The second scrimmage of Development Camp 2014 for the
Washington Capitals held on Friday was a rout.Team Red
scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion, while Team White managed
only a field goal in an 8-3 win for the Redsters.
They are not yet Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, but
Andre Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana did a passable impression of the prolific pair
on the parent club.This week might be
remembered as being Burakovsky’s in large part.In his second straight day playing at center – a new position for the
drafted winger – he looked entirely comfortable distributing the puck when he
wasn’t firing it himself. He would finish this scrimmage with a goal and two assists.
We did not have a chance to see all eight goals for Team Red (the sick
bug consumed us after Team Red went up, 5-1, mid-way in the second period), but
what we saw was impressive enough.Burakovsky had two assists in the first period, and Vrana picked a top
corner with a one timer (from Burakovsky), and one could see this pair being a
productive second line partnership (ok, probably in 2016 or 2017).
Team White had their moments, but they were of the “coulda
woulda shoulda” variety.For instance,
Austin Wuthrich hit a pipe early on in the first period, the puck staying
out.Red scored the game’s first goal on
the ensuring rush.It was not the only
pipe that Team White hit in the first period, getting another chance when the
game was still 1-0.
That, and a nice finish by Chandler Stephenson of a
spin-a-rama pass from Riley Barber, would pretty much do it for the Team White
highlights, the deeper offensive skill of Team Red taking over in the first
half of the game we had a chance to see.We did get some pics, though…
If there was a word that captured the morning session of Day
Three of Washington Capitals Development Camp 2014, it was “pace.”Wednesday was very much an up-tempo day as
the prospects tackled situational scenarios – one-on-one, two-on-one,
two-on-two-and three-on-two set-ups.There was a lot more contact in today’s session, and little time to
catch one’s breath between repetitions.
It seems part of a progression that began Monday to get the
guys’ skating legs under them, and then structured drills on Tuesday.Today’s situational drills is just the next
step before intrasquad scrimmages on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to close
the week.As this was going on a few
things caught our eye.
Riley Barber might have had the nickname “H.G.” early
on.It seemed every shooting opportunity
was one for him to go high glove.He
picked a few, too.
Andre Burakowsky is, as one might expect, bigger than he was
at last year’s D-camp, but he looks quicker, too.He covers a lot of ground...uh, ice quickly
while not seeming to expend a lot of effort doing it.
Burakovsky and Michal Cajkovsky had a few of battles of the big
guys.The latter held his own in most situations
against the former.Cajkovsky really
seemed to use his body well to keep Burakovsky from generating or maintaining
any momentum, especially when dueling along the wall.
Want to learn how to skate backwards?Try this drill… You are the defenseman at the
top of the offensive zone faceoff circle.Your opposite number is at the far hash marks of the circle along the
wall.At the whistle the offensive
player takes off down the wall with the puck, the defenseman skating backward
and tracking the offensive player until they approach the blue line (if he
doesn’t get an opening to poke the puck away or body the opponent off the puck first).Then the defender can turn and press forward
to try to angle the offensive player off his line to the net or otherwise
prevent him from getting off a shot.It
puts the defender in an uncomfortable position from the start of the play, but
one he’s going to see any number of times going forward.Some guys could keep up; others struggled to
keep the offensive player from gaining advantage or a breakaway.
Jakub Vrana has a nasty snap shot.Gets on a goalie quickly.From time to time we were thinking the same
thing of Miles Koules and Braden Pimm.
Sounds of hockey… puck hitting crossbar: PING!Shot going wide and hitting glass:
CRACK!Player being run into the boards:
RUM-M-M-M-M-BLE.Then there was the odd
sound coming from time to time when goalie Vitek Vanecek was in goal, sort of
like a really loud egg cracking.Seems
he is not averse to using his mask as another blocker, not unlike Henrik
Lundqvist.Or maybe his head was just in
the way.Either way, it was effective.
How fast was the pace?They weren’t even waiting for the ice resurfacer to clean the ice.In each of the morning groups, the guys
started on the public rink, then when that ice was sufficiently chewed up, and
it was time for a natural break, they took a breath at center ice and marched
across the hall to the Capitals rink for the second half of the session.
Connor Carrick pulled on a white jersey and skated with the
first group in the morning session.
It seemed like a bigger crowd at Kettler this morning than
either of the first two days.Here are
some pics of what they saw…
Caphenge
He SHOOTS!!!
Turned aside by Taran Kozun...
At this point, fans would be screaming SHOOOOOOOOT!!!
Day Two at Washington Capitals D-Camp 2014 was busy.So busy they had to get work in before the
scheduled activities began.It started
with goalie Philipp Grubauer getting some early alone time with coaches Olaf
Kolzig and Scott Murray, who were snapping pucks at him from opposite faceoff
circles as Coach Micth Korn looked on from the side.
That was merely prelude to a busy morning
session.“Three-ring circus” busy, in fact.Really.After a false start on the Capitals rink, the coaches and players headed
across the hallway to the public rink to begin the day.At one end of the ice goalie coach Mitch Korn
was working with goalies Rasmus Tirronen and Phoenix Copley, while at the other
end of the ice the skaters were split into two groups, both working on
different aspects of skating to start.One looked to be repeating the exercises of Day One as the other was
working on maneuvering among cones set up on the ice.
