Over 2,000 comments and not a Caps trade in the bunch.

Wow.

APOSTROPHE ABUSE

so did the Red Wings trade Brad Stuart or not?

Ah, a new sheet of ice for overtime.

I feel like “run for the playoffs” might be more appropriate, but I’m loving the unintentional optimism.

No trades = good day for Caps. No available player or combination of players would have prepared this team for a deep run. Instead, it may have weakend their position for offseason moves. Agreed some players could have been shed but hey, now it’s on each individual in the room to prove their worth to the franchise including the coach. Not a bad position from where I sit.

One bias I kind of sense in Rinkers’ thinking is the idea that paying fans, as a whole, will adjust their spending based on the team’s on and off-ice performance.

I’m not entirely sure how much that enters into any ticket-buyers’ decision-making process, but in DC, especially, I’ve noticed that a lot of the “Rock the Red” fever is Ovechkin-centered; folks – by whom I mean ultra-casual observers of the sport, who go to 1-2 games a year – seem to have an idea of the Caps as the high-flyers of the 2008-2010 period (an idea, I’ll add, that Caps marketing is perfectly content to let them keep). These folks wouldn’t recognize Roman Hamrlik if he was wearing a nametag, and even then might think he’s the Czech attache to the Pentagon or something. They don’t know that today was the trade deadline, they might not even be aware that the team is struggling this year.

On top of that, you have STH and suiteholders who aren’t even real fans – who maintain a presence in the arena to entertain clients or give perks to staff. (My entree to Caps hockey was thanks to a full suite, owned by my boss, for a company of 25 people). How long does it take knowledge of the teams suckitude to filter up to folks like this? And, when you combine both categories, what percentage of paying fans do they make up?

In other words, I think Rinkers are very, very unrepresentative of the fanbase at large, and I think that Leonsis and company are happy to ride out what’s left of Ovi-mania rather than take a risk of tanking this season. That’s disappointing for the long-term future of the team, but maybe the long-term future was never a consideration to begin with.

Worst possible outcome; no improvement for next year in order to maintain a team on the fringe of the playoffs.

Even some ill-advised all-in moves would have some chance at an upside.

Kristoffer Bäckström ‏ @kbackstrom85

I find it hard to believe that there was nothing out there.. Anything is for sale for right price #TradeDeadlineDay #moregamble

No one mentioned Derek Roy.

I was lead to believe that puck-moving defensemen were the most sought after asset on trade deadline day. Only 2 players moved today even come close to that designation: Gragnani and Gilbert. Furthermore, if Paul fucking Gaustad pulled in a first round pick I can only imagine what Wideman would’ve sent back this way. . .

Lots of players with a last name starting with G were moved though,

Gilbert, Gilroy, Gaustad, Gragnani, Galiardi, Gordon, and Greg (Zanon)

NHLN showing GMGM’s presser now. Interesting to see what they say about it.

And what they say is all their commentators weren’t surprised the Caps stood pat, but mostly because they think the Caps suck. Button just because they suck. Weekes because they don’t have an “identity.”

After slogging through as many posts as I could for the last hour or so, it seems the prevailing sentiment is that GMGM didn’t make any of the “deals” that all the amateur GM-geniuses would have liked.
Among those: trading 4 unattracive commodoties for the cure-all 2C, whom nobody could name, bringing in a high priced winger for a price they couldn’t afford and pawning off an enigmatic Ruskie on some dunderhead genral manager, whomever that might be. Never mind the realities of how many teams are still in the playoff hunt and the uncertainty of the upcoming CBA, we want deals, dammit!
Well, the tail didn’t wag the dog and considering how ineffective so many of the deadline deals have proven lately, I can’t get all worked up over the fact that none were consummated.
This group needs to take a deep breath, quit feeling sorry for themselves and act like they give a shit. I, for one, would enjoy it if they just squeaked in and had to actually work to advance in the playoffs; it would be a good test of the “playoff hockey” mentality that is being trumpeted and a chance to separate the wheat from the chaff of players who are committed to that system.

