Is Tomas Fleischmann part of the problem?
Alexander Monaghan looks at the summer-long rumour surrounding Capitals winger Tomas Fleischmann.
When the Washinton Capitals re-signed center Eric Belanger, it was believed he would come at the expense of versatile forward Tomas Fleischmann. With only one year left before becoming an unrestricted free agent and other forwards like Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich needing to be re-signed, the man known in DC as Flash may be utilizing his super-speed for another team when the season starts.
Fleischmann broke the 20 goal plateau last season for the first time in his career and finished with 23 goals and 28 assists. Although he managed to put up nice totals he battled injuries like he has almost every year. His production in 69 games looks impressive, however six other forwards scored over 20 goals, with Flash only scoring more than third-line presence Eric Fehr.
His non-contact game and inability to work the corners make the Capitals even weaker come playoff time. For the third straight season the team failed to make a deep playoff run and it could be because of relying too much on finesse.
Nevertheless, the team simply cannot trade Semin or Mike Green, despite the charmin-soft game they play. Bruce Boudreau’s run-and-gun system feeds their consistent output so as long as they can put the puck in the net they will be excused. In summary, the Caps are forced to live and die by the sword with many of their more talented players.
But why should they accept the same of an injury prone, defensively challenged but skilled winger?
With all the skill keeping him would be a luxury. Filling the roster with tougher or more defensively responsible players like DJ King, Matt Bradley, Belanger and Jason Chimera could balance the team while allowing Fehr to play on a top-two line role.
Moving Fleischmann for a defenseman would be an excellent management of assets but the team looks to have another motivation to trade him.
According to Cult of Hockey, he is being shopped for either Sheldon Souray or Kevin Bieksa which honestly could be a bit more of the same. Replacing a soft but skilled forward for a defenseman could be even a lateral move which could block either John Carlson or Karl Alzner but would show that GM George McPhee feels his team’s best opportunity to win would be now with Semin and Laich still on board.
In short, Fleischmann is part of the problem but it is a problem the team still fails to see. Until the team has more balance, they look like another President’s Trophy winner and playoff exit– which bodes well for fantasy owners and not fans.
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I disagree with your assessment of the problem facing the Capitals. Management is partly responsible for what went wrong during the play-offs. First and formost,the selection of players since Jason chimera was brought to this team has not helped the team.Most of the players they acquared on trade dead-line were not players that could have helped the team. The Capitals are the best team in the NHL and the Coach has to find ways to motivate the team when they are not playing well.The defense is also partly responsible for the problem. The Capitals should have kept Alexander Giroux and Brandon Morrison instead of bringing in DJ King.
Both Giroux and Morrison play a finesse game while DJ King is a heavyweight and probably a bit more necessary.
It took the capitals a long time to acquire these excellent players who have brought lots of excitements to this city in the past 3 years. Management has to be very careful they dont make hasty and bad decisions that will make make them trade some of these players to other teams and make those teams better.This happened to the Senators years ago when they drafted many of these good players and then trade them to other teams without winning the cup. Be patient folks, the defense has always been part of the problem.If you want to help this team, bring in player that will contribute to make this team better. All of the players they brought this season will not do that.
Coach Boudreau and the Washington Capitals were leading the Montreal Canadians 3 games to 1 game when the Capitals simply lost the most important aspect of winning Lord’s Standley Cup for the 2009 season. The team was the best in the NHL, the highest scoring team, playing against a team that got to the play-off because the Capitals lost the remaining 5 games of the season.This is where coaching becomes very important and critical. To know when the team is not playing well vs when things gets better. Obviously, the Canadians were able to motivate themselves by winning 4 games in a row towards the number one team in the league. Mistakes were made but some experts are pointing the finger at the wrong tree. All of the players the so called experts are talking about were number one picks for the Capitals. You have to sacrifice a lot to get a number one pick in any spot.Trading any of these players will not solved the problems of this team. THIS TEAM NEED A SOLID BACK-COURT TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP.LEAVE EVERY THING ELSE THE WAY IT IS.Chicago won because all of their liness are good but not better than the Capitals.
The Craps are not the “best” team in the league!
This is a soft team, I agree they are flashy but they have no grit and very questionable goal tending.
Get a new coach, that fat bald guy has no class and is clueless with game day strategy.
Looks like another 100 point plus season in a weak division with another early exit from the playoffs, enjoy it craps fans, the cup will remain elusive!
Ken, you obviously do not know what you are talking about. Bruce took a team that was dead LAST in the NHL and took them to a division win and a playoff appearance, that is not easy to do. This year, they had an early exit. I do agree with what you said about grit, I have said that for a while now. But what you are saying about bruce is 100% WRONG. I am telling you this now: 1. Varley is going to win 30 games this year, with nuevirth winning another 25 and 2. The capitals are going to be the eastern conference champions this year. They added grit with king, to go along with bradley and Chimera. This team is on the cusp, and will EXPLODE this year, you just wait!
First, imo this article is right on the money.
Second, I want to point out that the article actually points out one item that I think is key in all of this “In short, Fleischmann is part of the problem but it is a problem the team still fails to see.”
The Caps are said to be looking for a defensive defensemen (which I am sure most knowledgable people agree is the #1 pressing need)while one solid defensive defensemen is not enough, and beyond that they go out and give up SDR for DJKing and now they are content that their forward lines are gritty enough while Asham was still available for peanuts.
George McPhee just doesn’t get it. He thinks he can make “used band-aid” fixes to a team that is desperate for two entire NHL Playoff fundementals.
Defense, Crease protection, checking, and overall grit are still missing from this team. All required in the playoffs. Is one trade going to fix that? Is bringin DJ King and possibly Willie M….nevermind….going to fix this?
In Fantasy land:
ADDITIONS NEEDED:
Reghr from Calgary
Mitchell from Vancouver
Asham UFA
AND DJ King
SUBTRACTIONS NEEDED:
Fleischmann
Gordon
Poti
Sloan
In Fantasy land Washington wins the cup in 10-11, but we have a GM too stupid to understand what the team needs to succeed.