CapFriendly Acquisition by the Washington Capitals: A Hockey Industry Shake-up

on today’s show the very latest of the capitals acquisition of caps friendly.com [Music] your locked on capitals your daily podcast on the Washington Capitals part of the locked on podcast Network your team every every day well hello and welcome into this edition of lockdown capitals I’m so glad you decided to join me today as always this podcast is free and available on all the major platforms including the SiriusXM app and on YouTube and I want to thank you for making this your first listen each and every day my name is Dan homy I’ve covered the capitals for the last three seasons for lock on and various other outlets before that I’m also the host of the weekly show called the capitals minute cast available wherever you find your podcasts you can find me on Twitter it’s at ancaps 218 you can find the show on Twitter it’s lockon caps and the best way that you can help grow the show is to subscribe to locked on capitals on YouTube and comment anything down below today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHS for $20 off your first purchase terms apply so in this edition of locked on capitals we talk about the big news that the capitals acquired capfriendly.com who knew that was even for sale uh that was the big news that broke over the weekend and I’ll give you the very latest on that a little bit later we will talk about the Insiders thoughts on that I’m talking Frank sahali Elliot Freeman Jeff Merrick and what this means for the NHL at large and then in the final segment Gil of the power playpoint podcast joins me once again as we talk about future players and what they will mean for this team but just to get it going here talking about the big move that to be honest with you I did not see coming I don’t think anybody saw coming that the capitals acquired capfriendly.com my phone blew up over the weekend and I thought well here’s Brian mclen he’s going out and he’s signing this big player or there’s some other big news uh surrounding the capitals organization I definitely did not think uh that was the news that was going to be broke but the one thing I’m going to go ahead and say about Ted leonsis and Monumental is that when they set their mind to doing something generally speaking they get it done it doesn’t matter how high the goal is they get it done uh I guess you could rule out uh the relocation and acquiring the Washington Nationals so far uh but you just want to take a look at what they did with NBC Sports Washington and acquiring the rights for the Washington Capitals games they took on all their broadcasters and a bunch of their writers uh that who knew that was even an option like you know this is who broadcast a game yeah I I I think I’m going to I’m G to buy that uh capfriendly.com you know the premier site for salary cap information yeah I’m going to go ahead and acquire that so uh you know hats goes off to Ted Leon and Monumental for for getting something done like that again it’s just uh you know us regular people that work 9 to five jobs we don’t live in that realm we don’t know that it’s even possible to go out and acquire things that who knew were even for sale in the first place they did and they got it done and uh like I say quite stunning um and if you’re not familiar with what cap friendly is Cap friendly is a widely used website uh that provides comprehensive information on salary cap data and player trans actions across the league so uh it’s going to be interesting what that means for other teams it will be available through July 5th uh so it can be used through a free agency as a tool but after that all the tools that go with it the personel will be at the capitals disposal as a capitals fan I love this uh if I’m not a capitals fan I might be like what in the heck that those capitals I tell you but that was the big news that that was breaking uh over the weekend I mean the hockey world was shocked as the capitals announced their surprising acquisition of the popular hockey website cap friendly for being a go-to resource for the NHL Executives fans and media to track contracts and salaries cap friendly will be purchased by the capitals owned by Monumental sports and entertainment the deal is expected to close next month after the upcoming NHL draft and the start of free agency the capitals plan to integrate cap friendly data tools and employees into their in-house hockey operations however once the integration is complete the public facing site is expected to cease to exist due to the incorporation of confidential League information and that kind of ties in with what I was talking about who knew this was for sale and who knows how to go out and buy something like that uh quite a CP quite a stunning thing uh for the capitals to accomplish uh again I was like wow a heads scratcher like wow I didn’t even know that was a possibility this unexpected acquisition has had far-reaching effects impacting not only fans and media members but also several NHL teams that had contracts with cap friendly these teams have recently received notices that their contracts would be terminated uh so that’s the bad part I have already heard a lot of negative comments from NHL fans at large like what’s going on the capitals and a lot of comments that I can’t repeat on a family show such as this but uh in any event a good move for the capitals it’s a good to bring uh everything that is under cap friendly uh when they’re talking about salary contracts when they they talk about the draft from time to time that they have all of that under the Monumental Banner quite a thing