The Caps’ sale has begun, with Anthony Mantha traded to Vegas late last night and more likely to come ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline…plus whatever happens with Evgeny Kuznetsov in Hershey for now.
That’s what head coach Spencer Carbery started with when he joined the Junkies Wednesday for his weekly visit.
“He's obviously been a massive part of this organization for the past I think 11 years, since breaking on the scene in North America, and was a huge part of the success over the last 10-plus years, and specifically 2018, so it was a really difficult decision,” Carbs said. “I know Mac talked about it as essentially trying to find him a fresh start. Things over the last couple years haven't gone well on ice and off the ice, and that's all it is, just about trying to find a fresh start in a different organization and a different atmosphere.”
And as for Mantha, who was the Caps’ second-leading goal scorer this season, he will be a huge loss as they still try to sneak into a playoff spot.
“Sad to see him go, but understand the circumstances of him being a UFA and the organization's objective in moving him along,” Carbs said. “Sad to see Mo go, but in the same respect, when I came here, Mo was coming off a really tough year and in the last year of his deal and hadn't had the most success here. At the start of the year, he was a healthy scratch multiple games, and I give him a lot of credit – he worked hard, bought in, worked with the coaches on what he needed to do to be a consistently an effective player for our team, and it helped him change some things inside of his game that needed to change a little bit. He was rewarded with 20 goals, and earned himself an opportunity to go play in Vegas on a real good team, defending Stanley Cup champs, and probably furthermore earn a great contract this summer.”
Bish laughed remembering Carbs laughing last week when he was asked if the Caps might actually be buyers, but unfortunately, Coach knew the score but couldn’t spoil it.
“It's just where we are as an organization. I know people don't like to hear that and it's frustrating, but in the NHL, when you have a lot of success for a long time, you have to accumulate talent, and the only way that you do that you can do it is through the draft, and drafting high in the draft,” Carbs said. “You can do it through free agency at times, but the real root of it is drafting high in the draft, that’s just the reality – look at Nathan McKinnon, Steven Stamkos, even here with Ovi is a prime example of those players that you build around and can win Stanley Cups. That's the way it works in the NHL. I know our fans don't like to hear that, but it's, it's the reality of where we are, so we're gonna integrate young players into our line up and help them develop and learn to be quality NHL players, and we'll add to that in the draft.”
Caps PR noted that 42 percent of the Caps’ February goals were scored by players 26 or younger, and that’s now only going to continue in March.
“It’s challenging; like, Miro now will come into our lineup, LaPierre, McMichael, Malenstyn…the list goes on, and it’s a challenge,” Carbs said. “You’ll see it from night to night that young players can play well and have nights where you go, ‘oh, it’s there,’ but why it takes them years to really hit their stride is you've gotta be able to do it consistently, night after night for 82 games. That takes maturity, mentally and physically, and you learn how to be able to do it, and then you're a big part of a winning team. That's what we're trying to instill, is those habits to be able to be consistent with what you do.”
Take a listen above to Carbs’ entire segment as he also discusses TJ Oshie’s return, last weekend’s letdown against Arizona, and more!