Washington Capitals Mailbag: Roster, Carlson, Favorite Caps
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Hello everyone! Welcome to the Stars And Sticks Washington Capitals mailbag! In this segment, I take questions about the Washington Capitals (and other fun things) that were either tweeted at me or emailed to me and I answer them to the best of my ability.
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RELATED: Washington Capitals Mailbag: Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Oshie
Today’s topics include roster moves that should or should not be made, tendencies in the draft, John Carlson, my favorite Washington Capitals of all-time and more! But not too much more because it’s August.
If you’d like to get in on the next one (this will be either a bi-weekly or weekly thing depending on interest), you can tweet me at @BmoreDaveS (or follow me if you enjoy sarcasm and snark) or @Stars_AndSticks and tag your question with #CapsMailbag. You can also email any questions to dave stevenson 2009 @ gmail dot com (no spaces), but be sure to make Caps Mailbag the subject.
Let’s begin!
Next: Roster Moves
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Mailbag: Roster Moves
Our first question comes from Nic from Twitter.
That’s a really good question Nic. I think that at that price, they would have to consider it. I wrote a bit about Derek Roy earlier this week here, but let me build on that. I think that if the Washington Capitals want to add a center, Roy might be the guy who makes the most sense at this point. He’d be a great fit on the Washington Capitals third line. He could center what should be a sheltered line. He’d add experience to a line that could feature Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky, both of whom are extremely young.
Roy did well last year with the Oilers and I think that he could do for Wilson and Burakovsky what he did for Nail Yakupov. Yakupov even said that Roy was the best center that he’s ever played with. So yes, I think that they would do it if they could get him for $800,000.
Our next question comes from Pete from South Carolina
Who’s one free agent that you would sign if you were the Caps?
I think it would probably come down to Cody Franson, Brad Boyes, Mike Santorelli, Jiri Tlusty and Roy. Franson could definitely make the largest impact of all of them, but he doesn’t fit a huge area of need. He’d be a really nice luxury to have though. I’d probably go with one of the Boyes, Santorelli and Tlusty trio. You could make a really strong argument for any one of them. Boyes is the well-balanced one, Santorelli is the best defensively and probably the most versatile, while Tlusty is the best offensively.
Next: The Draft
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Mailbag: The Draft
Our next question comes from John from Twitter.
@Stars_AndSticks Why do you think that the Caps have recently stopped drafting forwards in the 2rd? (Besides Sanford) #capsmailbag
— Lysander (@johnherold98) August 10, 2015
Good question John. It’s a bit puzzling to me too. However, it’s worth noting that drafting for need in the draft usually doesn’t end well. You go after the best guy available, regardless of what position he happens to play. If the Washington Capitals got the guy who they thought was the best player on the board, that’s really all that matters.
Vitek Vanecek was one of the better goalie prospects in the 2014 NHL Draft. I was a little skeptical of him at first, but he had a really strong season in 2014-2015, so I’m feeling far more confident about him in the future. This summer has proven that teams will do anything to get quality young goaltenders. At worst, Vanecek could help the Washington Capitals get someone who could help put them over the top.
Jonas Siegenthaler was a guy who I think the Caps couldn’t pass up on. He was a borderline first round talent available in the second round. I know the Caps were very high on him, so I’m not at all surprised that they traded up to get him. He should be a strong second or third pairing defenseman.
In short, I don’t really know why the Capitals haven’t been drafting forwards in the second round. My guess is that the players that they liked the most in the past two drafts happened to not be forwards.
Next: Captain America
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Mailbag: Carlson
Our next question comes from Jack from Richmond!
How well do you think John Carlson will do this season? I keep on getting a feeling that he won’t be as productive this season. Seemed like he got a point on a high percentage of the Capitals goals last season. Is that sustainable?
Jack, you’re absolutely right. Carlson did get a point on a very high percentage of the Washington Capitals goals last season. His individual point percentage at even strength? A cool 54.4%, which was third among defensemen who played at least 500 minutes at even strength. That’s incredibly high.
Do I think he repeats that? No. However, there are several reasons to believe that Carlson could have even more points in 2015-2016 than he had in 2014-2015. Probably the biggest reason is that Carlson will be running the Washington Capitals power play, which is the most efficient power play in the NHL. That’s at least 20 points right there, probably more.
Also, the Washington Capitals are going to score more at even strength. Naturally, that should help Carlson make up for his inevitably lower iPP at even strength. I think that Carlson’s iPP might be somewhat sustainable because Barry Trotz’s system encourages blue liners to be more aggressive. That works in Carlson’s favor.
Next: Favorite Caps
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals Mailbag: All-Time Favorite Caps
Our next question comes from Eric from Ocean City!
Put together your all-time favorite Caps team. To clarify, that’s a team composed of your favorite Washington Capitals players that you have watched.
That I have watched? Oh, this should be fun. Disclaimer: this isn’t stats related at all, it’s just my 12 favorite forwards, six favorite defensemen and two favorite goalies.
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble would form the first line. I absolutely loved that first line. Knuble was the hard-nosed guy that I swore was going to take the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup. He didn’t wind up doing that, but going to his 1000th career NHL game more than made up for it. That’s an experience that I’ll never forget.
Peter Bondra, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Semin would form the second line. Bondra’s the reason that I fell in love with hockey. Every time I was on a team, I wanted to wear his number. The Caps haven’t had too many good centers since I’ve been watching them, so Kuznetsov gets the nod. Semin, I don’t care what anyone else says, he was the best. So much fun to root for and such an exciting player.
Eric Fehr, Dale Hunter and Troy Brouwer would make up the checking line. No explanation needed. The fourth line would consist of Sergei Fedorov, Jeff Halpern and Joel Ward. I’m 95% sure that Fedorov and Halpern could play in the NHL right now and still be in the black as far as possession. I’d love to see Fedorov’s possession numbers during his prime. Sadly, Corsi and Fenwick only started being calculated officially during the last part of his career. Willing to bet he’d be Patrice Bergeron-esque.
Now for the pairings. First pairing would be Scott Stevens (saw him play for the Devils so he counts) and Mike Green. Stevens would actually protect Green and mess up anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Green, well, everyone knows how much I love Mike Green. The second pairing would be Karl Alzner and John Carlson. They should have never been separated in the first place. The third pairing would consist of Sergei Gonchar and Sylvain Cote.
My two goalies would be Braden Holtby and Olaf Kolzig.