Photo: Bruce Bennett
Monday, Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan held his end of the season press conference with the media. MacLellan touched on his plans for the offseason, his thoughts on top-rated prospect Jakub Vrana, and what he thought was missing from this year’s team.
The most interesting part of MacLellan’s discussion revolved around Joel Ward and how he felt the team missed him in the postseason. MacLellan said he would like to see Tom Wilson try to pick up Ward’s slack from previous years and have a bigger role next season.
“I mean, you know, we miss Ward. Joel Ward — he’s the kind of guy we needed in the playoffs,” MacLellan said as transcribed by The Washington Times’ Zac Boyer. “You know, you make changes, and he’s a guy that we wanted back and we didn’t get back. We missed that skill set. I think it’s on us to turn Tom Wilson into Joel Ward. It’s on Tom and on us to turn him into that kind of guy that has a net-front presence, that finds loose pucks, finds rebounds, plays good along the wall. I think Tom is our answer to that. We let Ward go. We replaced him with Oshie and Williams. Brouwer — Brouwer and Ward, we shifted our — we got a little more skill in our top six and we lost a little bit of that net-front presence — which, however you look at it, better or worse. But you do need one guy, I think, that does it.”
Other topics MacLellan touched on include:
On Evgeny Kuznetsov, MacLellan said he seemed to "run out of gas" after the last part of the regular season.
— Katie Brown (@katiebhockey) May 16, 2016
MacLellan: "I think our bottom six needs a little work, and that's going to be a focus" of the offseason plans.
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 16, 2016
MacLellan: "I think the 9th, 10th forward are where we’re gonna look to improve."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
MacLellan said intention is for all four RFAs to be back. Said "there's a chance" for Chimera to return.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
MacLellan says #Caps "got exposed with the really fast teams" like the #Pens. Speed will be a priority.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) May 16, 2016
MacLellan: "While speed is a factor, we need to enforce the way we play as a team more consistently."
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 16, 2016
The Capitals' Brian MacLellan on if he thought Pittsburgh was clearly better and a lack of seizing an opportunity: pic.twitter.com/NREsHrRHMI
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 16, 2016
Karl Alzner said on Thursday he might need surgery on his groin tear. Brian MacLellan said he didn't yet know if that has been decided.
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 16, 2016
MacLellan on Orlov, a pending restricted free agent: "I call him a high-event player: At both ends, there's some events going on."
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) May 16, 2016
(Just FYI on Orlov)
2nd lowest on ice corsi events per60, 2nd lowest scoring chances per60, 4th in high danger chances per60 ¯_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/gXUvey1ZyC
— Valtteri (@valtteriki) May 16, 2016
On Mike Richards, MacLellan said he thinks that worked out for both parties, but the offensive side they thought could come never did.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
Asked about Latta, MacLellan said he needs to have more dimensions, like penalty kill.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
MacLellan said Vrana projects as a top-six player. "I don’t know that next year’s necessarily the time for him, but we'll take a look."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
MacLellan mentioned Chandler Stephenson as a guy who's "coming."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) May 16, 2016