Insofar as Coach Korn and his goalies were working just
beneath our perch in the balcony, we paid most attention to those drills.It started with the goalies facing one
another, about a stick length apart. The
object of the exercise was for one goalie to shuffle back and forth and to step
forward and back, his opposite number trying to mirror his every move as
quickly as possible.After 10-12 seconds
of this, the goalies switched roles, the other being the “initiator,” while his
partner took on the role of the “mirror.”
Then it was to the front of the cage and another excuse to
get the goalies working together in an odd sort of way (this would be a
theme).Goalie A stepped to the front of
the crease where Coach Korn faced him.Here, the object was for the goalie to track Korn’s movements with three
quick shuffles to one side, then push hard in the opposite direction to the far
post.These nets being only loosely
anchored, the other goalie was standing on the skirt of the net to keep the rig
from shifting when the goalie performing the exercise jammed his skate hard to
the post.
Working in pairs with the goalies was the common thread
here, but the best was saved for last. Coach
Korn had the nets set up facing each other below the goal line, about 15 feet
apart.Each goalie took a net, and coach
stood between them.At the top of the
crease stood another coach.The object
was this.The coach at the top of the
crease would start play by either shooting the puck at one or the other goalie,
or passing it to the other coach standing between the netminders.If the coach starting the play passed the
puck down to the other coach, Coach 2 could shoot on either of the goalies, or
he could pass it back up to Coach 1.Ah,
but here is the diabolical part.Coach
B, standing between the goalies, could shoot the puck by banking it off the end
boards to try and slip it behind one or the other goalie.The object appeared to be using familiar
skills in unfamiliar ways with an emphasis on quickness and recovery…
Tomorrow is the last day of drill sessions, Thursday through
Saturday limited to intrasquad scrimmages, according to the published schedule.If you have a chance to visit, watch Korn and the goalies.It really is quite entertaining.And he hasn’t even broken out the toys
yet.We can’t wait to see what he has in
store for Braden Holtby, Justin Peters, and Philipp Grubauer for training camp.
Other snippets…
Nathan Walker got to wear the helmet cam for the morning
session...
Young Mr. Walker appears to
prefer wearing the back of his jersey tucked into his pants.It makes it difficult to see the entire
number of his jersey (79), he being somewhat on the short side.
At the other end of the height scale is defenseman Eliot
Antionetti who, at six-feet, six inches, towers over many of his
teammates.He also looks to have a
playoff-ready beard going on, too.
The CSN folks were in to do some media type stuff. No, we were not asked to do an interview
segment.We think they had their hearts
set on Cheerless.
It was Day One of Development Camp 2014 for the Washington
Capitals, the first of what one hopes will be many steps forward for a group of
young men striving for a spot on a National Hockey League roster.“Steps” would be the theme of the morning
session of Day One.
After what might have been a lengthy hiatus for some from
the rigors of skating since their respective seasons ended, the guys took to
the ice for what looked like an advanced class in skating.Two groups of ten split the morning session
going through a series of skating drills that had the look of Coach Norman Dale’s
first day of practice with his Hickory Huskers in the movie, “Hoosiers.”No pucks, no nets, and sticks used only
either as props or for the players to carry as they went through their drills.
It was a level of instruction that seemed a bit unusual,
even for a development camp, but if you are going to be good at the basics,
then drill in the basics, and nothing is more basic than skating (said the guy
who hasn’t been on skates in twenty years).
That being the case, there wasn’t much by way of excitement,
although there were some moments.There
was the occasional stumble, and what looked like some quizzical looks as drills
were being laid out.Did anyone stand out? We're sure the coaches have an idea after consulting their tablets with which they were taking pictures and making notes. Us? Not so much.
Meanwhile, as class was being held on the ice,
there was head coach Barry Trotz holding forth with fans near the press
area.And there was Barry Trotz on the
bench watching as class was being held on the ice.And there was Barry Trotz at the other side
of the ice manning the door for skaters coming to and from the locker
room.And there was Barry Trotz posing
for pictures with a couple of young fans.Barry Trotz might have put in as many miles as did the skaters on the
ice.
As for the morning session, here are some pics…
30 minutes before D-Camp opens... it's quiet... very quiet...
It's almost time...
Nathan Walker is the first to step onto the ice for D-Camp 2014
You, too, can "Learn to Skate" like an NHLer... well, they can. You probably can't.
For the second time in less than a week the National Hockey
League reached a milestone on its annual calendar. Last weekend was the nod to
hopes and dreams, the annual entry draft. At noon on Tuesday the NHL embarked
on its equivalent of the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, the opening of the signing
period for unrestricted free agents.
This year’s edition had a twist, variously referred to as a
“meeting” period, or a “courting” period,” or a “let’s chat” period that began
on June 25th, during which teams could meet with prospective free agents but
could not offer a contract.
Just like the Land Rush of 1889 that started at high noon
and produced settlements before the day was out, free agents were signed in a
flurry of activity over the first six hours of the signing period. The
Washington Capitals staked their claim with the signing of three unrestricted
free agents – goaltender Justin Peters, defenseman Brooks Orpik, and defenseman
Matt Niskanen.
The Capitwittisphere was hardly without opinion on the deals
as they unfolded, but now, with a few days having passed, if you are looking
for a more reasoned, measured, thoughtful take on the signings, stop reading
now and go somewhere else.
No, really… the cousins have had time to digest what
transpired and have their own unique views on the new Capitals.
First, let’s look at Justin Peters. He has only 68 games
of NHL experience on his resume, about half of that of Braden Holtby (126
games, including playoffs). Given that there were more experienced goalies
available – Al Montoya (91 games), Ray Emery (295 games), Scott Clemmensen (192
games), Jason LaBarbera (182 games), and Tomas Vokoun (722 games) – was going
for a young goalie the right move here?
