- 9 hours ago
Chris Patrick joins The Sports Junkies to break down the Washington Capitals offseason.
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00:00Hey, good to be on. How's it going, guys?
00:02What's up, man?
00:03We haven't talked to you in a while.
00:05It's good to have you back early on Tuesday.
00:08I have a question for him.
00:10Okay, go ahead.
00:10So, all these moves that you were making,
00:13you know, last year disappointing not to pick the playoffs.
00:16Obviously, we get it.
00:16You guys are perennially there.
00:19I'm personally not too concerned.
00:20I think you guys will be back.
00:22But you make some moves,
00:23and there were two ways you could look at it,
00:26at least I thought, from the outside looking in, right?
00:28If you're clueless.
00:28If you're clueless like me, you're going,
00:31well, are they doing all of this because they don't need Ovi?
00:35Or are they, you know, to prove that, hey, we don't need it.
00:38We're just going to add and whatever.
00:40Or are you doing this to attract Ovi?
00:43Were any of those mindsets sort of factoring in your brain?
00:48No, I mean, I think the way we looked at it was
00:50these were needs we had, you know, with or without Alex.
00:55You know, we've been trying to add top six level fours
00:58for a couple years.
01:00We took a swing on a couple guys and missed, you know,
01:03last summer and during the season, last season.
01:06And so that was definitely, you know,
01:08a high priority for us going into the offseason.
01:11And, yeah, if Alex comes back,
01:16we work the roster around that.
01:18If he doesn't come back,
01:19we have a different roster that we're going to work with.
01:22But these were needs one way or the other.
01:24And we were glad we were able to get a couple guys.
01:28I know from the outside looking in again,
01:30a lot of us thought last year was going to be it for Alex.
01:35But, you know, he led you guys in points and goals.
01:37And it kind of became obvious that the guy still wanted to play.
01:40And then he flat out said, hey, great deal.
01:42We'll be, you know, get another contract from the GM.
01:46Did you, right?
01:47So he kind of let the cat out of the bag,
01:49as far as I was concerned months ago,
01:50did you kind of feel like all along in the back of your mind
01:54that Alex was going to be back?
01:56Or were you kind of back and forth on that?
01:58Yeah, I was back and forth.
02:00You know, when he said that,
02:02that's kind of the day after the season ends.
02:04There's a lot of emotions, you know, for guys.
02:07And then as they get away, you know,
02:10they start to reflect on things.
02:11And so I figured he'd get away,
02:13he'd reflect on the season, on his body,
02:15on his life, on his family,
02:17and kind of make a more informed decision.
02:22You know, for me, where I started thinking,
02:25I feel like he's probably coming back
02:27is after we were able to get the Jordan Cairo and Alex Tuck.
02:31You know, since we hadn't heard yet definitively from him,
02:34I felt like he's still got to be thinking about it.
02:37And we get a couple of guys like this,
02:39it's got to be pretty appealing to him.
02:41So that's when I was like,
02:43if we haven't heard that he's not coming back at this point,
02:45I feel like we've got a pretty good chance
02:47that he is coming back after making those moves.
02:49Yeah.
02:50So talk about, oh, real quick,
02:52and we're going to get into the guys you guys signed,
02:54but just talk about Ovi's role this year
02:57with all these new additions.
02:58Is it going to be pretty much the same,
03:00or do you expect maybe the minutes tick down a little bit
03:03because all these other guys that you signed
03:06are obviously going to have to be out there?
03:09Yeah.
03:09I mean, I think across the board,
03:11some of our guys might have a little bit less
03:12in terms of minutes than what they had last year.
03:15You know, I think some guys,
03:16we ran them pretty hard on a game-to-game basis
03:20just because we needed them out there.
03:21We didn't have the depth that this team has.
03:26So, you know, I think this team is pretty balanced.
03:29Like, all four of our centers can make plays.
03:32They can all defend.
03:34They're all kind of 200-foot players.
03:36So, we'll be able to have, you know, top to bottom
03:40a pretty good group of forwards.
03:43So, he'll be, you know, all our wingers will be able
03:46to move around the lineup fairly seamlessly
03:49and be used in different situations.
