It’s the Panthers vs. the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final matchup no one expected…but should be a good one!
Here’s the schedule for the rest of this series*:
- Sat., June 3: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- Mon., June 5: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- Thu., June 8: Golden Knights at Panthers; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- Sat., June 10: Golden Knights at Panthers; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- *Tue., June 13: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- *Fri., June 16: Golden Knights at Panthers; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
- *Mon., June 19: Panthers at Golden Knights; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS
*All games start at 8 p.m. ET
Hershey up 3-2 in the series with a 1-0 overtime win. Garrett Pilon with the winner.
On the RFA front….
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1669450196353265666?cxt=HHwWhMC9vfiGiqsuAAAA
DeBrincat can score. Unclear why he keeps getting in uncertain roster situations.
DBG has posted his Conned Smythe article at The Athletic: “earned by whichever team made the dumbest trade with the biggest impact on a Stanley Cup winner.”
He’s listed the candidates (given the amount of moves Vegas has made in it’s short history, there’s a lot), but he’s leaving the winner up to a reader vote, if you’d like join in the fun. And yes, Chandler Stephenson is one of the candidates.
https://theathletic.com/4610763/2023/06/15/nhl-golden-knights-trade-stanley-cup/
In 198 (!) games played for the Caps, Stephenson had a whopping 40 points.
Some guys are late bloomers and few people on earth would have predicted anything other than bottom 6 for him.
Blame Trotz for not playing him more I guess. But also I’m frequently told it’s not a coach’s job to develop young guys.
I’m happy for him. He’s turned into a helluva player. It doesn’t rate in the top 10 of dumbest moves the Caps have made in my lifetime.
I get that some of that article is intentionally exaggerated, but in general: shit happens.
Trotz played Stephenson in 67 games in 2017-18, which was his first full season in the NHL and had his starting position locked by the playoffs at age 23. I’m not sure why you’re blaming Barry, unless it’s vogue for Caps fans to blame Stanley Cup-winning coaches for not playing young guys, even when they do…
Also, I posted that article for fun, since that’s what DGB is about, mentioning Stephenson as the Capitals connection.
GMBMAC is getting crushed on Caps sites for trading Stephenson but then again, most teams are getting crushed for giving someone of value to Vegas-Eichel, HC Bruce Cassidy, not to mention FL.
Thanks. Cool article. Over 9,000 votes cast.
I just signed up and got in.
Just seeing if uploading gifs works the way I think….
Having issues signing into the new comment system. I keep getting an error that my user name is not registered.
I did the sign up process as laid out, but this keeps happening. Do I need to clear my browser cookies, or does it simply take a while for the registration to become active?
Try using your email. I had the same issue.
That worked! Thank you!
Hey all, we updated the login prompt to tell users that they must login using their email address, and adjusted the error message accordingly.
Hopefully this will clear things up.
Well that was rather anticlimatic lol.
Bryce Harper is happy now.
Got texts from my kids when the game ended (I wasn’t watching). Daughter gave the throwing up emoji.
So can we upvote now? Is this shindig almost back?
lol am I reading this correctly? 1K upvotes ???? someone’s got a sense of humor and I feel like we should acknowledge it
It’s been weird, but the NHL coaching carousel looks like it’s finally winding down. Six teams hired new coaches this year; 2 of them were veteran NHL coaches.
As per Friedman, the Rangers appear to be actually hiring Laviolette after pivoting briefly to recently fired John Hynes.
And the Blue Jackets, for whatever reason, went with Mike Babcock, who was seen being fired by the Maple Leafs in the Before Times.
But the Capitals, Flames, and Ducks all went with rookie NHL head coaches, while the Predators finally gave former interim head coach and Jack Adams nominee Andrew Burnette the permanent head coaching job everybody thought he’d have this season.
good to finally see some fresh blood in the coaching ranks.
Maybe we should pump the brakes on a Kuzy trade. Per Tarik:
Sounds … reasonable.
I like Tarik, but this entire story boiled down to, “Kuzy didn’t really like Lavi”.
