After a hectic couple of days, we are slowing but surely getting SensChirp back on track. Some sort of mass spamming incident caused the server to crash and meant we had to remove some features while we identified the problem.
We don't have everything completely figured out just yet but we are getting there.
For now anyway, the comment section will only appear for registered users. That should only be temporary but this is why some of you may not be seeing the comment section. Again, only a temporary change until we can determine where the spamming attacks were coming from. The forum has also been disabled for the time being.
But enough about that. On to a couple pieces of Sens news that have surfaced over the past couple days.
- Unrestricted free agent Ryan Shannon has found a new home in Tampa Bay. He signed a one year deal with the Lightning yesterday. The Bolts looked at Shannon at the deadline and have always been a fan. Sorry to see Shannon go but glad to see he's getting a chance with a good hockey club.
- Roman Wick is also moving on. The restricted free agent has signed a three year contract with the Kloten Flyers in Switzerland. There were high hopes for Wick heading into this season but he just wasn't able to find a spot for himself with the big club. He was a strong player down in Binghamton though and will be missed.
- Ryan Keller and Ryan Potulny have both found work elsewhere and may soon be joined by defenceman Andre Benoit. He is apparently considering a contract offer to play in Switzerland next season. Benoit was a key component on Bingo's blueline last season.
- The Sens are still working on a contract for Bobby Butler. As Tim Murray suggested the other day, if Butler can not reach an agreement, he will sign his qualifying offer and play on a two way contract next season.
Hopefully Butler can reach a 2-3 year deal around 1.5 million per season... or something like 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 so that he get's a raise every year.
There's no way the Sens will pay him that much. He has not yet earned that kind of a raise. I;m betting a 2 year deal worth 1.6 to 1.8...
Ah yes. Will pass that along. I recall that being an issue last time we had the pages of comments too.
Dumb question, sorry if it has already been answered. But since Ottawa is below the cap floor, and say they manage to dump Kuba that drops them almost another 4M.
In order to get back up to the threshold would it be legal for Ottawa to issue say 50K bonuses to everyone on the team (or whatever amount) in order to get them to the floor?
Cheers,
RP
No expert on this sort of thing but I really doubt they are allowed to add in bonuses after the fact. Could be wrong.
If you add Filatov, Rundblad and Cowen's contracts, we are above the floor by about 3-4M I believe.
You are probably right, I never really thought the cap floor would get this high, it has to be murdering a bunch of franchises. Maybe it will get adjusted in the next CBA.
I can't imagine the Florida's of the world enjoy spending this much money when they issue 15$ tickets for the games!
Yeah otherwise Eugene would probably just "hire" a new scoreboard. :)
@Renegade Pervert: No they can't just hand out 50K bonuses. Don't worry about the cap. I'm sure Murray will work out a trade to pick up a player that will bring us to the floor. Were you looking at capgeek.com? If you were, were you including Filatov's NHL salary? Either way, Murray did say in the offseason that he was going to pursue one of the star RFA's from another team through trade. Let's be patient and see what happens in August.
It was more of a broad question, I know Ottawa will eventually get up there. Really if you look at the stupid over payment that has happened to get a few teams to the 48M mark they have set a precedent for mediocre talent. Sure the NHLPA probably doesn't have an issue with it, but it really is defeating the cost controls that were implemented after the lock out.
Again maybe some adjustment to the floor can be arranged so that franchises that aren't on the most stable of financial ground aren't forced to over spend and end up speeding up their demise. I don't think the NHL wants to own any more than 1 franchise.
Don't forget Butler's deal once signed.
Trying to restock some of the lost AHL depth.
According to Allan Walsh:
- Martin Havlat will once again wear #9 in San Jose. The return of "Mach 9"
- Milan Michalek is soon to be married in Prague
Cue the Parrish is the winger Spezza has been looking for talk.
If I were Butler's agent I would be looking to sign nothing more than a 2 year deal maximum. He has to figure that this is the contract where Butler establishes himself as a genuine NHL player and therefore why wouldn't you want that contract to be as short as possible so your bigger pay day comes around sooner.
It still gets done though. Still happy with the off season moves Murray has made and looking forward to the season. It's going to be great watching a team full of compete every night.
