The Capitals offensive boost. The Caps blue line got a whole lot better with some key additions

The Capitals offensive boost. The Caps blue line got a whole lot better with some key additions

on today’s show Justin trudell of Nova caps joins me once again as we talk about questions in net the capitals added Logan Thompson but how will the tandem shake out and what does Chris Patrick mean for the Caps we’ll discuss next on this edition of lock down capitals your locked on capitals your daily podcast on the Washington Capitals part of the locked on podcast Network your team 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 Sirius XM app and on YouTube and want to thank you for making this your first listen each and every day my name is Dan holie 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 dcaps 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 lock 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 N for $20 off your first purchase terms apply so in this edition of lockon capitals Justin trudell of Nova caps joins me once again as we talk about the situation in net listen I had it all sketched out I thought it was going to be Charlie link and Hunter Shepard and then former GM Brian mlen threw us all a curveball by adding Logan Thompson to the mix what does that mean for the capitals a little bit later we will talk about the capitals acquiring cap friendly who knew that was even for sale we’ll talk about that and then in the final segment we will talk about the addition of Chris Patrick as the new GM and what he means for the capitals big moves that was made was the addition of Andrew mangiapani of the Calgary Flames it is a name that I’m familiar with one because it’s a unique last name and I every time the Capitals play against them on the capitals I think he does a rather good job um but he has not found his former glory that he once had he’s a pretty good goal scorer but I don’t think he is necessarily going to fix what ails the capitals and the goal scoring Department he will to an extent but uh I think that we should tamper expectations uh when it comes to Andrew mapani uh one of the things that was said when there was a descriptor of what kind of player Andrew mopani is is he is a guy that scores goals but recently he’s developed a problem where he overthinks things and then oftentimes doesn’t take the shot or he shoots the puck wide left or right that seems to be a problem that the capitals faced last year uh what were your initial thoughts on the addition of M aani where does he fit in and do you think he will be an upgrade for the capitals yeah I think he’s an upgrade mainly because I think the spot he takes is Max Pettis and I think you know he’s kind of past his prime for sure so with majan um you know you get a player that is responsible both ends of the ice he plays the game the right way uh in terms of puug possession he’s an analytical darling so a lot of the Advanced analytics nerds like me love him uh so I think what it comes down to is yeah he’s probably not going to score 35 goals again like we saw a few years ago uh but you know the past two seasons he’s been shooting below his career average his career average is hovering at 14.3% and the last two seasons were 11 and a half and 99.3% respectively so get him in a better spot maybe like he starts not overthinking it carbur gets through to him and like hey just shoot the Puck when you got a chance kind of thing um he could he could add some goals I think like a 20 goal season in that range would be something I would expect from him just with the uh deployment and you know potentially even being like Dylan str’s Winger I think he’ll get a lot more opportunities to score especially on a better team than the Flames were last season uh so ticking next uh at the fourth line an interesting thing Beck marenstein and Nicholas Abbe cubel both went out to the Buffalo Sabers what what’s up with you guys Buffalo Sabers why you taking our fourth line away from us we know that that has been a productive line for the capitals with Nick Dow holding it down in the center position there but uh GM Brian mlen being the masterful GM that he did he plugged those holes with Brandon duim and Taylor radish uh did he address that the right way and do you think that Brandon duim and Taylor radish will plug those holes on the fourth line with Nick da I think there’s a definite possibility I would say um I think with Taylor radish I think it’s exciting because he’s a younger guy and you know pretty highly regarded Prospect for his time I mean he’s he’s a good player um and I think from his underlying metrics from last season he was really strong defensively and he’s a good penalty killer so those are two things we kind of want for a fourth liner and kind of slots in to replace what Beck Malai brought to the table um I feel like do p is very much a Au kubel direct replacement you physical player probably not going to add a ton of other stuff other than four checking and being physical but H du has that physicality that they’ll need at least from someone on the fourth line so I think what it comes down to is it’s going to be the first time for down having like a completely new line coming into a season so I think we’ll we’ll see how that pans out but um I think you could do a lot worse than that fourth line as it currently say in this episode we are talking with Justin trudell of Novac caps uh so talking about other players we’re talking forwards here in this segment here uh we talked about the additions that were made on and around July 1st and I like the additions I’m talking Pier Luke dub I’m talking mangani we’re talking those type of players but I think we need more I know that there’s Conor McMichael and Hendrick slop here uh we’re talking even mirish nenko potentially what players on the Hershey Bears are due for a promotion I’m talking pick dubet I’m talking about Ethan Frank those type of players listen back-to-back cder Cup champions that is quite something when you think about it I mean obviously those players know how to get it done in the forward group down in Hershey who