Fearless… Two things argue for a young goalie in this spot.
First, and what appears to be the Capitals’ thinking, the team “wanted to send
a message to Holtby that he’s [the] number one guy.”
This has been in doubt over the past few seasons. Look back. In his first
season, 2010-2001, Holtby got a taste of action (14 games’ worth), but he was
third man in, behind Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth. The following season
he had less regular season action (seven games), but was a playoff warrior
after both Tomas Vokoun and Neuvirth went down to injury late in the season.
That might have been the signal that he was the number one
guy, and in 2012-2013 he seemed to cement that role, appearing in 36 of 48
regular season games and all seven post-season contests. In 2013-2014, though,
a combination of tinkering with his style and iffy play on his part reduced his
workload to 48 of 82 games. Neuvirth and Philipp Grubauer were that “number one
guy” for a while, and the team even brought in Jaroslav Halak via trade to take
over that spot. Holtby’ status was murky, to say the least, especially when you
consider that in each year in the NHL his goals against average and save
percentage got progressively worse.
With Peters signed, there is no Vokoun or Halak peering over
his shoulder. Roles are clear. But what of Peters himself? That brings us to
the second thing that argues in his favor. With those 68 games on his resume
and about to turn 28 years old (August 30th), he has enough experience that the
club might find him dependable in his role (a .919 save percentage last year on
a poor Carolina team would seem to support that view). Also, he might be at
that “hungry” stage of his career where he can prove himself capable of taking
on a bigger role if circumstances dictate he plays more minutes, without posing
a threat to Holtby as the number one goalie early.
Cheerless… OK, I ain’t no math whiz, and I broke a couple o’
pencils figgerin’ this stuff out, but here goes. Peters is 4-3-0, with a 1.67
goals against average and a .938 save percentage with two shutouts against the
Caps in his career. Against everybody else? 18-28-8, 3.21, .900.Shoot, he’s 2-4-2, 4.18, .880 against
Pittsburgh.One way to look at this is
his performance compared to his partner.He’s the backup, so you might expect his performance would be worse than
the number one guy in front of him.And
so, Caps fans might be left wondering what they’ve got here.Two years ago, Peters had a 3.46 GAA/.891
save percentage for Carolina compared to 2.84/.908 for Cam Ward.OK, that Hurricane team was hit hard by
injuries, not least to Ward himself in early March when his season ended.Last year, Peters was 2.50/.919 compared to
Ward’s 3.06/.898, which looks pretty good.That is, until you compare it to the goalie who played the most games
for Carolina, Anton Khudobin. He was
2.30/.926.Maybe Khudobin was that
good.Or maybe Peters is an average
backup.With only 68 games of
experience, it’s hard to tell.
Peerless… Peters is cheap, young, has performed passably
well, is in position to make a statement that would enable him to seek a bigger
payday when he approaches his 30th birthday in two years.If you look at a backup with the idea that he
can step in on a moment’s notice and assume the number one responsibilities for
a length of time, Peters might not be your guy.At least there is not much on his resume to indicate that; it’s too
thin.The flip side of that is that his
signing is a statement of the club’s confidence in Braden Holtby to be the
uncontested number one goaltender, and that is something the club really has
not had since before the Caps traded for Cristobal Huet late in the 2007-2008
season to take over for long-time number one goalie Olaf Kolzig.And remember when Kolzig, himself a victim of
some goalie jockeying early in his career, assumed the number one duties for
good as a 27-year old in 1997-1998.The
Caps went to the Stanley Cup final.
Justin Peters was pretty much the warm-up act for the drama
that played out later on Day One of the free agent signing period.The Caps’ next move was to sign Pittsburgh
Penguin defenseman Brooks Orpik.The deal
was for five years and $27.5 million.Good deal or bad one, guys?
Cheerless… It would be one thing to pay that much for that
long to that defenseman if you were getting this…
The Caps are not getting that defenseman.They are getting a guy who will be 34 years
old on opening night and have his services until he is 38 years old (or is
traded or bought out before that).Since
the 2005-2006 lockout, 42 defensemen have played 60 or more games having reached
the age of 36, which would be the third year of Orpik’s deal in this case.Know how many defensemen went on to play
three seasons of at least 60 games after reaching that age?Eight: Adrian Aucoin, Rob Blake, Chris
Chelios, Sergei Gonchar, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sean O’Donnell, Mathieu Schneider,
and Glen Wesley.A few others could do
it in next year or the years to come – Zdeno Chara, Dan Boyle, Sami Salo,
Willie Mitchell among them.Who knows,
perhaps Orpik will be one of them.But
he has played hard minutes, and the guys on that list are not generally of the “hard
minute” kind of defenseman (although you might include Blake or Chelios, for
example, in that category).The back end
of that contract does not look promising.
Fearless… Consider this list…
Steve Oleksy
Nate Schmidt
Connor Carrick
Patrick Wey
Julien Brouillette
Cameron Schilling
That’s probably not a bad defense for the Hershey
Bears.Last year, however, they combined
to play 119 games on defense for the Caps.As a group they have 145 games of NHL experience in total.It was a lot to think that any two of them
would make a third defensive pair for the Caps that was anything but
vulnerable.Ah, but what about John
Erskine and Jack Hillen, two guys with experience?Erskine played in 37 games last year, only 95
of a possible 212 games over the last three seasons.Hillen dressed for 13 games, the second
straight season in which he lost more than half the season to injury.Whatever you think of Orpik’s ability to
sustain a level of play over the life of his new contract, he has never played
less than 75 percent of a season’s games in his ten full seasons in the NHL.
