Condra was one of a handful of call ups that made a great impression during his time with the big club. He picked up 11 points in 26 games with the Sens and looked like a player that is ready to make the jump to the NHL level.
Condra was a key piece in the team that won the Calder Cup down in Binghamton.
With this contract signed and out of the way, I would expect Murray will now shift his focus to getting Bobby Butler under contract. No problems are expected on that front either.
Erik Condra's deal is 600,000 in 2011-12 and $650,000 in 2012-13. AAV is $625,000. Bobby Butler will be next up for AGM Tim Murray.
Any word on the $$?
Forwards
Spezza
Alfredsson
Michalek
Regin
Condra
Greening
Z Smith
Neil
Winchester
Konopka
Defensemen
Phillips
Kuba
Gonchar
Lee
Carkner
and there you have it, not a whole lot of wiggle room.
There MUST be a trade coming.
If nothing else, this will at least be an exciting season to watch!
GO SENS GO!
You can add him however to the very long list of one way forwards.
You would think Murray will look into possible trades. We have way too many forwards, bottom 6 in particular.
Focus should now be a breadwinning top 6.
Filatov
Michalek
Foligno
C Depth
Spezza
Regin
Smith
Winchester
Da Costa
Greening
Right wing depth:
Butler
Alfredsson
Neil
Condra
No room for
(C) Zibanejad
(LW) Silfverberg
Yes, Johne, I'm very happy with this signing. Getting Butler under contract should be the last for the O-Sens I believe.
Is Murray going to make a trade? Who would be leaving?
Hopefully they also can get Daugavins & Benoit signed in Bingo. They need them down there this year.. since Keller is gone.
I'd rather build from within and give guys like Condra a genuine chance than getting some NHL journeyman.
With that being said, I still like the Konopka signing because he can actually win faceoffs. He's not just a goon.
I think both of them are underrated, but I don't know if they have any legitimate long term future in Ottawa, and if the emphasis is on playing time for the prospects (ie: Silfverberg) then there won't be room for both of them.
Then they'll go with Filatov, Michalek, Greening, and Smith down the LW. I know Smith is technically a centre, but as a 4th liner, I don't think it matters much.
If my longshot (Condra) plays 2nd line C then that opens up the possibility of Winchester playing 3rd line center.
I'm happy with leaving things the way they are, especially till camp and reevaluate then. I'm sure Melnyk is ok with paying someone with a
I don't think Condra is a centre.
I would really hate to see Foligno go. But IF Silfverberg is convinced to stay.... then one of Regin or Foligno is definitely going.
Spezza, Alfie, Michalek, Neil, Foligno, Regin, Greening, Winchester, Smith, Konopka, Condra, Filatov and Butler.
That's 13 guys. If Da Costa cracks the lineup or if any of the SEL guys are staying after all then Murray might have to make a move. Otherwise you start with those 13 and just don't let anyone gather dust in the press box. The bottom 6 guys can just rotate basically.
Now if Murray can clear out one of the extra D then that means we could even carry 14 forwards if we wanted to.
Gonchar, Kuba, Phillips, Karlsson, Lee, Carkner, Rundblad and Cowen makes 8.
BTW - Condra's signed at $625k according to Capgeek.
If not we are talking down the Tank race !!
This will be the case until we can find out a way to block future invasions haha.
Thanks for your understanding
I don't think that getting a vet guy for our top six is a good idea, and I'm very glad that Murray didn't throw some money at Arnott or similar players, so I'm also hoping he doesn't get anyone like that through trade. Trading for a roster player doesn't make sense period, because we have tons of one way contracts and a log jam at D.
These two guys are fringe top 6 players who could add some depth to a contending team. If they have a really good year, we might unload one of them at the deadline for a mid round pick (MAYBE a late second).
Thats how it should have been, can you bring back the edit and ratings features?
Have been thinking the same thing. If we can package two or more of our forwards for a legit top 6 that's great but I don't see how that could happen. Outside of Foligno and Regin there's nobody I'd want to give up (for what we'd get in return).