Dominic ZM coowner and director of cap friendly previously held roles in the NHL front office adding further Intrigue to the acquisition while several other NHL teams reportedly express interest in acquiring cap friendly the capitals have succeeded in sealing the deal a cap friendly specialized in salary cap and Player information providing valuable insights to franchises as they evaluate their Player Development signing and scouting as well as that of their Rivals so quite an accomplishment quite uh something for the capitals to have at their disposal and when you are a billionaire you can do billionaire stuff and that was definitely the case as Ted leonis uh really kind of uh you know made his Mark and said like me now rest of the other owners in the NHL how about that quite a stunning move Monumental led by billionaire Ted leonsis also owns the NBA’s Wizards the wnba’s mystics Capital One Arena Monumental Sports Network and a number of development and Esports teams uh with a purch of cap friendly the capitals are set to strengthen their position in the world of analytics and that’s the way things are going if you want to talk about betting uh and that kind of thing that oftentimes they go to these analytical websites um you know for over unders you know for favorites I’m not a big online Gambler I’m going to be honest with you um but those kind of things if you want to bet on games if you want to bet on who is going to score the first goal who’s going to score the last goal who’s going to win by this point that point that if you can go into the weeds a little bit with some of the analytics uh websites like cap friendly um are very important uh if you are involved in that realm the recent acquisition of cap friendly by the Washington Capitals has sent you know quite a message to everyone around the league that hey you know that is a fire across the bow of a lot of different teams that uh it’s going to be it’s going to be interesting to see exactly how this all plays out but that is the latest that we know right now uh that it is going to be available to uh the NHL at large through July 5th and after that well the website as we know it is going to go dark and it is going to be in the exclusive control of the Washington Capitals as a capitals fan uh uh you know I’m very happy of course that they have another toy to play with I guess you know if but if I had to really pick I wish they would have gone out and used some of that money that you know was probably quite a bit of money and picked up a big name player I mean if you’re going to ask me uh would you rather the capitals go out and buy capfriendly.com which let’s be honest who knew that was a thing um or go out and buy a big scoring forward or a big blue liner I think you know as as a fan which direction I would go uh but it’s going to be interesting to see Ted leonis you know billionaires don’t get to be billionaires on accident uh he obviously has a long history of making good decisions I think that this is something that won’t be fully appreciated for years to to come but as of right now again it’s it’s like going out and buying uh something like a just a building knit who knew was for sale who goes out and buys a website like this a stunning move a big move for the capitals I think like I said it’s something that won’t be fully realized uh until we can kind of look back on it retrospectively like this came out of that and those kind of things and sometimes it takes a while to appreciate those kind of things but a big move for the capitals and a really powerful tool moving forward all right so coming up here Straight Ahead we will talk about the Insiders the premier insiders Frank sahali Jeff Merrick Elliot Freeman what were their thoughts on all of this all discuss Straight Ahead game time makes getting NBA Finals tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off off with killer last minute deals all in prices and views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guess work out of buying NBA tickets and it’s not just NBA tickets it’s MLB tickets it’s Nationals tickets and say you had planned on buying tickets but you know life is busy and you forgot to get them fear not as prices are actually cheaper closer to first pitch or tip off so take the guest work out of buying NBA Finals tickets or MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code l o c k d o n NHL for $20 off your first purchase download game time today last minute tickets lowest prices guaranteed are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day have to turn down the volume with all the shouting make the switch to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without out all the screaming locked on sports today brings you the can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right welcome back into this edition of locked on capitals part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day so talking capfriendly.com and the capitals and monumentals acquisition of that website capfriendly.com again uh quite a move for the capitals and I think that it will be a while before we see the value fully realized but uh it can do nothing but help the team and as you know professional sports in general uh keeps going more and more towards analytics uh as we see more of that analytics needed for online beding uh as we know that is what fuels most every professional sport and more and more websites are out there uh for online betting so that’s part of the equation that is I I think something that’s not spoke of about this but also it’s about the value that the capitals will have uh for everything that is under