Peerless…You might
sleep better about the Orpik deal if you treat it as two separate issues.There is the matter of the contract.It is hard to put lipstick on that pig and
call it a prom queen.Five years at $5.5
million for a defenseman in his mid-30’s is probably generous (ok, it is...very) and will probably
look pretty bad over the last half of the deal.Then there is the player piece.Here the trade-off is durability and experience with performance.Orpik is no longer that player in what might
be described as “The Shift” in Game 3 of the 2008 Stanley Cup final.He does, however, have a wealth of experience
that is a product of 703 games of NHL experience.Think of it this way.Fearless compared him to the youngsters who
played for the Caps last season.With
795 games of regular season and playoff experience Orpik has more than 200 more
games of experience than Mike Green (560) and almost as many as John Carlson
(353), Karl Alzner (376) and Dmitry Orlov (119) combined.Brooks Orpik, in a purely “hockey” sense,
could be the defense’s version of Mike Knuble, when the latter was brought in as
a 37-year old in 2009 to provide experience, stability, and production for the young
forwards.
The Caps ended the first day of the free agent signing
period by getting another Pittsburgh defenseman, Matt Niskanen, to put his
signature on a seven-year, $40.25 million contract.Good deal or not, guys?
Fearless… Looking at “comparables” can be a bit dicey given
that players of different ages are signed at different points on the calendar
and often under different circumstances.That said, Niskanen’s $5.75 million salary is nestled between Tobias
Enstrom and Matt Carle (thank you, capgeek.com), players of comparable ages (both 29 years old).His cap hit isn’t quite as attractive,
settling in between Enstrom and Andrei Markov on the high side (equal,
actually) and Duncan Keith on the low side ($5.54 million).It is worth noting that Keith signed his deal
to start with the 2010-2011 season; he would certainly command more today had
he been a new free agent.
There is the contract, and there is the player.With the Penguins the past three seasons he
put up good possession numbers – each regular season with a 5-on-5 Corsi-for surpassing 50 percent.This for a team
with declining Corsi-for numbers at 5-on-5 over the past three seasons (54.2
percent in 2011-2012, 49.0 on 2012-2013, and 48.6 last season).
His Corsi-for relative has been on the plus side in each of those three regular
seasons.The goals-for percentages he put
up were substantially higher than his Corsi values in the regular season, which
would appear to be the product of the skill set the rest of the team (one with
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) provides.
Still, he has been an efficient player.As far as effectiveness goes, let’s start with the 2008-2009
season.That was Niskanen’s sophomore
season in the league, and he put up 35 points in 80 games for the Dallas
Stars.Things looked good.Then he saw his points cut more than half the
following season (15 in 74 games; 0.20 points per game) followed by another
drop in 2010-2011 (10 points in 63 games; 0.16 points per game).Since then, however, his points per game have
been on a constant upward trend: 0.28 in 2011-2012, 0.35 in 2012-2013, and 0.57
in 2013-2014.That might be playing with
better offensive players in Pittsburgh than he played with in Dallas, but then
again, the Caps will have talented players with whom Niskanen will play, too.
Cheerless… You’re thinking Niskanen is a deal, aren’t you,
cuz?Well, that might be a bit
premature.He has one 40-point season over
seven years and had more points last season (46 in 81 games) than in his
previous three seasons combined (45 in 178 games).It’s those “three seasons combined” that
sticks a bit in my throat.Just
remember, only three players so far in this free agent signing period have
signed for bigger cap hits than Niskanen’s $5.75 million hit – goalie Ryan Miller
($6.0 million), and forwards Thomas Vanek ($6.5 million) and Paul Stastny ($7.0
million), players with more robust resumes.No player has yet been signed
to as long a term (seven years).He is
one of only seven free agents so far (out of the latest 150 current as of the
morning of July 4, according to capgeek.com) to have been signed to terms longer than four years.
It has been a while since the Caps committed this kind of dollars
and term to an unrestricted free agent from another organization.In the salary cap era, never.The closest might be Michael Nylander, who
was signed to a contract with a $4.875 million cap hit in 2007 (and it was his
second tour with Washington).Guess they
really like this guy.
Peerless… Of the under-30 years of age defensemen in this
years unrestricted free agent class, Niskanen and Anton Stralman might have
been at the top of the most-wanted list (although the analytics-inclined might
have included New Jersey’s Mark Fayne in that group).Niskanen came in at a cap hit $1.25 million
more than what Stralman signed for with the Tampa Bay Lightning.Whether that is a deal or not might hinge on
whether Niskanen is that defenseman who had fine years in his rookie and
sophomore seasons, and revisited that level of production last year, or if he
is the defenseman that struggled somewhat over a four-year period in the middle
of his still young career.
What his career suggests so far is that with good teams he
has rather good results.With teams less
successful (as was the case in his last year and change in Dallas) his numbers
were not as good.He is not, yet anyway,
a defenseman who can dominate with his presence, but he is a contributor and
appears to be on an improving arc in his career development.He would be an improvement over what the Caps
have had as their “4” in a top-four defense.Whether he is an improvement to the point of being as, or more productive
than others in his salary cap neighborhood – Matt Carle, Oliver Ekman-Larsson,
Andrei Markov, Brent Burns, among others -- the Caps will have seven years to figure that out.