“Caps management really didn’t like Lavi either”
And you are basing this on what?
However, the Capitals are still apparently notifying teams that both Mantha and Kuzy are available for trade. I am suspicious that Tarik went from this in the first part of his mailbag:
…to “I’m starting to get the sense the team might be leaning toward seeing how he responds” to Carbery in the second part of his mailbag.
“Sensing” and “might be leaning” isn’t anything definite, and he really should be called out to explain why he changed his wording from this being his idea and speculation to implying that this is the Caps’ actual plan in between posts.
The reality is if the Caps want to make any real moves this summer, or at the draft, they’ll have to trade both. Mantha for the cap space, Kuzy for trade assets (because Mantha’s not bringing back anything). Maybe they can just dump Mantha, and with the leftover draft capital, try to trade for somebody like Garland from a team desperate enough like the Canucks. Or make a low-budget Gus-like signing, or convince Connor Brown to sign a low-cost prove it contract and cross your fingers his performance returns with his health. But none of that would be a true upgrade that the Capitals reportedly want to do.
And then they’ll truly be stuck.
Otherwise, the team is what it currently is–a rebooting half baked. They have only about $7 million in cap space, and that’s without a new contract for Fehervery or Protas on the roster (much less McMichael). And Carbery will have probably more than he can handle. That’s putting way too much on your new head coach’s plate.
Not sure why you think they have to move both Kuzy and Mantha to be able to make a “real” move. If they trade Mantha and re-sign Fehervary for about $2.5 million, bring up McMichael and Malenstyn and a #7 defenseman and spare forward from Hershey, they’ll have about $7.3 million in cap space. You really think that’s not enough to get a quality top six forward?
Unfortunately, the UFA market is utterly empty of quality top 6 forwards, unless you think Max Domi is going to make a real difference.
Also, the Caps have to plan for next season, too, when both Tom Wilson and Rasmus Sandin will need new contracts. If you sign a legit upgrade to a UFA deal (which, at the current market rate, probably will be $6-$7 million, at least), you’re going to make that near impossible without roster churn.
If they want to make a real upgrade to the top 6, they’re going to have to use Kuzy to get the assets to do that. The Caps’ only route is to trade for a forward already on an older contract. Kuzy most likely won’t bring that back; the teams who would be interested in him (Avs, Blues) have a need for a top 6 forward. That means it’ll have to be similar to the Orlov-Sandin flip–trade Orlov and assets for a pick package, and then flip the first rounder for your younger Orlov replacement. And Kuznestov is the only possibly available player the Caps could get a first rounder back.
If the Caps can get somebody like Nick Schmaltz without a first round pick, then sure, they can keep Kuzy, but I don’t think even Arizona will listen to an offer without starting there.
If you’re worried about giving up a top line center, keep in mind that Strome matched Kuzy’s 2021-22 pts/60 last season despite averaging less ice time, and he scored 10 goals and 25 points in the final 19 games after the trade deadline, playing mostly with Ovechkin. He stepped up, while most everybody else folded.
Those are the guys you keep.
Dubois has been discussed elsewhere. Tarasenko is available. Think we can shoplift him from the Rags?
Also on the UFA list (some with NTC or NMC clauses), but they are ROR, Debrincat, Bertuzzi (probably won’t leave BOS).
All who could probably do better than Mantha.
There are a couple other notables, but none I would want the Caps to pursue.
Dubios and DeBrincat are RFAs. It’s pretty much another Tkachuk-like situation, so it’ll have to be a trade-and-sign. Dubois is probably a one-year rental.
Tarasenko is 31 (turning 32 in December), and had 18 goals and 50 points between the Rangers and Blues. No thank you. He’d be only attractive as one of those low-cost gambles I mentioned, and I’m not sure if that’s possible with him, unless he’s still hunting for a job late in free agency.
ROR is Ryan O’Reilly? Also no thank you. He’s 32 (turning 33 in December), and clearly regressed this year. We just went through that with Lars Eller.
