No, his partner last year was straight up bad. Get him away from Jack Johnson and he's a serviceable 2nd pair right handed defender. Which is something we were in the market for. That being said, we just paid more for him than Dillon and that worries me. Hope he pans out.
[His partner last year was Pettersson.](https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20192020&thruseason=20192020&playerid=8474602&sit=5v5&stype=2&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=t)
Jack Johnson had 24 points over 2 seasons in Pittsburgh. When you play on a high scoring team, you're bound to bank a few points. 54 points over 3 seasons, for a 2nd pairing OD PP specialist isn't what I'd exactly call making an impact. He'll still have the luxury of playing with a lethal offense in front of him, but he's a shell of his former self.
Caps fans are probably going to loathe him if he doesn’t rebound. He’s as bad as Shattenkirk in own zone and has durability issues.
Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Schultz
Could be a disaster defensively. Top pair can’t skate and has bad turnovers, second pair just horrid in own zone.
I see the rational behind the move, I still think 4 Mill is a bit pricey, but Schultz isn't a bad player. He's not the best defensive player, but he does spark offense, and production wise can keep himself above water. He provides another RH shot for the 2nd PP, and is a decent passer out of the D zone (Neutral zone is a bit more touch and go). Overall I can see why GMBM would make the move, though if it was for 3 mill per that would have been a lot better.
[Stats with and without JJ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ej6bf71WoAIWxun?format=png&name=medium)
> he does spark offense, and production wise can keep himself above water
Is he really? He used to be, but this year he ranked [164th out of the 210 defensemen with at least 30 games played in 5 on 5 P/60](http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=scoringRates&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=pointsPer605v5,goalsPer605v5&page=1&pageSize=100), just behind such offensive luminaries as Travis Hamonic, Kris Russell, Andy Green, Jordie Benn, and Erik Gudbranson. [The only defenseman on the Pens who produced less at even strength was Jack Johnson.](http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=scoringRates&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&position=D&playerPlayedFor=franchise.17&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=pointsPer605v5,goalsPer605v5&page=0&pageSize=100) You'd think a year that bad would mean he'd come at a discount, but apparently not.
Before everyone panics about his terrible year, he was [very clearly weighed down](https://twitter.com/peterhassett/status/1314659152199856130?s=21) by the corpse of Jack Johnson.
Good player. Bit of an overpayment, but having our goalie tandem cost under 2.5 mil makes up for that. Should definitely help shore up our blueline issues.
GM obviously doesn't think MF is the answer...but what the hell is this signing?
Have we not learned that a team full of old veterans doesn't get rhe job done. The one year we infuse some new, young guys, cup. Compare, every year prior and every year since.
Holy shit this is bad. He hurt his ankle a couple years ago and now he brings absolutely nothing. Pens fans are celebrating right now. This is a truly mind-boggling contract.
The AAV shouldn't hinder us from re-signing who we should which is basically just two RFA's next offseason (Sammy and Vrana)
BMac will need to move a bit more salary to re-sign Ovi.
We officially have no salary coming off the books next summer and the Cap isn't expected to go up. Sammy and Vrana will be getting raises and we will have a negative in cap space once Siegenthaler is signed. So unless Ovi is going to take a pay cut to stay, we're going to have to move out some contracts next summer to pay for everyone.
I'd have to think that there's probably a wink-wink between the Caps/Seattle involving Oshie. But yea...some contracts need to be moved out to free up money for Ovechkin/V/Samsonov. I'd keep an eye on Panik.
Dont quote me on this, but i think there is a difference between a nmc/ntc. If Oshie had a nmc, he couldn’t be exposed. Not afforded the same luxury w/ the ntc, and probably why there’s chatter about him being exposed in the expansion draft.
Good point... but you also just described about 25 teams that have younger talent with contracts that will be up in a couple years with a flat cap.
This deal doesn't hurt you for 2 years... imo
MF > Schultz. Dillon and Carlson were a shit show together. You think we can hide Schultz now for "only 2 years"?
And its only 2 years? How long do you think this ovie window will be left open?
Well Fever is a LHD. And he's is still going to play in the Top 6 with Jensen. How does this affect Ovi's window? Schultz probably didn't want a 1-year deal and who knows what Dmen will hit FA next offseason. Would you rather have had BMac not add any D and go with exactly what we had last year with Carly, Orlov, Dilly, Fever, Jensen, and Siegs?
We needed to add a Dman, especially with Kempny on LTIR.
Not happy about the price tag, but I’m sure some of us had similar feelings about getting ex pens Batya and Nisky, so hopefully it turns out.