The only realistic option seems to be to move out a roster player for a pick/prospect.
The individual comment rating feature? I still see it in my comment section.
I hope Murray is considering a trade to get better talent. Because as of right now, this is an arguable weak roster.
Daniel Alfredsson (RW)
Erik Condra (RW)
Nick Foligno (C/LW)
Colin Greening (C/LW)
Zenon Konopka (C)
Milan Michalek (LW/RW)
Chris Neil (RW)
Peter Regin (C/LW)
Zack Smith (C)
Jason Spezza (C)
Jesse Winchester (C)
1-Way Contracts (5)
Sergei Gonchar (RD)
Filip Kuba (LD)
Chris Phillips (LD)
Brian Lee (LD/RD)
Matt Crakner (RD)
That's unavoidable in a rebuild. Sure, if he can somehow package Foligno, Regin and some bottom 6 talent for some top 6 stud who'll be with us for years then fine - but I don't see that happening.
Could Konopka be the 13th forward that would come into the lineup against tough teams... like Toronto, Boston & Philly?
It's never out of the question.
NO i dont believe so cause Maclean wanted Konopka plus top 5 in league in faceoffs he is worth more to the club then Winchester ..i think that 13th forward is Winnie
This lineup on the front end is weak. I'd like to see what it would take to grab Dubinsky or Callahan out of the NYR. TO a lesser extent Anisimov may be able to be had but he is not as desirable as the two previously mentioned.
Does anyone else think it would be a fun exercise to identify 10 players from around the league who are under contract who we all believe may be available and that will help out the Sens.
If we can somehow swing a guy who's going to be a legit building block for this team then do it of course - otherwise let the kids fight it out for the minutes.
LW C RW
Filatov Spezza Butler
Silverburg Ziby Alfie
Michalek Greening Condra
Foligno Konopka Neil
Hoffman Regin Petersson
Winchester
Da Costa
If we go without a trade did I miss anyone as far as possibles to make the team.
I heard on here Butler can do both wings as well as Michalek.
If Silverburg is going back to Sweden as expected could Butler take LW and Petersson take his spot RW
Forget lines you can move them around other than there being 4 lines.
I'm not sure there's more than 2 or 3 such players. The only type of player we need is someone who's young, can play top 6 now but is still improving and doesn't have a bad contract. What team is going to give someone like that up???
You forgot (or maybe just left off) Z Smith.
Ya maybe you are right that there are maybe only a few guys that we can trade for that would help us.
Even though we have an abundance of forwards that can play in the bottom 6 I don't want to trade for a player in his later years that will be gone in a few years.
Forgot him, wow are we ever loaded with third/fourth line centers.
Just trying to get a feel for our options as is.
Ziby is not an option going as we are as far as one ways or silverburg as posted above.
I hope we get some sort of trade that fixes our one way problems as well as D problems, it seems like a no brainer that BM has to be working on it.
Even if it is trades for two way prospects or picks.
I get the feeling that Ziby, Silfvy and Petersson are going back to the SEL pretty much no matter what. Go back, play hard, get better and let's meet up again at camp in 2012 and see where we are then.
thats my understanding.
Have seen that too. If he (or Silvferberg/Zib anejad) are willing to play in Bingo then great (though I think Zibanejad would go back to Junior). But I just don't see room for them on the NHL roster unless moves are made. And there's nobody on the roster now that would make sense to just "dump" to make room.
That's quite the dilemma you have there Chirp. I was PraiseAlfie!!! on the old site. Decided to change my name on the new site because there's a whole lot of people praising Alfie :). However, I must admit I turned into lurk mode for a few months upon the new launch and then made a few posts without registering, leading up to registering. I think my story is probably pretty normal.
I did notice earlier that the site was stating my comment was too long when hitting send even though it also said I had xx symbols left...Could that be the spam you're talking about? Or did some moron ruin the party for everyone?