Bertuzzi is coming off a contract that paid him in base salary in the last year at $5.25 million (cap hit was lower). He’s a possibility, but he’s looking for a big payday, and I can see him getting near $7 million for multiple years. I’m not sure if he’s worth that.
Michael Bunting probably hurt his UFA status by losing his mind in the playoffs after a breakout season. If he can be had for Mantha’s current cap hit or less, I’d try for him.
Ivan Barbashev might be a cross-your-fingers flyer, but he probably raised his profile with his insane playoff run (7 goals, 18 points in 11 games), and I doubt Vegas lets him walk after the Cup win.
It’s kinda thin, but there are options, just not very good ones. The Capitals could try to trade for DeBrincat (that would be a fun first line with Ovi and Strome), but it would be really expensive, even with DeBrincat’s down year. Kuzy might have to be included in the return, which leaves the Caps without a second line center other than McMike or Backstrom, and no additional assets to acquire one.
They could dump Mantha, sign Bunting for the second line, and keep Kuzy, but they’ll probably have to consider trading him next season again, because of new contracts for Tom Wilson (who they’ll definitely want to keep) and Rasmus Sandin (who has arb. rights), and young players like Protas, McMichael, and Malenstyn being due RFA raises. The Caps are probably looking at roughly $10 million in additional raises next season, especially since Rasmus’ projected role is going to demand more than the typical bridge deal.
Part of this might be a question of what happens if the NB19 rehab stalls out – and they work out a deal to move him off the books.
Maybe, but that’s not going to happen this off-season.
The talk from BMac was about seeing how a full off-season for Nick affects his on-ice play, which means he’s going to try to prove he can be a productive mid-line center next season.
He’s not injured, so they won’t be able to LTIR him. And it’ll be difficult to move that contract in any trade (much worse than moving Richard Panik’s deal). They could buy him out after next season, but that still means a $7.866 million cap hit for 2024-25, and it still doesn’t resolve this season. And Backy doesn’t sound like he wants to retire, either.
They’re pretty much stuck with him for now.
Thanks for spelling it out. I took BMac’s EOS comment more as a line in the sand but I was likely projecting on that. Either way, if the contract cannot be somehow made to disappear, which is the essence of the $ value – productivity concern, then stuck is the word.
All good points. I think Tarasenko’s low numbers can be attributed to his hand injury. I think he’s still got potential for another good year or two in him.
Seems level headed. Feel however you want about Kuzy, and the fact that we got 2018 playoff Kuzy and can clearly show the difference in some games vs others is super annoying, but it would be near impossible to trade him and bring in anyone who would be remotely as good.
Also, and I think this should not be the dictator of how you handle a situation, but I think it is part of it, I think Ovi probably understood the Orlov trade but probably did not like it. I doubt he would feel great about another of his countrymen getting traded.
Putting it here because it could be hockey related (and likely will be is my guess). I just read that The Athletic is supposedly laying off 20 reporters today.
Hope that’s not the case – I’m really enjoying their coverage.
I just hope it’s not Tarik.
They’re also going to re-assign some reporters to national beats. Would not be surprised if they were to do that with Tarik. Bad look to fire a guy with national TB exposure, although it’s limited.
I will probably miss it a bit, but I’m leaning towards not renewing when it comes up in the fall. They keep giving it away for next to nothing for new subscribers, but do nothing for the people who have subscribed for years. F them.
The original founders tried to replace local newspapers by pouching their reporters, but discovered that meant a massive staff of writers, and they didn’t pull enough interest to keep everybody. They’ve been laying writers off for years, but that was a direct result of their hubris. The St. Louis Cardinals originally had 3 (!) writers, and two of them were name guys who probably didn’t come cheap.
Now, so many teams have zero coverage. Including the Panthers.
Since the NY Times bought them, if feels like they’ve been shifting toward being a national publication, which is really what they are. If they’re going to do this right they’re probably shifting from one-on-one team beat coverage to beats centered around league divisions or regions. And keep the writers who are capable of doing that.