is due for a promotion yeah I I think it’s Ethan Frank um I think when it comes down to it when we have our first injury of the season to a Winger he’s probably going to be the first one called up I do think bck duet is on that list too um and who knows what happens out of camp like Ivan mirish nenko could make the team out of camp we don’t know I think the you know second third line left wing is up for grabs you know right now son Milano is kind of in that spot and if he doesn’t perform well on Camp he might be the odd man out um and I think there’s it’s exciting because we have players that can slot into the n roster from the AHL which hasn’t really been the case you know the past few seasons where we had our cups pretty bare um I think what it comes down to is you’re gonna need to add goal scoring if one of the winners goes down and I think Dubay and Ethan Frank are those two guys so as we take a look at the lineup we are talking there about Hershey options we talk about the subtractions of Nick Backstrom we talk about the subtractions of KET off and potentially TJ OSI heading into next season team laid out as is do you see them being a better team next year or what direction do you see them going in I think the Caps are significantly better um so using evolving hockey goals above replacement metric so it’s pretty similar to baseball’s wins above replacement metric so pretty similar um with the outgoing players in Nick Jensen Beck Malin Nicholas Al kubel and Max pater ready the projected for them next season was 4.7 for all four of them combined with the incoming players the Caps acquired this pass offseason in Matt Roy manane du CH Chan and duim um the Caps are bringing in 23.9 in projected Gar so an increase of 19.2 gar projected there on top of that you replace Darcy keer who had negative 7.2 gar last season with Thompson who had a 13 and a half carar so com considerable Improvement there I think the capitals are in a much better spot this season than or this upcoming season than they were last season just because the quality of the roster not only got younger but more talented and overall I think with carberry’s second year we should you know be seeing a little more improvement from coaching strategy as well so ultimately I think as it stands right now I feel like the Caps are pretty much in that like third or fourth spot in the Metro and it really depends on what Carolina does the rest of this offseason because I feel like they kind of fell down a little bit and the Caps are kind of right there with them now so what it comes down to is what does Carolina do with Martin n NIS and where does that pan out and I think that’s what comes down to for the caps but it feels like the Caps are certainly a uh you know Fringe wild card to division place in the playoffs all right so coming up here after the break we will continue continue to talk about the offseason movement for the capitals and what position will they be in in the fall we’ll discuss Straight Ahead game time is an authorized ticket place of Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch with killer last minute deals all in prices and views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying MLB tickets and listen guys life is busy I get that I’m going to get tickets to the baseball game then you get busy and you forget about it well fear not as tickets actually get cheaper closer to first pitch take the guest work out of buying 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 Crea a count and redeem code l o c k e d o n NHL for $20 off 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 all the volume with all the shouting make the switch to lockon sports today a free 24 47 sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you that can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lockon podcast Network it is your team it is every day one of the players that has a big impact and has four years is TJ ooshi and uh one of the guys I guess I would say seeing him live you can fully appreciate what kind of playmaker he is when he’s dialed in especially in his Heyday which I guess we haven’t seen for a little bit of time here he is a dynamic playmaker and uh but one is one of the things that we know is that he wants certain promises made that he won’t have to go through what he’s had to go through the last few years we’re talking about laying on the floor urinating in a bottle all those kind of things he doesn’t want to have to in his specialist for Minnesota um weigh in on your thoughts on TJ Oshi um is he I hate to say this out loud out loud here is he a liability to this team at this point um is he not doing the capitals the you know fairly by waiting until later in the summer to you know say one way or another if he’s going to play uh what are your thoughts on TJ oshi’s future with the capitals yeah it’s it’s tough for me to say it too because I’m a big fan of AI but I feel like he’s done done it’s just I feel like the Caps wouldn’t have been this aggressive acquiring pretty big contracts in Dua and man Pan um without having some certainty that Oshi was probably going to on the long-term injury list so to me I feel like with how risk averse in terms of cap the capitals have been in the past I don’t think oshi’s in a spot where he’s goingon to play um he might start the season on the injured reserve long-term injured reserve but you know maybe he finds a solution later on he can suit up from the playoffs that’d be great you know do the Vegas Tampa Bay kind of circumvention of the cap for the for the playoffs but um I think what it comes down to is he doesn’t have that kind of Promise made yet that his back’s going to be 100% And you know at his age coming from someone who has back problems too like you don’t really get over those those are things that stick around so I I would my advice for him would hopefully be like enjoy your family like be able to pick up your kids while you can and do all that rather than you know potentially causing a long-term you know constant pain especially with your back um I think for the most part I feel like he’s done I