Gonna be hard to can Murray after this pickup.

Heard this was going to get done a little ahead of time so I had time to add the French touch haha.

2 year deal.

Can't wait to see this kid play, hopefully first game will look like Condra's first game. I'm assuming he won't play tonight?

@383

http://www.hockeywilderness.com/2011/3/30/2080043/wild-interested-in-stephane-da-costa

check that out, hes a center

http://twitter.com/MikeMcMahonET - Source says Stephane Da Costa will make his NHL debut Saturday against Toronto

Alright, people we need some Parisian-themed nick names. Wikipedia tells me there are very few French NHLers. Huet's the only name I recognized.

Quoting THEBLACKTERROR:

Good depth add Mr. Murray, well done.

Say what you want about Murray but his recruiting and drafting are top notch. They just ahve to find another guy to deal with the free agents.

ATrain,

its not parisian themed, but how about stephan deCostco

at costco, you get a lot without giving up too much...

http://twitter.com/ESPN_Burnside - Good for Sens scout Lew Mongelluzzo helping to land Da Costa. Recall Ducks rode college free agents Kunitz, McDonald, Penner to Cup in '07.

Quoting Hands of Stone:

Quoting THEBLACKTERROR:

Good depth add Mr. Murray, well done.

Say what you want about Murray but his recruiting and drafting are top notch. They just ahve to find another guy to deal with the free agents.

Considering the DaCostco signing, and the top 5 pick.. I hope they just skip the free agent market this year. no reason to fill spots with outsiders.

http://twitter.com/RealKyper - Next phenom. 6'3 D-man Aaron Ekblad granted acceptional player #OHL status. He follows Spezza/Tavares. Orr only other 15 yr old D to do it.

Quoting Johne:

http://twitter.com/RealKyper - Next phenom. 6'3 D-man Aaron Ekblad granted acceptional player #OHL status. He follows Spezza/Tavares. Orr only other 15 yr old D to do it.

Just don't tell Tyrant, he'll want us to lose until we get this kid ;)

Oh yeah I'm happy to ear that !

J'espere qu'il nous aidera à enfiler le dernier clou dans le cercueil des Leafs

Im french so it's easy haha

Quoting A Train:

How much does the Costco signing impact the draft? You have to think it lessens the need to pick a centre. An argument for Landeskog?

Nah, I don't think so. You can never have too many talented centers, those are the guys that win cups.

Plus, most offensive minded centermen at the junior level can easily shift to wing, because scoring is what they do best. In most cases, They're at center only because they're the most skilled playmaker on their team in junior. A guy like Ryan Strome would translate his skills easily to the wing. Huberdeau already has in the Q, he's been a W almost all year - worked out pretty good for him.

I don't think Lando is a guy we'll be taking unless RNH, Strome, and maybe even Huberdeau are gone when we pick.

Fantastic news. The plan is working.

I think Da Costa is a playmaker with a solid shot, not sure if we should be converting him to wing. I think he stays a center.

Agree with Rhino.

Quoting Senator Stanley:

Chirp, What will he bring to Ottawa? What are the Sens hoping to get out of him? I don't know anything about the kid.

Like someone said above, if he hits his ceiling, he is a playmaking second-line centre. Terrific offensive abilities and a guy that needs top 6/power play minutes to be successful.

This is essentially a one year contract. Low risk, high reward type move.

Agree with Hands of Stone. Free agent pick-ups is not BM's strength. Drafting, college signings are where he shines.

Quoting A Train:

How much does the Costco signing impact the draft? You have to think it lessens the need to pick a centre. An argument for Landeskog?

I think this is an argument for Landeskog. De Costa isn't very big or physical so a power forward type like Landeskog makes even more sense now. It's all about balance.

I thought you had to play a certain amount of games before burning a year of the contract?

Good pick up, these undrafted college kids are great pickups since it only costs you the money to try them out. No wasted pick or trade.

Quoting aligator:

Have you considered that some of these FA pick-ups may have been Melnyk's idea.

Kovalev was Melnyk's idea..... this was not. Learn the difference.

Melnyk doesnt know the talent side of the business, want proof? he is the one who brough Kovalev here, why? well for business purposes of course, to put asses in seats, which it did, until people finally got fed up with AK-dudalev. Melnyk is a great business man.

Murray is the brains of the draft and college pick ups!

If he bunrs a year, after 1 year, is De Costa a RFA, UFA or Ottawa property? Is there a max on his contract then? Curious.

sp "burns". i.e. whats his status July 1,2012 if he plays remainder of this year?

HoloCosta!

