A Midsummer's Look at the Caps

Now that the Caps have signed left wing Jakub Vrana to a two-year contract, virtually all of the offseason's heavy lifting is finished. Only two Caps - restricted free agent defenseman Christian Djoos and RFA forward Chandler Stephenson - remain to be signed ahead of the 2019-20 season, and both of those deals will get done one way or another; both have arbitration hearings slated to be heard in the next couple of weeks.

But before we duck out of here for a few weeks for some much-needed summer fun and relaxation, there are a few items we've had rattling around in the attic for a while now. I've done this before because it's a good format and it works well at times like this where you've got a number of nuggets and tidbits that aren't necessarily related on one another, but which are all worthy of putting forth, but I'm going to borrow from the inimitable Elliotte Friedman and his always compelling "31 Thoughts" format. But there won't be 31 of them, because he's Eliotte Friedman and I'm not that thoughtful.
"In theory, that would be the case," says Caps general manager Brian MacLellan. "We saw Hagelin at the end of last year. He is a solid five-on-five player. He tilts the ice in our favor all of the time. He is solid defensively, good on the PK. Lars [Eller] has been that, too. And then with Panek, I think in theory it's a good line. It should be a line you can use at any time of the game and in any situation. All three have the ability to move up; Lars has shown it, and Hagelin and Panik have played up, too. It's going to give us some flexibility that way. Hathaway - strong forecheck. Leipsic - strong forecheck. Hopefully, this is going to add a dimension to our game that we didn't have. Connolly has good finish and a good release. Burakovsky has the ability to turn the offense on. He might not be as good of a two-way player, but there is always that threat that he can score. So I think our team has shifted a little bit to be more of a two-way focused team."
"The addition of Gudas and more ice time for Siegenthaler, both are good defenders," cites MacLellan, in noting blueline improvements. "And then we'll see how Jensen or Gudas works with Orlov. We can try a number of things there, too. So I think we are situated well."
"Yeah, definitely," says MacLellan. "They're both getting up there in age. We used them at certain times last year out of necessity, but I think this year we're deeper and roles will be more defined in our bottom six. We have quite a few guys who can kill penalties now, and we've got [Nic] Dowd, who did a decent job last year, and Hathaway has done it. I think the distribution of minutes to our bottom six will be higher going forward."
"This year played out pretty much as we planned it," answers MacLellan. "And a lot of things had to fall into place for that to happen, so I think we feel very fortunate that they did, and that we did execute a lot of different things to create the possibility that we could get those guys. We identified those players early, and pretty much had a plan as to what it would take to get them. We did our research on the UFA market, we knew what we had to do to get Hagelin signed up, and our projections and evaluations were pretty much correct, and things worked out for us.
"It's really tough to improve your roster after this [Fourth of July] weekend. It's really hard to make an impactful trade or get someone you like, even for your bottom six. I think it's tough to fill holes after free agency is over. You can add depth or fill in around the edges, but you build your roster right at the end of free agency or through free agency. I don't think we thought we had a player [in the system] who could fill the roles that we brought guys in for, and that's why we signed Panik and why we signed Hagelin. If we had young guys who were ready to get to that level and to play a good game on the third line, we would have gone with them. We would have created a spot for them."
"Me and Carl, he came in and right away you can see how he fits in pretty good with this group," says Vrana. "We spent some time together by driving to the games, and we are kind of similar skaters. I played in Sweden and he is Swedish; I know a little bit of Swedish and we kind of clicked a little bit with that and by driving to the games, too. He is a great guy and a great teammate, and since day one when he came here he has been proving that.
"We drive to every game together and we always talk about using our speed and stuff. He works really hard and he is a really fast player, and he knows how to use his speed. Defensively, he is very responsible in the defensive zone. There are definitely things I can learn from him. When you are as fast as he is, you can beat players wide, you can beat the defense wide, you can get the puck first [on the forecheck], which is really important. He has been a really important player since he came here."