Earlier Dreger (I believe) tweeted that Howson rejected a “mammoth” offer from the Rangers. Apparently it was:

Columbus GM Scott Howson rejected what is believed a Rangers’ final offer of Dubinsky, 21-year-old defenseman Tim Erixon, 2011 first-rounder J.T. Miller, 2010 second-rounder Christian Thomas and a first-round selection in this June’s Entry Draft.

Link

Got hit up high with a stick in a game, so I’ll keep this short. I think that the Caps honestly didn’t have any assets that were tantalizing enough to other teams to get them to give up a player, even packaged, but that would have hampered trade deals to other teams. GMGM, I think, did the best possible job with the cards he was dealt.

From GMGM’s statement:

Everyone seemed to want our players, but they wanted to give us futures and prospects and I wasn’t interested in doing that.

There wasn’t a first rounder available for Wideman.

There wasn’t a package of picks available for Hamrlik.

McPhee wasn’t willing to trade Knuble, leaving him with Eakin as his extra forward.

McPhee was burned last year having to play Sean Collins in the playoffs and wanted defensive insurance, just in case Green and someone else went back down.

He wanted to keep his young D and not give up on them for a rental.

He could find a taker for his #1 picks that was of value.

He realizes that the odds of winning the Cup are low this year, and, if you are going to make drastic changes, make them over the summer without a gun to your head.

The person to blame is Rene Bourque.

The person to blame is not today’s McPhee, but last summers’ McPhee.

The Knuble one is probably right, as are the Hamrlik package and the Collins burn. Hard to believe the first one, though.

From Le Breun:

Similarly, kudos to Washington Capitals GM George McPhee. I know what you’re saying, why exactly? Because he took a knee. That’s why. This just isn’t their year. One big trade isn’t going to put the Caps over the top and make them contenders. One big trade isn’t going to clear star center Nicklas Backstrom of his concussion symptoms. McPhee did the hardest thing of all, resist the short-term fix. That takes guts.

Sure, McPhee took calls on veteran blueliner Roman Hamrlik, but couldn’t find the right fit. He wanted a young forward in return. The teams that were interested in Hamrlik couldn’t afford him that. He wasn’t interested in just getting futures for Hamrlik because he didn’t want to just get rid of a salary. He was trying to make a hockey deal, player for player. He toed the line of a team that hasn’t given up on the season because the playoffs are a possibility, and that of a team that wasn’t a move or two away from winning the Cup.

In other words, McPhee made the right call to stay quiet.

My biggest problem is that we now have 5 left handed D-men signed for next year and the bottom 3 have a combined cap hit of 7.75M next year. That is a lot of money for a bottom pair Dman and the press box. GMGM has given out bad contact after bad contract and now we are going to be a in horrible cap position next year because he did nothing today to help when he could have. Getting rid of either Hammer or Schultz for something that could actually help us at some point even if it was just a pick or two that we could possibly use in a package to get something we could actually use next year would be good and getting rid of the excess salary is a bonus as well.

I like that that we didn’t do something stupid and think we were just a Roy or something away this year but he is going to get nothing for Wideman and is going to be stuck with extra players and no place to play them next year. I am not saying we should have gone full sell mode but you have an unset player (or more) who are not happy in the locker room and it is only a matter of time until they start to bring down the room. No matter how professional they are.

There seems to be a lot of certainty that this year isn’t “the year”. But last season there was a plethora of evidence that it might not be “the year” either. The flaws in last year’s team might seem smaller than this year’s, but they were no less clear and concerning.

Last year many people were pushing for mortgaging some of the future for the playoff push. This year many people are adamant that we should be scrapping this season and looking towards next (or in the case of acquiring picks, several seasons from now).

If NB returns, can anyone say this team has a substantially worse chance than we did last year to win the cup?

The possible pivot on that is that last year we as a fan-base didn’t realize how fundamentally flawed the team was. Now we do realize it, and the logical conclusion is that the team needs to be blown up. Personally, I don’t buy that, but even if it’s true, it’s hard to imagine that GMGM or Ted will buy it before we’ve missed the playoffs and/or imploded.

GMGM is a dream crusher.