Ok not so great...

Quoting conor smythe:

Good point johne

Murray INVENTED university signings.. (much like I invented keeping it real)

.. no need for melnyk on this one (or any other one.. I wish the guy would just shut up to be honest)

Predictions for next years training camp:

- in a phone interview from the bahamas, Melnyk will once again (despite the fact we are rebuilding) predict that the Senators are a contender to go deep into the playoffs


I must be psychic

put on your seat belt!

Da Costa's english is pretty good in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIENq2-_-aY

someone left this comment on the video

Welcome to the Ottawa Senators.

terrorofterrors 1 week ago

psychic?!

De Costa I am hearing will not be in the lineup vs Flordia tonight, but will join the team tomorrow and is almost a lock for making his debut vs the Leafs. The player expected going back to Binghamton would be either Bobby Butler, Erik Condra, or Colin Greening. Either way the player going back will be gearing up for the playoffs in Binghamton and will be joined by others come playoff time.

Ok, someone or many guys will not be back next year if Murray continuously signs free agents out of college. 2 years? So does he start immediately or play in his final year? Mark Stone? That kid they signed not too long ago from the WHL's Medicine Hat? Line combos?

Why waste 1 year of the deal on 6 or less games???

So your not stuck with him if he blows it next year.

Quoting Johne:

I think Da Costa is a playmaker with a solid shot, not sure if we should be converting him to wing. I think he stays a center.

I didn't say to convert him to wing, bro - I said it would be easy to convert a Ryan Strome or Jonathan Huberdeau to wing rather than a guy who clearly belongs in the C slot like this.

Quoting Craig Anderson:

Da Costa's english is pretty good in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIENq2-_-aY

someone left this comment on the video

Welcome to the Ottawa Senators.

terrorofterrors 1 week ago

psychic?!

I can honestly claim responsibility for that youtube comment, I was acting on a hunch, nothing more. Maybe I'm psychic, but it just made sense to me that he would want to be in Ottawa.

The Terror is everywhere, respect the Terror. ;)

Quoting WeAreSensFans!:

Why waste 1 year of the deal on 6 or less games???

Those are the rules in the CBA, players signing out of NCAA playing a single game uses a year on their contract.

I'm guessing, part of the reason why he signed here was to get some NHL games in before the end of the season. Teams that couldn't do it were probably not high on his list.

Bottom line, he doesn't get those games, he's probably not coming to Ottawa.

So he goes to RFA at the end of next season. It's not hard to retain RFA's, so if he succeeds he gets a decent contract and we all move on.

Quoting Craig Anderson:

Quoting aligator:

Have you considered that some of these FA pick-ups may have been Melnyk's idea.

Kovalev was Melnyk's idea..... this was not. Learn the difference.

If you will look back my comment was an answer to someone criticizing poor Fa signings in the past. Learn to read.

Quoting Fish:

I thought you had to play a certain amount of games before burning a year of the contract?

There are a whole lot of things at play here that are easily confused:

1. The length of eligibility under the Entry Level System (ELS) depends on your age when you sign your first contract. Da Costa being 21 (he turns 22 in July), he will be restricted for 3 seasons.
2. The 10 game in one season loop-hole is only applicable to junior-eligible 18 & 19 year olds, allowing teams to push that 3-year clock on restricted status by a year.
3. wrt the contract, if a player plays one game, they burn a year of their contract. If when the contract expires, & the player is still part of the ELS, then there are still restrictions on how much they can be compensated and their FA status is restricted.
4. Being that Da Costa will play less than 25 games this season, he will still be eligible for the Calder next year

Quoting aligator:

Have you considered that some of these FA pick-ups may have been Melnyk's idea.

The bad moves are always Melnyk's fault. The good moves are all Bryan Murray.

Everyone knows this.

Quoting THEBLACKTERROR:

Quoting WeAreSensFans!:

Why waste 1 year of the deal on 6 or less games???

Those are the rules in the CBA, players signing out of NCAA playing a single game uses a year on their contract.

I'm guessing, part of the reason why he signed here was to get some NHL games in before the end of the season. Teams that couldn't do it were probably not high on his list.

Bottom line, he doesn't get those games, he's probably not coming to Ottawa.

So he goes to RFA at the end of next season. It's not hard to retain RFA's, so if he succeeds he gets a decent contract and we all move on.

Even Junior players burn a year of their contract if they play 1 game. They just don't burn a year of eligibility under the Entry Level System if they are still 18 or 19.

