Saturday, May 25, 2013

Washington Capitals: 2012-2013 By the Tens -- Defensemen: "Schulpotorlov"

“Schulpotorlov”

No, that is not a hot young prospect out of Moscow, that is the trio of Jeff Schultz, Tom Poti, and Dmitry Orlov.  In another time, these three defensemen might have been stalwarts among the top-six blueliners for the Caps.  Schultz, the quiet, stay-at-home defenseman with the long reach and use of position and angles more than brawn to defend.  Poti, the veteran who developed a solid two-way aspect to his game after years of being primarily an offensive defenseman.  Orlov, the up-and-comer with a heavy shot and a heavier hip check.

The 2013 season was not “another time” for these three defensemen.  Combined they appeared in 47 games, going 0-6-6, minus-3.  In no game this season did all three dress for action.  Orlov and Schultz dressed for the March 19th contest against Pittsburgh – a 2-1 loss in which neither was on ice for any of the three goals in their combined 22:47 of ice time.  Schultz and Poti appeared in 11 games together, the Caps going 4-7-0 in those contests and allowing 41 goals in the process.  Poti’s season ended on March 17th, the game before Orlov would play in his first of the season on March 19th. 

None of the three appeared in the post season, all have question marks heading into the off-season.

Jeff Schultz is signed to the Capitals through next season at a $2.75 million salary cap hit.  Here is the thing, though.  Schultz appeared in 29 of the first 31 games of the 2011-2012 season (0-5-5, plus-1), but has appeared in only 51 of 99 regular season games since (1-3-4, minus-9). Forty seven of those 48 absences were healthy scratches (he was out due to illness for the February 1, 2012 game against Florida).  For all intents and purposes he has been passed on the depth chart by Orlov, Tomas Kundratek, and Steve Oleksy from within the organization, and Jack Hillen came in from Nashville to occupy a top-six spot that otherwise might have gone to Schultz…in another time.  Even prospect Cameron Schilling, who got a sweater along with Schultz for a March 12th contest with Carolina in Schilling's only appearance of the season, might be in a position to pass him on the depth chart shortly.

Schultz is almost to the point of being “dead money” laying in plain sight.  He would have a bulls-eye on his back as a compliance buyout, especially with the Caps having to find cap room to re-sign restricted free agent Karl Alzner.  But the Caps are not a team with a lot of depth on the blue line.  When John Erskine – a capable third-pair defenseman – is getting a lot of second-pair minutes, you have depth issues. 

The Caps have 20 players on the parent roster signed for next season (assuming Philipp Grubauer spends the season in Hershey and Dmitry Orlov rejoins the club), including Schultz, with a cap hit of $58.934 million (numbers from capgeek.com).  That leaves the Caps with $5.526 million in cap room to fill up to three roster spots, including the re-signing of Alzner and either signing or replacing Mike Ribeiro at center.  If Schultz is bought out, that makes up to four roster spots to fill and $8.276 million in cap room.  Even if Schultz is bought out, resigning Alzner and Ribeiro could eat up the entire remaning cap room and still leave the team needing a seventh roster defenseman.  Ribeiro might or might not be in Washington in September.  It seems almost a betting certainty that Schultz will not. 

Tom Poti has 37 regular season games on his resume over the last three seasons, 16 of them this year before an injury to his ribs that ended his season.  The question for Poti is not whether he will return to the Capitals’ lineup – he will not -- but whether he has anything left in the tank to find a suitor for next season.  If a guy deserves such a shot, it is Tom Poti.  Fractured pelvis, multiple groin injuries, neck and back injuries.  That has been his recent history with the Caps.  Through it all, he was uncommonly dedicated to his craft, persevered when others would have called it a day and retired, and exemplified the highest level of sportsmanship and professionalism when after recovering from injuries found no playing time available.  He is a fine nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy.  One hopes that it is not the capstone of his career and that there is more hockey from Poti to come.

Dmitry Orlov had an impressive rookie season in 2011-2012 – tied for eighth among rookie defensemen in goals, tied for second in assists, fourth in points, one of only 11 rookie defensemen with at least one game-winning goal, and he did this with only the 23rd highest average ice time among rookie blueliners.  And there were the thundering hip checks…





His sophomore season was jinxed from the start.  There was the lockout that affected everyone, and Orlov started his season in Hershey.  In his first 17 games with the Bears, Orlov was a respectable 1-8-9, plus-2, although the Bears were only 7-9-1 in those games.  Then the Bears came to Verizon Center to “visit” the Norfolk Admirals, the home team for purposes of the AHL Showcase on December 6th.  With the teams tied at a goal apiece late in the first period, Orlov sustained a double barreled hit that dropped him to the ice and might have been the one that left him with a concussion. 

That would be the last game Orlov would play until March 9th, when he returned to action for the Bears against, who else, Norfolk.  After a four-game get well tour, he was called up to the Caps for a game against Pittsburgh on March 19th.  Orlov lasted five games, going 0-1-1, plus-5, averaging a few ticks fewer than 15 minutes of ice time.  In the midst of a lot of personnel movement along the blue line at the end of the month and beginning of April, Orlov was returned to Hershey for the rest of the 2013 season, where he was 2-3-5, minus-2 in nine games to close the regular season and 1-2-3, even, in four playoff games in the Bears’ five-game loss to Providence in the first round.

