2009-10 Rink Wrap: Tyler Sloan

He won’t get a fair vote, I’m not going to fight it.

4. Slightly less productive than I expected. I’d have given him a 5 if he was more consistent either way. One thing I wanted to see was some consistency even if it was he was overmatched every shift.

GMGM gets a -1 for signing him to a one way multi-year deal.

which means they weren’t too high. 6.

With John Carlson and Karl Alzner poised to make the leap to the NHL next year, are Tyler Sloan’s days as the seventh/eighth defenseman coming to an end?

Yes, but they’re not over yet. He’s still 7/8 until there’s another NHL-level D under contract.

Does his versatility and ability to jump into a forward role when needed make him more valuable than John Erskine or can/should he be moved?

I don’t think so. There’s already lots of forward depth. Center Sloan can’t fill in at, on wing move a guy up a line and call up A Gordon or Beagle or MP or Bouchard or someone from Hershey, I think.

What will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

Be the 3rd pairing D and get PP time, with an average (on the Caps) plus minus and GF and GAON/60 ratings. Maybe 5 goals, 20 points, jump into the rush and score a la his Dallas goal.

Ima deducting one point for the goal he gifted to Crosby in Snovechkin.

http://capitals.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?hlg=20092010,2,870&event=WSH33&fr=false

I was slightly disappointed in TSlo’s year because the guy can skate, but a negative +/-, even in limited action, is just not gonna cut it for a guy hanging on to a roster spot by a thread. The nod goes to Erskine and his pugnacity, so I see Sloan and his inexplicable, yet reasonable, contract traded for a low pick.

I gave him a four. I didn’t have expectations that were too high but I thought he was a reasonable fill-in last year – this year I just found him outclassed in a lot of the games he played in. I seem to remember him having a really good game against the Penguins at some point but one game out of forty isn’t enough to bump it back up to “meets expectations”.

Honestly I think we either sign/trade for a new defenseman this summer or we lock up one of our UFAs, which leaves Erskine as the 7th dman and Sloan on the outside looking in. I just don’t see how there’s room for him here anymore and I don’t see his abilities being anything beyond the occasional space filler. I hope.

Put him in Laing’s camp – plenty of heart and a guy you want to root for, but just not an NHL caliber player.

For a 10 he’d have to match his play at home with his play on the road, hit at least 20 points and really prove that he deserves a permanent spot in the lineup for the whole season.

Finishing on the positive side of the +/- spectrum also wouldn’t hurt, especially considering the firepower on this team – interestingly, everyone else who finished a minus this year is either in Hershey or on another team.

I was a little disappointed that he didn’t at least add more offense from the blue line, but a 5 would have been appropriate as well. Didn’t expect much out of him and he didn’t deliver a whole lot from the blue line. He did add value as a F fill in early on. I’m not sure that having him in the lineup on D gave us any sort of distinct advantage vs. playing Alzner.

My biggest frustration with Sloan is the fact that he’s re-signed despite us having a plethora of 7-8 D and the two young kids poised to play every night. It always seemed like a waste of valuable cap space. You can’t pin that on Sloan himself, though.

I expected him to play in about half the games in 2010-11, contribute little offensively, be about as reliable as any 7th or 8th defenseman in the NHL, and perhaps be a better depth guy when the Caps were playing a quicker team like Montreal or Pittsburgh, as opposed to Erskine.

I got just about that.

To get a 10 next year he would have to take one of the top 6 spots on the roster and play 65-70 game. I don’t see that happening. There is a spot open in the top 6 this coming training camp, but I don’t think Sloan is the guy who fills it. The Caps have enough cap space to find a pretty good defensive defenseman to stick in that #6 spot.

Sloan is expendable, but will return little, if anything in a trade. His cap hit is very gentle, but he is not going to be a top 6 guy on most NHL teams. That he will turn 30 during the upcoming season doesn’t help him.

Honestly, if there is a way to drop him, the Caps should find it. He will be able to play professionally, but I don’t think he can contribute to a team at the Caps’ level. A team near the bottom of the NHL might have some room for him…

I haven’t voted, but am leaning 4.