Happy for Shannon, but I'm even happier for the Sens. He was 1 of those guys that's great for a team with little depth but good top end, and now that the Sens are all depth is nice to see him move on to other opportunities. He's that guy I hated to love, cause he always gave his best but his best was never good enough.
I hope Butler & the Sens can work out a reasonable 1 way contract, with all the depth on the team I don't think he wants to be stuck as the guy who gets sent up and down all season just because of a 2way contract.
it was a joke lol.
I know, I was agreeing :)
Murray will probally call give one of the teams that are close to the cap and and make a trade with one of Yzermen or Mcphee.
Not only does Butler not want to be the guy getting bounced around between here and Bingo, I'm sure the sens don't want that either. Other than those acquired during the draft weekend, Butler is the only guy we have already in North America that has a real chance of being a top 6 player in the near future.
I still think the sens need to move 1 or 2 forwards. I'm not convinced that all of Winchester, Neil, Regin and Foligno have a place on this team for all of this season.
Murray will probally will make a trade with a team that is over the cap. example (Lightning,Capi tals)
Care to "book it" SF19?
Not saying it won't happen if the right deal is out there but I'm fairly certain Murray isn't actively looking for anyone - signing Butler will be the last piece for this year unless some team makes a great offer or someone wants one of our discardable D.
Not for a long, long time :(
September.
Ryan Malone is interesting and I'm a big fan, but I don't want Murray trading for somebody who has 4 years left on his deal unless it's for a tier 1 player - and that's not Malone.
I'd love to prise Marcus Johansson away from Washington by taking some salary back from them with maybe Troy Brouwer or Eric Fehr, but I can't see washington letting him go.
The problem with trading with a team in salary cap trouble is the number of 1 way forwards we already have signed, we'd have to ship out people to get back people and that's less attractive to teams against the cap.
Agreed, and if Condra and Greening can get 1 ways, Butler definitely deserves it as well. Hopefully they can works something out.
I'm starting to think I wouldn't mind if Winchester was sent somewhere, I still want to give Regin 1 more year to try and prove himself as last year's sophomore slump is not that abnormal.
With the 1 year deal they gave Semin last year, I get the feeling the plan is to trade him at the deadline if it's not going as well as they hoped. For some reason I just don't see them parting with Alzner or Brouwer, and there aren't many other players on that team with salary that are movable and worthwhile to help their cap situation. Maybe Wideman, but I think they want to keep their good Dmen.
His contract and he seems like a loner goal scorer, not really wow meshing with anyone puts him on the block.
Of course that makes those players better trade candidates, especially at the deadline with their contract situation. I don't see Regin and Foligno both being here next year.
they just traded for and signed brower so i highly doubt they trade him, maybe we take one of their unwanted contracts plus their first from colorado hahahah i can wish
Can always count on you to have the Twitter info up here quick! McKenna will be the back up in Bingo next season.
I like to think of twitter as my real job while I'm at work
Would you not value him more than Winchester?
or given that we already have 3 players all who play the same role, Z Smith, Konopka, and Neil, aren't one of them expendable?
and we cannot fill our top 6, of which only 3 are legit, Spezza, Alfie, and maybe Michalek, and a hope and a prayer that Foligno, Regin or Butler can lift their game. As of today Shannon is better then all three of them.
There must be something brewing, because we are way to heavy on the bottom 2 lines, and way to light on the top 2, IMO of course
Like appetizers?
Shannon 27pts in 79 games
Butler 21pts in 36 games
Foligno 34pts in 82 games
Regin 17pts in 55 games
I dont agree he was better than Foligno or Butler, who are both much younger and have greater potential. He was better than Regin in every way, if I could I would have kept Shannon over Regin (total failure!).
See Rush, without the rating system it makes it much harder for me to show you how much I appreciate your wit.
points alone do not tell the big picture.
when given top 6 minutes at the end of the year he was better then all of them.
Again my point is we have about 10 players that should play bottom 6 min, and only 3 that are legit top 6.
IMO get rid of some of the bottom 6, and keep the one that could play in the top 6... something is brewing!
Oops even left out Foligno.
