Capitals On The Hot Seat

I just want you to know that I rec’d this for the hot sticks. Then I un-rec’d it so I could rec it again for the content.

Great post, JP. I agree wholeheartedly.

oh, i’d give BB and GMGM 5 hot sticks each. another playoff flameout and some serious questions need to be asked if the team as constructed and playing style needs to be changed/tweeked for playoff success. this is particularly true of GMGM if he sits on his cell phone again at the trade deadline.

i might also give varly another hit stick if only because his entry level deal expires after this year and chances are they arent going to G up both he and neuvy to the same extent. as goalie 1A, he has the inside track to secure the long term deal with the club.

I’d say Green should be 3.5 hot sticks and McPhee down to 2. McPhee because I just don’t see Leonsis as someone who would fire the GM for another playoff failure. He seems quite patient with his execs.

Green seems like the obvious lightning rod due to his playoff flameouts. Ovie is the face of the franchise, but he at least has performed in the playoffs, which should keep the heat off of him to an extent.

I think Semin would earn 3-3.5 hot sticks. Contract year for him in addition to terrible production in the playoffs, yet an astounding regular season?

Add in the ‘young gun’ concept and it’s time to shit with the rest of the crew or get off the pot.

Great post. I think it is difficult to compare hot sticks from players to staff. Ovechkin faces the prospect of having his name dragged through the mud, but will still be collecting 9.5m a year for quite a while. Bruce and GMGM on the other hand could be out a job.

If you can actually “bounce back” from a 50-goal season, I think AO is poised to improve significantly on what was a downer year. He’s under quite a bit of pressure to produce, and I think he will.

Green I think continues to slide in his production.

BB will do his thing, and I think he’s gone after this year. GMGM gets another bite at the apple with a new coach.

I’d think Varly would have at least a half a hot stick more seeing as his competition could push him into a backup role this year. Could be a situation where one of those guys gets traded sooner or later..

Can’t disagree with any of the five, but I could easily see adding a few more to the list starting wqith Semin and Flash and then moving all the way down to Steckel. Actually, I think I’d replace Varly with Semin if only because he’s a pending UFA.

So, with McPhee and this very quiet offseason, is it as simple as, “well, we racked up 121 points last season, so why should we fix something that isn’t broken?” I’m hopeful that there’s more strategy to his inactive summer than this.

I could take Varly off the list because I don’t see him with as much to lose. Even if he loses the No. 1 job to Neuvirth, he’ll still likely be re-signed (and it would be easier because he’ll be cheaper), and he’ll still have another chance next year. I may be wrong, but I assume that GMGM is going to give these guys more than just this season to battle it out unless one of them really dominates (i.e. Neuvirth pulls his playoff magic again).

I don’t think Semin is on because I think he’s gone regardless.

I would love to put Flash on but it feels like projecting. There are fans that probably have him on the hot seat but I still am not convinced that the organization does. The benching in game 7 is a nice sign, but I still think BB is going to give Flash a ton of quality ice time to prove himself yet again. Insofar as Flash might be on the hot seat, I think it would be with GMGM. If Flash doesn’t improve his game and his consistency this year, I don’t think he gets re-signed. It looks like his agent and GMGM were far apart on the negotiations this summer, and if Flash wants any chance to get what he thinks he’s worth here he needs a pretty big season.

I guess I could buy Fehr a bit—he just got himself a nice new deal based on rate stats, I’d assume, and not just counting stats, and he’s expected to be a good scoring winger, possibly on the 2nd line since Laich is better suited for the 3rd—but it seems weird to be on a hot seat when your job sometimes is to warm the bench. Hopefully that changes.

I think Mike Green’s could potentially hit four or five for the start of next season, if his 2010-2011 looks like his 2009-2010, getting into a contract year and all.

Great post, great topic JP.

I have long been an admirer and fan of Ovie since he burst on to the NHL scene 5 years ago. I still think he is (aguably) the best player in the NHL. But with that label comes added pressure and responsibilities plus, as you noted, his staggering long-term contract and the C on his jersey.

Like it or not, and given that hockey is a team sport, Ovie has and will continue to take the majority of the praise for any and all Capitals successes, and most of the heat for his team’s failures. This will be his first full season as Captain, and hopefully he has learned some things about what that sort of leadership requires.

For one thing, maybe he’ll keep his mouth shut about the opposing goalie if and when the Caps take a 3-1 lead in a playoff series. Maybe he’s also learned his absences at Coach Boudreau’s optional practices have been noted, and have been viewed in some circles as Ovie being treated as special, too special, a player above and apart from the rest of his teammates. Whether this perception is accurate or not, perception has a way of creating a certain reality in the minds of fans and critics who look at the Capitals failures and want to identify a scapegoat.

 If Ovie really wants to shed some labels, perhaps he needs to objectively assess his own behavior, identify his mistakes, and resolve not to repeat them.

Ovechkin, Bruce, GMGM, Green in hot seats? This is nuts. We would be NOWHERE WITHOUT THEM. Maybe Varly, but we can pick up a goalie any time. I guess you could make an argument that GMGM should feel some heat. He passed on a lot of guys we could have afforded that would have helped us. Philly and Pittsburgh have both gotten better on paper. We shall see. Bruce, Ovie and Green are all without blame. Even with Greenie’s crappy playoffs. He’s the key to our greatness and we’d be in the tank without him.

I think GMGM would absolutely be on a hotter seat had this off season been so shallow in terms of talent that we need being available. There is a lot to be said for the “splurge on talent now and win a cup” Chicago model over the “be competitive for years but never quite make it” model. I’m not sure what moves GMGM COULD have made this year that would have put us firmly in the former, and I’m not saying we should be using the former strategy either. But if another off season goes by and GMGM is content to sit on his laurels (or phone as someone else said) and there is an obvious guy out there that could help us a lot that we might have to gasp pay handsomely and lose some farm guys for, then I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a hotter seat than Bruce.