It will be a busy week around the league and the action should pick up around the Ottawa Senators too.
With the NHL Awards on Wednesday and the Draft on Friday in Pittsburgh, we can expect the announcements to start flooding in. Murray has made it known that he likes to get a lot of things done around draft and this year should be no different.
Rick Nash remains the most talked about name around the National Hockey League with some suggesting it could take two rosters players and two prospects to get a deal done. If that's the case, the Sens may be wise to sit this one out.
It really sounds like the Rangers are far more desperate to make a move and have to be considered the favourite at this point.
It could also be an interesting week in our predict Erik Karlsson's Contract Contest with negotiations expected to heat up mid-week. Both sides have indicated this should be a straightforward negotiation so there's a chance we hear an announcement as early as this week.
- A rumour that was sent my way yesterday indicated the Sens could have some interest in Hawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson. I can tell you that if the Hawks are indeed shopping Hjalmarsson, the Senators would definitely be one of the teams interested.
- With the busy week that lays ahead, I wanted to take some time to wish my Dad and all the other Dads out there a very Happy Father's Day.
Adding Hjalmarsson through a trade and a player like Jackman, Wideman, Brad Stuart, Carle or Allen in free agency would make our defense much stronger than it was this past season.
Definitely seems like it's going to be a busy offseason in the NHL though, can't wait!
I liked someones suggestion of Bowmeister yesterday. That would be an awesome paring. His speed, size and offensive vision would complement Karlsson very well.
However all that said, I still stick to trying to land Webber either this year or next.
As for Nash...you say 2 roster players and 2 prospects?? How about Michalek, Foligno, Puempel, Prince. That's an insane package and yes would def would a dent but also gives a chance for Zib and Silfv to get solid top 6 ice time. Otherwise they'll have a hard time getting legit minutes. I also think we would still come out a head if we make that trade.
He is the toughest centre the Sens have. Spezza & Turris are great 1 and 2 line centres.. but they have no grit. Smith has that...
It has to be for someone else.
I know you have to give up something to get something... but we can't hurt the team too much to do that..
Regardless, it will obviously cost us more than Smith to make that deal.
Chances to get a dman who would slot into our top 4 from day one and that are affordable don't come along too often.
Depends on what the "+" is, but I think the deal helps us if we don't give up any future top-6 to get Hjalmarsson.
that being said, the more i think of this trade, the more i am open to doing it. opening the 3C spot makes a solid spot for regin or zib to take or who knows maybe foligno.
i agree smithy is our most well rounded center with scoring, playmaking, toughness, defense. and that will not be easy to replace.
all teams look for the joel wards, bollands*, etc. for the POs but they are so rare. and i truely believe we have one in z.smith
Quick show of hands, how many would like NOT like to see Winchester resigned, and have Jimmy Obrien as our 4th line centre? I think when Winnie went down JOB filled the void just as well.
Yeah I think we should let go of Winnie. The concussion problems are a worry and we have enough bottom six type players. I think Jimmie O earned his spot in the NHL and I would like to see Konopka back. Z's value to the Sens really showed against the Rangers in the playoffs.
I didn't think Smithy was outstanding, but I thought he was decent in the PO's. I'm on the fence with Konopka as well, he was great. The only thing about resigning him is one more body to an already overcrowded bottom 6.
But the more and more I think about the prospect of not seeing Smithy in a Sens uniform next season kinda saddens me. I'm a fan of the team and would like to see the roster improve, but sometimes players grow on ya and you hate to see them go. There's not one Sens fan I know who doesn't love Z. Smith.
Oh well we'll see what happens.
I like both Zack & Foligno -- but I'd sooner see Zack stay.
He really didn't do much in the 2nd half of the year. Yes he has a grindy side to his game but as a 3rd line centre you also need to put up a bit of points. He was going through seriously long periods without a point, never mind a goal. He was very impressive his 1st year, AHL playoffs and beginning of this year. He definitely proved he can score. He just has to be more consistent.
I don't understand why people seem to feel like he's irriplaceable. There are so many guys out there that can play that role. For example. Chris kelly in my opinion is a better 3rd line centre then Smith will ever be(even though he doesn't have that "tough" element to his game). If you can use z.smith to aquire a top 4 defenceman then def do it. We have countless amount of players able and willing to play smith's role. And we still wouldn't lack any grit in our lineup
Chances are there will be one or even two bottom six forwards getting moved prior to the season starting. If we can somehow get a package together for a top 4 ddefenceman, I think that's a perfect situation
Smith's play went down after his concussion...
Smith kills penalties... Regin doesn't.
I hope he proves worthwhile because he has a lit of skill.
But as of right now there is a plethora of centres battling for two bottom six jobs and it's going to get interesting.
Really? It makes perfect sense to me. He's had shoulder problems, but when you can resign a player with as much skill as he has for 800k per year, I think you have to take that risk. He can play wing or centre too.
Man i cant wait for sens hockey already...