Our top 6 actually looks better than I thought it would, we're really only missing a 2nd line center, so I could see Murray make a play for that, but I don't think Murray is shopping anymore, I think he'll take calls and if something out there improves his roster, he does it, if not then it'll be fun for everyone at camp.
What happened to Brust? I know the Sens have basically cut ties with Brodeur... but will the fans be unhappy in Bingo if Brust is not back? Or is it Brust does not want to play second fiddle to Lehner?
everyone can see that our top 6 is thin, especially Leaf fans on the TSN comment pages. But I can assure you that Murray is not going to trade for another top 6 forward. We DO have players that can play in the top 6... but they just aren't ready to play in the NHL yet. With these guys waiting in the wings added to the fact that we aren't expected to compete this year, Murray won't give anything away for a temp plug on the second line
I just can't imagine anyone taking a handful of our bottom six guys in exchange for anyone worth having.
and a hope and a prayer that Foligno, Regin or Butler can lift their game. As of today Shannon is better then all three of them.
The point is though we aren't making deals for today we are making deals for the season after next. I liked Shannon but I doubt he's going to be much better than he was this season. Regin and Foligno have a much higher ceiling and they both have a year left on their current deals to try and convince Murray that they are worth a contract for 2012/13.
I wouldn't want Shannon taking a spot away from Condra, Butler or Greening. Those guys might not have a long term future with this club but we don't know that for sure. What is more certain is that Shannon didn't.
I'd also guess that Regin may be the one most likely to move, as opposed to Winchester, whom everyone seems to be as good as gone.
I'd be amazed if they moved Foligno, he's just such a great plug and play type on any line and still has a decent amount of untapped upside. Hopefully if either goes it's Regin.
Shannon isn't a top 6 player, it made sense to let him go with our depth.
It's not like the Leafs are loaded up in their top 6 either... they have no right to troll.
I think it just depends on what we'd get back. If we can package one of those guys with an "extra" D prospect or something and get a legit upgrade back then that's what will happen. But I just don't see any deals out there that fit that description. Washington isn't going to give us Fehr for Foligno and Gryba.
Exactly my thoughts on Shannon too!
Do you think Regin has higher ceiling then Foligno?
We shouldn't want Fehr for Foligno and Gryba anyways. That's a raping of a deal!
Yeah thought that after I posted as well - but basically just and example that I don't see any NHL11-type deals happening where you just keep lumping on guys like Winchester, Smith and older AHLers with low ceilings until the team accepts the trade for their top 3 guy.
Personally Foligno gets off too easy by the media and fans for me. The guy was drafted in the hey-day of the soft-sens era and he was suppose to go get dirty goals. He tries to be too fancy for my liking and I think he's taken over the too nice and goofy mantle from Spezza. I want some more meanest from the guy, more of a pain in an ass to play against which is what I thought he would be.
Other than his performance in the playoffs two years ago, he has been pretty invisible when he was on the ice. I think Kovalev's "work ethics" rubbed off on him. Foligno goes out almost every game and works for the puck. I think that's why a lot of people would rather have Regin traded instead of Foligno.
Agreed. Didn't it bother anyone else that Foligno always looked on the brighter side of things during this past season? Gord Wilson commented (on multiple occasions) that he would've liked Foligno to get angry for once.
Sandy I know you hate the Leafs but give credit where credit is due, they had four 30 goal scorers in their top 6. Was it a fluke, maybe, will they do it again, probably yes. I know people here dispise the Leafs but they were a better team than us and as of NOW, they still do, we cant say we even have two 30 goal scorers.
I dont mind the Leafs, I hated them when it was Roberts and Tucker, Domi, Thomas and all those bums but now that they started the youth movement, they are or atleast were much more exciting to watch than the SENS last year. Hopefully our kids can duplicate that.
Wow Johne, what the hell dude, Regin is 25, hasnt shown an ounce of top 6 talent, what made you like this guy so much.
He hasnt shown anything to merit a top 6 role. Especially not 2nd line centre.
Ya I agree, no 5 bums for a top 3 player coming our way, it would definitely take our top 6 caliber prospects, but Fehr is a marginal player imo, I see him more as a 3rd liner.