In the end…
Week 1 in the 2014 unrestricted free agent signing period
was something of a roller-coaster for Caps fans.The Justin Peters signing was
reasonable.He is a decent young goalie
who will have a clear role with this club, keeping the seat warm for a year or
two (or so the play goes) until Philipp Grubauer is ready to move up.The Brooks Orpik signing looked bad at first
examination, given the length and value of the deal. A few days having passed does not change that view, at least as to length and value of the contract. As it is, Orpik’s is the second largest cap
hit deal so far among free agent defensemen (to Niskanen) and the second
longest term (to Niskanen, tied with Stralman).But the tradeoff here is value and performance in the long term (it will
not likely be good) for experience and leadership in the near term.He has those 700-plus games of experience,
and he has played for two Stanley Cup finalists, winning one in 2009 with the
Penguins.Keep the hockey and contract
pieces separate in your mind (not to mention for whom he played), and Orpik has the potential to be a net positive in the short term.
Niskanen, despite being arguably the gem of this free agent
class among defensemen, is something of a mystery.He does not have a long or sustained history
of superior performance, and what he does have is largely based on last season’s
results with an offensively-talented team.
Orpik and Niskanen are two pieces of a set here.Looking at last season, each had roughly the
same even strength ice time per game (Orpik: 18:08, Niskanen: 17:35, the difference
being about one shift per game).One can
anticipate the Orpik will get (and hopefully provide more effective) penalty killing time, having
skated 2:56 a game to lead the Penguins’ fifth-rated penalty killing squad last
season.Niskanen, on the other hand, has
more influence on the power play.He
skated 2:59 a game last year with Pittsburgh and logged more time in the
absence of Kris Letang after Letang suffered a stroke.Niskanen is not likely to get that kind of
power play time with Washington, what with Mike Green still on the roster and
John Carlson having emerged as a power play quarterback last season, but it is an attribute that will be available.
The signings on defense are the noteworthy ones here.Signing Orpik and Niskanen gives the Caps
what might be their best top-six of the post-2004-2005 lockout era and arguably
their best since the 2000-2001 season when their top-six in average ice time
included Calle Johansson, Sergei Gonchar, Brendan Witt, Joe Reekie, Sylvain
Cote, and Ken Klee. It will be balanced,
too.A top six of Mike Green, John
Carlson, Karl Alzner, and Dmitry Orlov, with Orpik and Niskanen added, would
have three lefties (Alzner, Orlov, and Orpik) with three righties (Green,
Carlson, and Niskanen).They could pair
offensive defensemen (Green, Orlov) with defensive defensemen (Orpik, Alzner),
or mix and match with two-way defensemen (Carlson, Niskanen).Head coach Barry Trotz will have options to
the point of pairing defensemen with certain opponents in mind, if he so
chooses.These are luxuries no Capitals
coach has had in quite some time. But it could have a short shelf life if Orpik goes into decline swiftly.
And that brings us to evaluating the week.Playing in the market for unrestricted free
agents means overpaying for uncertain success.The Caps have not been in the deep end of this pool in some time, and
from that perspective the signings of Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen
(especially Orpik) to big dollars and long term looks iffy at best, poor at
worst (again, especially Orpik).But
from a purely hockey point of view, the Caps’ defense is better than it has
been, on paper at least, in years.It
is, as Rob Parker so deftly laid it out here, “a deep and talented D corps, one
that you could actually see playing for a team in the Stanley Cup finals.”
In that respect, the dollar impacts will fade among fans in
short order, or at least until next spring and the Caps are trying to fit a
trade under the limited cap room they might have as a result of these signings.That is no small consideration here,
especially since the Caps overpaid for a defenseman who might be on the third
pair when the season is winding down.As
for the long term ramifications of the signings, they might be pushed off in
the minds of fans into that long term (and yes, they could be grim). If you look at the span of five years in which
Orpik and Niskanen are committed to the Caps, the grade might be at best an incomplete
and at worst a “C-minus” or a “D.”In
the here and now, though, the grade is not so bad as that.Perhaps give it a “B-minus.” Of course, if there is a Stanley Cup at the end of this...
Another NHL draft is in the books, and if the commentary
during the televised proceedings yesterday was any indication, all 30 teams
will be contending for a Stanley Cup in a few years.Meanwhile, the cousins and I watched with a
keen eye as the Caps drafted five wingers and a goalie, and we have a few
comments of our own.
That’s right… five wingers and a goalie.And they traded up to get that goalie, then
traded up again to get a winger with the pick they got in return and… an AHL
goalie.
Caps fans are generally of a mind that the team’s needs do
not generally involve wingers or goalies, but rather defensemen and
centers.Here are the details…
Round 1/13th overall: Jakub Vrana (LW/RW)
Round 2/39th overall: Vitek Vanecek (G).The Caps held the 44th overall
pick in the second round but traded it, and the 74th overall pick in
the third round, to Buffalo for the 39th overall pick, with which
they selected Vanecek.
Round 3/89th overall: Nathan Walker (LW).The Caps traded back into the third round by shipping
off their two fourth round spots (104th and 118th
overall) to the New York Rangers for the 89th overall pick, with
which they selected Walker.
Round 4: no pick in this round.
Round 5/134th overall: Shane Gersich (LW)
Round 6/159th overall: Steven Spinner (C/RW).The Caps moved up with a trade, but the pick
did not appear to be the reason.Washington moved their sixth round pick (164th overall), one
of two seventh round picks (192nd overall), and a seventh round pick
in 2015 to Winnipeg for this pick and Eddie Pasquale, a goaltender who played
for the St. John’s IceCaps for the past three seasons.