the cap friendly umbrella from Personnel to uh computer data all of that will be at the capital’s disposal and in the first segment I gave you my thoughts on what we know about capfriendly.com and the acquisition by the capitals but what do the premier insiders think about the move and what will it mean for the NHL at large well Jeff Merrick and Elliot Freeman of the 32 thoughts podcast weighed in on it insights from Jeff Merck and Elliot Freeman were shed light on the motivation behind the capitals purchase they suggest the acquisition was primarily driven by internal operational needs rather than financial gain I think it’s a little bit too early to know that but that is where they weigh in Amica explained that the decision to buy cap friendly stemmed from the desire to obtain a similar tool without investing time and resources in developing it independently meanwhile Freeman emphasized the purchase includes not only the tools but also the underlying infrastructure and the addition of new employees to manage it internally um and that’s a pretty astute observation I think by Jeff mer is that why go out and develop all this why not just buy something if you have the money to buy something that’s already in place pretty intelligent by the capital is All Things Considered fredman elaborated on the regulatory aspect highlighting the NHL’s disapproval of publicly sharing detailed salary cap information deeming it as proprietary and sensitive the pending change has left several teams seeking alternative resources to fulfill their ongoing need for accurate salary cap information and it’s something that people have said well why doesn’t everyone just know what this is no it’s something that you can go to at a moment’s notice and find out where a team is how much over how much under they are how much you know this player get getting added to this team is going to factor in uh tools like this are invaluable uh and quite uh you know something that is important and more and more important important as we go along uh in professional sports you know you take a look at 20 years ago you didn’t hear a lot of talk about it didn’t really exist but as the evolution of technology and sports and an online betting that is where stuff like this gets pushed into the Forefront in light of this development alternative platform such as puckpedia and sport track are expected to become prominent Alternatives and will likely experience increased traffic from teams fans and reporters the significant impact of cat friendly closure is anticipated to affect various stakeholders including fans media and League Personnel particularly during The crucial offseason period teams will need to swiftly adapt to utilizing alternative resources to navigate the remainder of the offseason successfully and there are other options and puckpedia and sport track are just right up there as well I just think that for whatever reason uh maybe that cap friendly wanted to sell and you know you take a look at Ted Leon says he had the money to acquire it why not winwin win for the Capitals win for cap friendly uh but you know I guess it’s maybe not as much of a win if you’re not a part of the capitals organization yesterday the Washington Capitals made that big news and then today on The Daily faceof Frank Sali explained why it made sense for the capitals to purchase cap friendly Frank Sali said it’s a sad day in the hockey world that we will see the closure of cap friendly at the end of the month this is a resource I have used 20 to 25 times a day so for people that are like well who really uses it 20 to 25 times a day and as a casual fan maybe you’re not using that that often but there is a lot of insiders there’s a lot of GMS there’s a lot of uh you know people in general that use capfriendly.com again Frank Sali 20 to 25 times a day he’s one man you know magnify that multiply that you see the value of that resource a resource for multiple teams GMS agents players and stakeholders of the game that’s the goto website Sarah Vol said the two brains behind the whole operation Dominic zeram and Jamie Davis have done such an unbelievable service to the hockey industry Frank Sali goes on to say so why does it make sense for the capitals first off I don’t have all the details as things have been quiet but if I’m looking at it from the capitals perspective it’s how can I tap into these two brains of the guys who have done a wonderful job behind the scenes with cap friendly the second part is that we have the capitals and what would they be and what is that going to mean for the team going forward um so it’s something that you know can’t maybe be Quantified at this moment it’s just something that when you look at the acquisition like that got a lot better um so as you take a look at it um I think that it’s going to help in the acquisition uh of players and you know the analytical aspect of things like that uh but um it’s something that I don’t think maybe as a casual fan it’s fully realized or understood but I think in time we will um and it’s just um you know it pick any website it’s like when someone went out or you know to buy Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Tik Tok he like who goes out and does that well Ted leonsis does things like that and he went out and bought cap friendly and I think the capitals will be the better for it all right so coming up here Straight Ahead we will talk about the capitals future with Gil of the power playpoint podcast talking about what players will really stand out and what they’ll mean for this team we’ll discuss Straight Ahead a lot of life is unpredictable but a good life