"For myself, coming into the league it's important to have those older guys who you can just kind of follow and listen to, and to pick their brains. I was fortunate to come to a Rangers team with a lot of veteran players. Marian Gaborik drove me to the rink every day. At the time, that was his second team after starting in Minnesota. He was obviously a great pro. We had [Henrik] Lundqvist there, too. He became a good friend too, even though he was six years older than me. Brad Richards was there, too, and he had won a Stanley Cup before. Those were certain guys that were older than me that I could just follow. I didn't have to ask too many questions. I'm a guy who just likes to listen and learn, and just follow whatever they were doing. I think that's important. V is a guy who likes to ask questions, and he likes to find out stuff about people and about life. So I try to help him out as much as possible."
"Everyone knows about Brooksie's professionalism and doing the right things at all times and stuff like that, and that's really important. Especially for young players, to see a respected guy like that and the way he carries himself and how professional he is, that's really important. But Brooksie being such a good person and he has so much integrity, and that presence really resonates with me. When he speaks, when he does something, it's for a purpose and you know it's the right thing. You might not want to hear it or you might not want to believe it, but at the end of the day you know it's the right thing - the things he believes in and what he preaches and how he carries himself. He is such a good person, and I think his integrity rubs off on people in a really good way. I've used him as a sounding board for talking about ideas and his views on certain ways we go about our business, day-to-day stuff, and philosophies of playing the game. It's all about the team, and it's all about team first, having success and doing the right thing to give yourselves the best chance to win. If you have a group that thinks that way, you have the best chance for team success. He has that attitude and he spearheads that effort, and that's really important."
"You have time to reflect on all of your years of being in the league, and all of the guys you've played with," says Wilson. "And you realize how fortunate you are to play and to be part of a room with a guy like Brooks Orpik. He is pretty much second to none in the game of hockey for what he brings to the table. As a friend and as a teammate, that guy is just across the board one of the best individuals. He is a great leader.
"Coming into this team, there was a great group of guys that welcomed me and made me feel at home, and kind of showed me the way, starting with [Joel Ward] who showed me so much on and off the ice. I still remember [Eric Fehr] pulling me aside and saying, 'Hey, you don't go on the elevator first; you've got to wait.' Stuff like that, they were good about it, they were nice about it, but they made sure they showed me the way, too. Another guy - and it hurts to say it now - is Justin Williams. He always said, 'Want the puck, play with the puck, take ownership of your game, don't depend on the next guy to get it done for you.' He was good like that and he rubbed off on me a bit in those ways. Playing every night with Nicky and Ovi is pretty good, too. You just try and pick up what you can, and you try to be a sponge when you're playing with some world class talent. The thing for me was you've just got to get the job done when you're going out there and you're playing with those guys. You've got to find a way to chip in and to complement them. It's been a fun ride, and I just want to continue to learn."
It's worth listing Wilson and Carlson as guys who have come up through the ranks here in the District and are now veteran leaders themselves, guys who will be expected to help show the next generation of Caps hopefuls what it takes to be a good pro.
"I think our focus this year is we want to win," says MacLellan, when asked about a potential goaltending logjam. "We want to be one of the top teams in the league going into the playoffs, and we want to contend for a championship. So whatever the outcome is of all of this stuff, we are going to ice our best lineup and go from there. We will work out things after the fact, whether we have to get rid of a guy or let a guy go. We have no idea what Samsonov is going to be; hopefully he gets games this year. I think we just have to play it out and make our decisions at the end of the year."
"As of now, yeah," he says, when asked about keeping both Backstrom and Holtby through then trade deadline if they're not signed for 2020-21. "We're trying to go for it, again. What's the message to your team first of all, or to Ovi and Backy, or to ownership, or to the fans? We're not going for it? Or, we're 'kind of' going for it? I want them for another year. If we get to the deadline and it's a disaster or things just aren't working, then I guess you shift and try to find something that works for us. But if we're a good team and we are in the top eight or 10 teams, then we're going for it, just like Columbus did."
Like Nigel Tufnel's amp, this one goes to 11. I can't say I'm surprised. See you in September.