Changes in Washington

[big_dl]

Basically you're suggesting that either Ovechkin will play with Beagle again even though Oates is out as coach. Or you think Backstrom has fallen off a cliff. Either way its an unlikely situation for Ovechkin next year. Its far more likely that a 50 goal scorer with a pdo of 96 has an even better year next year. Even average nhlers have on-ice shooting percentages closer 8 or 9%. Ovexhkins linemates shot at under 6%.

[Godin]

This will be the fourth coach in Washington the last four years. This type of transition is why some players get frustrated with an organization and want to go somewhere with more stability.

The players are the reason for this type of transition.

[lucifer316]

This position that Ovechkin can't return to 1.5 ppg is slightly flawed. Ovechkin scored on 13% of his shots this year yet the shooting percentage when he was on the ice was only 6%. Given how much Ovechkin shoots that means his linemates didba piss poor job of providing their own offence. Thus OV was a ppg player this year with little help its not a him to conclude that 1.2 is a reasonable baseline expectation, probably more like 1.25, from there it shouldn't be ridiculous to say that each Ovechkins goal should be a 1.5ppg. There's no point in setting your goals at your baseline even if your baseline is elite.

my position is not that Ovechkin can't ever get 1.5 ppg again in his career nor is it that he shouldn't set his goal to reach 1.5 ppg

my position is that you can't return to something you only did a single time in a 9 year career

having achieved 1.5 ppg a single time in his career doesn't make him a 1.5 ppg player

if a player scores 35 or more goals 4 out of 9 seasons but 50 once he is considered a 35 goal scorer not a 50 goal scorer

it is the same thing with Ovechkin and 1.5 ppg

you wouldn't say the 35 goal player returns to 50 goals you would say he returns to 35 goals

again the same thing with Ovechkin and 1.5 ppg

[big_dl]

You can definitely return to something you've only done once 9 years ago. Its likely as much a matter of circumstances as it is a specific skill. You may not be able to hit it consistently or be known as someone who hits that milestone but return on the odd occasion is certainly doable. For example Iginla scored 50 twice and 30 12 times. The 2 50 goal seasons weren't consecutive and thus necessitated a return to that level.

[kovalchuk17]

it was a merry-go-round on the other wing when backstrom/ovechkin played together. everyone was basically filler and not remotely close to a replacement to semin, maybe kuznetsov will change that dynamic

[MXHockey]

This position that Ovechkin can't return to 1.5 ppg is slightly flawed. Ovechkin scored on 13% of his shots this year yet the shooting percentage when he was on the ice was only 6%. Given how much Ovechkin shoots that means his linemates didba piss poor job of providing their own offence. Thus OV was a ppg player this year with little help its not a him to conclude that 1.2 is a reasonable baseline expectation, probably more like 1.25, from there it shouldn't be ridiculous to say that each Ovechkins goal should be a 1.5ppg. There's no point in setting your goals at your baseline even if your baseline is elite.

Another way of looking at it is Ovie takes all of the quality shots leaving his fellow line mates the scraps. Ovie is not exactly a set up man, and is shoot first and from anywhere. His line mates don't get quality chances at even strength. Have you watched a Washington power play - the PP is Ovie sits on the left point or left half wall and shoots every time he gets the puck, hence his 24 PPG (first in the league - next best player has 16 PPG) and 39 PPP (2nd in the league behind Backstrom's 44 PPP). Basically he plays the entire PP. Half of Ovie's 51 goals came with the PP and half of his 79 points came on the PP.

Fantasy wise that is great for his owners. In real life the Caps will never get anywhere with him - a player of that talent should never have a plus/minus that low, but that's what happens when a player holds the reigns of the team and has a C on his chest while barely back checking. Perhaps lazy is a strong word, but selfish and one dimensional applies here. In 4-5 years Ovie will be the next Heatley.

[JagrBomb]

1. strip Ovie of the C
2. teach him how to back check
3. if #2 fails, scratch him. ego needs to be lowered or caps will never win.

[MXHockey]

1. strip Ovie of the C
2. teach him how to back check
3. if #2 fails, scratch him. ego needs to be lowered or caps will never win.

Well said +1

[big_dl]

Another way of looking at it is Ovie takes all of the quality shots leaving his fellow line mates the scraps. Ovie is not exactly a set up man, and is shoot first and from anywhere. His line mates don't get quality chances at even strength. Have you watched a Washington power play - the PP is Ovie sits on the left point or left half wall and shoots every time he gets the puck, hence his 24 PPG (first in the league - next best player has 16 PPG) and 39 PPP (2nd in the league behind Backstrom's 44 PPP). Basically he plays the entire PP. Half of Ovie's 51 goals came with the PP and half of his 79 points came on the PP.