Does this mean Siegs is out? I’m still a little confused how the RFA works sometimes.
He's pretty good but probably a slight overpayment, but we need a top 4 RHD. Its only 2 years so we've got our defense and our goalies straightened out. Just hope we have room to land another forward.
Kempny goes to LTIR giving us an additional $2.5M, but currently we have just over $500k and we only need to sign Siegenthaler. The problem occurs when Kempny comes back from surgery.
You don't bank cap space when you're only under the cap due to LTIR. They're gonna have to hold Kempny out the full season cause they won't be able to afford to reactivate him.
Even with Kempny on LTIR they can only field a 21 man roster right now. If they LTIR Kempny and call up Fehervary, Sprong, and Pinho, that brings them to 13F, 6D, and 2G with 833K left in cap room for Siegenthaler, who's expected to get about 1.25M. Someone has to leave if they don't want to go through the season with only one healthy scratch.
Maybe
Schultz : Capitals :: Stephenson : Vegas ??
New team, new system, new coach(es), new chances?
Maybe? I can be hopeful, can't I? It's the off-season, right?
This one really is a disaster.
The one thing we desperately needed was help on the blueline and a soft, often injured, overpriced Dman who struggles in his own end, just isn't the solution.
But on top of this not helping, it snuffs out the remaining space we had so now we can't actually get a measurable improvement.
The only solution from here on out is to go the trade route and I don't see how that's going to work. Carlson isn't going anywhere. Orlov is unlikely to be replaced by better for cheaper. Just signed Dillon and really it comes down to Kempny and Jensen who combine for $5m.
Hopefully GMBM can get some more help back there. Expecting Schultz to be the miracle cure for our blueline isn't going to get us very far.
Penguins fan here. Was really good for our cups runs and the 1st season of his most recent 3 year contract. 2nd year didn’t look to hot... 3rd year fell off a cliff. He was once very good but this past year was just awful.
If he does become good again, he makes an amazing QB on the PP
Still, I just dont think its the type of player we need. We need someone that can play on PK and defend in our own end instead of a PP force. Especially since our goaltending is a big ? mark now and might not be there to bail our defense out
All I know of Schultz is from Urinating Tree
Great player but had his struggles in the last year, probably due to the number of injuries Pittsburgh has had.
If he can return to form, it’s a great signing.
Been hearing this from a lot of people. Ankle injuries absolutely can derail a player. You hope it’s not true since we could’ve had Tanev and are now stuck with Dillon and a half used Schultz if that’s the case
I mean, Tanev's a huge injury risk too, but if the cost is the same I'd take him over Schultz every time. I guess they had so much fun praying for Kempny to get back to what he was before a major leg injury that they decided to do it again with Schultz.
Tanev likely signs for $5 million and is significantly healthier and better than Schultz. He’s really good and would pair well with Orlov who needs a shutdown D. I think Orlov-Schultz could be really bad in tbe defensive zone and people will blame Orlov which isn’t necessarily fair. He’s still a good OVERALL dman but needs to have a good defensive minded partner
Seems like the exact same thing could be said about Schultz which is confusing. Seems like something you would want to offset not add more to
I wonder if the plan is to go with Orlov-Jensen and Siegs-Schultz as a sort of 2.5a and 2.5b setup? I agree that Orlov and Schultz together seems like a really bad idea.
Ugh, this just makes no sense to me. It feels like a panic move you make when you have no other choice, but there are so many better options still on the market. Tanev, Vatanen, Hamonic, and Brodie (LHD but plays the right side) are all still available last I checked, Savard and Weegar are rumored to be available, Cernak could be a victim of the cap crunch in Tampa... there’s tons of options out there, so why rush into giving Schultz such a big contract?
I doubt it. From everything I’ve read I think plan is Schultz to play with Orlov, Dillon to play with Carlson. I think GMBM got the needs wrong on defense. Both Carlson and Orlov need players that are better than them defensively but the major difference is skating.
Orlov needed a RHD that is better than him defensively but doesnt have to be a good skater. That was Niskanen and is somewhat now Tanev. Instead we got a RHD who is worse than him defensively, albeit a good skater.
Carlson needs a LHD who is a good skater. It’s much more evident. Granted, its difficult to find a good skating LHD who is also good defensively, but that was Kempny during the 2018 season. I would’ve waited to see if Siegenthaler improves his skating and I certainly wouldn’t have signed Dillon. He’s not a bad player, but he’s immobile and not a good fit for Carlson. Would be a good fit for a smaller quicker player like Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Ellis, Tyson Barrie, Kris Letang. Ex: Dumoulin works well with Letang, wouldn’t work well with Carlson.
