Buy or sell? The dilemma the Capitals face despite better results
Being a sports general manager is the hardest job in the industry.
Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan has his work cut out for him. The Caps have been winning lately and trying to collect as many points as possible in the home stretch of the season. But we all know what happened a year ago and it was sort of ish a mini fire sale. And this divides us glass half empty and glass half full folks.
But you're not GMBM. I'm certainly not GMBM. So let's be grateful neither of us are in this position. But I am also a reader just like you and I've seen this and that about what the Caps can and maybe should or shouldn't do.
As we're writing this the Caps sit seven points behind that second wild card spot and they'll see that very team on the road this Tuesday in the Detroit Red Wings. But first they got a home contest with the Ottawa Senators that has the makings of a trap game if they mess up.
So yeah it's pretty much win or sell already. But here's what I've been hearing. One blogger, Chris Cerullo of RMNB, suggested dealing either Darcy Kuemper or Charlie Lindgren. He explains more here.
Cerullo does make some good points about the hot goaltender market for potential buyers plus Charlie Lindgren's trade value has gotten higher. He also notes that moving Darcy Kuemper could reap long term benefits.
Earlier in the month MacLellan spoke with Emily Kaplan of ESPN and like we all speculated, the deadline plans for March 8 will be based on the performance of the team during that said three game stretch where they went 1-1-1. Yup, I told you, it's a hard job to be a GM.
Kaplan would later on write the following:
"Most people I talk to around the league believe Washington will try to unload some contracts to position better for the future. MacLellan said he is balancing doing right by legacy players, specifically captain Alex Ovechkin and his quest for the NHL all time goal record while trying to stay competitive and get younger."
So long story short, these next two games will say a lot about what the Caps can or should do.
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