2009-10 Rink Wrap: Milan Jurcina

I’d probably vote 5or 4. For the time he played I’m leaning 5, because of the things mentioned in the good. The things listed in the bad section were things I expected, so he doesn’t lose points for that. But considering his injuries and how little he played with the Caps he gets at best a 5, probably only a 4.

I’d give him a 5 and really don’t have anything to say about his 09/10 performance. I hope the only way they sign him is if the plan is to stick Sloan and/or Erskine in HER. Otherwise, save the money and survive with Sloskine until the trade deadline or keep one of them with the big club and sign another D that’s more servicable than Jurcina.

He gets a five for his play, which was pretty much what I’ve come to expect from the big guy. I’m not going to ding him just because he played 1/4 of the season with the Caps, since he was traded and his injury occured while he was with the Jackets.

To get a 10, he’d have to be a legitimate top-4 defenseman, play more minutes on the PK with more effectiveness and blocked shots, and finally learn to use that shot of his such that he becomes a viable PP alternative.

Is it possible to give an “incomplete”?

That “Key Stat” by the way, is absolutely mind-blowing.

This mark is mostly incomplete, but for the time he did play, I guess a 5.

I’d be fine with him on the roster as the 5th or 6th D for the right price. But I don’t think the price will be right. He made $1.4M last year, and he’s certainly not going to take a cut in his first UFA year. Someone would pay him, say, $1.75M to take a regular shift on the third pair.

I’d want him at no more than the $1.4M he made last year, incidentally.

I expected him to play up to a level that would keep him in the line up consistently.

Instead, he played at a level that allowed him to pretty much be a throw-in on a deal for Chimera (That we got back for free, because of the conditions, right?).

I don’t think we can afford to keep him, sadly. I say sadly, because I like him more than ShaMo and Sloan, and he brings to the team what Erskine brings, minus the fighting and plus a decent slap shot (albeit that takes forever to wind up). If we want Karl Alzner and John Carlson in the line up, all Juice does now is create a log jam. With Schultz, Green, Alzner, Carlson, Erskine, Sloan, and Shamo all RFAs or signed through next year, unless we move Shamo/Erskine/Sloan at the draft, there’s no way we can sign him, or sign a new defenseman we seem to dream of.

If he’ll sign for close to league minimum, yeah, keep him. If not, I say let him walk. I’d rather let him walk, trade Shamo/Erskine/Sloan (one or two of them) and pick up, say, Seidenberg than sign Juice just to “keep someone in the fold.”

Albeit with wonky QUALCOMP/QUALTEAM numbers, he’d have the best 4v5 GAON/60 of any D member not named Alzner, and was doing is with the third highest SH TOI/G in the group (more than double what he logged the previous year).

If you’re going to re-sign him, it’s for a 5 or 6D that can hopefully maintain PK production, but don’t go breaking much of a sweat to re-up.

Jurcina’s time in DC was a total “meh” for me, hence the 5. Performed pretty much as expected; nothing good, nothing bad. He gets the low end of “expectations” since he was only here for a limited time.

The Discussion: As one of several mid-level defensemen who will become UFAs this summer, can the Capitals afford to keep Jurcina? What role would he play should he stick around? Was a 27 game stint enough to earn a spot on next year’s roster if the price is right?

Personally, I don’t want the caps to bring back ANY of their UFA d-men. I just think “new” blood from outside the org is the way to go for that last spot (assuming green/schultz/alzner/carlson/poti are pretty much locks). Of course, by “new” blood I am specifically thinking of a veteran, not a young guy. Someone who can mentor the younger D that our blue-line will be littered with.

If Jurcina were to come back, I think his role would be 3rd pairing mentor for carlson or alzner. And I don’t see Jurcina as much of the “mentor” type, quite honestly.

I’ve seen enough of Juice to know that I don’t need to see any more of Juice as a Cap. To say that Jurcina is one-dimensional… oh, nevermind.

He was basically what I expected but I thought his consistency was better so he gets the 6 instead of 5. He didn’t have quite the same dramatic peaks and valleys to his season.

I’m leaning towards giving him an incomplete for the season, and a hug for the Olympics.

As one of several mid-level defensemen who will become UFAs this summer, can the Capitals afford to keep Jurcina?

I think so, especially if one or both of Tyler Sloan and John Erskine are moved off the books. And price is right stuff, of course, too.

What role would he play should he stick around? Was a 27 game stint enough to earn a spot on next year’s roster if the price is right?

I think so, but as a 3rd pairing D. I could see him as the 6D on a championship-caliber team for sure.

Juice was Juice.
And Juice as he was playing pre-trade is means Juice >TSlo

45 comments so far and no snarky comments about Flash? Are you guys not feeling well?

Honestly, I’d like to see a little new blood back there to shake things up a bit and this is a perfect spot to do that kind of thing…which prolly means he gets a 3 yr/5M forehead slapper and I continue dumbly in my pent.

For a 10 from me, I’d simply want him to average better than a SOG/gm and knock the snot out of people when they dawdle in the paint. That’s it.

juice was trending above average for me prior to the trade. maybe because he stood out as someone who was willing to use his body.

however, i expected him to finally use his cannon shot for something more than shattering the glass at kettler. which he did not.

the good news was it didnt cost us anything to bring him back…

i think it’s call between him and shamo in terms of which guy gets to come back. at this point, id guess juice would be the cheaper alternative. i’d say if he wants to come back on a one year deal at a similar cap number, then i’d consider that. otherwise i dont think the team should rush to lock him up and should wait to see what if any bids he gets from other teams.

Blah blah blah

thought he’d be better in terms of points. other than that he was pretty much as expected.

I thought he played much better, he took fewer penalties and was noticeably physical.
My expectations, being a 5, were that he would be a little slow, a little immobile, and have trouble with his positioning from time to time.
I would keep Juice as the 7th man, over Sloan and Erskine, to whom he’s a wee bit of an upgrade. Juice won’t want that. He wants to play.
His performance in the Olympics was great. When the games mattered, he stepped it up and really looked solid out there. Loved the hit on Crosby posted above.

I will say…I’ve never been a big fan of Juice, primarily because I felt he was more a liability than an asset because of his past penchant for taking stupid and very ill-timed penalties. Every time I think of him I flash back to (IIRC) the Flyers series in ’08 where he took a stupid penalty, sat for 2 minutes, skated out of the box and immediately took another stupid penalty. Infuriating. But that was then.

This post brings up some good points that are forcing me to reevaluate him. I do like his physical presence, and as he starts to move his feet more and avoid the bad penalties I think he’ll grow on me. I would like to see him put up a few more points, but we’ve got so many scorers on this team I’ll live without much more from him. I think he did a fairly decent job of forcing me to not hate him…dare I say it even like him…back on the blue line. And I will admit, I’m excited to see what he brings to next season.

I thought he showed some signs of growth earlier this season while playing for the Caps. With limited sample I’m more using this year as a marker for next years “rating thing”. But the Olympics also give (misplaced?) hope for the playoffs, though not rateable for Caps considerations.

Assuming he sticks around I expect him to continue becoming more consistent in his play with noticeably improved stats over 08-09. So then if that doesn’t happen then he will get a 4 or less next year…

If the boy could fight a little more (when called for) I’d feel more comfortable about keeping him over ShaMo or Erskine, but that’s unlikely to happen so I may just end up being less comfortable.