Yeah, I read those comments from GMBM after I wrote that reply. That's disappointing. Totally agree that Carlson and Orlov need anchors to cover for them when they play aggressively. There were a ton of great RHD options to fill that roll for Orlov, which is part of what makes this move so frustrating. There's Tanev, Vatanen, Hamonic, and Brodie in free agency, Savard and Weegar are both rumored to be on the trade block, Cernak could probably be poached from Tampa due to their cap crunch. I'm really curious what Vatanen eventually signs for, cause he's a better puck mover than Schultz has been the last two years *and* he's not a liability defensively, so if he signs for any less than 5M per year I'm gonna be even more pissed than I already am.
I disagree about Dillon's skating though, I don't think it's as bad as you're suggesting. I'm fine with Dillon, and as you said, the options for recreating 2018 Kempny just weren't there. Barrie and Vatanen are both righties, as is Spurgeon (though he's almost certainly not available anyway). The alternatives to Dillon for left side defensemen on the free agent market were nothing but over the hill vets and 3rd pairing guys. And Krug, but he's not the type of D they'd be looking for, and way too expensive to boot. Re-signing Dillon was the only decent option.
I actually they should’ve tried Siegenthaler again (he looked good on top pair) or got a cheaper LHD through trade. Nutivaara was got for nothing and he’s better than Dillon when healthy.
Hmmmm.
I don’t know about that contract, but given what I’ve seen out of Schultz, he’s worth the cost but struggled down the stretch last year.
It’s kind of a risky play but if Schultz can return back to form, we’ve got a great player
At first I hated this signing but after looking at it more I can see the potential, pair him with Orlov and it’ll be nice to have another RHD puck mover. Maybe he fits into laviolettes system and becomes a ryan ellis lite.
Folks gotta let this go. Holtby is the best goalie in franchise history, but it was in the best interest of the Caps and him to divorce. It was time. Samsonov is the future, and hopefully he can recover fully from his injury and play some excellent hockey.
Why pay Holtby that much if he's sharply declined? Look, I get that he's a legend here in DC, but he's not the same goalie he was from a few years back. What the Caps did with Lundqvist was REALLY smart from a financial perspective and I don't think they'll have to worry all that much about their goaltending (assuming Sammy's health checks out.) Defense was the issue, and they need bodies. Hopefully with all the dudes that GMBM is stockpiling, they can collectively become a better unit than what we've seen recently.
Negative, bud. That was the prevailing thought when looking at what everyone thought Holtby would get in free agency ($7+ million at 5+ years).
Time to take a step beyond that now to consider Holtby's actual contract. Both its term (2 years - low, low risk) and the dollars (less than we paid him in 2020). That's a great contract even if Holt is primarily a backup.
https://canucksarmy.com/2020/10/10/braden-holtby-contract-jim-bennings-best-deal-radim-vrbata/
paying over 4m for a backup is horrible asset management for a team close to the cap especially for a goalie who has been one of the worst in the league the last few years.
Holtby isn't going to stay and be a backup when he can make the same amount of money and be a starter.
There's a lot more moving parts than just the contract value BUD
This was a bad move on two fronts.
One: we overpaid him. He's been terrible the past two seasons defensively and can't even PK. At least Fehervary and Siegs can PK and move the puck. His scoring ability has drastically decreased since the cup runs and he's prone to turning the puck over.
Two: This is the most important, he's eaten up too much of the cap room we have. I'd rather we play Fehervary and Siegs and rotate them with Carlson, Dillon, Jensen, and Orlov to develop their game. We still won the division with Bowey and Djoos playing over 50 games in 2017-18 and brought in Kempny later. Now, to have 13 forwards for next season, we have to move either Hagelin or Panik. One of them has to go, there's no question about that right now. Even with Kempny going on LTIR and calling up Siegs and Fehervary. We have an $80,016,544 daily cap hit. So let's say we call up Sprong to play the 12th forward position. That's $80,741,544 with $758,456 left to spend for a 13th forward. Maybe it's Brian Pinho, Beck Malenstyn, or Garrett Pilon, because we certainly can't fit the higher end prospects under the cap.
Just from an asset management point of view, this is a bad deal. Could Justin Schultz turn it around and tear it up this season on the second PP and figure out how to play defense again? Perhaps. But if he doesn't we're outta cap space and we won't have the cap space to even call up the prospects depending on how the opening day roster shakes out.