After the Pens series, I thought he was a decent option as a 7th D. Then he got a contract extension, which raised expectations further – if people who know what they’re doing like him that much, hell, he must be decent.

But watching his play throughout the year, he’s clearly not the Caps’ 7th best D right now (and that’s with Corvo, Mo and Jurcina gone), and he isn’t the 13th- or 14th best F option either, so I’m not really sure how much his versatility really helps, except in the biggest of pinches.

So yeah. A little less than I expected = 4.

I gave him a 5. I didn’t expect him to spend all 82 games on the roster. I did expect to see some growth in his game as the season wore on, which wasn’t evident. At this point, I think its what you see is what you get, the good, the bad, and the ugly. He’s a serviceable extra d-man, but I don’t know if, really, he’s serviceable for the Caps because of the younger depth coming up. His ability to play forward when needed is an added bonus on a team that is pressed against the cap, but again, is that a service the Caps need? (because they should be stuck against the cap)

So, he exceeded my expectations in a couple areas, and came in below expectations in others. Maybe I could have gone 6, based on making the Caps out of camp and sticking with them all season, but I think a 5 is more accurate given the lack of improvement in his skills as a player. When he’s on, he’s on, but when he starts to overthink things, we’ve got problems.

I’m not touching where he fits in next season, let alone in relations to the young’uns and Eskine.

As for a ten…..I’m not sure he’s capable of the ten. He’d have to look like a completely different player next season, and at 29, I’m not sure that’s possible. He’d have to become a legit 6th D-man, eliminate the panic moments, improve his on-ice positioning dramatically….you get the idea.

my expectations for him were very high after his first game in calgary…downhill from there.

i still think he’s a valuable utility player to have around and i think he’s probably a better fill in on 4th line wing than 3rd pair dman. he played ok in spurts this year but not as consistent as i’d like. maybe thats just a fact of being in and out of the lineup…or maybe thats why he went undrafted and took 7 years to get to the show.

to get a 10 he’d have to get consistent minutes and not make me slap my forehead after every game. the guy will never be a top 4 dman so expectations are limited.

as for his $. i think he really is the cheapest dman currently under contract that has a reasonable shot at NHL playing time…other than maybe sean collins at $650K. so if the team is going to carry a 7th/8th dman, he’s the cheapest one we got. that said, i wouldnt be surprised if he’s a trade throw in or they try and move him for a draft pick or “future considerations”.

 No real expectations that he would be here all year. Played better than expected at forward and scored on Brodeur. Sometimes looked like and NHL defenseman and sometimes looked like he belonged in Hershey, but he seemed to be paired with Erskine a lot , so how much better could he have done?

He skates pretty well, plays a physical style, and blocks some shots…for me all a bit better than expected. I could live with him as 7D over Erskine, especially if we are able to bring in a solid shut down veteran D to mentor 52 and Alznerson, as discussed today in the clips thread.

I had no expectations of him at the beginning of the season. He’s not an NHL-caliber defenseman – even as a 7th defenseman – so he exceeded my expectations simply by suiting up for 40 games.

With John Carlson and Karl Alzner poised to make the leap to the NHL next year, are Tyler Sloan’s days as the seventh/eighth defenseman coming to an end?

His contract says otherwise, unless he takes over the 13/14F spot for Laing.

Does his versatility and ability to jump into a forward role when needed make him more valuable than John Erskine or can/should he be moved?

I’d presume if he was that valuable to other teams he would have been signed last year. I’m guessing his agility makes him a better default 7D pick that Erskine, unless Philly or some other slower and tougher team is in town.

What will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

Tip the concessions guy?

He had an average year, with ups and downs. Didn’t really expect much.

Also, I already know Ovechwin gave him a 10. Don’t lie!