I dont base our success of bad movies, our top 6 is pretty unproven and injury prone. Im stil sticking by my prediction that we are a bottom 5 team this year.
And hopefully we make a serious pitch at getting Yakupov.
Can you imagine having Ovechkin 2.0 in Ottawa!!
ditto! down with the multipage comments hahha.
We have him, his name is Filatov lol ... remember when he was projected in that way. How time changes everything!
For the first time in about 10 yrs (?) they finished ahead of the Sens in the standings. That's 6 wins more than the Sens. Considering what Ottawa had in goal from Oct - Feb.. I'm surprised it was not more points really. I wonder if Anderson would have been in nets the whole season.. what the difference would have been.
Well the league gave them a leg up on the Sens this year for sure. All 6 games between the two are back to back games for Ottawa.
Divisional games are big... and this one puts the Sens behind.
Hopefully the sens will do that this year and we are fortunate that we are starting from a stronger position than the leafs started from 2 or 3 years ago.
So whilst the leafs are still only on the verge of competing for a playoff spot, I think the sens in 2 or 3 years will firmly be back in the playoffs.
Anyone who can't see that the leafs were better than us last year needs to watch the game with both eyes and not just the one eye most of us fans like to use when we look at our own teams.
I just noticed this after thinking nobody had commented in two hours. LOL
Filatov wasnt projected as a lock on 1st overall a year in advance!
My point was it was only 6 wins different... with Elliott in goal and the loss of Spezza (Sens had 1 win in 17 games without Spezza)... that to me made most of the difference.
But it was 1 yr in the last 7 or so they were better... no big deal.
Crazy how Parrish was once a 30 goal-scorer (and, as I remember, a dark horse pick up in a lot of people's hockey pools). I don't expect he'll see many games with the Sens. Rekindling a scoring touch after so long isn't very plausible.
I think he wont like getting pounded each game and will slowly start to fade away, just my opinion. In the Dev camp he took a "train track" hit from Rundblad and wasnt the same after. Just sayin.
Filatov wasnt projected as a lock on 1st overall a year in advance!
Oh you mean like Couturier was at this time last year? Maybe I've missed it, but the hype around him does not seem as big as it was for Crosby, Ovechkin or even Tavares.
I agree, he could definitely use a little more bulk and I'm not as high on him as some, I just think he's a great roll of the dice at the price.
Well yeah take away our best players and thats what you get but that is hockey, you have injuries and you cant use it as an excuse. We have injury prone players, the Leafs dont, take Kessel for example, guy comes back from cancer and plays without a setup man and you know he will get 30 goals, its a given.
I just hope one of our guys can turn out to be a 30 goal scorer, we need one badly....or two!
That I cannot disagree with, was a nice pick up by Murray for sure. Even if he fails, it wont alter our rebuild much.
Actually Tookie if you have some good links or articles regarding next year's draft class you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd be interest to start informing myself more during this quiet time for the NHL.
So they are negotiating for a better contract, but if they can't come to an agreement, he'll just say "Oh well, screw it" and sign a lesser deal. Hmmmmm....
And Washington got Danick Paquette.
Also, saying having three of Z.Smith, Konopka and Neil on the three teams is having having three players playing the same role, ha. Oh my.
That's too bad.
I feel the same way, he was a great guy to have and really seemed worthy of being one of the first callups if/when injuries hit.
no... but Angelo Esposito was. And so was Alexandre Daigle. How'd they turn out?
And by the way, the Leafs had 2 30 goal scorers last year, not 4. I'll admit that they have some decent talent on their team, but I will continue to have ZERO respect for them until they do two things.
1. take off their rose tinted glasses and accept the harsh reality that they have the worst coach in the entire league.
2. stop overhauling the roster every year with flash in the pan trades (Liles, Phaneuf, Giguere) and stop trading away draft picks like they're cancerous.
I'll admit they were more exciting to watch than Ottawa last year, but that's not exactly an honorable distinction. To me, there is no evidence that there is any sort of plan like in Ottawa, Edmonton or LA a couple of years ago.
(That sucks.)
Someone with some size?
