James Tanner: Capitals Re-Sign Burakovsky, But Where do they go from Here?

I don't understand how you keep jumping to trading Kuz.

I don't understand how you keep jumping to trading Kuz.
- hefnerta

It's simple. You trade Kuznetsov and have $8 million per year to spend.


Then you keep Johansson and Williams.

In exchange for Kuznetsov, you could definitely get an NHL ready skilled 19-20 year old who costs nothing.

So in exchange for Kuznetsov, if you factor in the opportunity cost, which you should definitely do for everything, you get:

Williams
Johansson
Young Player with Offensive Skill.

And while you're at it, you buy out Orpik and keep Schmitd.

The team is down one useful player and one bad player and they retain four. This is way better than their current situation.

Burakovsky, while in a different role, will end up being a better player than Johanson down the line.

But that's no excuse for losing the latter for barely anything.

How about they just not resign Oshie until he's 60 years old and keep both Kuznetsov and Johansen?

James, your criticism of the Kuzy signing is overblown. I agree with the overall critique of GMBM and yes he got caught with his pants down. That said, if the Caps don't resign Kuzy who the hell is going to play 2c for the Caps. Beagle is a 4c and that's all he his in him. Eller is a 3c and that's the best he has in him as well. Backstrom has 3 years left on a 6.7 mil per year deal and he is underpaid. So again, what is your plan for the Caps when in 1 more season both Eller and Beagles contracts are up and then there is just 2 more years for Backy??

How about they just not resign Oshie until he's 60 years old and keep both Kuznetsov and Johansen?
- jmatchett383

Also an option.

It's simple. You trade Kuznetsov and have $8 million per year to spend.


Then you keep Johansson and Williams.

In exchange for Kuznetsov, you could definitely get an NHL ready skilled 19-20 year old who costs nothing.

So in exchange for Kuznetsov, if you factor in the opportunity cost, which you should definitely do for everything, you get:

Williams
Johansson
Young Player with Offensive Skill.

And while you're at it, you buy out Orpik and keep Schmitd.

The team is down one useful player and one bad player and they retain four. This is way better than their current situation.
- james_tanner1

I agree with the fact that Kuznetsov got overpaid. That's a given, but I don't think trading away one of your best young scorers to keep his winger AND an aging 3rd liner isn't the way to go. I think your letting his current contract overshadow his actual ability. Kuzya is a great player and would be sorely missed if he was traded and I'm certainly not trading him away for a kid who we'd have to wait and develop when Kuz is ready to go now. Buying out Orpik and getting a little more creative in the expansion draft could have helped us keep both Mojo and Schmidt, but letting Williams walk probably was the right move. I guess the only way to know for sure if the GM is a genius or just another failed experiment is to wait until next year...

James, your criticism of the Kuzy signing is overblown. I agree with the overall critique of GMBM and yes he got caught with his pants down. That said, if the Caps don't resign Kuzy who the hell is going to play 2c for the Caps. Beagle is a 4c and that's all he his in him. Eller is a 3c and that's the best he has in him as well. Backstrom has 3 years left on a 6.7 mil per year deal and he is underpaid. So again, what is your plan for the Caps when in 1 more season both Eller and Beagles contracts are up and then there is just 2 more years for Backy??
- Capsnut

" So again, what is your plan for the Caps when in 1 more season both Eller and Beagles contracts are up and then there is just 2 more years for Backy??"

Not as good as it could be if Oshie and Kuz where not on the books.

It's funny. For years we've been begging for a second line center. Kuzy is 25. Had 77 pts a year ago. And you wanna deal him. With Lars and Beagle coming off after next year. We have no centers in our system. So then we'd be forced over paying for a Ufa or trading more assets for one.
If Kuzy could net us Parayko in Stlouis sign me up. It makes no sense to deal a young budding star. On top of that who would we trade with? What are we getting back?
Oshie would've made over 6 on the Ufa market. The term bothers me more then the dollars. You wanted to retain Williams who is 5 yrs older. MOJO deal made no sense to me but I believe his minutes are going to AB.
Orpik should have been moved but he's not a terrible bottom pairing pk guy. I see him with Bowey. I see Djoos in the top 6.
I see Copley as our backup and I see us adding a vet on the cheap to potentially play rw on the 2nd line. I think Wilson will play a much larger role next year and he should. He's the heart beat of the team.

I think Ovi Nic Oshie is an amazing top line. I think Kuzy will get Willy and AB. I think Lars will get Connolly and Varna. Beagle will get Barber and a left wing signing. Maybe Winnick. I'm ok seeing what those lines can do. I don't

" So again, what is your plan for the Caps when in 1 more season both Eller and Beagles contracts are up and then there is just 2 more years for Backy??"

Not as good as it could be if Oshie and Kuz where not on the books.
- goldy

Perhaps the resigning of Oshie was unnecessary. I'll give you that. But not re-signing Kuz was not an option imo.

Perhaps the resigning of Oshie was unnecessary. I'll give you that. But not re-signing Kuz was not an option imo.
- Capsnut

You dont say...

It's not that resigning him was the problem. Its resigning him to that contract thats the issue...

Perhaps the resigning of Oshie was unnecessary. I'll give you that. But not re-signing Kuz was not an option imo.
- Capsnut

They should have re-signed Kuz, but not at that price. Most guys had him penciled in around 6 mil/yr.