He pretty much did exactly what I expected – play a fill-in role (at times fairly well, at others looking just like a fill-in).
With the addition of our young defensmen, and perhaps a veteran TBD, he sits as the 7th/8th guy, and pretty much the same role for the upcoming year, however with even fewer appearances.
To me, he is slightly more valuable than Erskine, and if the choice has to be made to move one of them, my vote would be to move Erskine. Ideally we’d be in a situation where neither of their services are required, so here’s to the off-season and younger player’s developements.

man, i’m really glad that the caps didn’t risk losing this guy to waivers this year. would have been a huge loss!

A replacement level player who knows the system and who the coaching staff is comfortable with at slightly better than minimum salary is a valuable commodity.

He did exactly what I thought he’d do. I wavered between 5 and 6. Gave him the 6 because he looks like Mark Hamill.

On the one hand, he exceeded my expectations simply by staying with the big club all year and playing in 40 games. On the other hand, his play in those 40 games was sub-par, and a bit worse than I would have expected / hoped for from a guy who is getting ice time, even as a 7th/8th option.

The Discussion: With John Carlson and Karl Alzner poised to make the leap to the NHL next year, are Tyler Sloan’s days as the seventh/eighth defenseman coming to an end? Does his versatility and ability to jump into a forward role when needed make him more valuable than John Erskine or can/should he be moved?

Yeah, I think his days are done here. the only question is do the caps keep Erskine at 1.2 or Sloan at 0.7? Erskine is a better defender and brings the angry, so unless we end up very tight against the cap I think Erskine gets the nod. Sloan’s versatility to play either F or D is mitigated by the fact that he doesn’t do either particularly well; it’s only really useful if he’s already in the lineup at one of the 2 spots on a nightly basis, and can take over “in-game” for an injured player if needed. Otherwise, we have better 7th D and 13th F options in the system IMO.

What will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

Earn a regular spot on the 3rd D pairing or 4th F group, and be a solid contributor at that position. If he can draw a regular shift every night and not be a liability, that’s about the best I ever see him doing.

Maybe he just likes it up in Hershey.. can’t blame him… all that chocolate… mmmmmmmmmmm

Plus in the off season, it’s probably less of a line at the roller coasters. More than enough reason to not want to get stuck living in DC :)

I’m genuinely curious to hear Ovechwin’s rationale, considering the dramatic opening post.

I give him a 5. He was thrust into a role that he’s really not good enough to play (7th D on an NHL team) when we had better alternatives, but he acquitted himself fairly well despite that.

I was neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. I was utterly whelmed by his performance.

Did what he needed to do: filled in.
Not gonna be around next year, I imagine. Two new guys coming in for sure, and guys in hershey that can fill at forward when needed. Sloan was an economical stop gap whose year can be summed up as “no harm, no foul”. The team needs to have an overabundance of 4’s and 5’s not 7th and 8th defensemen, like they do now.
Move along, there’s not much else to see.

I won’t vote since I didn’t follow the caps as seriously until this year and didn’t have a good idea of who he was until I found this blog in the middle of the year (totally changed how I follow the caps (and thanks to everybody for that, i’ll try to be less of a lurker))

This is one where the description of what we’re voting on is really important. While he is the punchline of many jokes, unless you expected anything, you can’t give him less than a 5.

I think he should get more ice time after he wins the norris this year and then repeats for the next decade (kidding).

he had 3-4 nice games that lift the number from the oh-so-expected five.

Expectations, then +1 because I honestly didn’t think he’d stick around for the year, and another +1 because his November goals helped prove this guy’s case that he can center anyone and make them better:

As far as next season, again I don’t see him around here next year. He’s not what we need in D, and I’d rather see some Hershey guys fill in for the extra forward.

Sloan has been an inspirational story of a career minor leaguer who finally made the big time even though he wasn’t really the most effective defender.

I think that’s why he won the hearts of many fans here, even if he wasn’t good enough to play with the Caps on a regular basis.

Upped him one over a 5 cause he kinda has a Jack-Nicholson-as-The-Joker face.

Anyone that can skate that well should be more useful. He didn’t stick in the NHL because of his play, it was because of his waiver status. He needs to be in HER.