Round 7/194th overall: Kevin Elgestal (RW)
So there it is, your 2014 Washington Capitals Draft
Class. Now, to the particulars...
Washington Capitals fans being
the way they are, there will be much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth over
the next few days, so guys… rend and gnash away.Let’s start with the top pick, Jakub Vrana.
Fearless:No rending
or gnashing here, cousin.True, the Capitals
expressed a view before the draft that you need to draft your centers.And, if you look at the Caps’ organization,
top to bottom, the only incumbent or prospect top-six center is Nicklas
Backstrom, drafted in 2006.Re-signing
Mikhail Grabovski would address that issue in the short term, but the club
still has the long term issue of who will be a top-six center 3-5 years down
the road.
That said, was there a center available at 13 that the Caps
might have reasonably selected ahead of Vrana?The obvious comparisons are Dylan Larkin, taken two spots later by the
Detroit Red Wings, Nick Schmaltz, taken 20th by the Chicago
Blackhawks, and Robert Fabbri, taken 21st by the St. Louis
Blues.NHL Central Scouting had all
three ranked in the 17-21 range among North American Skaters.On the other hand, Vrana was ranked fourth
among European skaters.Two of the three
ahead of him (William Nylander and Kevin Fiala) had already been selected.
If the club is going to go for the best player available and
not for position need, this is what happens.
Cheerless: …
Hey!...Get up!!
Cheerless:Huh…whut?Ugh… cheap wine and a Capitals draft ain’t
somthin’ you want to put together.What’re
we talkin’ about?
Caps…first round pick…Jakub Vrana…
Cheerless:Oh…yeah.What is it with this team and European
wingers in early rounds? Since 2010… Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stanislav Galiev, Filip
Forsberg, Andre Burakovsky, and now Vrana.The good is that he has a “very good offensive mind and is hungry from
circles down in offensive zone. Good shot and is a player you have to respect
because he can score or make a play. Ability to be dangerous quickly. One shot
and score capability.”On the other hand, he “has experienced some
bouts of inconsistency in his game and has yet to really develop the defensive
awareness that scouts were hoping for…” Gosh, now who does he sound like?Maybe another 13th overall draft
pick?...
Peerless:If Caps
fans thought that there was going to be a sea change in draft philosophy with
the departure of George McPhee, consider this pick pretty solid evidence that
it isn’t happening, at least not to start.Go back through the Caps’ "first" first round picks dating from the
selection of Alex Ovechkin in 2004: Ovechkin, Sasha Pokulok, Nicklas Backstrom,
Karl Alzner, Anton Gustafsson, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Filip
Forsberg, Andre Burakovsky, and now Vrana.The progression has been toward drafting skilled European forwards with
that first pick available.One would
like to think (or, more precisely, hope) that the recent picks – Kuznetsov,
Burakovsky, Vrana – will develop into top-six wingers.But the history before that in “first” first
round picks is checkered, especially past the lottery picks.There are, of course, no certainties in the
draft, even in the first round.There
are no guarantees, either, but this pick is not outside what we have come to
know about drafting by the Caps over the last decade.The takeaway here might not be the player as
much as the process and whether it reflects a business-as-usual approach or a
new direction.
Next up…goalies.Guys, the Caps got two goalies out of this draft, one drafted and the
other obtained in a trade that swapped picks.Any thoughts?
Cheerless: Same ol’, same ol’… 2001, pick a goalie (the late Robert
Mueller, may he rest in peace).2002, pick two goalies (Maxime
Daigneault, Robert Gherson).2004,
another goalie (Justin Mrazek).2005...yup, another goalie (Daren Machesney). 2006, two more goalies
(Semyon Varlamov, Michael Neuvirth).2007…another goalie (Dan Dunn).2008…goalie (Braden Holtby).2010…a
goalie (Philipp Grubauer).2011…goalie
(Steffen Soberg).2012…again, a goalie
(Sergei Kostenko).
This year, Vitek Vanecek.And, they used two picks to move up five spots to get him.The eighth-ranked European goalie by NHL
Central Scouting.Not one of the seven
ahead of him was taken earlier.The
first of the seven ranked ahead of Vanecek was taken 61st overall,
100 spots later, give or take (22, actually).How about some
comparisons.Last year’s eighth-ranked
CSS goaltender was Rene Svoboda.He was
not drafted.In 2012 it was Igor
Ustinsky…undrafted.2011: Nicklas
Lundstrom… fifth round by St. Louis.2010: Pavel Francouz…undrafted.2009: Benjamin Conz…undrafted.Why
Vanecek, why burn a draft pick to move up five spots, and did the Caps think
that any of Ottawa, New Jersey, Nashville, or Arizona were going to pick
him?None of them picked a goaltender as
it turned out, the Caps being the last of four teams to pick a goalie in the
span of six spots.They really loved
this guy.
Fearless:Let’s go
back a few years, to Draft Day 2010.The
Caps held the 116th overall pick in the fourth round.They saw a goalie they wanted, so they
packaged that pick and the 146th pick (fifth round) and sent them to
the Toronto Maple Leafs to move up… four spots.They used that pick on Philipp Grubauer, who Caps fans seem to like these days, four years later.Was Montreal, New Jersey, or Vancouver
salivating over Grubauer in 2010?And, if your
memory is cloudy, Grubauer was the 15th ranked North American goalie
in that draft (he was playing for Windsor in the OHL).