For me, it’ll depend on the quality of that coverage. Are they keeping both Pronman and Wheeler? Are Katie Strang, Michael Russo, and Sean McIndoe? I’d keep the subscription for national hockey coverage, because right now, that’s all it’s worth for me.
I’ll probably take my Athletic subscription dollars and pay for ESPN+, that’s my guess right now. Not sure that’s worth it either, but access to the streaming on the rare chance I’ll want it might be okay.
Where did you read it from? I haven’t been able to find it…
https://twitter.com/benjstrauss/status/1668255454533677057
Update: So far, the hockey writers let go are Corey Masiask (who had been covering the Sharks) and Sean FitzGerald.
Uh-oh, Hershey is in trouble. Can’t win if you can’t score. Hopefully, home ice changes that, but they still have to win on the road at least once.
ICYMI – Sandin injury isn’t serious.
https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/hockey/news/capitals-rasmus-sandin-injury-isnt-serious/
Pierre LeBrun posted his Rumblings update this morning at The Athletic. Some notes for Caps fans to keep aware of while wondering how BMac’s reboot will go:
For Dubois, if per chance he signs with the Caps through the offer sheet process and not through a trade scenario, at a likely salary north of $5 million per, then I think the compensation would be at least a first and third round pick for 2024. Given the Caps need for talent at entry level salaries, would anything other than a trade with Winnipeg be considered? And for Dubois, I doubt Kuzy would agree to go the other way.
I like the idea of what Tarik put forward in his mailbag today, that the team could lean toward a re-look at both Kuzy and Mantha with a new coach. My understanding from Tarik’s comments is that both players had, for maybe different reasons, reached an impasse in terms of being inspired by Lavy.
My understanding is that Dubois wants to become a UFA after next season, so I doubt an offer sheet would be worth it for any team.
He’s going to be a one-year rental, with a remote chance that he might re-sign with the team who acquires him. But given that he’s asked out of both Columbus and Winnipeg, he quite clearly wants to completely control wherever he plays.
Also…if the team leans toward a re-look with both Kuzy and Mantha, they’re probably not going to make the playoffs. Kuzy was a near point-per-game player in 2021-22 (78 points in 79 games) under Lavy, so if he’s now not being inspired to perform to his ability, he needs to go yesterday. The comments from his agent make it sound like he’s done with the organization, not just the coach, and Tarik in past mailbags mentioned that it sounds like the Capitals management is fed up with him, too. Mantha–the criticisms of inconsistency and lack of focus followed him from Detroit. Lavy gave him top 6 minutes after the trade deadline, and instead of responding like Strome and Milano did when handed that icetime, Mantha looked terrible.
They’ve tried since 2018 with those players, only one of whom was here and critical to winning the Cup. If you’re going to reboot, do it. Rip off the band aid and change the cast and locker room. It’s time to shake things up.
I re-read what Tarik wrote, and his idea of keeping Kuzy is purely his: “What I’m wondering is this: Can new head coach Spencer Carbery light a fire under Kuznetsov? It sure felt like Kuznetsov was done with Peter Laviolette.”
And on Mantha: “Part of me is also curious to see if Carbery can get more out of him.”
A few thoughts….
Fair points but getting a top center from other teams is very difficult as teams just don’t give those guys up or if they do, they will want a huge return. One of course could argue that Caps haven’t really had a top center in a while since Kuzy didn’t play like one last year.
It’s a top 6 forward that the Caps are looking for, not a top center. Strome outplayed Kuzy last year (0.8 points per game v. 0.68); he’s going to get a full crack at that top line spot regardless of Kuzy’s presence. He’s only 26 and just entering his prime.
There’s also teams–like the Coyotes and Canucks–who are in a position where they can’t wait for that mythical huge return. Just go back and look at the returns they got for Jakob Chychrun (1st rounder and two 2nd rounders over 3 different drafts) and Bo Horvat (1st round pick, struggling winger Anthony Beauvillier, and middle 6 prospect Aatu Raty).