If Ziby Silverburg go back to SEL and I agree that is almost a given.
Filatov(LW)Spezza(C)Alfie(RW)
Michalek(LW)Regin(C)Butler(RW)
Foligno(LW)ZSmith(C)Condra(RW)
Winchester(C)Konopka(C)Neil(RW)
Greening(C)is an extra or flip with Regin/Smith.
Back up in Bingo is Hoffman(LW)Petersson(RW)
I guess that could be the plan.
Sure seems like some kind of trade needs to happen to fix things for forwards and defence.
He's much more suited for the wing, and I think that's where he'll end up.
even if Greening is a wing who does he bump out.
Seems like a waste for him to be on the tough guy line if winchester is in fact gone.
I don't know, but it's a good problem to have. Personally, I really liked what Greening brought when he was given a chance to play with Spezza. He's one of the true forwards we have with true size, and is a decent skater to boot.
I guess I'd go with something like this...
Filatov(LW)Spezza(C)Alfie(RW)
Michalek(LW)Regin(C)Butler(RW)
Greening(LW)Fol igno(C)Condra(R W)
ZSmith(C)Konopka(C)Neil(RW)
Not sure, like I'm sure most of you are, about Peter Regin as our 2nd line Center. I'm really pulling for Zibanejad or DaCosta to dazzle at training camp. I also prefer Foligno on the wing (so maybe him and Greening are interchangable there). Obviously, Foligno or Regin being packaged with dman to acquire a veteran center with some offense must be on Murray's radar.
no vets!! that's exactly what we are supposed to avoid when doing a rebuild.
I don't think that Foligno or Regin has a long term future with us, but I wouldn't trade them for an older player just to solve a very temporary problem (particularly if there is lengthy term on said players contract or other question marks).
If one of these guys is dealt, it will be because someone has a standout camp (Zibanejad, Da Costa) since Regin/Foligno are our most expendable roster forwards and could generate a decent return.
The only way I could approve signing a vet is if its to a cheap, one year contract that we most assuredly would unload at the deadline to a contender Bill Guerin style.
It's a retool, not a rebuild. If we were 'rebuilding' we wouldn't keep Spezza, Alfie would be gone, they would have let Phillips walk, they wouldn't have signed Gonchar, they wouldn't have traded for Anderson last year. You may be right about the veteran center though, I may have mispoke or at least wasn't entirely clear.
By "veteran" center I meant someone who has proven he can handle the role at the NHL level. I certainly didn't mean some old man on his last legs, which is how you took it.
Even though we are retooling, you need proven players that your young players can learn from, and show them what it takes to be a professional player. Unless you are suggesting we are tanking next year?
If it appears that Regin won't be able to handle second line center duties and no one has stepped up at training camp, then I could see pursuing a guy for a one year deal (this might even end up being Shannon). But you don't want to give up assets for a quick fix like that when you are in a situation like ours (rebuild, retool, whatever).
Da'Costa is going to spend most of his time in AHL and may brought up here to replace injuries.
On D, we need to find a home for Lee or Kuba. I wish Kuba get his 2008/09 form, so that we can trade him for contender for a pick. Neil might also attract some play-offs contenders.
You're kinda still twisting my words, never said it would you would be trading Foligno or Regin, plus one of our dmen, for a quick fix one year player. It would be a proven 2nd line center. It won't be long, that guys like Regin and Foligno might be obsolete on this team (more so Regin). Might as well cash in on them sooner, rather than later while they still have potential.
I'm with ya though, I hope someone (from within) comes from out of nowhere and grabs the job.
Regin has not been wow last season, been watching him goof super passes from Kovy all year.
You can say a lot about Kovy but there were many slick passes that were wasted.
Regin is a big if on any line.
Don't get me started on Kovalev...
Nice for depth but not the problem solver out of the gate.
And I only said Shannon because there really isn't much out there in terms of free agents. I still think that option 1 is to put Regin there for the time being unless someone steps up.