The question going forward is whether Orlov suffers any lingering effects of his concussion.  Assuming Karl Alzner is re-signed, Orlov will likely be battling Steve Oleksy and Jack Hillen for ice time on the parent roster next fall.  The three constitute a bargain, salary cap-wise, consuming just over $2.1 million in combined cap room for the 2013-2014 season (more than half a million less than Jeff Schultz’ cap hit, by way of comparison).  But is there a reliable, healthy third-pair to be cobbled together out of that group?  Hillen and Orlov missed significant time to injuries this season.

In the end…

“Schulpotorlov” did not have the season wished for, not by a long shot. Jeff Schultz became a regular scratch, Tom Poti could never quite come all the way back from injury, and Dmitry Orlov would experience what amounted to a lost season.  None are guaranteed a sweater on a regular basis – with Washington or with another NHL team – for the 2013-2014 season.  All of them have a common goal in the season to come – “a comeback.”

Grade: incomplete


Washington Capitals: 2012-2013 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Steve Oleksy

Steve Oleksy

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
-- Benjamin Franklin



He does not have a fancy hockey pedigree, having grown up north of Detroit, Michigan. He did not attend a hockey powerhouse, his Lake Superior State Lakers skating to a 42-59-18 record in his three years at LSSU.  He was not drafted, catching on with the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL.  Then it was the Toledo Walleye, followed by the Port Huron Icehawks and the Idaho Steeheads, which was then followed up by stints in Lake Erie with the Monsters, back to Idaho with the Steelheads, and then to Bridgeport with the Sound Tigers.

Oleksy played 50 games in Bridgeport in the 2011-2012 AHL season, then was signed as a free agent by the Hershey Bears for the 2012-2013 season.  He made an impression.  In 55 games with the Bears he displayed a combination of the occasional offensive contribution (2-12-14, plus-5) and the frequent physical presence (151 penalty minutes, 52 of which were earned against the archrival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins).  When Mike Green went out of the lineup with a recurrence of groin problems, Oleksy was called up.    

He was never sent back down.  Playing the last 28 games of the regular season for the Caps, Oleksy tied for third among Caps defensemen in points (nine), tied for third in plus-minus, was second in penalty minutes (33), and was third in hits (58).  And, in the “announcing his presence with authority” file, he recorded an assist in his first NHL game, two more in his second game, then his first NHL goal in his fourth contest on his way to a 1-8-9, plus-9 finish.

There was something of a good luck charm quality to Oleksy’s play.  Most of Oleksy’s ice time at 5-on-5 was spent with Jack Hillen (30.7 percent) and Karl Alzner (24.9 percent).  Both of these players realized better GF20 (goals scored by team per 20 minutes of ice time) and GA20 (goals scored against per 20 minutes of ice time) when paired with Oleksy than when playing apart from him (numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com).

There was a certain “adrenaline rush” aspect to his game, too.  In his first 15 games he was 1-5-6, plus-4, 17 shots on goal, and 29 penalty minutes, 15 of them coming in three fights.  In his last 13 regular season games he was 0-3-3, plus-5, eight shots on goal, and four penalty minutes. More disciplined, or did the rush wear off?

Odd Oleksy Stat… The Caps were 11-3-0 in games in which Oleksy did not register a shot on goal, 8-5-1 in games in which he did (only six of those wins coming in regulation).

Game to Remember… March 14th vs. Carolina.  The Caps were in a tough spot on a mid-March night in Raleigh.  Mike Green was out with a groin injury.  Tom Poti was playing in just his third game after missing the better part of two seasons to injury.  Tomas Kundratek would play only 3:14 in this game before goingout with a leg injury.  Guys had to step up on the blue line.  Oleksy did.  He logged 27:55 in ice time (his high for the season, the game after getting just 11:50 in ice time against these same Hurricanes), and while he did not record a point, he had two shots on goal, two hits, a takeaway, and four blocked shots.  More important, Carolina did not score a goal when he was on the ice.  The Caps won, 3-2.

Game to Forget… March 16th vs. Boston.  Wouldn’t you know it, in his next game, Oleksy was the guy burned whenever he was on the ice.  The Caps were missing Mike Green and Tomas Kundratek on the blue line, so Oleksy got a ton of ice time again (24:01).  And he was more active in the offensive end than in his previous game – eight shot attempts, four of them on goal.  But he was on ice for Boston’s first three goals, and on each of them, he was the closest Capital defenseman to the goal scorer.  It was a 4-1 win for the Bruins.

Post Season… The Caps used only six defensemen in the post-season, and as one might expect, Oleksy had the lowest average ice time (15:09 per game).  Then again, only Karl Alzner was on ice for fewer even strength goals (two) than Oleksy (three).  But all of them came in Capital losses, two of them game-winners, one of them when he got lost at the top of the circle and could not get back into the play before Derek Stepan’s game-winner in Game 4, and again in Game 6 when Derick Brassard’s slap shot hit his arm on the way through, the puck angling under goalie Braden Holtby’s glove for the game’s only goal.

In the end…

There is a certain ambivalence that attaches to Oleksy’s season.  On the one hand, his is quite a story – an undrafted, unheralded player (he doesn’t have his own player page at tsn.ca, despite playing 28 games this season, and neither his NHL.com page nor his hockey-reference.com page have any of his history other than with the Caps) who is not exactly a youngster (27 years old), getting his shot after years of hard work and performing admirably.  On the other hand, is he a top-six defenseman, not just on this team, but one that aspires to a championship?  That is the uncertainty that comes from a 28-game stint after four years split among three different minor leagues (IHL, ECHL, and AHL).  One is left to wonder if he has reached his upside.  But that is a matter to ponder in September’s training camp.  His 2013 season has to be considered a pleasant surprise, perhaps even lucky.  But that luck comes after a lot of hard, diligent work.

Grade: B


Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images North America