I see the Caps and Pens as basically in the same situation except the caps have the better contract structure while the pens have a core with more in the tank. I'd like to see a bit of distance between their development. It's weird to be tied at the hip for this long.

Caps have a far more promising and talented prospect pool and their cap situation isn't as tight. Caps are definitely a bit ahead

@@ericekman4190 The Pens' current core is going to stay relevant a year or two longer than Washington, but Washington should be able to build a new core as Ovi's career winds down. The Caps might be on the playoff bubble next year and maybe a little better or worse the next year, but they actually have hope beyond that, whereas the Pens probably don't get significantly better than this year, but they have effectively nothing lined up behind Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. Pittsburgh hockey is going to be brutal in 2-3 years.

Nobody even plays there? Carlson is soon on retire too so they will fall hard

@@johannespitkamaki1369catastrophic fall in 1-2 years

​@@johannespitkamaki1369 they rarely attract a big name free agent. In the Ovechkin era, all their top players were either drafted and developed by them or traded for. Which shows they are good at building teams those ways. But what game changing player have they ever signed out of free agency? Pretty much none.

@@johannespitkamaki1369 the reality I’m not ready for

​@@jayvardywhen did they have the cap space to sign big names? They already had their big names. But Justin Williams is one and he came with a big discount.

I think we are in a good position, now that Coach Carb is familiar with the system, so we shouldn't be having a poor start, on paper of course.

How would that be when he has spent 70+games on LTIR this season already.

@@jkliao6486 I'm going to be honest I'm not sure what you are referring to. Can you clarify?

@@puckfittsburgh5539 I thought that Backy not playing next season was kinda expected, so given that the team we have for this season is operating at the cap with him on the LTIR already, I don't see how him remaining on the LTIR would free up any cap space for us next season.

@@jkliao6486 my layman's understanding of LTIR is that the contract adds cap space in the form of a LTIR pool that can be used to extend to cap past the standard cap line. I'm sure there'll be article on it during the summer, or I bet Shannon has a past video on it.

@@puckfittsburgh5539 So? Which part you don't understand? That Backy's 9.2 million contract has little impact on the team this season because he is on LTIR? We won't magically have an additional 9.2 mil to sign big names next season, because we are ALREADY using that 9.2 mil to our advantage this season. There is no such thing called freeing up more cap space because that cap space is already free this season, well most of that is because he did play 8 games for us, which would probably lead to about 500k to work with, if you call that freeing up some cap space.

Would love if they get Zegras, lowkey great move!

It won't happen, Caps are washed

See they're lining up already.

@@drugsmadilla I thought they were washed this season AND the last one, too, yet they made it when younger teams faltered. I don't know what to expect next season...

@@doubledouble4g379 they are washed, it's over, Ovi is done

They probably get the very last spot again. I don't really care as long as Ovi plays like "real" Ovi and they at least compete in round 1. I'm only mad that these greybeards stole a spot from more exciting teams just to roll over and die for four games. Even the Pens would have been better, just because Crosby would never phone it in the way Ovi did most of the series.

Andrew Cristall has a decent chance to be a star player as well.

Lindgren was the only one who showed up... rebuild was needed yesterday.

Ovi's contract forbids them from going into total rebuild mode so it's gonna be wonky until 2026

​@@wolfplayer7815How would a contract forbid them going into a rebuild?

Howe had 44 goals and over 100 points at age 40. +45 rating as well. I'm not sure how Ovi's 31 and 65 points is more impactful than that. Gretzky had 90 points in his age 37 season and 62 points in 70 games in his last year. Jagr had 24 goals and 67 points, +16 rating at age 41, and 27 goals, 66 points, +23 rating at age 43. I can't see Ovi being that good for that long. Ovi had no impact in the playoffs this season at all, which I think is the most telling. When the speed and intensity reaches that next level, he clearly isn't keeping up.

By what metric is Ovi having more of an impact? Look up Howe and Gretzky's age 38 seasons. Howe had exactly the same number of points in only 69 games, and Gretzky had 62 points in only 70 games. The only knock you can make against the GOAT is that he just couldn't seem to *buy* a goal that season, but he also took far fewer shots and still scored three game winners. Howe had a better +/- despite being on a worse team and did more of his scoring at even strength. I recognize that +/- is an incomplete stat, but when all of the supporting metrics show that the stat isn't propped up by the surrounding talent, you have to assume that being nearly even on a losing team means that the guy was carrying big-time (i.e., having a huge impact). Jagr was in the KHL his age 38 season, so we can't fairly compare the two, but as noted above, even in his forties, when he played close to a full season, he still put similar numbers to Ovi. And THEN, you consider players that aren't in the GOAT conversation like Pavelski that put up more points at 38 and you realize that there are like ten guys who had more points at 38 (let alone examples like above where guys were older), and you realize that while Ovi did have a good season at 38, nothing about what he did is an outlier at that age. You don't have to exaggerate Ovi's greatness for him to be great. He is one of the best players to ever do it, it's just that his legacy is going to come down more and more to being forcefed games and shots until he brute forces his way past Gretzky in all time goals at age 40 or 41. I'm disappointed by that, because the conversation should be how amazing he was before these playoffs, not how long he should have dragged his career out.