I don't see the ratings or edit button on the popout comments section.
I am with you there for sure (slacker) but Regin's performance was not because of Kovy, at least not to me.
But hey, I hope he blows the doors off, and grabs that 2nd line role by the horns. But you can't just wait around and sit on that assumption. That's how teams get themselves in trouble.
Murray's already gone on record as saying that the young players are going to get every opportunity to succeed, and that he was looking within the organization to take care of the #2 pivot slot.
Go back one year and I guarantee that every single mock lineup has Regin on one of the top 2 lines. Last year, he was plagued by injury and inconsistency, but he's still too young to give up on.
Combination of playing with Kovalev and being in Clouston's doghouse doesn't get you the best of results. I'm really hoping for that Greening/Regin/ Condra. I feel like while that is laughable by some fans. I think it could be a legitamate 2b line to compliment the 2a line of Alfy/Foligno/Mi chalek. Greening (Powerforward)/ Regin (Dangler)/Condr a (Playmaker). A kid line that would be full of energy and defensively responsible. Call me giddy about it.
While I like Foligno, he is about the only roster player that is attractive to other teams aside from Regin/Michalek who in my opinion have far higher ceilings for top 6 forwards than Foligno.
That being said, this team is lucky they have Foligno right now, but if he can be packaged to upgrade a player in our top 6 I wouldn't be opposed to doing that. Foligno is pretty borderline between a 2nd/3rd line player, but I do admire his work ethic. I'd much rather have a borderline 1st/2nd line player, which Nick will never be.
We wouldn't trade be trading Foligno/Regin plus anything else for some old bum with one leg out of the league (at least I hope not).
Also, Regin was given every chance to succeed last year. It wasn't because of Kovalev, it wasn't because he was injured, and it wasn't because of Clouston. It was because Regin fell flat on his face, he wasn't up to the task. I hope he owns up to it, gained some much needed strength, and comes out flying. Stop making excuses.
I still don't think that trading assets for a 2nd line player who isn't going to be around next year is a good idea.
Blah, blah, blah.....
Hate to disappoint you but were rebuilding.
The sooner you except it, the better it becomes to cheer for this team with pride from building within.
Trades send a message, signings are puzzle pieces, and picks/prospects create your identity. I think the roster is done for this season.
1) All the crap around the name, finally giving in to pressure and calling the team Jets. All other names = stupid
2) Won't hang the infamous picture of the queen in the building. WTF!? that is historic and a bad PR move
3) Treating a well respected Craig Ramsay like crap. He deserves better and they should have dropped him right away if they had no intention of keeping him. He could have been up for some head coaching jobs had he been released in time.
Not good so far Chump-man, uh I mean Chipman.
Something's been weird about the site. It says there are only 2 comments for me (though I can see all of them, and there are many) and yesterday the site was down for a while. I do see the rating system though.
I agree 100%, I think its pretty obvious we are rebuilding, e retool would have us acquiring either Carter or M. Richards or B. Richards, and at the very least, Leino, Laich or somebody who can score...we got Konopka... nuff said.
The plan is clear, develop from within and hopefully have another great draft in 2012.
This.
I would have been ok with a retool, but I`m pretty much excited about a rebuild.
We're going to loose a lot of games this year, but it will be fun to see some young talent grow into NHLers.
I am a big Foligno fan because of his work ethic and energy. He was one of the only players to try and drive at the net last year. I'd rather trade Regin (it's a shame his stock prob dropped from the year before).
I know we have too many bodies right now, but did anybody take a look at Prospal for a cheap one year deal? I'm not saying we should do that, I wanted to hear opinions on the guy. He used to be a point per game player.
Same for me. The star rating isn't appearing, the comment rating isn't appearing, it says there are only 2 comments. I am using Firefox but it has been working for me every day up until now.
