Is Brandon Montour the answer the Washington Capitals are looking for on the blue line?
[Music] your locked on capitals your daily podcast on the Washington Capitals part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so it is not just the the blue line it’s not just the forwards this team needs a lot of help in a lot of different regards uh in the first segment I spoke about that they need help in goal scoring in this segment I’m going to talk about the blue line as I think a lot of different positions need to be addressed this summer The Blue Line is one of those and I think that there is options internally but ultimately I think the capitals will have to go outside of the organization to obtain a player that’s going to be next level for this team and one of those players is Brandon Montour another player that should be familiar if you are watching the playoffs he would be a notable upgrade on the blue line I really do believe it Brandon Montour has had a career path similar to his teammate Reinhardt having played for multiple teams before finding success with uh reigning Eastern Conference champions like rein hartmont T entered the current season without protection or a secure contract however there are indications that both parties are open to continuing their working relationship and I know that the Florida Panthers espe especially if they find a way to make it to the next round or win a Stanley Cup they are going to try to retain as many players as they possibly can of course but like I talked about with Reinhardt it’s not going to be easy as their agent knows that wow my players value has gone up quite a bit montour’s performance in the 2223 season was exceptional with an unexpected 16 goals and 73 points marking a significant career achievement despite this the remarkable performance general manager zitto chose to exercise caution in evaluating montour’s performance and did not rush to secure his contract until July 1st when his value will hit its peak instead the Florida front office opted for patients observing montour’s recovery from offseason surgery so I think that ultimately what is this about this is about zitto taking the posture of is this Montour being good in a vacuum let’s see what he does through the duration of the playoffs how is he going to is that injury going to be exacerbated is that going to be something that’s going to to rear its ugly head I think it’s a wait and see approach I understand that and I understand that would be a risk for a team like the capitals to obtain someone like that but for a player like Brandon Montour I’m going to go ahead and say it’s worth the risk although montour’s performance in the the current season did not reach the same Heights as the previous one he has remained a consistent contributor telling eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games his resilience and solid performance in the 23 post season further underscore his value to the team again you know it’s up and down you cannot achieve highs every year we’re talking about what he did in 2223 with 16 goals and 73 points and you know he is a blue line and you know you take a look at it sometimes those guys don’t necessarily chip in and get as many goals as a forward we get that even though you take a look at the capitals Blue Line oftentimes they do get involved in goal scoring that if we could have a really sound defenseman uh I think that would be worth it furthermore the scarcity of Puck moving right shot defenseman in their Prime enhances monor’s market value and is expected that he will seek a higher figure in contract negotiations while GM Zito prioritized securing another pending UFA defenseman forsling signing him to an 8year extension with a 5.75 million capit the negotiations with mour are anticipated to reflect his significant contributions to this team so you take a about you know people automatically are going to ask Dan who’s going to come out to you know accommodate something like that as we know John Carlson is is a big piece and you take a look at Martin farari is a piece of the future Alex Alexia I would also say is a part of the future I could see the capitals moving on from TV and or Jensen we’ve seen the bumpy ride for both of those players and am I going to say that Brandon Montour is going to be an upgrade over those two players absolutely so you know oftentimes people will say you know well that player is not going to come here for this or that reason you’re going to have to move players out to accommodate that so if the capitals had to move out TVR or Jensen to acquire and have a guy on the roster like Brandon Montour guess what I would go ahead and sign off on that regarding montour’s figure and future with the team general manager zto Express expressed his desire to maintain the team’s core while respecting the individual decisions of the players on March 8th again we’re talking about then this approach demonstrates the team’s commitment to fostering a positive working relationship with players while ensuring the long-term success of the organization it will be a tall order for zto to try to get all of those players to come back even if they don’t win a Stanley Cup it’s going to be most difficult to do that and talking about how zitto prioritized forsling over him there’s the possibility that a guy like Montour could be on the move and it’s an intriguing thought and I think that you know the capitals would be better with a player like Montour on this team is that something that is actuality I don’t know but that is what I’m going to be doing and talking about through these summer months up until July 1 I guess is the possibilities of how this team can get better again we like to talk about relying on this team getting better internally and looking out on the blue line there are other internal options Alex alexv I think with Joel Edmonson has moved out and solidified his spot on this team you take a look at Players like Vinnie aario and Lucas Johansson those kind of players um that potentially ostensibly are going to make this team better is Vinnie aario ever going to be as good as Brandon Montour is Lucas Johansson with his multiple different opportunities on the big team is he ever going to find sure footing with the capitals you know those are all the things that we need to question and uh and how are those things going to be rectified we saw when the capital sign muston a couple years ago what that meant for the capitals and how they’ve had other options I do think that you know right now the onus and a lot of the pressure goes on John Carlson and Martin farari and that’s not really fair to either one of those players I think that need more capable blue liners that can step up and and play a big role and I think the capitals would be exponentially better with a player like Brandon Montour on the roster all right so coming up here Straight Ahead we do know that the Capital struggled with consistency with the centers with Backstrom stepping away from hockey and Afghani Kus netsa getting dealt out to the Hurricanes they need consistency and they need that top tier upper echelon Center is Elias Lindholm that center for the capitals I’ll discuss straight ahead
Brandon Montour, a 30-year-old defenseman with a $3.5 million salary cap hit, had a successful season in 2022-23 with 16 goals and 73 points. Although he had a slower start in the 2023-24 season due to shoulder surgery, he still performed well with eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games. The Florida Panthers are interested in extending his contract, but negotiations are ongoing. General Manager Zito expressed a desire to maintain the team’s core and respect individual decisions regarding contracts.
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