Core swap with Isles

backstrom > jt and cheaper
carlson > pulock cost more but way better
grub = one of the 2018 draft picks

imo caps don't need a guy who isn't better than backstrom for 2x the price

id rather pay 4m more for carlson who is a top 5 norris guy

no one wants oshie imo

I think the Caps could get a better return if didn't make the deal with Isles. Just sign Tavares, and make separate deals (with some team) for Backstrom and Grubauer. Not sure if you would have enough cap to resign Carlson but Backstrom and Grubauer in separate deals might get more in a return than Pulock and the the first rounder

As far as getting Ovechkin set up for 50 goals, yes. Tavares and Backstrom are equal.

As far as cap hit, Taves almost equals Carlson.

As far as being the same player? Tavares is a four time thirty goal scorer with 30 more points than Backstrom, at three years younger. So he's kind of like some wierd hybrid of Backstrom and Pacioretty, stuck together and fed backwards through a time machine. The downside is that in '13 and '14 he missed about a third of the games.

Right now he's coming off of a career high in goals with 37. I agree that the cap hit is really high. But he does seem like someone who makes great individual efforts under pressure, based on the last time the Isles made the playoffs and he was always buzzing the net before the Caps knocked them out.....or his great performance at the beginning of the Olympics, before he got injured.....

The down side to keeping Backstrom is that he's three years older. The up side is that he's already had his chance at a big pay day and decided to take a team friendly salary for a chance to win with Ovechkin in Washington.

Yeah, I think you're right that the Caps should keep Backstrom.



If the Caps lose Carlson anyway, Pulock is a long term eventual replacement, so I don't see a better return for Grubauer than him, regardless of what happens with the UFAs.

The chain of causation here, obviously is swapping top UFAs to avoid losing Carlson for nothing, then looking at what holes that leaves in each roster, and helping the Isles with the worst problem they already have, in net.

I thought of Backstrom and a third as going for the two first round picks, because ,that's the best the Isles could probably do as far as replacing Tavares, and the Caps traded their first pick last year, so there is something to be said for adding a few highish ones, to try to keep from having to rebuild any time soon.

But Capsin9, you're reminding me how much I respect Backstrom. He's just such a calm, focused presence who finds a way to help his teammates succeed, and that does show on the scoresheet where he's topped a hundred points in a season, while Tavares tops out in the 80s.

I would love to see the Caps keep Carlson and keep developing guys like Bowey, Djoos, Stephenson, Vrana, Burakovsky, and Wilson into the stars they are all on track to become. I do see some slight roster moves happening as Washington tries to give Carlson the raise he deserves, though.

I suppose I should be thankful that he didn't win the Norris...

I suppose I should be thankful that he didn't win the Norris...[/quote]

Eli, just my opinion. Washington might have the inside track and might get a hometown discount for Carlson. Washington is still a good competitive team. It's been his only NHL team. There aren't many teams in the running for services that he might really appeal to him. Maybe the Isles and Devils. So really I think Carlson wants to stay in Washington. It's managing the cap, maybe a couple of cap dumps could be done.

Eli, just my opinion. Washington might have the inside track and might get a hometown discount for Carlson. Washington is still a good competitive team. It's been his only NHL team. There aren't many teams in the running for services that he might really appeal to him. Maybe the Isles and Devils. So really I think Carlson wants to stay in Washington. It's managing the cap, maybe a couple of cap dumps could be done.[/quote]

I hope you're right. I don't see many teams on here offering over 7Mx6 years, which Washington can easily afford to outbid, but who knows what the real GMs will be drinking in July. All it takes is one.

In the last three summers the Caps have played this game with Green, Alzner, and Shattenkirk, which might somewhat skew my perception of where the odds are when a top UFA "tests the waters."

So I like to try to think of how they can avoid losing another star for nothing, epecially with a new CBA rule written to prevent that.