Actually as a Caps fan, I was very proud they made the playoffs after being sellers at the deadline and where they were. Losing and getting swept are not good, but I think this season was still a net positive. I also think Carbery did an excellent job. The team is definitely in flux. They took some big steps this year, with Backstrom done and going more towards youth. Unfortunately, I also have to think that trading Kuznetsov was a positive. He wasn't going to play like he can for Washington and I think that this was a positive by subtraction. I think they have a year or two more of eating part of his contract though. After they won the Cup, I think the team has been badly managed. They really needed to get it done keeping Trotz but didn't. They've been floundering ever since the Cup win and have been declining each year imo. This year was a positive, but without getting more top line players, they could regress into the morass of the league instead of rising up.

I was rooting for him until he just was a statue in the playoffs. I know Washington was mediocre this year, but you have to at least try. *I* could have done more than he did, and to be clear, I have never played ice hockey. If stats make your GOAT, good for you, but Ovi is just tainting his legacy. It's like watching Michael Jordan in the 2000s. That's going to be the last memory, and it's going to be like "THIS fossil did all THAT?! His last three years were trash!"

Iorio only played 6 games for Washington in the regular season. They had to use him in the playoffs because three of their defensemen were hurt. But he's only 21, so it's not like this is the best he'll ever be. Lapierre, McMichael, Protas, Sandin aren't stars. Miroshnichenko probably isn't either. But Leonard and Cristall still have a decent chance to be stars. And the Capitals do have depth and youth.

They're doing alright as far as prospects go. I don't think they're anywhere near dire enough for tanking to be the best move forward, nor do I think they could have beaten San Jose, Chicago, and Anaheim in a race to the bottom. Not ripping off the bandaid with Ovi is really the only thing I can fault them for from a roster building perspective. They're keeping Ovi so they can sell merch when he brute forces his way to the goal record, but if they were focused on team success, you only keep Ovi if you're a serious competitor. They are not. That probably would have taken them fully out of the playoff race, but it would have freed up room to start developing more of their prospect pool. A pick around 12th or so wouldn't make a huge difference, but they would be getting more of their young guys some much-needed experience and starting to build toward their next window.

Haven't they already started it? They've accumulated a few extra draft picks, they don't have many long-term contracts, and the AHL team must have some young talent if they're the defending Calder Cup champions.

How do i change my username? lol

who would take Kuemper at his salary???

@@toddknode752 According to a Capfriendly Twitter post from 5/6, these teams have goalie issues… No goalies signed: LA 1 goalie signed: SJ/VAN/DAL/NSH/WPG/NJ/PIT/BOS/BUF/TOR There are teams that might take him. First rumor was possibly Dubois for Kuemper but WSH not doing that trade.

That's not how it *seems*, that's how it is. There's a mountain of money to be made on merch when THE Capitals player becomes the top goal scorer. We like to think GMs are there to build a winning team, but that's just because winning teams usually fulfill a GM's true job: to make the team as much money as possible. That's why Toronto's still sticking to the Shanaplan and why other teams stick to bad on-ice strategies. Follow the money.

I don't think it's the right time to tie up all that money in a star player unless it's a short term contract. Let them bottom out and see what they have afterwards. Also, I don't like Marner's mental. I wouldn't want him for the same reason im not keen on acquiring PLD.

​@@ericekman4190Marner is only under contract for one more season. If Oshie and Backstrom don't play, Marner makes sense as the way to use that cap space.

Marner is soft af please no

I sent that exact same message to my brother...Caps and Mitch would be perfect

@@aliyahjackson9321 That's why the Capitals could get him fairly cheap if they take on his entire contract. If his contract was a great bargain, the Capitals would have to give up some great prospects or valuable draft picks to get him. But because of his big contract and the holes in his game, the Capitals could get him without having to give up anywhere close to as much as what the Penguins overpaid for Karlsson.

Not even close. They have prospects, unlike Pittsburgh, and they're at least treading water right now, unlike San Jose. I'm not saying I would want the GM job in Washington, but they'll be alright once their focus is no longer on getting Ovi that record. It's just that they would be more alright if they were fully in on the youth movement and not drooling over the merch they can sell once the face of their franchise becomes the most prolific goal scorer in NHL history.

www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=161382 Vrana has really fallen off.

I know he has. He has never been the same since lavy was hired by the Caps. Peter is the reason for his decline. Plus, he was devastated by the trade, got injured, went into the players' assisted program. Struggled in STL. Coming back to play under Spencer is just what he needs. Add his speed to the team. Look how many players that have come to washington and turned the careers around. CONNOLLY is a perfect example.

Get your butt downstairs and fold the laundry!

I don't believe you.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I just hate to see teams pass up their own interests for the sake of getting a player to a milestone. Something like Kobe's last game, where they did all they could to give him one last scoring blitz? That's cool. Selling the future for one last push with a franchise great? That's fine with me. But mortgaging multiple seasons to try to force history is both not the right way to go about breaking records and also hurting the team in the present AND long term. If they can build the team and Ovi gets his goals, that's awesome. There would be no doubts or asterisk to it. But they have a prospect pool that might be something, and yet they're pausing that development to fully pursue making Ovi's record pursuit an inevitability, which felt like they were just hitting fast forward until we saw how much Ovi looked like the game has passed him by in the playoffs. Unless that was just a playoffs thing and Ovi returns to form, I don't think anyone's going to respect his record at this rate, so both the team and Ovi lose from this strategy. Might as well try literally anything else. The current course feels like the worst possibility to me.