Nikita Filatov(LW) Jason Spezza(C) Bobby Butler(RW)
Milan Michalek(LW) Nick Foligno(C) Daniel Alfredsson(RW)
Colin Greening(LW) Peter Regin(C) Erik Condra(RW)
Zack Smith(LW) Zenon Konopka(C) Chris Neil(RW)
Jesse Winchester(EX)
DEFENSEMEN (8)
Chris Phillips(LD) David Rundblad(RD)
Jared Cowen(LD) Erik Karlsson(RD)
Sergei Gonchar(LD)Bria n Lee(RD)
Filip Kuba(EX) Matt Carkner(EX)
GOALTENDERS (2)
Craig Anderson
Alex Auld
Foligno looked good last year for the short stint at C on the 2nd line. Silf want to play in SEL. Zibby could maybe play, but why not develop him right and safe.
If Cowen doesn't make it Carkner steps in.
This allows us the flexibility of all our young guys in bingo and SEL to next year have a spot while still giving the current young guys a chance to show their stuff instead of shipping them off for nothing
Same here.
Kaspars Daugavins(LW) Corey Locke(C) Andre Petersson(RW)
Mike Hoffman(LW) Stephane Da Costa(C) Roman Wick(RW)
David Dziurzynski(LW) Louie Caporusso(C) Wacey Hamilton(RW)
Corey Cowick(LW) Jim O'Brien(C) Cody Bass(RW)
DEFENSEMEN (7)
Mark Borowiecki(LD) Derek Smith (RD)
Andre Benoit (LD) Eric Gryba (RD)
Patrick Wiercioch(LD) Geoff Kinrade (RD)
Craig Schira (EX)
GOALTENDERS
Robin Lehner
Mike Brodeur
Silf playing in SEL,
Zibby playing in SEL,
Sorrensen playing in SEL,
Stone playing in WHL,
Prince playing in OHL,
Noesen playing OHL
Puempel playing OHL
Blood I don't know if can play NCAA again?
If Filatov pans out in a 'best case scenario' type of fashion that we are all hoping for, then this is a good looking line-up. I might expect though that we'd see Butler and Alfie swapped on the first two lines.
It's been the same for me. Last night I couldn't even get on the site around midnight. I've tried firefox and IE. Both have the same problems.
That is the most realistic line up at this point.
I think Winnie will be given a chance to crack the lineup though. I feel like a lot of people forget he was one of our more consistant players last year.
If Regin doesn't get his shit together though, he could be the one in the press box.
If Filatov sucks(I don't expect that)Butler could always move LW and move Petersson RW, line 1 and two are somewhat interchangable outside of Spezza.
I expect we see some experimenting with lines.
A lot of people were saying Butler was not ready for the jump to NHL before he made it so Petersson you can't rule out yet either.
Even if this is out team as is, I am still stoked, I even enjoyed watching Edmonton play the few games I watched (not an edmonton fan) they were balls to the wall high flying fun team to watch.
Win or Lose we are going to see some fun hockey.
This team should be fun to watch but it won't be so fun to check the standings (IMO). I had much more fun watching last year once I gave up on making the playoffs - I think this year will be the same.
Attendance will absolutely suffer but I'm confident that Melnyk is prepared for that and knows it's short-term only. Once the younger guys develop a bit more and Murray continues to adjust and fine-tune the team will be very good and people will come back. 2-3 seasons tops barring any extreme injuries etc.
I'd happily go watch this team all season long with a few thousand fans if that's what it takes to rebuild properly and have a strong team for 10 years after that.
Now, reading the Sun will be PAINFUL but it always is anyway.
I miss the edit feature.
I agree. I would also think that some players like Regin and Winchester may become expendable come trade deadline to make room for people like Peterson ect moving forward. This also would give us much more flexibility going into next seasons UFA market.
And after a half season we'll be that much closer to knowing what sort of future there is on our team for guys like Regin, Foligno, Winchester, Smith, Condra, Greening etc.