Agreed. He wasn't only playing bad. He was literally invisible. Yes he has grit but he didn't show it at all when we needed it most. I don't remember him once engaging in a battle with Prust or Callahan. His role is to lay the beats on those guys and he instead just crawled in a hole.
I personally think he came into this season with the mindset of having to produce more offence mostly because he was one of the go to guys in Bingo. He was way to focused on scoring. When you're a grindy 3rd line player, you can't focus on scoring. You need to focus on being physical. The offense will come on its own if you're not thinking about it all the time
Best news I've heard all day. Perfect #7, he is much better than he gets credit for.
He was pretty good the first half of that season. That concssion appeared to take a lot out of him.
Those Bingo guys played a lot of hockey the last 2 seasons... and it could have been the burn out factor as well. These are still young players and will go through rough times as well as good times.
I just like what Smith brings to the team. Yeah he is a bottom 6 player...
I think all of the young players will come back into next season with a hunger to get back to the playoffs. They were 1 goal away from moving on to the 2nd round..
I agree whenever I am having a bad day I think of him assaulting Boyle and only getting 1 game. It brings a smile to my face everytime.
Is the upcoming Rookie Tournament going to be in London Ontario??? I hope to God it is.
And boy am I glad Carks is potentially coming back. I honestly he's good enough to get regular ice time as a 5/6th.
look at volchenkov's stats, who has worse stats than hjalmarsson.. but since we have seen him play, you should know he is a great shutdown guy.
these are defensive Dmen, their stats dont show up every night.
hjalmarsson doesnt throw many hits, but when he does..i would not want to be on the receiving end of that hit.
found a funny ikea commercial staring niklas hjalmarsson as well as few highlights to show what he is capable of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRrs2OEgxp8
I'm not a fan of giving up Zach Smith, but then again I don't really think that move makes a ton of sense for either club. Chicago must be foaming at the mouth for one of our young goalie prospects and, logically, would pay handsomely for one of Bishop or Lehner.
A one for one swap for Hjalmarsson is a bit much, so we might be able to finagle a second rounder from them or even their late first. And with that pick take one of the goalies that we've been scouting so intently.
What about Bishop + a 3rd round pcik.
I think the Sens keep all 3 goalies until the trade deadline then one of Bishop or Lehner is gone then .
To think that the only reason we don't get Nash is because Murray isn't man enough to make it happen is incredibly short sighted.
My point however is that there is a tendency on here to forget that this is a real world operation and that not every free agent wants to play in Ottawa and that not every player with a NMC/NTC will waive it to come here. Players are people and people make choices. It's not easy to get deals done and if they don't happen it's not because Murray has dropped the ball which is what some people seem to believe.
It's the same scenario with cap space, just because we have the cap space it doesn't automatically follow that Melnyk has either the funds or the desire to use it all. He's already gone on record saying that he doesn't think we are going to be a cap limit team. Each team isn't given x number of dollars and told to go spend it, that money has to be found. It's real money.
I think Melnyk is likely to sanction a large increase in salary spending if he thinks it will help the team become a genuine contender again, but I don't think it's a slam dunk that he's going to give Murray a blank cheque.
I would rather trade Silfverberg or Regin but not Smith, funny how teams are not asking for them. This organization has all kinds of good small soft players they should trade way before Smith (Da Costa, Petersson, Pageau, Prince, Daugavins, Condra, Butler). I bet Murray trades a draft pick maybe even our 1st plus a prospect for Hjalmarsson instead. I thought Murray was looking for a defensive defenceman?
Silfverberg isn't even on the same level as Z Smith. Has tonnes of upside we haven't even seen yet. Why would you want to trade him?
Not a fan of moving Smith, many others have mentioned it as well. But I'm also not against it 100%. He's been inconsistent during his time in Ottawa, even though last year was his first 80+ game season. He'll go on a goal streak, then go cold. He'll get in a tussle, then go soft. It almost makes me wonder if he forgets his role from time to time. Either way, he's a player that should only continue to get better, which to me is the hardest part of moving him now. But, getting a guy like Hjalmarsson requires a move like that.
Great news about Carkner. I knew they would sign him, the question is for what. And will they finally give him a one way, or will he accept a two-way to help out his team. Regardless of what happens, he's a character guy that everyone in the room loves to have around. Great move by BM.
Can't wait to see what else happens leading up to the draft. It's getting exciting to wake up and check the sports new again. Bring it on!!!!
Around the 18 minute mark. Can anyone write up what he actually says related to the Sens?
http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=633528
The link didn't work, but I found another link that just says the Rangers are the big name on the Nash side, but the newest suiter in the Nash interest is Ottawa. That's all he really says.
Edit:
He also said Suter will test free agencey and rights won't be traded. The # 1 landing spot for Suter is the Red Wings. A former Detroit player says Suter was in the area looking at homes on Lake St. Claire.