Murray "missed out" on every player you ever mentioned including but not limited to:
Erik cole
Andrew Ladd
Eric Fehr
Adam Lowry
Ben Eager
He still has a shot at Ryan Malone *Sarcasm*
He didn't miss shit. We don't need Fehr. We've got plenty of guys that might be better than he is in 2-3 years.
Murray needs add more size to this team up front I mean the Senators are going to be one of the smallest teams and I see allot of teams building like the Bruins adding size so Muray needs to add more size to the forward group because you don't win with a small forwards Murray needs to add someone with size
So yest Murray missed out on Fehr.
(That Sucks.)
Yeah that's what I meant...
How did he miss out on Andrew Ladd when he never made it to free agency? Did not Eric Cole get a 4 yr deal? Sens don't want to go that long on a contract with all the youth coming into the system. 2 yrs was probably the max Murray would go.
He wants to go with youth. Parrish is for Bingo not Ottawa. Why trade Kelly, Fisher, et al.. to just replace them with UFA's... it makes not sense for a re-build to do that.
Jason Spezza - 6'3" 215
Nick Foligno - 6'0" 209
Milan Michalek - 6'2" 225
Chris Neil - 6'1" 212
Colin Greening - 6'3" 211
Jesse Winchester - 6'1" 203
Zack Smith - 6'2" 210
Jim O'Brien - 6'3" 204
I see plenty of size there. Heck even Peter Regin is 6'2" 197.
Not to mention our younger guys:
Silfverberg 6'2" 190
Zibanejad 6'2" 195
Noesen 6'0" 187
Puempel 6'0" 198
I don't see the concern here???
Also, unrelated, there's a new Ottawa Ghost video about the Heatley trade. Enjoy. (and sorry if this has already been posted)
http://youtu.be/OPloK_uo3vU
He wants to go with youth. Parrish is for Bingo not Ottawa. Why trade Kelly, Fisher, et al.. to just replace them with UFA's... it makes not sense for a re-build to do that.
I was being sarcastic...
The people I named are players Spezzafan19 always wants Murray to get.
I'll be more precise with my words and maybe post smiley faces next time :)
MM9 Butler Weinroch for Semin + wash 1st
Sign Semin long term
2012 2013 line up
Semin Spezza Alfredsson/Yakupov
Filatov Zibby Silfverberg
Puempel Greening Noesen
Kono Smith Neil
Jim O'Brien won't be making the Senators O'Brien will most likley play in Bingo next season and none of those players are 6'4 Murrray needs to get someone with some size someone who is 6'4.
I see concern here!!!
Murray should have traded for Eric Fehr.
Our team will be much more exciting to watch next season.
Sure, we will not be a top contender, but we will be rebuilding, and Murray has to be congratulated for his vision, and excellent scouts, who work hard to find the right players.
We may not make the playoffs next year, but we will win more games, and improve our overall product on the ice !
GO SENS GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!
a big guy can hurt you we have seen Sutton give some crushing hits, having your head up is more important to slip around the hits.
We need to be tough I agree but not a goon squad, thats more of a leaf trait.
I don't need to explain where that has gotten them.
They are a pain in the ass to play but no elite team there.
Oh and for everyone speculating NO Ottawa doesn't have to make a trade. Most NHL teams have one or two extra bodies around at the forward position. It also helps the team deal with the injury bug as almost always one or two guys will be banged up. It's called creating healthy competition for work and having a little NHL depth. We had an extra guy or two all of last year if you somehow don't recall that.
with the big guys.He ask Murray if he could squatt around at scotia bank.
I also agree with tyrant that a trade is imminent.
michalek wiercioch foligno for parise's rights
Couldn't agree more. Ask a shifty player if their size hinders their ability to play hockey.
What you're looking for is their strength and how mobile they are.
Anybody remember Scott Stevens? Six foot one, 215lbs. Not a huge guy, but you can't show me a better hitter.
It's called being done and adding some depth in Bingo.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
Ps - I think Neil has to go.. Too many bodies and he has value.
From the Blackhawks I would like to see
Murray trade for one of Kyle Beech or
Bryan Bickel.
Not sure but the Sens are actually over the floor by about $4M once they sign Butler.
And we've got 13 forwards - unless Da Costa or someone else really surprises and forces their way onto the team.