Quoting Craig Anderson:

Quoting aligator:

Quoting Craig Anderson:

Quoting aligator:

Have you considered that some of these FA pick-ups may have been Melnyk's idea.

Kovalev was Melnyk's idea..... this was not. Learn the difference.

If you will look back my comment was an answer to someone criticizing poor Fa signings in the past. Learn to read.

Learn to quote.

It is obvious which quote mine referred to as it was the one immediately above. You jumped the gun and were out of line imo

Quoting Frootmig:

Even Junior players burn a year of their contract if they play 1 game. They just don't burn a year of eligibility under the Entry Level System if they are still 18 or 19.

Come to think of it, you don't even need to play a game to burn a year off your contract. You'll get any signing bonuses, but if you don't play, you don't get your salary. So an 18 year old who signs a 3-year deal then plays 2 more sesons in Junior will still need a new contract 3 years after he originally signed the deal, but the team has only payed for one year of NHL service (excluding "just breathing" type bonuses).

Just want to say about the nickname garbage. nicknames are usually made after he proves him self and he will be rewarded with a name that suits his play. since Da Costa is kind of long to type out. i say we officially start relating to him as SDC (stephane da costa)

A REMINDER!!! (Still time to enter!)

Photoshop/photo contest. Looking for submissions that incorporate both SensChirp and Wiser's/The Wiserhood. These can be photoshopped images or actual pictures. Either one works.

No real rules on submissions but I encourage you to be as creative as possible.

Send your photo or photoshopped image to senschirphotmail.com. I'll review all submissions and select a winner. You must be legal drinking age to enter. The cut off for submissions is 10:00 PM on March 31 with the winner notified by email on Friday.

I happen to be going to the game this Saturday... just makes it more interesting. Now if we could only get rid of those bloody, drunken, obnoxious Leaf fans then it would be much better.

With Da Costa & previous Wacey Hamilton that's like 2 extra picks this year... to go along with the 12 Sens already have.

Question is -- who on the team now becomes redundant. Not saying Da Costa makes the team right away.. he probably will need some AHL experience.. but this does put an interesting spin on who the Sens could add to the Nashville 1st round pick they have to move up in the draft?

Wow where are all those Murray haters? I was defending Murray all along because he knows whats he's doing. Might not be the best "trader" of all time but he is known to be one of the best re builders in the NHL now. I don't know if he will be the GM next year or not but one thing is sure! Keep him around!

Quoting fisher12fan:

Wow where are all those Murray haters? I was defending Murray all along because he knows whats he's doing. Might not be the best "trader" of all time but he is known to be one of the best re builders in the NHL now. I don't know if he will be the GM next year or not but one thing is sure! Keep him around!

The Murray haters are still there and can make a fairly strong case. His mistakes have been high profile ones like Kovalev and Gonchar. That said, he has been quietly restocking this team along the way. That's why this doesn't have to be a 5 year rebuild.

One more year seems to make sense. Let him finish what he has going right now and then transition into a consultant role if that's what he wants.

Da Costa: "Ottawa is the best opportunity for me. A great fit. I heard a lot of good things about city and organization. A great fit."

Quoting SensChirp:

Quoting SNOOPY SENIOR:

Very pleased that Da Costa chose the Senators.

But there is a game in Florida tonight, and wondering when you will post the Game Day thread ??

Wanted to hold off on that a little bit. This is the big news of the day. Will put something up a little closer to game time.

OK,

Thanks Chirp !!

@Chirp

This might be worthwhile for driving traffic to your site and alerting people when new posts are up (even tho we all just refresh nonstop anyways) :)

http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-tutorials/joomla-twitter-facebook/

You've already got the RSS feeds going, so you can skip all that stuff at the top.

I was a huge BM hater at the beginning of the year, but that was before this rebuild began. I love everything he has done from the Fisher trade right up to this Da Costa signing. I think with Murray we're best to take it one year at a time. I hope he keeps the ball rolling and somehow moves out a couple more bad contracts...Gon char, Kuba.. I'm looking at you...

The future is bright in Ottawa guys. There's a lot of reasons to be excited about this team.

I'm all for canning Murray in 2-3 years when the UFAs need to be signed, but he's done a really good job so far for tearing a team down and it still remaining competitive.

@meadowdog

You have to give BM some credit, every other GM had the same offer on the table, BM did some sort of sell job on Da Costa or it wouldn't have swayed from Minn being the favorite to Ottawa in less than 24 hours.

Quoting AlfieforMayor11:

Quoting Tookie19:

Rumours from a really credible "source" has Foligno as a possible name to package with the NSH pick. Regin is the other name.