think he probably has said all about that but um I think what it comes down to is it’s I don’t think the Caps make all these moves that they expect oi to be on the opening night roster and a tip of the hat to TG oi in all sincerity one of the best best capitals to ever do it I sincerely mean that was a huge piece in the Capitals winning the cup he is one of the guy he is one of the few players around ever that I have never found anyone say anything negative about him all positive just a great guy on the ice off the ice we wish TJ OSI nothing but the best regardless of what the future holds with his hockey days all right in this episode we are talking with Justin trudell check out his analytical work at Novac caps.com next let’s talk about the Blue Line uh something that was an issue for the capitals John Carlson routinely playing between 25 and 30 minutes a night a guy that did not complain kind of just went about and did his business he would be on uh the bench sucking wind when he did get a couple minutes not playing but I think that the capital saw that that is not sustainable for Carlson it’s not sustainable for the capital so Brian mlen did some really good things on the Blue Line in my estimation at least on paper he went out and signed a big name player in Jacob Chan uh and this isn’t the first time the capitals have been all in on Chan a dynamic defenseman a guy that in his younger day was actually a forward uh he said that he plays better with the the puck on his stick and he likes to get involved in the offense what was your initial reactions to the capitals acquiring Jacob Chan and what will he mean for the Caps I think my biggest surprise was the pretty low cost it was to acquire him in All Things Considered like we’re talking about a year prior a year prior that the Senators paid a first round pick and two second round picks for Chan and flipped him for Nick Jensen and a 2026 third round pick I mean not to r on Nick Jensen at all like I I’m a fan of Nick Jensen but when it comes out to it is he was signed a too long of a contract and he’s older than Chan so if all it takes is Jensen and a 2026 lottery ticket I’ll I’ll take Chan for sure um I think yeah like you said I was not surprised that Chien was traded to the Caps just because it was widely reported that we were very interested in him last season before he traded the Senators but with Chen I think the capitals are much better off like you’re looking at a left side of the defense of chikan rasith sandine and Martin far you could do a lot worse than that for sure I think got a lot stronger there um and then on top of that you have a bevy of options for a CH to state with on the right side so he can pretty much slot anywhere you want in the lineup and yeah he can be that kind of stalwart defenseman for you when you need him and it’ll be interesting to see who he’s paired with if he’s you know thrown with Carlson to give him more of like a an option to carry the puck where Carlson’s not necessarily the facilitator but a scoring threat um or even with the other acquisition on the blue line Matt Roy um I think he can be you know a pretty solid like two-way partner with ch where they can both you know really play off each other’s strengths a bit many people I’ve seen have already have and myself included have him penciled in with Carlson again we’re recording this in July and it’s far too early to know anything until training camp takes place there’s always you know outside possibilities of the injury and that kind of thing but a solid move for the capitals I got to be honest I was pretty excited I recorded a video shortly thereafter and I I couldn’t believe that he pulled that off for Jensen and a third round pick that is quite something chran is known for his offensive prowess as a left-handed shot defenseman he is a versatile player capable of making an impact in various game situations and is expected to provide a significant boost to the team’s power play and his quick hands and Powerful shots um he did not fit in with the Ottawa Senators that was apparent and one of the things that you know I watch a lot of shows and P listen to podcasts and they were saying that he didn’t work out with Ottawa and uh they take a look at Jensen and they and some Ottawa fans are all right with it they were fine with Chan moving on from the Senators um is there any downside in your opinion of Chan’s game I heard uh various things that he was discontent in playing with the coyotes discontent playing with Ottawa Senators and talking to his agent that get me out of here what are some of the things you’ve heard about Chan yeah I mean I think what it comes down to is like is is another player where they’re in a market like markets that aren’t super Marquee right like the Arizona K is no longer exist right like there’s there’s a piece there right like they don’t they don’t typically pay their players they don’t really get Marquee free agents to sign with them so we can kind of expect a player of chick’s caliber to want to see a bigger Market with Ottawa I think it’s tough like ottawa’s been one of those teams coming into like the last like two or three seasons where like this is the year they’re Mak jump back into the playoffs right like they have a lot of young Talent they have some good vets that that are signed around them um but what it comes down to to me is it’s another kind of dub case right like they just didn’t have the right role with the right roster construction the right strategy I feel like the the Senators largely underperformed expectations and I don’t think it’s fair to pin that on Chan but when it comes down to like I feel like Chan is in a good place with the capitals I think it’s a team you know that just made the playoffs so that’s probably going to be exciting for him considering he has never played in the playoffs um and on top of that like he’s in a good group I mean I think for the most part what we’ve seen with the capitals is the ability to integrate new players into the locker room pretty seamlessly without impacting the existing chemistry so I feel like the the locker room