault who if he isn't extended, will probably be flipped for a 1st at the deadline, Miller who is under control for 3 more seasons and if they were trying to trade him (which it's doubtful they would), his starting price would likely be a 1st rounder+, and McNabb who should bring back at least a 3rd rounder at the deadline, if not a 2nd.

There's no way Vegas takes that deal. First, that is 2 players worth at least a 2nd each, a player worth at least a 3rd, and 2 2nds for... what? A 3C, a 1st, 3 spare parts, and a 3rd pair dman on one of the worst deals in the NHL? You'd be lucky to get 1 of the 3. The 1st balances out Orpik's horrible contract, and the rest of it isn't that good. Second, Vegas needs to get rid of dmen - not pick 2 more up.

I don't see why Edmonton takes that deal. They need ELCs. And what's your obsession with RNH? He's not worth anything near what he gets paid. He's a decent 2-3C, getting paid 1C money.

Why bring Ribeiro back? He's a locker room cancer, which we've already seen here. Replace him with Beagle and the lineup looks better.

1. Besides Orpik and Eller, those guys are indeed spare parts, but they're spare parts from a winning club that Vegas' general manager knows a lot about, since he used to run it. Eller is defensively better and a better playmaker than Marchesault, but Marchesault is much cheaper, and a better goal scorer. Both are pending UFA's, but the low cap hit has value to Washington, who is seeking to add expensive players at the trade deadline this year.

Maybe Vegas doesn't throw in all the seconds, but look at their side, look at how many second round picks they have. At a certain point, they're going to run out of space to develop so many prospects, and prefer to trade them up for first round picks they can be more sure will make the NHL one day...

Yeah... this is probably too good from the Caps' side. Okay. Drop all the picks coming back from Vegas? Throw in a late pick from the Caps, several years down the line? Maybe switch out Chorney for a future 3rd rounder? Was that what made everybody say it's awful? Should I re-post?

2. Orpik plays almost 18 minutes a night. He's a second pair defenseman who posted a +32 plus minus and 180 hits last year, while also serving as his team's enforcer/agitator/superpest. On Vegas, he'd be a first pair defenseman, and play 20 minutes a night. He'd be a first option on the penalty kill, and a guy with a Stanley Cup ring and two President's Trophies to mentor guys like Theodore, Schmidt, etc. His contract is only a factor if you think Vegas should overpay for a forty-something goal scorer or two, this year. Nobody else is available this season who might ask more than 2M. They are currently 5M under the cap this season and 55M under the cap for next season, and probably looking to shed several pending UFAs as this season wears on and they evaluate talent. Unless Tavares or E. Kane is signing with an expansion team in freefall, they're not worried about cap space. Orpik could give them stability and leadership, keep their games close, and make them a tough team to play against and a fun one to watch, for at least two years, after which he might join their coaching staff. He's got a good relationship with their franchise goalie, and I think he'd be a good fit, the way Rod Langway was a good fit in Washington.

Eller is as good as Marchessault, overall, but becomes less necessary to Washington with the acquisition of RNH.

3. I don't know. it's a trade from an Olilers fan. I think it's possible that RNH continues improving and becomes a good 2nd line player or even a weak 1st line center. He just turned 24, and he's got 294 NHL points (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Nugent-Hopkins), so I think he could give the Caps the kind of 3rd line depth they need to beat the Penguins. But I have no idea how that works for Edmonton. Let's see what Edmonton's fans say about their side of things. I tried my best to put it together for them, and it looks like they lose Jussi Jokinen and Matthew Benning to a numbers crunch, assuming they can negotiate pretty good deals with Strome, Maroon, and Nurse (which is why I thought they might throw in Nurse, rather than a 1st pick.... salary cap management (but okay)): https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/458777

4. I had not heard that Ribeiro was unpopular in Washington. The summer he left Washington, Ovechkin said the first priority should be bringing him back. It didn't fit the salary cap, but he worked really well along the left half-boards, opposite Backstrom. Bringing him in to cheaply replace MaJo in that role would allow the Caps to keep Kuznetsov as the main puck distributor on the second power play unit, which has been a real luxury the last couple years. Beagle is still on my roster, and I'm assuming there are only a couple games where the team is healthy enough to actually sit him out. In those, he probably alternates with Boyd and Ribeiro, anyway.