Neil (along with Phillips, Alfie and Spezza) is part of the veteran core we're rebuilding around. He ain't going anywhere.
Good on him. He will really be trying for a spot on this team. If he does make it... does this signal the end for Regin?
Regin is likely the most at risk (or if Murray can clear out a D maybe we carry 14 forwards??).
Though I assume it's more about what kind of return Murray can get for Regin, Foligo or maybe Michalek. Barring an NHL11 bottom-6 for top-6 kind of trade I don't see anyone else being moved.
I think the only major penalty for not reaching the cap floor is that you are not eligable to benefit from ... I forget the term but its when the bottom 5 teams get money from the rest of the league. If you don't reach the floor you can't get any of that money. The senators however will be over the cap floor since most "cap" info sites don't list filatov, rundblad and da costa's nhl salaries on them.
C-Mac
I have noticed a lot of people have been putting Michalek in their trade proposals too which is crazy. I think if Murray wanted to trade him he could in a heartbeat and he'd have a line-up to aquire a guy who plays short handed and one on one like 9MM does. Murray will never trade him now that Heatley is out of SJ so that he'll appear to have won that deal. Remember 9MM haters that just because he doesnt play well with Spezza doesnt mean he's expendable, if we EVER get a 2nd line center with some speed and grit he'll be a perfect fit for Michalek.
C-Mac
I have noticed a lot of people have been putting Michalek in their trade proposals too which is crazy. I think if Murray wanted to trade him he could in a heartbeat and he'd have a line-up to aquire a guy who plays short handed and one on one like 9MM does. Murray will never trade him now that Heatley is out of SJ so that he'll appear to have won that deal. Remember 9MM haters that just because he doesnt play well with Spezza doesnt mean he's expendable, if we EVER get a 2nd line center with some speed and grit he'll be a perfect fit for Michalek.
C-Mac
Would either of them qualify as a splash?
hes gone from talking sens , to derek jeter and hot dog competitions , i feel sorry that i wasted 5 minutes of my life reading those , thats 5 minutes of pure garbage that ill never get back
on the sens front i really hope we can move a body or 2 before season starts jhust so we can rotate call ups to try out a couple games here and there
also sketchy is the fact butler isnt signed yet , like get on it murray....reall y happy with our gm lately tho and dont think this is going to be a 5 year rebuild
also hope we keep daugavins around, anyways folks off to catch some smallies
from vancouver islands biggest sens fan :GO SENS GO!!!
No! There is nobody else that I want to see Murray trade for off of the Blackhawks.
In terms of the Senators making a big deal before the end of summer I just don't see it happening. It doesn't really make sense unless it's a slam dunk trade and who's really going to offer the team that kind of sweetheart deal? The Murray's have been very clear that the direction is rebuild and that doesn't mean selling off tons of young assets for a star aged 25-27. It just doesn't fit with the timeline for when the rest of the team will develop. It's hard to say that the Sens are better on paper than really any team in the NHL right now. Just be glad we don't project to be a middle of the pack team forever like Toronto.
my team wont accept being mediocre for 5 years, in the hockey rich town of ottawa , ppl demand results and our scouts make shit happen
I think that Murray is done for this summer Murray is probally not going make any more moves this summer.
I mean next summer I know that Murray likes Penner allot and Murray tryed to trade Heatley to Edmonton and the package included included Dustin Penner so does anybody think that will try to sign Penner because Penner most likely will become a free agent next summer?
There is no doubt that if Penner is available on July 1 2012 that Murray will be interested in him. If he's highly sought after and his price is driven up, that won't make sense to sign him. The same could be said about Andrew Cogliano if his arbitration does not go well and EDM walks away this season.
C-Mac
I see the Sens & the Leafs going hard after Penner IF he has a better season. Question is... who would he pick?
I chose Zibanejad, so at least I'm entered. I think my odds are halfway decent, since a lot of people were sure we were going with Strome or Couturier.
I thought, wow...so much for the rebuild!
Crazy what your mind will do to you...I guess that's what a weekend at the cottage will do to you without internet access.
Unless something goes awfully wrong during arbitration, we can rest assured, that Parise will remain a key member of
the New Jersey Devils, for a long time!