Peerless:The “how”
and the “who” are two entirely distinct issues here.The latter first.Clearly the Caps saw something in Vitek
Vanecek, but what?Or, perhaps more
precisely, “when?”Let’s start with the
fact that he was the eighth-ranked European goalie.He actually dropped a spot from the Central
Scouting mid-term rankings.Central
Scouting is but one scouting source, but it does speak to a lack of volatility
in his ranking, that he was not a highly ranked goalie who had a bad second
half of the year.On the other hand, no
goalie in the 2014 World U-18 tournament faced more shots than did Vanecek (194
in seven games), and no goalie played more minutes (437).His overall statistics were not noteworthy
(2.74 GAA, .897 save percentage), but he was sturdy enough to help the Czechs
to a silver medal.
As to the “how,” that is the curious part.First, let’s not make too much out of burning
that third round pick in the package to move up and get Vanecek.Remember, this was not thought to be a
particularly deep draft, so a third rounder in 2014 might not have the value of
a 2013 third rounder (74th overall pick: John Hayden) or a 2015
third rounder, for that matter.That
said, burning a draft pick for a goalie, even if the Caps have a recent history
of this, appears odd.Look at the
goalies for this year’s Stanley Cup semi-finalsts.Jonathan Quick was a third rounder (72nd
overall) in 2005.Henrik Lundqvist
was a seventh rounder in 2000.Carey
Price was a first rounder – a fifth overall pick in 2005, as a matter of fact –
but Corey Crawford was a second round pick in 2003.Looking at it from another perspective, one
can find capable goalies in most any year in or after the second round:
2001: Peter Budaj (63rd overall), Craig Anderson
(73rd), and Mike Smith (161st)
2002: Josh Harding (38th)
2003: Crawford (52nd), Jimmy Howard (64th),
Jaroslav Halak (271st), and Brian Elliott (291st)
2004: Pekka Rinne (258th)
2005: Quick (72nd) and Ben Bishop (85th)
2006: Steve Mason (69th), James Reimer (99th),
and Chad Johnson (125th)
2007: none…a really bad year for goalies; none drafted have
played as many as a dozen NHL games
2008: Braden Holtby (93rd)
2009: Robin Lehner (46th), Darcy Kuemper, 161st,
and for that matter, Eddie Pasquale (117th), the guy the Caps
obtained in a later trade on draft day that involved swapping picks
Goalies can be found in the draft. Maybe Vanacek is the one
who makes this list a few years from now, maybe not.But goalies can be found without expending
draft picks.That said, we get the Caps
taking a goalie.They do this every year
(more “same of the same”).It is the trading
up and burning a pick to do it that is confounding.Perhaps Vanecek is the next Michal Neuvirth
(taken 34th in 2006, 159 NHL games, including playoffs).Or maybe he is the next Jeff Frazee (taken 38th
by New Jersey in 2005, one NHL game played).We won’t know for a while.Keep
in mind, Philipp Grubauer was drafted in 2010, and only now, with the 2014-2015
season approaching, are we thinking of him as the full-time starter with the
Hershey Bears and possibly a back-up in Washington.
What did you guys think about the rest of the draft?
Fearless:Well, it
seems every pick has a story.Nathan
Walker, born in Wales, raised in Australia, played in the Czech Republic, took
a turn in the Caps’ development camp in 2013, signed with Hershey last season. His
is quite a journey.Shane Gersich has a
pretty good pedigree, what with the Broten brothers being uncles. Steven Spinner is a high-schooler, but his selection
might the understory of that pick.The
Caps got a backup for Grubauer in Hershey as part of the trade for the pick
that netted Spinner.It seems only Kevin
Elgestal lacks a story line as the Caps’ last pick in the 2014 draft.
Cheerless:zzzzzzzzzzz…
Peerless:Guess
yesterday was just too much for him.Actually, Fearless, you missed a story line with young Mr.
Elgestal.When he was taken with the 194th
pick, the Caps continued a curious avoidance of drafting Canadians.Going back over their last 19 picks dating
back to the selection of Thomas DiPauli (USA) with the 100th overall
pick in 2012, the Caps drafted only three Canadians – Jaynen Rissling (2012),
Madison Bowey (2013), and Tyler Lewington (2013).In the meantime, the Caps have taken nine
Americans among those 19 picks:
Thomas DiPauli
Austin Wuthrich
Connor Carrick
Riley Barber
Zach Sanford
Blake Heinrich
Brian Pinho
Shane Gersich
Steven Spinner
The Caps have not taken more than two Canadians in any draft
since 2009 (four).We don’t want to make
too much of that other than being just one of the trivial story lines that
attach to the draft.
In the end…
This draft looks like any other of those since the 2004-2005
lockout for the Caps.Of the 67 draft
picks taken from 2005 through last year, the Caps selected:
15 centers, three of whom would be moved to wing (Filip
Forsberg, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov), five of whom were taken in the
first round (Forsberg, Johansson, Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Anton
Gustafsson)
20 wingers, two of whom were taken in the first round (Andre
Burakovsky, Tom Wilson)
24 defensemen, four of whom were taken in the first round
(two of whom are cornerstones – John Carlson and Karl Alzner – two of whom are
not…Sasha Pokulok and Joe Finley)
8 goaltenders, one of whom was taken in the first round
(Semyon Varlamov)
This year, five forwards (no pure centers) and a
goalie.Although the team seems to have
the idea that you need to draft your centers, for the nine drafts preceding
this one the Caps have not found an answer to their hole at center except for a
lottery pick in 2006 (Backstrom).In
those same nine drafts they have not addressed persistent lack of depth on
defense, either.It would seem that 2014 is no
different.That is not necessarily a bad
thing, especially when you consider that none of the players drafted this past
weekend are likely to contribute to the big club for years to come, if at
all.However, not having done so in
previous drafts reduces the Caps to having to fill such deficiencies years later
through trades or free agent signings.That has not worked, either.The
holes remain from positions not being adequately addressed in drafts past.