Caps will need a top line or second line center if they trade Kuzy. You aren’t anything without top center play.
I have a bias for Kuzy dating to Dave Bidini’s Hockey Nomad documentary. It definitely is part of my thoughts about him. But he’s not the only kid who has prepped for hockey before the crack of dawn.
I see your points about Mantha and Kuzy, and understand that the team knows better about this too. They both add up to a big cap hit – and I trust that management will get the best return.
Re Dubois, this is humorous …
https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1666893285992923136
Spoiler alert icymi he’s being sarcastic.
Can we agree that any reporter named Samantha is no one you should trifle with? (Play with sound)
https://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/1665939899659239424
Looks to be a boring series so far, unless the Panthers get their act together soon. While I have no real dog in the fight, I’d rather see an interesting series than a dull sweep. Confess I sort of wanted the Panthers to win since they’ve never won the Cup. Although there are some players I like on Vegas.
Am I the only one seeing the old/new commentating system pop up at the bottom of the comment section. Are we implementing that here?
Not seeing anything?
This is from an Athletic piece about the Rangers’ coaching search, looking at the apparent two front runners. I thought it’d be interesting for the community here, because it’s a perspective of an unnamed former player for the Capitals about how Lavy coached:
https://theathletic.com/4575290/2023/06/05/rangers-coaching-search-peter-laviolette-john-hynes/?source=emp_shared_article
Do we have thoughts about Columbus hiring Mike Babcock? All I can say is thank goodness it isn’t the Caps. I truly feel bad for some of those players.
I don’t. We had enough futility. Let someone else have their turn.
There’s futility, and there’s abuse. They are nowhere near the same.
Only how weird the coaching carousel is this season.
Andrew Burnette gets the head coaching job everybody thought he’d have this past season, but in an unexpected place, with the Predators firing John Hynes * after * they hired Burnette.
Hynes is suddenly in the running for the job open with the Rangers, who appeared to be on the cusp of naming Peter Laviolette as head coach.
Who the Capitals had replaced with former Bears head coach Carbery, who appeared to be escaping a sinking situation with the Maple Leafs…even though it now appears that Shelton Keefe is staying, and might be even receiving an extension?
And now the Blue Jackets are going with Babcock, after moving on from Torts in 2021. But they can’t make it official yet because he’s still under contract with the Maple Leafs until the end of June and they couldn’t afford to buy out the rest of the contract?
And we’re spun right ’round, baby, right ’round, like a record, baby, right ’round, ’round, ’round
(Flames and Ducks also need head coaches still)
Ducks now have a head coach. They just hired Greg Cronin.
The series may not end in the same way but this year’s participants remind me of the participants in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.
Vegas, in many ways, is like the New Jersey Devils of that era. A consistent playoff team who usually finished first in their division but had missed the playoffs the prior year — in 2010-11. During the 2009-10 season, at the trade deadline, the Devils had acquired a high-profile superstar, Ilya Kovalchuk. They signed Kovy to an uber-long deal. With Kovy in their fold, they had lots of stars (to include Zach Parise and others). But like Vegas last season, the Devils in 2010-11 had a Murphy’s Law type season where player after player got injured. Parise was injured and missed half the season. They had cap issues and there were times they did not get to ice 18 skaters in a game. (The problem with having so many expensive stars on the team.)
The Panthers are, in a way, like the LA Kings. Never had won the Stanley Cup. Mediocre for years but had started to rise during the previous two seasons. But got off to a bad start and had to scramble to make the playoffs as an eighth seed. But then they dumped the Presidents’ Trophy winner (Vancouver). They dumped the 2nd best team in the conference in Round 2 (St Louis Blues). Then dumped the last division winner (Phoenix, believe it or not) in the Western Conference Finals.
What a save, but was it in the dying seconds of a one goal game? Sorry. Holtby’s was greater.
I just saw the highlights. I came here to post about this particular save – but looks like you already did. It was a hell of a save for sure. I definitely flashed back to Holts. I’m with you though- MUCH more on the line with Holts’ save.
Ouch.