Goalies updates. Several teams looking to upgrade, but Luongo wants a trade from Van. TO is hot on aquiring him, but don't count out Florida, as he still has a home there and his Wife is from that area.
If there was a year left on his contract, I could see testing Toronto. But between taxes, weather and playing in the biggest hockey market (biggest spotlight at least), it makes sense to pick Florida.
As for the Nash talk...he's probably getting the Ottawa push from here!
There is a still a lot available in that 3rd overall position. If the Oil got Subban, then they've just landed the D they've been looking for who's NHL ready and could go as far as still selecting a D with the 3rd overall. Or move that 3rd for another roster player (a little more seasoned) and a later round pick to someone in the 4th, 5th or 6th position and still select another D.
When you think about it, I don't remember a draft where a team with the 1st round pick had SO many options available to them where it actually made sense to trade. This is going to get interesting.
Agreed - we need to hope that the chance to play with Spezza is enough...
@SSimpsonHockey
@SensChirp @jrimercbj Jeff is very close with Bryan Murray. He has great insider info. @jrimercbj Great sources league wide.
You figure something has to give with their young forwards at some point.
Somebody somewhere is going to over pay big time for one of them (and I'm including the 1st pick in there).
There is one thing that Nash has never had in his career and that is a #1 centre to play with. Spezza has played with him at the Worlds, hopefully they got along well. Another selling point is Coach Mac. If what we hear is true, many players around the league told the Sens players how lucky they were to play in a system that allows you to play creative hockey.
This is a long shot and it will cost a few young players to get it done, but Rick Nash is worth going for. Acquiring Nash may even extend Alfie's career. Murray likes to make splashes especially at drafts, what better splash than acquiring Rick Nash.
Expect Daniel Alfredsson to speak to the media at some point in the next 48 hours when he's in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards.
Impossible for Alfie to avoid the media at the Awards. Seems to me if he was thinking about hanging 'em up, he would have addressed it before hand.
A media availability at the NHL Awards seems like an odd time to announce a retirement. Then again he could just maintain that he hasn't made a decision yet.
My thoughts too. I was kind of hoping that when pick 15 rolls around, Bettman walks to the stage and says we have a trade to announce.....
I don't get all these crazy rumors where teams would be willing to trade one of their biggest assets just to move up 2 or 3 spots in the draft. Don't get me wrong Yakupov is gunna be good, but I don't think he will be Malkin/Crosby/S tamkos good, so why would MOntreal want to trade their 3rd pick (huge prospect) and their cornerstone dman
Similar with Toronto and Gardiner (Schenn I could maybe see, but still seems stupid to me)
Edmonton should be looking to the mid pack teams. If I'm buffao what about Myers and the 12th for Edmonton 1st + 3rd round? That makes a little more sense to me
And on the topic of Lou... He would get eaten alive in Toronto. Wouldn't even last half the season. I think he'd fit in well with the Panthers though. Completely different team, and their squad looks promising.
Rick Nash will almost certainly be an overpayment.
The one name that sticks out to me and I have a feeling Sens are interested in, is Radek Faksa. I think he's a guy the Sens will pick if they don't change position, and he's still available at 15th. Who do you think they will target?
I thought Button's list was about how they will end up in their career rather than a mock draft deal.
I think if the sens stay at 15 they will be targeting Sebastian Collberg and Hampus Lindholm.
Although I also think that they are hoping Ceci drops to 15.
Evander Kane and Jay-Bo would be amazing off season pick ups
Kane Spezza Stone/Silfverberg
Michalek Turris Alfredsson
Greening Regin Zibenajed/Neil
Condra/Daug/o'brien/Winnie/Konopka Smith Neil
(Forth Line is really up in the air....)
Jay-BO, Karlsson, Cowen, Phillips, Gonchar and Aucion on defense (carkner as 6/7) (boro as first call-up)
Anderson clearly number for at least next year.
When it comes to Luongo the question here is what does he see as being the best option to maintain a #1 role. In Toronto they have nobody else waiting in the wings with star power, so harsh media and fans is his only concern. However in Florida, he'd be the starter with a young and VERY talented Jacob Markstrom reading to step in, just like Cory Schneider in Van. Does he want to go through that all over again?
Not saying this applies to E Kane (but seems it might to P Kane) but I think Murray is very cautious about acquiring any player who might be a distraction off the ice. After enduring Heatley and Emery (and whoever else in that clique was really partying too much - if anyone) I think that he's trying very hard to make sure all the players are hockey-first mentality. Not that Spezza didn't do his fair share of partying or that Karlsson doesn't still. Not looking for choirboys, just guys that know how to balance between getting in some fun but not so much that it hurts their play or the team.
All we know are rumors anyway so who really can say?
And even if Heatley and Emery were partying too much we did get to the SCF with them so it's not like you can't win with guys like that.
Just saying that I think Murray sees value in a team that gets along off the ice but keeps things in control - which is how I perceive the team we have now (which, of course, could be totally wrong - they might all be coke-heads for all I know).
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