They're both easily replaceable players. Definitely not for giving them away but I wouldn't be against a good deal involving either or both players.

Wouldn't surprise me. Wiercioch could be a trade chip also.

Quoting VerTig0:

Nice signing!! Now, if we really wanna impress, lets go after Philip-Michael Devos from the Gatineau Olympiques... This 20 yo centre was never drafted, yet he finished first in all LHJMQ and many consider him a late bloomer who can really play at the NHL level. This singing would surely give even more depth to the Sens rebuild, and also reach the Gatineau fanbase, wich they have failed to do in past years... What do you think????

Problem is most guys who don't impress until 20 yrs old aren't sh** and are using their age and physical maturity as a huge advantage over the 16-17yo's they're playing, especially in a smaller league like the Q. Look at Mike Hoffman, he was a league leader at both 19 AND 20, and he's just barely seeing any success in Bingo.

This guy isn't worth much of a look other than to fill a spot in Bingo.

Chirp, is there anything new to report on Alfie? is there a chance we could see him on saturday?

I'm with Meadowdog on this, I'm not gonna say this is Brian Murrays crowning achievement, to me it was almost a no-brainer for De Costa to come here, we offered him a max contract, a role on the team he can feel good about, he's just watched Bobby Butler play a crucial role for us lately, and on top of all that he's FRENCH! Ottawa has a huge francophone community for him to interact with, and it's a lovely city to boot.

Very excited for this guy, his history makes it possible that he's that one in a 100,000 gem that the scouts don't find these days before he makes it into the league.

His numbers are phenomenal for a 21 yr old in the NCAA, VERY similar to what Martin St Louis did in that league way back from '93-'97...

But I must not get carried away...Big game tonight in the lottery race!

Oh this is far from BMs crowing achievement, but look at what he has done outside of FA signings and I think he deserves at least a B+.

I think Strome is likely our 1st pick, just need to find another Skinner in the draft thats worth trading up for.

I really hope we lose tonight so that winning vs the leafs won't be a bad thing

Great job by BM picking up a guy in a zero risk high reward situation. Looking forward to seeing what he can do the rest of this year in the NHL. I would be very surprised if he comes in and makes a big impact right away, and would think he'll at least start next year in Bingo. I heard on the radio that they aren't sure he'll be able to play center full-time at the NHL level at only 5'11 180 lbs or so, so they expect he might be tried on the wing at the pro level.
Just throwing out a name I'd love to see the sens take with their Nashville mid-late 1st rounder, Boone Jenner of the Oshawa Generals. Saw him play a couple times this year, solid 2-way heart and soul guy with some offensive upside. Sort of a poor mans Mike Richards.

Excellent News! Once again shows how great a recruiter The Brain is.

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and I'd really like to see Murry behind the bench again coaching the Sens. Hands down, he's been my favorite Head Coach of them all.

When the Sens eventually win the cup, 2011 will be looked back on as The Year.

Now LOSE to Florida .... !

Anyone with any info as to whether Sens are in on any other NCAA FA's.

This sounds alot like Ottawa the past couple of years

http://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec - Painful times ahead in Calgary? Very few prospects, 1 pick in Top 100 this June, old team, capped out. Hard to see a way out. Rebuild?

Quoting conor smythe:

Krod

where did you see he is Half Portugese? The name dacosta is definitely latin, but I see him listed as Polish/French

From hfboards

He is from France but his father is Portuguese and his mother is Pole, he played as a kid/junior in both France and Poland...

Funny how a few wins, a goalie swap, and a free agent signing have changed many ppls opinions of Murray. It was just 2 months ago that ppl wanted his head and now all is rosey in sens nation. I for one have always liked him as the manager and I hope Melnyk keeps him around.

Bonjour Le Da Costa!

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/140820

Quoting SensChirp:

Quoting SNOOPY SENIOR:

Very pleased that Da Costa chose the Senators.

But there is a game in Florida tonight, and wondering when you will post the Game Day thread ??

Wanted to hold off on that a little bit. This is the big news of the day. Will put something up a little closer to game time.

Most important game of the year.

Quoting Johne:

I'm all for canning Murray in 2-3 years when the UFAs need to be signed, but he's done a really good job so far for tearing a team down and it still remaining competitive.

@meadowdog

You have to give BM some credit, every other GM had the same offer on the table, BM did some sort of sell job on Da Costa or it wouldn't have swayed from Minn being the favorite to Ottawa in less than 24 hours.

Maybe Bobby Butler had something to do with it as well?

maybe he can't play for Bingo? is there an elibility thing like Cowen?