03:50So, I feel like his usage will be pretty similar to last year
03:54where, you know, Carver's going to be looking to get him out
03:56in offensive situations, looking to get him out
03:58against other teams, you know, third and fourth lines ideally
04:01where he can kind of try to make hay
04:04and create offense and score goals.
04:08And minutes-wise, I mean, a lot of his minutes
04:10are generated off of power play.
04:11And I'm sure Carver has some ideas
04:13with the personnel we have now
04:14and with some of our younger kids like Hudson
04:16and Ryan Leonard and Elia Protas,
04:20how he wants to run the power plays this year.
04:22So, we'll see how that plays out.
04:24Yeah, we had Alex on the show late last week.
04:28And he's just really excited.
04:30I mean, you could tell.
04:31You're bringing him in for Buffalo.
04:32He's a veteran.
04:34And you brought in Alex Tuck.
04:36You brought in Kairou from St. Louis.
04:38So, kind of just talk about those two guys again.
04:40So, start with Alex Tuck.
04:41What are his strengths?
04:42Yeah, I mean, big body, 200-foot game.
04:46Can score goals, can defend, can penalty kill.
04:50You know, just a real well-rounded player.
04:55And, yeah, also, I think from a leadership and veteran standpoint,
05:01you know, top-notch in both those qualities as well.
05:04Just a good team guy, a good leader.
05:07But, yeah, like, you know, a big north-south offensive and defensive guy on the wing.
05:15I think it's a nice piece to have.
05:18Yeah.
05:18All right, talk about Kairou, who you brought in from St. Louis.
05:21And how difficult was it to move Connor?
05:24Yeah, that was hard.
05:27You know, we've been talking on Jordan for a while with St. Louis.
05:33You know, they made it clear early in last season that they were open for business
05:38on some of their higher-end guys.
05:41And, you know, with any team, when we're talking trades, you know,
05:47we're trying to add to our current roster.
05:48So, that means you're talking picks and prospects.
05:51And, you know, we have a really good group of prospects right now.
05:54And so, every team immediately goes to the Ryan Bunners and the Cole Hudsons,
05:58and we just can't do that for a trade.
06:01So, it took a while to get to a point where we got them off those names.
06:05And Connor was just a name that was, you know, he's a really good player.
06:09He could be a 60- to 70-point guy next year, and you have contract control with him.
06:14So, he's a really nice piece for a team to get in a trade.
06:18So, I knew if we included him, it might be able to get them off some of those
06:21bigger-name prospects.
06:24And so, yeah, it was tough to see him go.
06:26And, you know, I think he's going to do really well there.
06:29But, yeah, Jordan is kind of a piece we've been missing in our top six, I think,
06:36over the last couple seasons.
06:37Just kind of a higher-skilled guy, can make a lot of plays, can make plays off the rush.
06:43He has some speed in his game.
06:45He's kind of a, you know, he's a quick-strike-type guy.
06:50He'll kind of lay in the weeds, and then all of a sudden he'll have the puck
06:53and get around a D-man and make a play or get a shot on net.
06:56But he's good on the entries and the power play, which we've had issues with
07:01over the last couple seasons.
07:02So, he brings kind of more of that higher-skill level to our top six
07:08and more of an offensive-type guy.
07:11How does that work when you make some of these trades?
07:13You trade a prospect, you trade a guy like McMichael.
07:16I mean, like you say, he could be a 70-point guy.
07:18Don't you, deep down?
07:19I mean, you want him to succeed.
07:20You like him.
07:21You love the family and all that.
07:22But don't you kind of want him to go out there and just ball out and have a career year?
07:26I mean, you know what I mean?
07:27I'm saying this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but you don't want to have any regrets either, you know?
07:32I don't know.
07:33No, I know.
07:34Yeah, it's hard.
07:35I mean, I think at the end of the day, for me, I'd rather the trade works out for both
07:40teams
07:41than try to win a trade.
07:43I just think it's a hard way to do business.
07:46Because, you know, we have to live with the fact that Mikey could go out and have a great
07:51year, and that could happen.
07:53And that's kind of the risk of doing business and making trades like this.