insurance plan gives you a family of financial safety net to protect against some of the unknowns policy genius is the country’s leading online insurance Marketplace it makes choosing the right policy for your family easy and quick and it’s one of the things that I took of with took care of with life insurance as you know I have a wife I have kids and in the unfortunate event that something had happened to me I would like them to be prepared and they will be thanks to life insurance and companies like policy genius so check that off your list if you’ve been putting it off policy genius helps you easily compare your options from a America’s top insurers in just a few clicks their award-winning agents can even walk you through the process step by step your work life insurance policy may not offer enough protection for your family’s needs even worse it may not come with you if you leave your job policy genius has no incentive to recommend one insurer over the other so you can trust their guidance they have thousands of five-star reviews on Google and trust pilot from customers who found the best fit for the needs so get Peace of Mind by finding the right life insurance with policy genius head to policygenius.com or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save that’s policy genius.com we are talking in this episode with Gil of the Power playay Point podcast there’s one thing that we’ve talked about in this show is the present and you know the present there’s a lot of question marks we don’t know but if we can lift our heads up to the Horizon a little bit I see Ryan Leonard I see Andrew Christal I see even Mir nenko that I think the future is really really bright how excited are you about seeing Ryan Leonard in a capitals Jersey in the regular season that makes me feel like pounding capitals Kool-Aid and getting crazy what do you think uh definitely I uh I think the if you you there’s one thing to be excited and there’s many facet facets of his game but if if you’re a capitals fan um you need to be excited about Ryan Leonard because mainly because of his attitude towards the game um there you know there’s two ways of looking at it if if you’re in it long term and you you want to win a championship and get your name on that cup you can either love to win or hate to lose Ryan Leonard loathes losing it’s it was etched on his face uh this year when um his team did not uh finish on top in the Frozen four um when uh USA didn’t win the gold in uh the world juniors when when he was there he hates to lose absolutely loads it and I think unfortunately that’s just been a a trait that’s just been lacking on on this caps team so if you’re going to get excited about a guy it it’s him for sure um and from what I’ve seen in training camp he’s already developed something of a bit of a bond with uh mirash nenko and some of some of the other prospects uh so one day uh down the line he’s even going to be Captain material uh I would dare say uh he’s probably going to be you know there’s been comparisons to TJ oi uh and Tom Wilson you want a real comparison now I I get this is from an oldtime caps fan the guy he’s probably gonna emulate a lot more than anybody else Dale Hunter and if you’ve ever seen him play then you know what I’m talking about be excited for that that’s the element that he’s going to bring to the Washington Capitals um and that’s why I think we we when we talked about it earlier uh what deals would you make um probably Above All Else any deal that would involve him any team asking for him you immediately reject the deal you cannot hope to get back to where you are or where you were without a Ryan Leonard uh so any any packaging that requires him in return you have to reject that deal yeah and I’m the same way I’m like the only thing I would consider Conor McDavid okay let let me think about that or Connor Bard something like that but anything else I’m not going to get crazy uh we’ve seen historically what has happened uh you know with Philip forsberg and those kind of deals so uh talking about it him as the player that like we talked about there’s been some comparisons out there to Tom Wilson I think it’s the snarl to his game I think he’s a guy that likes to get the greasy goals I think he’s a guy that’s growing into his body uh if we remember Tom Wilson when he first joined the league he kind of wasn’t quite as hulking as he is right now so uh it is quite a thing to think about as Tom Wilson who I think is going to be the next captain of the team Tom Wilson and Ryan Leonard on the same team together that is something uh to get excited about and talking about Leonard here he has killed it at every stop at Boston College just killing it and we saw what he did at the world juniors we saw what he did at the World Championships but now the pressure is on Leonard because Will Smith well he’s going to be playing for the Sharks one of his linemates is not going to be there anymore do you think that he is going to Cave to our perceived pressure or do you think he will play for Boston College or do you think that there is the possibility he joins the capitals well so here’s here’s the dynamic that’s probably going to affect uh all of that that entire scenario uh it’s going to hinge I think upon what TJ oi ultimately decides um the reason I say that is because well I think anybody with eyes saw that when TJ ooshi was out of the lineup this team was a different team and it was not a team that belonged in the playoffs it was not a winning team it was barely a competitive team so that’s going to be something they’ll need to consider and if TJ ooshi decides well you know what