Look the real issue here is how he handled the Expansion draft, and then losing MoJo for nothing. If he had any (frank)ing foresight at all, any (frank)ing clue in the ballpark of what his RFAs would cost, he would have seen the cap crunch coming and should have exposed Mojo instead of Schmidt, going 4/4. Losing Mojo for nothing would have sucked, but losing Mojo and Schmidt for 2 poop draft picks is worse.

(frank) this team.

How about they just not resign Oshie until he's 60 years old and keep both Kuznetsov and Johansen?
- jmatchett383

Funny thing about this is Mojo is arguably the better player.

I'd say there was a much better argument for Nashville to beat Washington, especially if they matched up in the 2nd round, instead of Pittsburgh on paper. Rinne hadn't come down to earth earlier... actually Nashville would have had Washington in the first round and made Tanner's narrative "Can't stop the luck of a hot goalie".

Funny thing about this is Mojo is arguably the better player.
- Blackstrom2

Agreed. Given the choice, even if you take term and cap hit out of the equation, I'm still not taking Oshie.

Many of you here have completely overanalyzed these moves. There is only one reason why these off season contracts/moves are bad....Caps kept the Russians. If you have 3 or more Russians on your team, you ain't winning the Stanley Cup. It's that simple. And don't fire back about the Russian 5 of many years ago, or the 2002 Stanley Cup champion Redwings (who I think had 3). In these "more modern" times, they just don't get it done. Look no further than Sochi, when the Russian Dream Team.......didn't medal?!....exactly. Hawks won 3 Cups without a single Russian. Nashville was Russian-free last season, but picked up some poison in Emelin, but that's only a single Russian, so can be overcome. (especially if they dump Subban's ridiculous cap hit and get Duchene) Pens only have 1 (who may end up arguably being the best one ever), I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure the Bruins, and Kings had one at most. Regardless....it's been probably 15 years. Resigning the -ov's and -vsky's along with the Cup-less kingpin Russian ending in -kin, just sealed the Caps fate.....4 Russians......no Cup.

Many of you here have completely overanalyzed these moves. There is only one reason why these off season contracts/moves are bad....Caps kept the Russians. If you have 3 or more Russians on your team, you ain't winning the Stanley Cup. It's that simple. And don't fire back about the Russian 5 of many years ago, or the 2002 Stanley Cup champion Redwings (who I think had 3). In these "more modern" times, they just don't get it done. Look no further than Sochi, when the Russian Dream Team.......didn't medal?!....exactly. Hawks won 3 Cups without a single Russian. Nashville was Russian-free last season, but picked up some poison in Emelin, but that's only a single Russian, so can be overcome. (especially if they dump Subban's ridiculous cap hit and get Duchene) Pens only have 1 (who may end up arguably being the best one ever), I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure the Bruins, and Kings had one at most. Regardless....it's been probably 15 years. Resigning the -ov's and -vsky's along with the Cup-less kingpin Russian ending in -kin, just sealed the Caps fate.....4 Russians......no Cup.
- gk911

As of right now, the Caps only have 3 Russians you mouth breathing troglodyte.

FACT: the first time Russians were on the Cup, 4 player names went on it.

1) The Capitals still feel they are competitive enough to get to the Finals, and frankly, they still can. MacLellan is handcuffed into needing to keep the majority of his team intact because they must feel they are inches away from breaking through. So, they double up on a consecutive Presidents Trophy winning team. If the organization still wants to win the Cup with Ovechkin as the man to bring it to DC then they have no choice, really. They overpaid to keep the top of their team intact as well as they could.

2) I expect their is a massive amount of revenue differential between Kuznetsov/Oshie and Johansson. I'm sure that has the most to do with being expendable. Could easily be that Leonsis made them must signs.

The hardest hit to the Capitals this off-season was losing Schmidt. Schmidt was valuable, as a player and for trade. Great locker room guy, chance-taker and fun to watch on the ice. Tough to lose. The Capitals have a deep prospect pool and they might find some of that D replacement in-house, but likely that's where they make a move when the time is right to replace Alzner/Schmidt's ice time.

In the end, to me, the Capitals come down to this:

Braden Holtby: Is he Jim Carey or Carey Price?

He has been brilliant at times, but last year felt more of a struggle for the Beast and for the majority of the playoffs last year he seemed off.

The best thing for Washington, and certainly if you believe in the whole psyching themselves out every year, would be to enter the playoffs in the middle of the pack and under the radar. I still believe the window is open for them to accomplish the run because the talent and skill is there through the entire lineup. They will need to find the right piece (I think Shattenkirk was worth the risk last year) and MacLellan has show he does have skill and the willingness to make moves to plug holes.

Still think they can get to the 2nd round with the team they have on the ice from the start of the season. It will be the "randomness" as you pointed out (injuries and the like, I assume?) and how they adapt and the pieces they add to shore up their weaknesses as they move into the final third of the season that will determine if they have a team that can compete for more.

I'm biased, absolutely, but I still think they have a more than decent shot.

Well I stand corrected on the number...but you have to admit Andre Burakovsky "sounds" Russian! Either way, the rule is 3 or more. You got 3...no Cup.