07:59You know, but no, I always, you know, you get a relationship with these guys, especially
08:03Connor, like, because when I was more involved with the Hershey stuff before I became general
08:07manager, I mean, Connor and Hendricks, who we also traded, they won a Calder Cup with us
08:12and Hershey, and so, you know, I have a long, long relationship with them.
08:17So, you know, you have a personal relationship, and you want to see them do well, no matter
08:22what happens.
08:24So, as a GM, and you and BMAC, and talking about how frustrating last season was not making
08:30the playoffs, and I'm sure it was, it was certainly frustrating for fans, but with all
08:36these guys that you brought in, I mean, you brought in six or seven guys, and you just
08:39kind of gave us the background on most of them, how good do you feel about this roster
08:44right now?
08:46Yeah, I feel good.
08:47I mean, I think, like I said, we address a lot of the issues we're looking to address,
08:51you know, and a guy like Boone Jenner brings, you know, a bottom six, you know, two-way player,
08:59you know, a former captain from another team, which to bring that kind of leadership is huge,
09:04and Vinny D'Arnais brings some sides to the back end, so, you know, one of the issues
09:10we got into last year is when some of the injuries came, we just, we had a lot harder
09:17time scoring goals and staying in game, so by having this kind of depth, hopefully, you
09:22know, hopefully we stay healthy, but if we're not healthy, hopefully we have enough depth
09:25to manage through some injuries and continue to pile up points in the standings.
09:30So talk about some of these other guys, you mentioned Jenner, but you brought in Josh
09:34Dunn, you brought in Johnny Brudzinski, you brought in Justin Hull, I don't know much
09:39about these other names, but just kind of adding to the depth of the roster, can you
09:45talk about some of those other guys you brought in?
09:47Yeah, yeah, exactly that, you know, helps our organizational depth, you know, in Hershey
09:54right now, we have a lot of young players, they're going to be good players, but, you know,
09:59when you couple that with having some young players on the NHL group and, you know, Leonard
10:04Hudson, Protoss, sort of, you know, you just want to be careful how many young guys you're
10:09throwing into the NHL lineup at one time, just because, you know, there's still a learning
10:15curve there, even though they're all fantastic players, there's still a learning curve there,
10:19there's still mistakes that will be made.
10:21So adding guys like that, these are experienced guys, these are all guys that have played in
10:25the NHL, and, you know, it just gives you other options, other elements that you can
10:31put in there that you know what you're going to get.
10:33Carbs will know, okay, I'm putting Justin Hull in the lineup, I know what he's going to
10:36give me over 10 to 15 minutes tonight, and just, yeah, again, with injuries and the way
10:43these seasons play out, the more better players you can have in your system, the better.
10:48So, where, I should know this, but I don't, where are you in terms of, like, cap room
10:54and that kind of stuff, or other moves and some flexibility you might want to make, you
10:58know, between now and the start of the season, and then once the season gets going?
11:02Yeah, we're pretty, we're pretty much...
11:06Strapped.
11:06You're strapped.
11:08Yeah, yeah, the credit card's full, the payment's coming, and I gotta pay it, but...
11:13I gotta relate.
11:15Yeah, yeah, exactly, so, yeah, these are the kind of moves for now, and then we'll get
11:19to camp and see, you know, if there's anything, you know, if we're doing anything, we're probably
11:24sending a body out to create space, but for now, I think we're probably a pretty good spot
11:30for heading into the season.
11:32How does that work, you know, in the offseason, when you're talking to Ted, and you're talking
11:37to Brian, and about, you know, adding to the roster?
11:41Is Ted, does Ted come in and say, look, we need to make the playoffs, we need to win
11:45another Stanley Cup, whatever you need, you got it.
11:47Is that how the conversation kind of goes?
11:52Well, it's been more, you know, we always just kind of operate on the assumption that
11:56we can go right to the cap, and it's been that way for a long time, and so unless Ted
12:02comes and says, hey, this is our internal budget this year, we just kind of operate under
12:06that assumption.
12:08And, you know, we have some calls with Ted, we have some calls with him, you know, every
12:12offseason we do, but we have some calls with him kind of heading into the draft, just how
12:16the draft's looking, and what the plans are for the offseason, and we kind of ran through
12:20a lot of these scenarios, and where these guys are, and what they might get in free agency,
12:25and unless he has a really adverse reaction to any of the ideas, we kind of just plow ahead
12:31and move forward and go from there.