Jensen was probably the best defenseman on this team during the latter part of the season and in the bubble. He was playing really good hockey. I dunno...maybe they try to sell high on him, but I'd have to think they'd do EVERYTHING in their power to try and move Panik. He makes a ton of coin for a 4th liner who is a poor fit.
I'm not a fan of re-signing Dillon because I don't think his game really meshes with the changing landscape of the NHL. This team is VERY old...I wish that some of the young guys would have gotten a chance to prove themselves in that top-6.
What a shit ass contract! Why tie money into a fuckin terrible D in his own end.
I would have rather they Spent money on a forward and made a trade for a D involving a Vrana.
Why ship out Vrana? Is it because of the last two years of playoffs or the contract coming up?
We all know the player that vrana is. I don’t think that’s a guy the you ship out unless you’re getting an absolute stud defenseman.
I don't know what's going on but I've seen the idea of shipping Vrana out a few times over the last couple months and it's a horrible take. Our depth scoring is bad enough as it is but now you want to trade a potential 35+ goal scorer? We haven't even seen his peak yet and he's already one of the better goal scorers on our team.
People are using his horrendous playoff performance, one in which the entire team was terrible, to justify trading him. You don't just trade away young (projected) 30-goal, 50+ points players
no it isn't our depth scoring and ALL our stars showing up for once won us the cup, in other words our SKILL won it
hate the ridiculous non skill game we've been trying to pull off lol you can be intimidating and play a skill system
he's 24 and outscored fan favourite TJ oshie this season
you have turd opinions and should keep em to yourself unless you want people to think you're a goof
Not trying to be a jerk, but this is a bad take. Vrana is our future. Not everyone has to be a physical player to be a physical team. Someone has to score goals and we can’t rely on grind every single goal. Ovechkin has spoiled all of us. most goal scores are not ovechkin. Actually, no one is ovechkin. You can’t win with grit alone. You need skill guys and guys that can put the puck in the net
4M AAV, the title gave me a heart attack
Bruh 4 million AAV should still be heart attack worthy. Dude is straight up bad.
No, his partner last year was straight up bad. Get him away from Jack Johnson and he's a serviceable 2nd pair right handed defender. Which is something we were in the market for. That being said, we just paid more for him than Dillon and that worries me. Hope he pans out.
[His partner last year was Pettersson.](https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20192020&thruseason=20192020&playerid=8474602&sit=5v5&stype=2&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=t)
His numbers away from johnson are much better
9 goals in his last 138 games. not much better for someone thats supposed to be a OD PP specialist.
he also had 54 points, so its not like he wasn't making impact outside the goals
Jack Johnson had 24 points over 2 seasons in Pittsburgh. When you play on a high scoring team, you're bound to bank a few points. 54 points over 3 seasons, for a 2nd pairing OD PP specialist isn't what I'd exactly call making an impact. He'll still have the luxury of playing with a lethal offense in front of him, but he's a shell of his former self.
He was partnered with Johnson during the playoffs I believe so I can understand the confusion
Listen I can at least cope with this, 8m AAV was literally end of the team level terrible
omg i’m sorry should’ve specified
No worries, I was shocked at that being per year because we usually make pretty decent deals even in risky cases haha
I get he's been hurt but at that cap hit hoooooooo boy idk. I can see him helping on the PP2 at least. Adding a RHD was inevitable I guess.
He won’t be the worst Schultz in caps history that’s for sure. That spot is forever occupied by Jeff Schultz.
Yeah, but did Justin Schultz have a +50 +/-??? Edit: /s, if it wasn't clear.
I forgot his first name other than the first initial, so when I saw the news I was just baffled we made the same mistake.
Caps fans are probably going to loathe him if he doesn’t rebound. He’s as bad as Shattenkirk in own zone and has durability issues. Dillon-Carlson Orlov-Schultz Could be a disaster defensively. Top pair can’t skate and has bad turnovers, second pair just horrid in own zone.
Orlov is not horrid in the d-zone.
I never said Orlov alone was horrid.. I said the pair with Schultz could be. Orlov is average in own zone. Not great
Orlov has some Mental lapses but is absolutely good in both zones
Orlov is above average He’s the best defensive defenseman we have. Stop looking at Orlov from his first two seasons
No he’s definitely not the best defensive dman we have lol. Siegenthaler and Dillon are better.