Yesterday was not about filling holes in the here and now,
in 2014.It was about what this team
might look like in 2019, although it still looks like it has a hole in the
middle.It did serve as a reminder that
there are those holes that need filling now and that there is a lot of work to
be done over the next three months to opening night of the 2014-2015 season.For the future, we are left with hope that
actions taken yesterday bear fruit five years from now.
It’s time for The Peerless’ peerless prognostication for the
2014 NHL Entry Draft.The draft, which
will be held this Friday and Saturday in the cheesesteaky, soft pretzelly goodness that is south
Philadelphia at CoreStates/First Union/Wachovia/Wells Fargo Center, is a
celebration of hope, an orgy of optimism, a carnival of cheerfulness.
Actually, we eagerly anticipate the reception the Phans of
Philly will bestow upon Commissioner Gary Bettman as he confidently strides to
the podium to announce the first overall selection.If those folks would boo Santa Claus, well,
it should be entertaining.
The object of the exercise, though, is for 30 young men to
model the latest in NHL on-ice fashion as those chosen in the first round of the
draft.And so we offer you our
scientific take* on who will go where when the teams take their turns on the
clock on Friday night. When the booing
of the Commish fades, here is how the first round will unfold.
1.Florida Panthers
-- Aaron Ekblad, D (Barrie/OHL)
2.Buffalo Sabres –
Sam Reinhart, C (Kootenay/WHL)
3.Edmonton Oilers –
Sam Bennett, C (Kingston/OHL)
4.Calgary Flames –
Leon Draisaitl, C (Prince Albert/WHL)
5.New York Islanders
– Michael Dal Colle, LW (Oshawa/OHL)
6.Vancouver Canucks
– Nicholas Ritchie, LW (Peterborough/OHL)
7.Carolina
Hurricanes – William Nylander, RW (Sodertalje/SWE-2)
8.Toronto Maple
Leafs – Jake Virtanen, LW (Calgary/WHL)
28.Tampa Bay
Lightning (from NY Rangers) – Roland McKeown, D (Kingston/OHL)
29.Los Angeles Kings
– Brendan Lemieux, LW (Barrie/OHL)
30.New Jersey Devils
– Joshua Ho-Sang (C/RW (Windsor/OHL)
This looks like a draft that has no “generational” player,
but rather a consistently well thought of top-five in Ekblad, Reinhart,
Draisaitl, Bennett and Dal Colle.Ekblad
was the consensus first overall pick in the mock drafts we looked at, and Dal
Colle showed up almost without exception at number five.In between the other three players jockeyed
for position, but almost without exception were in the 2-4 slots.
As for the Capitals, they will likely be in a no-man’s land
part of the draft.The 11-15
neighborhood since the 2004-2005 lockout has produced such players as Anze Kopitar (11th
overall in 2005), Ryan McDonagh (12th overall in 2007), and Erik
Karlsson (15th overall in 2008), stars all.It has also offered up Marek Zagrapan (13th
overall in 2005), Kyle Beach (11th overall in 2008), and Derek
Forbort (15th overall in
2010), none of whom have dressed for an NHL game to date.
Over that same period the Caps have had only one draft pick
in this neighborhood, that being Sasha Pokulok (selected 15th
overall) in 2005.Even though the lack
of changes in the front office make the Caps’ recent draft history more
relevant than it might be if there had been wholesale changes, there just is
not a lot to go on here.
Kevin Fiala fell out of the chute to the Caps on the basis
of the way we compiled the assorted mock drafts, not as the product of keen
analysis (hey, did that ever stop us?).But this pick does make some sense.The under-25 group at left wing at the moment look to be Marcus
Johansson (a converted center), Evgeny Kuznetsov (who might be called upon to
play center, given the Caps lack of organizational depth at the position), and
Andre Burakovsky.And after the top
three centers in this draft (Reinhart, Bennett, and Draisaitl) the talent seems
to drop off quite a bit.
As for defense, another position on the Caps’ “to-fill”
list, it would appear that Julius Honka would be available if the team chooses
to go in that direction.His would be a
logical pick here for similar reasons to those of Fiala.While both are a bit undersized for their
position, they share a quality that seems to be gaining importance in the way
the game is being played in the NHL – speed.For example, Goran srubb, NHL Director of European Scouting said of Fiala…
"He impressed with his explosive skating, great
puck-handling skills and overall quickness and speed. He has great offensive
instincts and is full of surprises in the offensive zone…”
NHL Central Scouting’s Peter Sullivan had this to say about
Honka…
“Let’s just say that when you go to a game and you see his
name in the lineup, you’re excited to watch the game because he’s got about
four or five different gears. You think he’s just skating normally and he puts
it in another gear, then another gear…”
There are a host of other concrete reasons to look hard at
Honka as well.Whether Fiala or Honka, both
have size issues, but the Capitals had one of the bigger teams in the NHL in
recentseasons.It has not been a
harbinger of success.
* If by “scientific”
you mean “look at a bunch of other mock drafts and mash them all up.”