Ribeiro definitely has some issues, but is he the kind of fourth line center whose team makes the Stanley Cup finals? Evidently... His numbers have taken a huge hit, though, in the last few years (https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/r/ribeimi01.html) I wonder if he might even take a two-way deal?

If he is able to reclaim that left half board spot on the top power play, and make even half of the nasty passes he used to, he gets forty points this year at minimum wage, and the Caps don't end up with overinflated numbers at their next contract negotiation with Connolly or Burakovsky, who might be the other candidates for that spot. So, I'd consider Ribeiro for long term salary cap management reasons, publicly stated friendships on the team, how well his team did in the last playoffs in spite of his own neutral performance, and because of his familiarity with the coaching staff.

Well... shoot. That Edmonton thread seems to have comments closed. I guess it got trolled. But it got five stars, and several more Oilers fans said they could see their team offering RNH and a 1st for John Carlson. So... that part is fine.

I proposed a similarish trade on the Vegas side a few weeks ago. Still no ratings, but a Columbus fan chimed in to agree that trading a couple young defensemen for Orpik and a first is better for the VGK than losing a couple defensemen on waivers, and getting nothing back. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/444151 I thought of that one mostly from Vegas' perspective of needing players that are waiver exempt and wanting first round picks to build a contender (they used three this summer, and McPhee did that two years in a row in building the Caps). Also, since he was willing to make deals to not pick guys like Eric Staal, and to pass on so many good defensemen in their prime, I don't think he's looking to win anything this year besides the draft lottery.

But, you're right. The trade above, which brought Marchesault, Miller, McNabb and a couple of 2nd round picks and a 5th; for Opik, Eller, Chorney, Peluso, Sill, a 1st.... it was too much of a win for the Caps. I do think that Vegas would play Sill and Peluso all year, this year, but Chorney would indeed be a flip for them, so they're not throwing in picks to get him. I edited it above to bring back Karlsson instead of Marchesault, and to leave off all the 2nds coming back. I posted a similar version on Vegas' side that also included a bunch of prospects on two way contracts, so Vegas has people to call up as they make trades for the future, this year. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/444151 So far the reaction to that has been positive. Are your 1 star reviews based on whether the trades are fair? Or do you disagree that the team above is an improvement over the current Caps, and fills their need to get younger and faster to beat the Penguins? Honestly, the fun of this site for me is in looking for win-win trades, so I appreciate the help in trying to see both sides. While I am a lifelong Caps fan, I don't think that this roster is necessarily unrealistic just because it helps the Caps address their needs. They have been the best team over the last two regular seasons. Surely they have some players that some other teams would want, and be willing to give up some of their own spare parts to get. The challenge is in finding what spare parts from other teams could have a chance to become long-term, successful players for the team you cheer for. It's just a game, though, much like hockey. But I think the VGK would love to have Orpik and Schmidt as a top defensive pair, followed by Stoner and Theodore. Keeping together proven pairings from top teams gives them instant chemistry and instant credibility on their blueline. Other Vegas fans are proposing trading McNabb for a 3rd round pick, which I think the Caps should be salivating over.

Trading Miller is a tougher call for Vegas, but it leaves them Reinhart, Merrill, Garrison, and Sbisa to compete for third pairing duties. They're probably still looking to package away two of those guys for, ideally, somehow, another first round pick, before the end of training camp (although they might have to throw in other picks to make that happen while keeping Reinhardt). While there is a lot to be said for having young, talented defensemen, the last time McPhee fielded a team with six inexperienced blueliners was a total disaster, and led to the Caps trading away everyone they had, and drafting Ovechckin. Three young guys, and three veterans, should allow them to actually develop a few young guys for their future. I think their most promising future defensive stars are Shea Theodore, Griffin Reinhardt, and Nate Schmidt, so those are the three I'm guessing they'll keep. Miller is totally worth a 2nd pick, but packaging him with other assets can bring back some much needed veteran help and a 1st pick. That's a huge win for the VGK, with or without stocking their farm system.

And while the Caps might be better with Marchesault, some VGK fans are pencilling him in as their 1C, in which case he might be more than Washington can afford. Karlsson is likely their 4C, so packaging him to get back a 1st round pick makes sense for a long term plan of drafting a ton of good players in a short time span and watching them all develop into good NHL players together, to, ideally, try to win a Cup.