In this edition of the hotstove, we discuss whether the Washington Capitals should stay the course, blow it up, or something in between following another disappointing playoff run.
Todd Cordell
I know we've seen this movie from the Caps several times but I'd do my best to keep the group together.
They out-chanced the Penguins by 81 in the series and won the scoring chance battle in all seven games, although the difference in Game 7 was minimal. They laid an egg trying to come from behind in the 3rd period last night but they were the better team for the majority of the series.
The series loss essentially came down to goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped .921% of the shots he faced after posting a .909SV% during the regular season while Braden Holtby stopped just .876%, a far cry from the .925SV% he posted from October-April. I don't think you blow it up based on a Vezina-caliber goaltender having a few rough games.
The Capitals are going to lose a few pieces in free agency but they still have an excellent core and Andre Burakovsky, Jakub Vrana, and Nate Schmidt are good, young players ready to take on larger roles.
They will be very good again next season and, with a little luck, can perhaps put together the long playoff run we've all been waiting on.
Peter Tessier The challenge for the Washington Capitals has to be what have they learned from the series losses. The easy thing to do right now is to put blame on a player rather than looking at the bigger picture. The Capitals, who use analytics, should really look at what the series told them about the structure and systems of their team.
This is not a desperation moment, this is a tweaking time, a time to take stock of what is good and eliminate what is bad. Whether they blow it up or not, changes will have to be made but they need to be informed changes based on data observation and from the team and players themselves.
The opportunity here is to get it right and have a level of perpetuity for the future. Don't blame, just worry about fixing the problems.
James Tanner
Caps should do nothing. Maybe change the coach. They're a team that was the best and lost to a hot backup goalie. No need to panic
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