I thought about it long and hard I can’t go anymore I’m going to retire or put me on ltir whatever you got to do but I cannot go this last year of my contract so him being the you know least replaceable commodity the closest thing you’ve got is Ryan Leonard that is on your payroll right now so management won’t have any choice but to turn up the heat and say hey I you know what we’ll break the bank for you if we have to within you know the the rules and such but you got to at least come up and you know commit to us and I I think ultimately that that’s that’s what’s going to happen yeah and Brian mclen has said as much I think it was the press conference after uh Koozie went into the players assistance program that topic switched a little bit to Ryan Leonard and they asked him when do you think he’s going to be ready and he said when do I think he’s ready I thought he was ready when I saw him in Camp last season that ultimately whenever he said he’s ready to go uh he’s going to go and he did say that he wants to play his sophomore season with Boston College again that was before we found out that Will Smith is joining the Sharks which is going to be sound this is going to sound funny the sharks are gonna be pretty good with celebrini at number one that’s gonna be a good sharks team I’m gonna go ahead and say I I’m not going to etch their name in the side of the Stanley Cup but they are going to be markedly better that is for sure so talking about other uh prospects Andrew Crystal who’s a little bit more raw shall we say he’s the guy that I hear kind of goes for the cutesy pass he has to work on is skating a little bit um let let me talk to to me about Andrew Crystal how far away do you think he is uh from joining the capitals or is that still kind of a pipe dream at this point well it it’s it’s funny you mentioned Crystal uh he’s actually uh committed now to to his professional contract he’s actually now as I understand it a black Ace on on the Hershey Bears so I I think he got released from that but uh he was yeah but I mean when do you think he’s going when do you think he’ll uh be ready for a prime time with the capital shall we say um he’s probably at least a year away um if um if indeed he does uh end up going back to Junior then that’s where he’ll stay for another year um or perhaps uh Hershey for however long I don’t see him making uh the capitals for at least one year probably two um I I’ve heard a lot of good things about him um but not unlike you know most 18 or 19 year olds uh he’s he’s got some growing physically growing to do um and you know until that until that’s done then he won’t be rounded out won’t even begin to round out as a player so at least one year probably more and I think he does you know with that said I do think that he will be a future star for this team I know that kind of goes back and forth I think he has the Raw potential I think that he’s still just a little bit young I think he’s working on his game uh but you know I think if he had some time to simmer down in Hershey and work on his game I think that that could be an absolute game Cher for him listen Gil I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of locked on capitals Why don’t you tell everyone about your podcast and where we can find your work uh pleasure and uh so yes thanks again Dan for having me on um so uh yes we’re the power play Point podcast so uh unlike Dan we’re kind of taking a bit of a summer Hiatus uh now should there be uh any any big scale news about a free agent signing uh or uh anything that happens at the draft uh we might do a special episode but uh we’re pretty much on offseason Hiatus until about training camp but again we’re called the power playpoint podcast podbean is our main distributor we can be found on just about any distribution Channel there is Apple podcasts uh ditcher uh uh we’re on uh uh Spotify you can stream us there so uh just uh look us up and you’ll be able to find us uh during the regular season we usually record Sunday evenings and we have an open door for any caps fan that wants to come on with us uh and and talk caps hockey all right I want to thank Gil for joining me on this edition of lockon capitals make sure and check out his pod called the power playpoint podcast available wherever you find your podcasts and I want to thank you for joining me once again on this edition of lockon capitals your only daily yearr podcast covering the Washington Capitals and I want to thank all of you that listen on the audio side and watch this on YouTube you are ultimately what makes this show successful when you’re done here head on over to locked On’s 247 streaming channel available on the free Amazon Fire TV channels app and on on YouTube all right once again I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of locked on capitals part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day my name is Dan homy and I’ll talk to you again next time

The Washington Capitals have acquired the popular hockey website CapFriendly and plan to integrate its operations into their own. This move will have a significant impact on how teams, fans, and media access important salary cap and player contract information. Insight from Frank Seravalli suggests that the Capitals are looking to tap into the knowledge and expertise behind CapFriendly. This unexpected acquisition will likely lead to a period of adjustment as stakeholders find alternative resources for accessing crucial hockey information. Later Dan and Gil talk about what prospects Ryan Leonard and Andrew Cristall will mean for the team

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