October 1, 2007
Washington Capitals Down to the (Waiver) Wire
As has been covered by the OFB team and Tarik, the Capitals have a few decisions left to make before their season can start. The deadline for Opening Day’s 23-man rosters is tomorrow, and despite the difficult cuts that the Caps have had to make, they still have 25 men on the roster (not counting Klepis, who didn’t make the team but was not under contract, but counting Fleischmann, who just signed a 1-year deal). The deadline for putting players on the waiver wire (a necessary 24-hour step to send most players down to affiliate teams) has passed with the waiving of Jamie Pollock, Ben Clymer, and Dean Arsene, so the only avenues left to the Caps to trim those extra players are trades or sending waiver-exempt players (Schultz, Green, and Steckel) down to Hershey.
Goalies are easy: Kolzig is obviously the number one choice despite his play in camp (.850 save percentage). Under a coach who’s also a former goalie like Glen Hanlon, Kolzig has a lot of leeway, and I’m sure both the fans and the players are hoping that he turns it on before the puck drops on the Capitals’ regular season; between coming in cold and not facing many shots (thanks to the Caps’ newfound defensive responsibility), what he’s faced in exhibition really shouldn’t be a representative sample of his play. Although prospect Michael Neuvirth is coming along, Brent Johnson still easily took the backup spot with his solid play in training camp. That accounts for two spots on the 23-man roster.
Defensemen are a tougher bet: it looked as if the top six would be Poti, Morrisson, Jurcina, Pothier, Schultz (who has been told to find a place to live in D.C.), and Green (who hasn’t been told anything yet), with the seventh spot up for grabs. However, despite Green’s excellent training camp, in which he stated an incredibly strong case to be on the team, his waiver-exempt status would seem to put him as the #1 bubble player at the moment if no trade deal is made. In any case, the team is probably going to take 7 of these to get up to 9 players out of 23.
As for forwards, things are a little more clear-cut. The first line appears to be set at Ovechkin, Kozlov, and Fleischmann; the second appears to be Semin, Nylander, and Backstrom; the third is probably Pettinger, Gordon, and Clark, which leaves the fourth line, which from camp, would appear to make sense as Brashear, Steckel, and Laich. The only forward currently on the roster who is waiver-exempt is Steckel, however, which makes him at-risk just like Green, despite a quality camp. That still leaves a couple of spots for scratches each game, but there are no forwards other than Steckel that can now be removed from the roster except by a trade.
So what would be the optimum outcome? The chatter on the blogs seems to have most fans and observers leaning towards a trade, though so far there’s not even a credible rumor as to who might go and for what return.
This has to be hard on the young, waiver-exempt players; they fought tooth and nail to earn a spot on the big club, and the motivations of the front office in keeping some veterans who, by their performance in camp, don’t deserve the spots as much off the waiver wire and on the NHL club certainly are mysterious. I have yet to see a credible argument that Green belongs in the AHL this season, and even Steckel should have what it takes as a fourth-line center with his fantastic face-off skills; there’s a lot of skepticism among the fans about Schultz and why he merits a spot when those two don’t.
The other question has to be what the Caps can hope to get from a trade, besides roster space. None of the players who would be on the block should a trade be in the works are deserving of giving up a first-round draft pick, even as a package. I wouldn’t mind seeing the team move one skill player along with a couple of bubble guys for a solid right-winger or defenseman, but the question quickly becomes which teams are desperate enough for depth that they would make that deal, and with this kind of notice, it’s doubtful that anything like that would come through. I think, especially at this stage in the building process, it would be disappointing to see the Caps get nothing out of their depth except for a second-round draft pick or a couple of third-rounders, even with the high quality of the upcoming draft class.
Do you think it’s the right time for the Caps to make a trade for little return? Will Green and Steckel develop if they go down to Hershey, or is it the right time for them to make the jump? Are the Caps looking at hurting themselves if they don’t play those two? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Filed under: Hockey
October 1st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
good stuff. it’s time to let someone go for picks. green and steckel have played too well this camp to send down. far too well. question is who? eminger still seems to have a pretty darn good upside–young, mobile, good two way game with a mean streak–but i just don’t ever see him putting it together. here. laich? probably expendable, but he’s good depth and seems to be liked by management. bradley has no trade value, but he seems the most obvious spare part.
i wouldn’t want to be gmgm. tough decisions to make. but i really think sending green and steckel down after the camps they’ve had would be damaging to their development.
October 1st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Somehow, I don’t think McPhee minds the dilemma of too much talent, even at the low end of the team. I really think that, as much as we’d like to let certain players go, it’s going to be tough to find takers for anyone at this point even at junk prices, save maybe Eminger.
Perhaps the Coyotes are still on the market…
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Excellent analysis Kurt! As we see today, both Steckel and Green made the team… for now. With Eminger on the IR, the Caps have a little more time to decide what to do. For now, the D’s 6-7 are Green & Erskine. I like keeping Erskine, at least for now, as he and Schultz provide some much-needed snarl on the back line. When Erskine was healthy last year he seemed almost Tinordi-like in his ability to anchor a more offense-minded defensive partner.
Roster: http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2007/10/02/opening-night-roster/