Posts by Patrick Holden

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About Patrick Holden (@russianmachine)

Turning the Caps Into a Stanley Cup Champion: Adding Scoring Depth

Welcome back inside GM Holden’s war room. Previously, we’ve added Patrick Sharp to the Caps forward ranks and re-signed Eric Fehr to be the team’s third-line center. Next up: adding scoring depth and skill the the forward ranks.

Last season, when the Caps acquired Curtis Glencross, it seemed like an unnecessary move. Glencross was a redundant piece on a team that already had plenty of forwards who brought a similar skill set. While talent level and some specific strengths may vary, Glencross is similar to Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, Brooks Laich, and Jason Chimera. As these names show, the Caps have a lack of skill players among their depth forwards.

Finding a player who is more finesse and less grit to play a depth position can be tricky; often these types of players are in the top six and command that type of money.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Turning the Caps Into a Stanley Cup Champion: Third-Line Center

This post is part of a series in which we enter an alternative universe where I get to call the shots during the Caps offseason.

Yesterday, I wrote about filling the Caps hole in the top six with Patrick Sharp. For the tl; dr crowd, this is what my Caps top-six looks like now:

LW C RW
Ovechkin Backstrom Burakovsky
Johansson Kuznetsov Sharp

I also touched on the Caps’ depth forwards who would find themselves in the top six if poor play or an injury left a void there.

Top-six depth
Tom Wilson
Troy Brouwer
Stanislav Galiev

The Caps could stand to acquire some more scoring depth, but that’s an issue for another day. Today, we’re shifting focus to the Caps bottom six, specifically the third-line center role. Eric Fehr, who apparently won’t be re-signed, has been the team’s primary third-line center over the past two seasons.

But this isn’t Brian MacLellan’s Cup-winning team, it’s mine.

Unlike a top-six winger, the Caps can likely find a third-line center either internally or via free agency. Here are some of the options.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Turning the Caps Into a Stanley Cup Champion: Acquiring a Top-Six Forward
patrick-sharp

This is the first in a series of posts looking at moves I think the Caps need to make to have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup in 2015-16. Shout out to the Orioles blog Camden Depot, as their “Building a Champion” series was the inspiration for these posts. These are not what I think the Caps will do; these are what I think the Caps should do, within the realm of what’s realistic.

The Capitals’ lack of shot-generating, skill forwards is one of the primary reasons why they weren’t playing hockey in June, something we touched on here at RMNB back in March. Having Alex Ovechkin, whose shot-generating abilities are other-worldly, is really helpful. But hockey is too much of a team game for Ovechkin to carry this current group of Caps’ forwards through four rounds of playoff hockey.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Tom Wilson: 2014-15 Season Review

149 games into his NHL career, is anyone confident they know what the Caps have in Tom Wilson? Probably not. But that’s okay. While 2014-15 provided more questions than answers about his usage and development, there’s still things to appreciate and time for Whip to develop.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Matt Niskanen: 2014-15 Season Review

Photo by Amanda Bowen

Fresh off signing a seven-year, $40.25-million deal, Matt Niskanen’s boxcar stats were due for some regression in 2014-15. In 2013-14, he had a career high in PP ice time and PDO, both of which were likely to drop in Washington. Both did and, predictably, his offensive production regressed. Yet, Niskanen’s first year in Washington was solid. But it also left me wanting more.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Evgeny Kuznetsov: 2014-15 Season Review

After his first full season in the NHL, Evgeny Kuznetsov’s play has convinced his head coach that the Caps’ hole at second-line center is filled. But some of the underlying numbers indicate Kuznetsov still has some work to do if he wants to be a second-line center on a contending team.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Marcus Johansson: 2014-15 Season Review

There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who recognize Marcus Johansson as a top-six forward and those who choose to be wrong.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Andre Burakovsky: 2014-15 Season Review

Let’s get this out of the way now: Andre Burakovsky is one of the best forwards on this team and never should have been scratched or sent to Hershey during the 2014-15 season.

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Karl Alzner: 2014-15 Season Review
karl

Dear Karl,

You have skated nearly 3,000 minutes with John Carlson in your career up till now. Next season, you’ll play just 45 minutes of even strength ice time with him.

Good luck.

Signed,
Barry Trotz, October 2014

By the Numbers

82 Games played
19:26 Average time on ice per game
5 Goals
16 Assists
51.6% Shot attempt percentage during 5v5
51.7% Goal percentage during 5v5

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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Caps vs. Rangers Pregame: Happy Mother’s Day
ovechkinmom

Don’t even try to play it cool. Tonight’s game is humongous big, much like the universe. So, if you have someone special to celebrate Mother’s Day with, go take care of that and then settle in for a night of yelling, screaming, cursing, nail biting and, hopefully, celebrating.

Puck drop is a7 7 on NBCSN.

Team Record Possession PDO Power Play Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals 45-26-11 51.9% 100.3 25.3% 81.2%
New York Rangers 53-22-7 50.6% 101.7 16.8% 84.3%

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By Patrick Holden 6 years ago

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