Ranking the Capitals: #10

Have to give it to Neuvy here – all other things being equal I’d have to go with someone else, but the contract, age, and playoff experience of Neuvy give him the edge over the established guys, IMO.

Went with Knuble, but it’s a tossup between 22 and F16 for me. Varly’s presence devalues Neuvy in my mind.

Gave the go-ahead vote to Fehr (4-3). Polling closes….now!

Hasn’t Tom Poti been in this poll since the beginning? Wow.

Fehr gets my vote, as he can be Knuble-like but for longer, and gotta love those rate stats.

Fehr has a better contract and more upside, but Knuble means much more to this team’s chances of winning the Cup this year. I’d also like to see another year of high shooting percentage from Fehr, given his huge jump from 08/09 to 09/10.

Next up, I’d put in Eakin, Holtby or Perrault.

If you want to go with current guys, the best options are Steckel and, shudder, Erskine.

Inspired by yesterday’s revelatory haunch/face ratio, I went with Gramps.

The one who hails from Winkler, Manitoba.

Our top line is so money. Gramps gets my vote.

But I thought long and hard about Fehr/Neuvy for this spot.

For me, the 6-12 spots are pretty interchangeable, in that you could probably argue for or against any of the guys that will end up occupying those spots to be put in higher or lower positions, and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong in my book. A team this talented obviously has a lot of guys that are very valuable to the team.

To be honest, the reason I voted for Neuvirth here (and earlier in the polls), is because true talent at the goaltending position is much harder to find/replace than any other position. Add his current age and salary, and I feel this pushes his “value” over some of the other guys on this list (same for Varlamov, but he’s already made it).

After that, you have Knuble and Fehr to round out my top 12.

Since I didn’t really have time to comment on this weekend’s posts…a lot of people seemed to think that Laich went on the list too high, and while I would have put Alzner and Neuvirth ahead of him, he’s still in this top 12 list for me as well. He’s a fan favorite who appears to possess some leadership qualities as well, but I don’t think his numbers allow me to put him as high as 8.

If you’re looking only at this upcoming season, then I probably put Knuble much higher, but I’m tending more to look at future seasons as well when evaluating overall “value” to the team. A fantastic free agent signing last year and crucial part of the team, yet I can’t help but think that this year could very well be his last…so therefore losing a guy like that wouldn’t be a detrimental down the line as one of the younger players would be.

Next up: Belanger

I have counted my chickens and I have a dozen of them in a carton in my fridge.

tough call. Knuble and Fehr’s skillset will both be valuable to the team’s success, but Fehr is locked in at a good contract for several years.

Its about time to vote for the two goalies. Next up should be Cody Eakin

The strength of our goaltending is in numbers more than individuals. It helps to have a single Varly/Neuvy/Holtby but really what makes it a position of strength is that we have all 3. Varly will go down with injury this year, and Neuvy will have to carry us during that. Neuvy may very well be the Number 1 at the end of the year (which is all that matters, right?) so he can’t go much lower.

My reasons are in the #9 posting. I love Knuble but his upside is minimal, whereas Fehr has a shot to get better…much better, and in the end may be a better player than Knuble is.

When this entire list is done, it’ll be interesting to slap the salaries next to each one and take a look at the order.

Went with Fehr, though Knuble could have stolen my vote.

If Knuble was 35 I probably would have given him the nod. He is one of those pieces that makes winning this year so crucial. You can’t be sure how much hockey he has left in the tank. He’s not a HOFer, but he’s the kind of guy you want to have guiding this team of young kids, and his offensive contributions are nothing to turn up your nose at.

Fehr has more potential upside. If he sees more than 12 minutes a game this year, I think we’ll be very pleased with his production.

Most important position on the ice, young, and cheap for one more year. An insurance policy for Varly, in more than one sense.

After this it’s a toss up between Knuble and Fehr, and not sure which way to go.

Hard to believe that Laich snuck into the top 10.

Went with Knuble and the boy from Winkler’s next.

I’ve been voting for Knuble for the last few polls. I think he is very important to the Caps winning now and should hold up physically next season. After Knuble, I’d pick Alzner or Neuvy. Fehr is probably next after that. At this point I might vote for Laich if he hadn’t made it in already, way above his value. I have somewhat an irrational dislike of Flash, but if I was being reasonable, perhaps he is more valuable than Laich? Scratch that, Laich played better than Flash in the playoffs. Flash’s value is higher to another team than it is to the Caps. I did wish Boudreau had replaced Laich with Knuble on PP1 during the playoffs.

next one is going to have to make me decide between Fehr and Bradley

Although its close between him and Knuble for me. Fehr’s contract, age, and potential kick him over the top for me, though. I just think that in voting for importance to a franchise, future should be taken into account as well as the present…and Fehr has a chance to be a top 6 guy for this team over the next few years.

I voted for Knuble—Again. Something about gnarly hands and a pinkie sticking out sidewise. And for his hockey haunches. Gramps has got wheels when it matters.