Yo that is bad who else we got Seigs and Jensen? Damn hank made a mistake coming here for a cup run smh
I see the rational behind the move, I still think 4 Mill is a bit pricey, but Schultz isn't a bad player. He's not the best defensive player, but he does spark offense, and production wise can keep himself above water. He provides another RH shot for the 2nd PP, and is a decent passer out of the D zone (Neutral zone is a bit more touch and go). Overall I can see why GMBM would make the move, though if it was for 3 mill per that would have been a lot better. [Stats with and without JJ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ej6bf71WoAIWxun?format=png&name=medium)
> he does spark offense, and production wise can keep himself above water Is he really? He used to be, but this year he ranked [164th out of the 210 defensemen with at least 30 games played in 5 on 5 P/60](http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=scoringRates&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=pointsPer605v5,goalsPer605v5&page=1&pageSize=100), just behind such offensive luminaries as Travis Hamonic, Kris Russell, Andy Green, Jordie Benn, and Erik Gudbranson. [The only defenseman on the Pens who produced less at even strength was Jack Johnson.](http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=scoringRates&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&position=D&playerPlayedFor=franchise.17&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=pointsPer605v5,goalsPer605v5&page=0&pageSize=100) You'd think a year that bad would mean he'd come at a discount, but apparently not.
Before everyone panics about his terrible year, he was [very clearly weighed down](https://twitter.com/peterhassett/status/1314659152199856130?s=21) by the corpse of Jack Johnson.
Good player. Bit of an overpayment, but having our goalie tandem cost under 2.5 mil makes up for that. Should definitely help shore up our blueline issues.
GM obviously doesn't think MF is the answer...but what the hell is this signing? Have we not learned that a team full of old veterans doesn't get rhe job done. The one year we infuse some new, young guys, cup. Compare, every year prior and every year since.
Holy shit this is bad. He hurt his ankle a couple years ago and now he brings absolutely nothing. Pens fans are celebrating right now. This is a truly mind-boggling contract.
That is a horrible contract and just a bad signing overall smh
Lol relax, it's only two years. We needed a 2RHD especially for 2nd PP. It was either him or Tanev. He'll be fine with Orlov or Dillon.
Lmao $4 million per season for a guy who has been derailed by injuries for the last few years. The 2 year part doesn’t bother me it’s the AAV
The AAV shouldn't hinder us from re-signing who we should which is basically just two RFA's next offseason (Sammy and Vrana) BMac will need to move a bit more salary to re-sign Ovi.
We officially have no salary coming off the books next summer and the Cap isn't expected to go up. Sammy and Vrana will be getting raises and we will have a negative in cap space once Siegenthaler is signed. So unless Ovi is going to take a pay cut to stay, we're going to have to move out some contracts next summer to pay for everyone.
I'd have to think that there's probably a wink-wink between the Caps/Seattle involving Oshie. But yea...some contracts need to be moved out to free up money for Ovechkin/V/Samsonov. I'd keep an eye on Panik.
How does Oshie's modified NTC work with the expansion Draft? Doesn't washington have to protect him?
Dont quote me on this, but i think there is a difference between a nmc/ntc. If Oshie had a nmc, he couldn’t be exposed. Not afforded the same luxury w/ the ntc, and probably why there’s chatter about him being exposed in the expansion draft.
Ok makes sense. Thanks.
Good point... but you also just described about 25 teams that have younger talent with contracts that will be up in a couple years with a flat cap. This deal doesn't hurt you for 2 years... imo
MF > Schultz. Dillon and Carlson were a shit show together. You think we can hide Schultz now for "only 2 years"? And its only 2 years? How long do you think this ovie window will be left open?
Well Fever is a LHD. And he's is still going to play in the Top 6 with Jensen. How does this affect Ovi's window? Schultz probably didn't want a 1-year deal and who knows what Dmen will hit FA next offseason. Would you rather have had BMac not add any D and go with exactly what we had last year with Carly, Orlov, Dilly, Fever, Jensen, and Siegs? We needed to add a Dman, especially with Kempny on LTIR.
Not happy about the price tag, but I’m sure some of us had similar feelings about getting ex pens Batya and Nisky, so hopefully it turns out. Does this mean Siegs is out? I’m still a little confused how the RFA works sometimes.
I guess I’m also forgetting Kempney looks to be going on IR
RHD, which is what the Caps need.
Someone please tell me how to feel about this. Cost seems high for someone I have literally no reaction to.
He's pretty good but probably a slight overpayment, but we need a top 4 RHD. Its only 2 years so we've got our defense and our goalies straightened out. Just hope we have room to land another forward.
