We as a team have a lot of depth. We have lots of young players pushing veterans for playing time. Camp is very competitive. Goaltending is no exception as you will read in the Washington Post.
This is by design. As noted, our Hershey affiliate is a strategic asset for our franchise. We want and have developed a seamless system of training and developing young players to learn our system. When they play in Hershey, they are a part of our team. The players know they will get minutes in the NHL. They will get “their call” and they must be prepared when the time is right. They know we are watching how they do closely in Hershey so they play hard and get results for the Bears as well. They will have their opportunity to show what they can do in the NHL if they do well in the AHL. We believe in that fairness doctrine but at the same time we are loaded with young core players at the NHL level. Neuvirth helped Hershey win their championship last season and he is fighting for minutes still in the NHL. That is a great sign about how much depth we have at the NHL level, don’t you think?
Also, in a salary cap era, having younger and less expensive players available helps a team stay within its budget and can soften the blow when a vet leaves us via free agency. There is newness and an excitement level that new players bring to the team as well. We start the year with a couple of young players on injured reserve. This will open opportunity for a few other young players to step in and contribute and show what they can do.
This is all by design and was part of our restart plan during our rebuild years. It is great to see this all working out as we crafted it on a white board.
We drafted Varlamov with a pick we garnered in a trade. We drafted Neuvirth a bit later and we believe both of these young men will be stalwarts in goal for us for a long time. Rebuilding through the draft - I still maintain - is the best way to build a team. At the same time, Jose Theodore has looked very sharp in goal. He is a long time NHL vet. He is a former league MVP. He wants to keep his mantle of the #1 goaltender. Competition in camp is very healthy. It is an exciting time to be a Caps fan.
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Any chance you are interested in acquiring the Redskins?
I’m sure that is great for players who are being cut and returned to Hershey or elsewhere to hear. And it sounds great.
But if Bruce doesn’t feel inclined to bench players not playing to their potential, in a slump, or whatever – or a player is sent to him by the organization that he chooses to leave on the bench, the Caps players will learn this is not something they really need to be concerned about, particularly once the season gets going.
But with less injuries I’m sure that won’t happen this season.
Watched Neuvirth last year in the finals in Hershey. I believe his glove was quicker that Varlie’s. Varlie is a tad more catlike. What a competition! They both have room to grow and develop.
You have done a masterfull job rebuilding this club to a better position for a run at the cup than the finals appearance years ago. That is George, Bruce, the scouts and you have all combined and done it. Congratulations to all of you.
Depth also is like money in the bank. If there’s a key piece to this year’s puzzle on somebody else’s roster at the trade deadline, you can dip into your reserves without bankrupting your future. You could also trade today’s excess depth for tomorrow’s depth by trading current prospects for draft picks. It’s this kind of flexibility that ensures that we can compete at the highest level this year and for many years to come. Yeah, it was painful to watch the transition, but congratulations, you guys really have done this the right way.
You’re awfully modest about the Varlamov deal. You forgot to mention how the trade worked out for the other team. The pick in question was Nashville’s, and they also sent us Kris Beech in that deal for…drum roll please…Brendan Witt. Witt played 17 games for the Preds, and then ended up with the Islanders. So the Predators rented Witt for 17 games, and we ended up with Varlamov. I think we came out just slightly ahead on that deal, don’t you?
Ted,
It’s certainly good to see rookies and others pushing current players for their roster spots. Your message has changed quite significantly since your early days with the Caps and the “four year plan” and acquisition via free agency or trades vs. building through the draft.
People are looking forward to seeing Varly play eventually, but I think most people are interested in seeing Jose kick some ass this season