is going to be a good place for cheran and he’s going to get ingratiated I think only concerned is he only has one year left on his deal so there’s a big question coming up of do we extend Chan when do we extend him do we just see how the Caps performed this season and maybe he’s baited the deadline to you know be on his fourth team um so I think there’s some questions there but I think for the most part like ch’s a very solid player the capitals really needed that next like top four top two you know pairing defenseman you know that can really skate beside John Carlson or be split apart from him to Carlson a little bit more sheltered minutes so he doesn’t have to skake 25 30 minutes a game um so I think it’s what it comes out to is the risk reward scenario like we we dumped off Jensen’s contract you know for an aging player we got a you know essentially a one-year rental to see how things go and if he plays to his capabilities then he might be a capital for the long term yeah and you take a look at it I think that there is some risk in one of the things that former GM Brian mlen said is that kind of like what you were talking about we don’t want to extend anything we want to see how he fits in with the capitals we want to see what Chan thinks of playing here we don’t want to commit to something that we will regret all right coming up after the break we will continue to talk about the offseason movement for the capitals the capitals acquiring cap friendly and what does the addition of Chris Patrick as the new gming for the capitals we’ll discuss straight ahead the other big move on the blue line is Matt Roy a huge deal a vote of confidence signing him to a six-year contract Roy’s contract with an average annual value of 5.5 million represents a significant commitment by the capitals to secure his Services uh standing at 6’2 in Wing 210 Roy made a substantial impact during his time with the Kings if you’re hoping for a great goal scor he is not that he likes to concentrate on his defensive game accumulating five goals and 20 assists in 81 games and he said himself he uh that’s not really his game getting too involved too much with the offense it’s primarily a defenseman I I think the biggest reason that they were so into Matt Roy is he is going to be the guy that is going to alleviate a lot of the pressure from John Carlson what are your thoughts on Matt Roy with the capitals yeah I think it was what Matt Roy’s one of those defenseman where you look at him especially from the a caps fan perspective right is like that’s a guy I want to bu blue line um when it when it comes down to is like Nick Jensen was good Trevor van ream like is good but they’re not like playoff Contender top four pairing good uh so what it comes down to for me is Matt Roy is younger he can handle more minutes than John Carl in this point of his career I don’t think the Caps want to have to play John Carlson 25 minutes a night I think what it comes down to for deployments is Matt Roy is you know the defensive specialist in the top four which is great I mean the capitals sorely needed that um they never they don’t really have the shutdown defenseman in the you know in the lineup right now without Matt Roy so that addition serves a couple needs there just to get you know another highle defenseman in there that can skate upwards of 25 minutes rather than John Carlson where who could be have more sheltered starts get more offensive zone starts you know really P TI Pander to his strengths rather than putting him in bad situations where you know you might see defensive mishaps or liabilities for a guy who’s never been like a shutdown defenseman in Carlson but um has been pretty decent on that end but when he starts getting you know guy in his mid-30s that much think you might see a little more um I think what the interesting piece is the Roy and cheran Acquisitions came on the 10y year anniversary of mclen signing Brooks oric and Matt ninan so pretty similar in terms of History you get two pretty proven guys and they’re on each side of the puck in terms of pairings so one’s Lefty one’s righty so you know you get either a whole new pairing or you get to create some you know different kind of U matchups with those players on the defensive end Listen Justin I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of lock on capitals Why don’t you tell everyone where we can find your work yeah you can find my work on Novac caps fans.com um or on Twitter and Facebook uh under Novac caps profile so my articles will be posted there or links to my articles we post on socials um you can also find me on Twitter at State true20 all right thank you for joining me on this episode and I want to thank all of you for joining me on this edition of locked on capitals your only daily year on 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 what makes this show successful when you’re done here head on over to lockton’s 247 streaming channel available on the free Amazon Fire TV channels app and on YouTube all right once again I want to thank you for joining me on this edition of lockon capitals part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day my name is Dan Hol and I’ll talk to you again next time

With Justin Trudel of Nova Caps

The Washington Capitals have made significant changes to their defensive roster recently. They obtained defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators by trading Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round pick. Chychrun is known for his offensive skills and is expected to enhance the team’s power play. The Capitals also signed defenseman Matt Roy to a six-year contract, valuing his strong defensive abilities and offensive contributions. In addition, they signed left wing Brandon Duhaime and right wing Taylor Raddysh to strengthen their lineup. Duhaime brings a physical playing style and offensive capabilities, while Raddysh adds size and skill to the team’s bottom six. These acquisitions reflect the Capitals’ strategic efforts to bolster their roster for the upcoming NHL season.

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