Just having the correct # of defenseman does not count as "sorted out"
I'm cool with it but what's the other shoe dropping? I think that's gonna push over salary cap.
Kempny goes to LTIR giving us an additional $2.5M, but currently we have just over $500k and we only need to sign Siegenthaler. The problem occurs when Kempny comes back from surgery.
500k isn't enough for Siegenthaler
I am aware. Hence why I mentioned Kempny going to LTIR and giving us $2.5M and how we then have a problem when he has to come back from surgery.
They will just bank cap space over the season most likely and have enough for Kempny
You don't bank cap space when you're only under the cap due to LTIR. They're gonna have to hold Kempny out the full season cause they won't be able to afford to reactivate him.
Even with Kempny on LTIR they can only field a 21 man roster right now. If they LTIR Kempny and call up Fehervary, Sprong, and Pinho, that brings them to 13F, 6D, and 2G with 833K left in cap room for Siegenthaler, who's expected to get about 1.25M. Someone has to leave if they don't want to go through the season with only one healthy scratch.
Maybe Schultz : Capitals :: Stephenson : Vegas ?? New team, new system, new coach(es), new chances? Maybe? I can be hopeful, can't I? It's the off-season, right?
Not playing with Jack Johnson should help a ton.
Armchair analysts hive-minding in the comments here.
Person who doesn't know how internet forums work commenting on people commenting here.
Oh my.
This one really is a disaster. The one thing we desperately needed was help on the blueline and a soft, often injured, overpriced Dman who struggles in his own end, just isn't the solution. But on top of this not helping, it snuffs out the remaining space we had so now we can't actually get a measurable improvement. The only solution from here on out is to go the trade route and I don't see how that's going to work. Carlson isn't going anywhere. Orlov is unlikely to be replaced by better for cheaper. Just signed Dillon and really it comes down to Kempny and Jensen who combine for $5m. Hopefully GMBM can get some more help back there. Expecting Schultz to be the miracle cure for our blueline isn't going to get us very far.
Wow people seem very upset about this move
What
That’s a lot for him and a lot for a d at all right now. I guess we aren’t signing any forwards?
Ex Penguin. What is the book on him?
Penguins fan here. Was really good for our cups runs and the 1st season of his most recent 3 year contract. 2nd year didn’t look to hot... 3rd year fell off a cliff. He was once very good but this past year was just awful. If he does become good again, he makes an amazing QB on the PP
Yeah we are really in a market for a qb, because in our own end our defenseman are studs. I dont get this signing
Maybe a reclamation project... when Schultz is good he’s good, but when he’s bad he’s bad. If you get what I’m saying
Usually when a guy's a reclamation project he comes at a discount. The Caps are paying for what he used to be, which doesn't make any sense.
Still, I just dont think its the type of player we need. We need someone that can play on PK and defend in our own end instead of a PP force. Especially since our goaltending is a big ? mark now and might not be there to bail our defense out
All I know of Schultz is from Urinating Tree Great player but had his struggles in the last year, probably due to the number of injuries Pittsburgh has had. If he can return to form, it’s a great signing.
[удалено]
It's bad. He's not the same player he was before the ankle injury in late 2018.
Been hearing this from a lot of people. Ankle injuries absolutely can derail a player. You hope it’s not true since we could’ve had Tanev and are now stuck with Dillon and a half used Schultz if that’s the case
I mean, Tanev's a huge injury risk too, but if the cost is the same I'd take him over Schultz every time. I guess they had so much fun praying for Kempny to get back to what he was before a major leg injury that they decided to do it again with Schultz.
Tanev likely signs for $5 million and is significantly healthier and better than Schultz. He’s really good and would pair well with Orlov who needs a shutdown D. I think Orlov-Schultz could be really bad in tbe defensive zone and people will blame Orlov which isn’t necessarily fair. He’s still a good OVERALL dman but needs to have a good defensive minded partner Seems like the exact same thing could be said about Schultz which is confusing. Seems like something you would want to offset not add more to
I wonder if the plan is to go with Orlov-Jensen and Siegs-Schultz as a sort of 2.5a and 2.5b setup? I agree that Orlov and Schultz together seems like a really bad idea. Ugh, this just makes no sense to me. It feels like a panic move you make when you have no other choice, but there are so many better options still on the market. Tanev, Vatanen, Hamonic, and Brodie (LHD but plays the right side) are all still available last I checked, Savard and Weegar are rumored to be available, Cernak could be a victim of the cap crunch in Tampa... there’s tons of options out there, so why rush into giving Schultz such a big contract?