12:34I mean, Ted's really good.
12:34I think he's been around long enough to know, and I think he trusts us enough that he lets
12:42us do our thing, and trusts that we'll make the right decisions for the organization.
12:46Well, you can't accuse him of, you know, not spending.
12:50I look up on Puckpedia, they have 0.9% left in the total cap space.
12:56Well, you also gave Trey Young $200 million.
12:59Yeah, forget about that.
13:00Yeah, what have they even done with the Wizards?
13:02But listen, Chris, it's been great having you.
13:04I'd love to get you on more throughout the season, always.
13:08We've said this for the last few years, but I really believe it's true.
13:12You guys have done an unbelievable job.
13:14It's very difficult.
13:16You didn't have to tank.
13:17You've threaded the needle, right, between keeping the old guys, maybe transitioning a couple
13:23out every year, and still bringing in new talent, new young players.
13:27It's really been phenomenal to watch.
13:28Even though you didn't make the playoffs last year, as far as you guys have that equity.
13:32It's going to be a different year.
13:33As far as I'm concerned.
13:34And yeah, the way you're doing it is very impressive from afar.
13:38Well, I really appreciate that.
13:40And yeah, that's kind of been the goal here.
13:42I think we've got a really good group of players.
13:45You know, Tom Wilson, Jacob Checker, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Logan Thompson.
13:50I mean, this is a good core group of players that we have for several years.
13:54So if we get the right pieces around them, I think it's a competitive team.
13:57And you know, like you guys know, you get in the playoffs and you roll the dice and see
14:01what happens, but you got to get there first.
14:03So hopefully this is a team that can do that for the next several years.
14:06Remind us when the opening day of camp is.
14:08What's the date?
14:09Oh man, I have to actually look.
14:11I think it's right around the second week of September.
14:14Okay.
14:15So it'll be here before you know it.
14:16I'm sure it will be there.
14:17Yeah, and if you blink, you'll miss it.
14:20It's a quick camp now.
14:21It's basically a couple weeks, four exhibition games, and then we're off and running.
14:24So it's a quick one.
14:27Very exciting.
14:28Well, thank you again, Chris.
14:29We appreciate it.
14:30Always a pleasure having you on.
14:31Yeah, man.
14:32Thanks, guys.
14:33It's good talking to you.
14:33Thank you, man.
14:35Chris Patrick, GM of Caps.
14:37If you're a Caps fan, you got to feel like you're in great hands.
14:39Right?
14:39Oh, yeah.
14:40You got to feel like you're in great hands.
14:41Well, I mean, just based on who they brought in, seven, I think it's seven guys, maybe
14:47eight.
14:47Yeah.
14:48They're not messing around.
14:49No.
14:49No.
14:51Nope.
14:51They got to, on paper, it looks like they got a great squad.
14:54That's what I mean.
14:54But with all the guys they got coming back, especially the young guys, man, it's going
14:57to be, I think it's going to be a fun year.
14:59So hopefully they get off to a great start and we'll have Chris Patrick on as much as we
15:04can during the season.
15:05All right.
15:06Got to get back into the World Cup.
15:07Right?
15:08It was just, it was just, it was a bummer last night.
15:10I want to hear from people.
15:11How frustrated are you?
15:13Yeah.
15:13Did you watch it?
15:14How are you feeling about it?
15:15800-636-1067.
15:17I was just looking forward to Friday at three against Spain.
15:21I mean, that would have been awesome.
15:22No, it would have been a disaster.
15:23That's fine.
15:24Be thankful.
15:24But you know what?
15:24We're not playing.
15:25That would have been all gravy.
15:27That would have been gravy.
15:27If we would have lost five nil, that's fine.
15:29At least we got to the quarters.
15:31That would have been gross.
15:32But last night, I mean, that was kind of embarrassing.
15:35I was very disappointed.
15:36Were you disappointed?
15:38800-636-1067.
15:39Give us a call.
15:40800-637-1067.
15:41800-637-1067.
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