I wouldn't hate the caps for doing this. But damn I do not want to lose our pick next year. It would need to be top ten protected I think

Retool and acquire picks to not spend close to the cap even if it meant signing 3 1 year deals in hopes that this lineup that looks weaker in many areas catches lighting in a bottle. Just does not seem possible and same as Marner. Hoping to help Ovie is not a good enough reason he would want to chase a cup.

Nah im not moving Lap + Iorio + 1st +2nd THEN ill have to overpay Marner afterwards. id do the 17oa + 2nd + Jensen + Cristall

Don't get me wrong moving the 25 1st unprotected scares me but Marner has scored at a 104 point pace over the last three seasons ... as long as he doesn't explicitly say he won't re-sign, I'm taking that every day of the week and throwing in a pick of Jensen or TVR as a bonus

As a Caps fan I'd probably do it with some sort of understanding that Marner would sign long term.

He also has been playing with elite talent.... Name one player that is on our roster as good or better than MAtthews Nylander or Tavares

Maybe Leonard when he leaves college..... Ovi back in his prime......... ummmmmm........ idk maybe Cristall or Funk can continue playing well in the NHL. But most likely ummmmm none

Would do if hes open to an extension

like im not saying hes not going to be a great addition but when you are feeding Matthews then go to trying to feed Ovechkin its a sizable drop down... Hubber is a great example. Look what happened when Barkov wasnt his center

What if he wants 12m x 8years?

Well I wouldn't say this exactly, we will have to see what Matthews looks like when he is 38 and doesn't move like he use to.

Ovi is still an Elite Goal Scorer. Name people that were still good in the league at 38. (Maybe not amazing or great but still good leaning more towards great)

Besides Joey P...

Sign and hope the cap keeps going up.

not really taking a shot at Ovechkin but Matthews at 26 is a way better player than Ovi at 38. now if we had a time machine and could get 26 year old Ovi i would do this trade all day

I am excited to see if Matthews becomes as good as a player as Ovi over his career. I am leaning toward no but still a great career. Like he can score goals yes but he cannot lead a team nor can he make an impact in the postseason.

People are going off pace but Ovechkin scored 50 at 36 years old.... Matthews has to stay healthy and wanna play that long

I mean it's a very prime Backstrom/Guentzel from this year conversation. Obviously it helps that those players and Marner have played with other elite players. That being said, a whole lot of other guys have played a ton of minutes with prime Ovi/Crosby/Matthews and put up nowhere close to the numbers Marner does.

12x8 is a fair contract for a guy with the 7th most points over the last 5 years who would be signing for his age 28-36 seasons. If the Caps are good enough in 6-8 years that the tail end of it is a big hindrance, then you're doing something right and that's a great problem to have.

better example is Hyman imo. Guentzel is player with Aho who is elite in his own right. Marner again is going to be fantastic but is he 104 points good playing with Strome? idk

He could put up 85 points with this current Caps roster and 12x8 would be 100% worth it. Also have to look at it from the other way too. Think Ovi or Lapierre or Miro could score more getting feeds from Marner instead of Pacioretty and Oshie?

penguins don't want your cap dump