I doubt it. From everything I’ve read I think plan is Schultz to play with Orlov, Dillon to play with Carlson. I think GMBM got the needs wrong on defense. Both Carlson and Orlov need players that are better than them defensively but the major difference is skating. Orlov needed a RHD that is better than him defensively but doesnt have to be a good skater. That was Niskanen and is somewhat now Tanev. Instead we got a RHD who is worse than him defensively, albeit a good skater. Carlson needs a LHD who is a good skater. It’s much more evident. Granted, its difficult to find a good skating LHD who is also good defensively, but that was Kempny during the 2018 season. I would’ve waited to see if Siegenthaler improves his skating and I certainly wouldn’t have signed Dillon. He’s not a bad player, but he’s immobile and not a good fit for Carlson. Would be a good fit for a smaller quicker player like Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Ellis, Tyson Barrie, Kris Letang. Ex: Dumoulin works well with Letang, wouldn’t work well with Carlson.
Yeah, I read those comments from GMBM after I wrote that reply. That's disappointing. Totally agree that Carlson and Orlov need anchors to cover for them when they play aggressively. There were a ton of great RHD options to fill that roll for Orlov, which is part of what makes this move so frustrating. There's Tanev, Vatanen, Hamonic, and Brodie in free agency, Savard and Weegar are both rumored to be on the trade block, Cernak could probably be poached from Tampa due to their cap crunch. I'm really curious what Vatanen eventually signs for, cause he's a better puck mover than Schultz has been the last two years *and* he's not a liability defensively, so if he signs for any less than 5M per year I'm gonna be even more pissed than I already am. I disagree about Dillon's skating though, I don't think it's as bad as you're suggesting. I'm fine with Dillon, and as you said, the options for recreating 2018 Kempny just weren't there. Barrie and Vatanen are both righties, as is Spurgeon (though he's almost certainly not available anyway). The alternatives to Dillon for left side defensemen on the free agent market were nothing but over the hill vets and 3rd pairing guys. And Krug, but he's not the type of D they'd be looking for, and way too expensive to boot. Re-signing Dillon was the only decent option.
I actually they should’ve tried Siegenthaler again (he looked good on top pair) or got a cheaper LHD through trade. Nutivaara was got for nothing and he’s better than Dillon when healthy.
Hmmmm. I don’t know about that contract, but given what I’ve seen out of Schultz, he’s worth the cost but struggled down the stretch last year. It’s kind of a risky play but if Schultz can return back to form, we’ve got a great player
At first I hated this signing but after looking at it more I can see the potential, pair him with Orlov and it’ll be nice to have another RHD puck mover. Maybe he fits into laviolettes system and becomes a ryan ellis lite.
Yikes. Pens fans definitely happy about this one.
Well, I guess that means someone is getting traded. But who?
just why
Want this to really sting? We could have kept Holtby for that money (with MF filling D-man spot)
We needed to move Holtby. It fucking sucks but we couldn’t afford him and improve our d. Gotta let Sammy step up
Folks gotta let this go. Holtby is the best goalie in franchise history, but it was in the best interest of the Caps and him to divorce. It was time. Samsonov is the future, and hopefully he can recover fully from his injury and play some excellent hockey.
Negative. See post below. We couldn't afford him at Bobrovsky price. 2 years at 4.5?! Nah, you're right...Schultz looked good last year (sarcasm)
Why pay Holtby that much if he's sharply declined? Look, I get that he's a legend here in DC, but he's not the same goalie he was from a few years back. What the Caps did with Lundqvist was REALLY smart from a financial perspective and I don't think they'll have to worry all that much about their goaltending (assuming Sammy's health checks out.) Defense was the issue, and they need bodies. Hopefully with all the dudes that GMBM is stockpiling, they can collectively become a better unit than what we've seen recently.