Fantasy wise that is great for his owners. In real life the Caps will never get anywhere with him - a player of that talent should never have a plus/minus that low, but that's what happens when a player holds the reigns of the team and has a C on his chest while barely back checking. Perhaps lazy is a strong word, but selfish and one dimensional applies here. In 4-5 years Ovie will be the next Heatley.

Wow that argument is horribly flawed. Take Steven Stamkos' 2011-12 season where he scored 60 goals and took 303 shots in 82 games. Pretty comparable to Ovechkin this year scoring 50 goals on 383 shots in 78 games. Basically Ovechkin took an extra per game. Stamkos that season scored on close to 20% of his shots and had an on-ice shooting percentage 12.5%. Also a situation where he plays a huge amount of his teams pp time and his constantly fed the puck. Fairly similar to Ovechkin in situation and style, namely puck dominant shooter. No one would suggest that Stamkos' propensity to shoot robs his linemates of quality scoring chances. They even have similar Corsi numbers, meaning they basically drove possession at similar rates. Basically the difference between the two is that Stamkos' linemates didnt forget how to put the puck in the net whereas Ovechkin's did as can be seen in their respective PDOs of 103.5 and 96. Maybe the reason so many of Ovechkin's points came on the powerplay is because Marty St Louis is just a bit better than Jay Beagle. That may be too much of a limb to go out on.

The Heatley comparison is absurd and can be taken apart with one word 'skating'. Heatley is and always was a below average skater, the same can't be said for Ovechkin. This meant that Heatley depended more on his linemates than Ovechkin does.

As for Ovechkin's one-dimensionality I'm not sure how you can argue that affects the ability the shooting % of his linemates. If you want to argue that it makes him a bad captain or an incomplete leader go ahead but don't extend it to how his teammates shoot.

[Big Ev]

Ovechkin's skating has taken a hit in my opinion. Won't be a Heatley, who regressed due to shoulder injuries, but I don't think he'll ever hit his career high ever again.

Not buying the line mates excuse. His job as captain, top paid player, and NHL superstar is to make players better. He played with Backstrom, that's more than enough support.

[Luffy D Monkey]

Ovi is such a piece of crap, coach killer style franchise player they will never win with him, thats obvious and you could see this all coming a mile away.

Will be interesting to see what the new GM tries to do with this team though.

[big_dl]

Ovechkin's skating has taken a hit in my opinion. Won't be a Heatley, who regressed due to shoulder injuries, but I don't think he'll ever hit his career high ever again.

Not buying the line mates excuse. His job as captain, top paid player, and NHL superstar is to make players better. He played with Backstrom, that's more than enough support.

I cant find the tweet, and don't feel like going through all of Dellow's tweets to find it, but he did reference that Ovechkin's linemates or the teammates taking shots while he is on the ice with them had the lowest shooting percentage of anybody since 2007. Basically when Ovechkin is on the ice the other Capitals forget how to score. Bourne refers to it in this article http://beta.thescore.com/nhl/news/469929

Basically supports the idea that Ovechkins linemates let him down.

[lucifer316]

I cant find the tweet, and don't feel like going through all of Dellow's tweets to find it, but he did reference that Ovechkin's linemates or the teammates taking shots while he is on the ice with them had the lowest shooting percentage of anybody since 2007. Basically when Ovechkin is on the ice the other Capitals forget how to score. Bourne refers to it in this article http://beta.thescore.com/nhl/news/469929

Basically supports the idea that Ovechkins linemates let him down.

how is it that his teammates are the ones who let him down

i mean Malkin turned Neal into a monster, Crosby turns anybody into a monster, Stamkos and MSL upped each others game as well as anyone who played with them, Tavares made a bunch 2nd/3rd line players put up some nice points

how come Ovechkin doesn't make other players better and why is it their fault

i mean it was supposed to be him vs Crosby, so if Crosby can make any player better how come Ovi can't

[Call of Doughty]

Oates to Penguins to run that power play, or take over Danny B's job when the jackets beat off....err out the penguins. Oates could be used by any team needing power play help.

[big_dl]

how is it that his teammates are the ones who let him down

i mean Malkin turned Neal into a monster, Crosby turns anybody into a monster, Stamkos and MSL upped each others game as well as anyone who played with them, Tavares made a bunch 2nd/3rd line players put up some nice points

how come Ovechkin doesn't make other players better and why is it their fault

i mean it was supposed to be him vs Crosby, so if Crosby can make any player better how come Ovi can't

I'm curious how figure it's Ovechkin's fault his teammates were the worst anyone's have been since 2007. Ovechkin actually shot less this year than he did in any season between 2006 and 2010 when he put up similar goal numbers. Clearly somehow his teammates managed to shoot better in those seasons. Is it your contention that Ovechkin did something on the ice year that suddenly made his teammates unable to put the puck in the net? Short of taking all the shots I'm not sure what Ovechkin's supposed to do. Especially when he commits to defense and gets torn apart for only putting up 35 goals.