None of those guys are people we should "dump" as they're all young and relatively cheap etc, but we just might not have room for all of them if the guys that don't crack the NHL lineup this year continue to improve.
'THUMBS UP' ;)
ditto!
We are currently experiencing a massive spike in traffic and the site is undergoing some changes. The forum and comment voting will be disabled for a few days, and you can only read or post comments when you are logged in. Sorry for the inconvenience
You should find a Joomla Captcha plugin for post spam.
And maybe change your MySQL DB ( and connection ) password.
No worries, as long as it doesn't impact you breaking the news of the Butler signing to us when it happens, then I will be more than calm lol
The spike in traffic is coming from all my refreshes to see if the voting features have come back. haha!
No way Alfie would ever do that of course, but surprised nonetheless that the rumors aren't flying.
I think this team MASSIVELY over-achieves if it makes the playoffs. I'm all for confounding expectations though. I said before I think we are a bottom 3 team in the East but I'd love to be proved wrong.
I see the following teams definitely above us: Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Bruins, Sabres, Hurricanes, Lightning and Caps.
I see the Devils, Habs and leafs as being more than likely above us and the jets, panthers and islanders fighting it out with us.
I also think that the panthers and islanders made strides to improve themselves more than we did FOR NEXT YEAR but in 2-3 years we will much better than those teams and comfortably in the playoff race.
But the sens will battle every night and I'm excited about the season.
I won't ridicule you, but I will say our chances are low. Certainly if we're injury free and everyone plays well in general we should be in the hunt for a playoff spot, but most teams can say that.
The only thing that would be bad this season is if we overperform and Melnyk/Murray get stupid and go and rent some older player for a playoff run. Murray (hopefully) has already decided to be a seller at the deadline no matter what our record is (assuming we have guys we want to "sell" - Kuba etc).
Petersson is staying in NA. He is not going back to Sweden.
Blood has 1 more year left in NCAA.
I expect Petersson to start the season in Binghamton.
Edmonton has better skilled younger players than the Sens.. considering they have picked in the top 5 in the draft for how long?
The Sens will be exciting to watch with the enthusiam brought by the young players. How many games can they win? Who knows... we shall see as the season wears on.
I support the Sens win or lose -- I just wish there were more fans that will do the same thing.
Agreed but it's somewhat human nature. Only a certain percentage of sports fans are hard-core dedicated to the team (20% maybe). Then there's a bunch that are closer to hard-core for the sport in general and have "a team they follow" (another 20% maybe). Then there's the large group of bandwagon fans. In a small market like Ottawa it's more exposed but it's true everywhere. Even laff nation - though they may have the highest total pool of fans the percentages are probably similar.
As long as Melnyk doesn't get anxious when the bandwagon fans take a break for a couple of seasons we'll be fine.
Tough to say now as much can change but I think Bingo fans have lots to look forward too as well.
No he won't....I've seen interviews with him where he has said that he is coming over here to play regardless if it's the NHL or AHL. He's made comments along the lines, that if the coach's think playing in the AHL would help his game then that's what he'll do and will work hard to improve and make the Sens.
He seems like he has a pretty level head on his shoulders.
Not really a bad "plan B".
Goodbye Ottawa. I'll miss my teammates, the fans and the city. Great organization. See you Dec 5! #thank you #sens
Good for him.
Assuming Silfverberg's contract with SEL (and assuming he plays SEL this year) will let him, he can come back and be on the NHL (or Bingo) roster a day before the deadline and be playoff eligible. That would burn a year off his contract though - which might be just fine by us.
We are a long shot for playoffs but Anderson and others could give us a shot.
If we had Elliot Leclaire again there is no chance in hell we make playoffs, thats a sure thing not an if in my books.
Will try to have a new blog up tomorrow.
Why? he's exactly the type of player the league doesnt need? Waste of a spot for young kid.
Plus he hates Chris Neil. That's another strike against him.
I guess nice knowing you Wick? Didn't really stand out here anyway, and we have a few younger forwards that can do more than he did.