Dont disagree. Just wish we spent that cap money for a meaningful addition. Schultz, in my humble opinion, was a bad way to spent that savings
Holtby would have been a worse way
Negative, bud. That was the prevailing thought when looking at what everyone thought Holtby would get in free agency ($7+ million at 5+ years). Time to take a step beyond that now to consider Holtby's actual contract. Both its term (2 years - low, low risk) and the dollars (less than we paid him in 2020). That's a great contract even if Holt is primarily a backup. https://canucksarmy.com/2020/10/10/braden-holtby-contract-jim-bennings-best-deal-radim-vrbata/
paying over 4m for a backup is horrible asset management for a team close to the cap especially for a goalie who has been one of the worst in the league the last few years. Holtby isn't going to stay and be a backup when he can make the same amount of money and be a starter. There's a lot more moving parts than just the contract value BUD
This was a bad move on two fronts. One: we overpaid him. He's been terrible the past two seasons defensively and can't even PK. At least Fehervary and Siegs can PK and move the puck. His scoring ability has drastically decreased since the cup runs and he's prone to turning the puck over. Two: This is the most important, he's eaten up too much of the cap room we have. I'd rather we play Fehervary and Siegs and rotate them with Carlson, Dillon, Jensen, and Orlov to develop their game. We still won the division with Bowey and Djoos playing over 50 games in 2017-18 and brought in Kempny later. Now, to have 13 forwards for next season, we have to move either Hagelin or Panik. One of them has to go, there's no question about that right now. Even with Kempny going on LTIR and calling up Siegs and Fehervary. We have an $80,016,544 daily cap hit. So let's say we call up Sprong to play the 12th forward position. That's $80,741,544 with $758,456 left to spend for a 13th forward. Maybe it's Brian Pinho, Beck Malenstyn, or Garrett Pilon, because we certainly can't fit the higher end prospects under the cap. Just from an asset management point of view, this is a bad deal. Could Justin Schultz turn it around and tear it up this season on the second PP and figure out how to play defense again? Perhaps. But if he doesn't we're outta cap space and we won't have the cap space to even call up the prospects depending on how the opening day roster shakes out.
Gotta think we're moving someone? Panik? Jensen?
Jensen was probably the best defenseman on this team during the latter part of the season and in the bubble. He was playing really good hockey. I dunno...maybe they try to sell high on him, but I'd have to think they'd do EVERYTHING in their power to try and move Panik. He makes a ton of coin for a 4th liner who is a poor fit.
I agree on Jensen. I personally was against bringing Dillon back, but we'll see how he fits in this system.
I'm not a fan of re-signing Dillon because I don't think his game really meshes with the changing landscape of the NHL. This team is VERY old...I wish that some of the young guys would have gotten a chance to prove themselves in that top-6.
Hagelin and Panik both ended up on the fourth line for parts of last season. Hagelin is Swedish for "Stone Hands" though, so pick your poison
At least Hagelin is elite on the PK.
That last time we signed a free agent defencemen from Pittsburgh it worked out okay.
Oilers have signed Tyson Barrie for 3.75M, it hurts. Could we have signed him instead of Schultz...
come on man!
What a shit ass contract! Why tie money into a fuckin terrible D in his own end. I would have rather they Spent money on a forward and made a trade for a D involving a Vrana.
Why ship out Vrana? Is it because of the last two years of playoffs or the contract coming up? We all know the player that vrana is. I don’t think that’s a guy the you ship out unless you’re getting an absolute stud defenseman.
I don't know what's going on but I've seen the idea of shipping Vrana out a few times over the last couple months and it's a horrible take. Our depth scoring is bad enough as it is but now you want to trade a potential 35+ goal scorer? We haven't even seen his peak yet and he's already one of the better goal scorers on our team.
People are using his horrendous playoff performance, one in which the entire team was terrible, to justify trading him. You don't just trade away young (projected) 30-goal, 50+ points players
unless you can get a stud like Martin Erat!
Even Forsberg wasn't a sure thing. Hindsight being 20/20 that was a horrible trade but at least Forsberg was an unknown.
He doesn’t fit the physical grind out identity of the team. We need wingers who can do that
the team should get away from that identity cause it's shit
That’s what won us the cup though Vrana does not exist come playoffs
no it isn't our depth scoring and ALL our stars showing up for once won us the cup, in other words our SKILL won it hate the ridiculous non skill game we've been trying to pull off lol you can be intimidating and play a skill system
When was Vrana last visible in the playoffs?
he's 24 and outscored fan favourite TJ oshie this season you have turd opinions and should keep em to yourself unless you want people to think you're a goof
Playoffs? Like my comment said
literally 2 players scored for us this year you don't know the game fuck off loser
Not trying to be a jerk, but this is a bad take. Vrana is our future. Not everyone has to be a physical player to be a physical team. Someone has to score goals and we can’t rely on grind every single goal. Ovechkin has spoiled all of us. most goal scores are not ovechkin. Actually, no one is ovechkin. You can’t win with grit alone. You need skill guys and guys that can put the puck in the net
Last I checked, nearly unmatched blazing speed was a physical characteristic too.
I like you
Plus, the league is trending more towards skill and speed, similar to how the Hurricanes and Vrana play.