(UPDATE 2:53 PM)- The Sens have added some depth to the team down in Binghamton, signing defenceman Lee Sweatt to a two year, two way contract. Sweatt appeared in two games with the Vancouver Canucks last season.
(UPDATE 12:42 PM)- Another restricted free agent has found work elsewhere. Defenceman Geoff Kinrade has signed a deal to play in the Czech league next season. Kinrade has spent the last two seasons with Binghamton and racked up tallied five points in 23 playoff games with the Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators.
If there had to be a time for the SensChirp server to crash, I'm glad it happened in mid-July.
It has been a busy few days for myself and the web designer as we try to get everything here on the site back on track. As I'm sure you've noticed, there has been a number of tweaks over the weekend but I think we are finally close to have things back to normal.
The forum is now back up after being temporarily removed. We have also changed the comment section so that there are pages of them rather than have them all appear on a single page. Hopefully this is just temporary and we can have the comment section back to the way it was in the near future.
Thankfully, it has been a quiet few days for the Ottawa Senators anyway.
Other than the additions of Mark Parrish and Bingo back up Mike McKenna, it has been a quite stretch for the team.
I was told over the weekend that Bryan and Tim Murray are both still working on a contract for RFA Bobby Butler and that both sides are optimistic something can get done in the near future. It really doesn't sound like there is anything to worry about on that front. It has been mentioned before but if the two sides can't agree on something, Butler will just sign his qualifying offer.
There is also the matter of sorting out a fairly crowded blueline. The Sens already have Gonchar, Kuba, Phillips, Karlsson, Lee and Carkner under contract and need to find a way to make room for hopefuls like David Rundblad and Jared Cowen. The preference would be to find a taker for Filip Kuba but obviously that is easier said than done.
This is a tough time of year to make deals. Teams are getting close to have their roster in place and want to have room to let young guys push for spots in camp. I think the Sens may have to go with the group they have for the next little while and try to get creative a little closer to training camp. The Sens also have to careful to make sure they stay above the cap floor.
Despite his well documented struggles last season, Kuba is a guy that could help the Senators if he could regain the form of a few seasons ago.
The more I look at our logjam of forwards, I am starting to lean towards Mika and Silverberg playing one final year in Sweden before coming into the Sens roster ready to rock. Let them be 100% ready, and we have enough to sort out with our current players this season.
agreed - let da costa, greening, condra, regin et al have a crack at becoming established NHL players first. Zibanejad and Silfverberg would only add to the forwards log-jam and neither of them suddenly make this team a play off contender so why waste a contract year on them at the moment. Let them develop another year in the SEL and feed into the sens team when they can make a positive difference.
There's no need to rush any of our prospects.
I didn't like his game before any of his injuries, hands down, the worst contract Murray has given. Could of traded him for picks/prospects but ends up giving him a contract extension.
Agree with Johne, that the Edit Button should be re-instated,and the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down feature should not be re-instated.
Just logged out and back in, refreshed my cache and don't see either of those features.
Chirp - hopefully soon they will fix the problem where we currently require being logged in to view the comments and such. For new people that come here they may never realize we have a discussion community and we may be losing prospect SensChirp contributors / regulars. This is not good from the perspective of marketing and growing your site audience.
Agreed. Anything that has been changed is temporary while we try to isolate the problem. Optimistic we can have things back to normal either today or tomorrow.
Yeah same here in both Chrome and FireFox. If I had to guess I would say your developer can enable/disable those features based on user type, and for us regular schmoes they are still disabled.
or he can just make us all admins =D
Yeah I can see that!
15 minutes later... "Okay guys, who banned Tookie?"
LOL
It wouldnt take 15 minutes
:)
I have the same problems, neither appear for me.
Especially with the Isles, they'd have to add a couple of ridiculous contracts to their roster just to get close to 48 mill.
I started getting curious about it when I realized that if the Sens were somehow able to ship off Kuba....thats a big cap chunk (3.7 mill) we'd "have too" replace to get back up to the cap floor. Also....what happens to teams that fall below the cap floor (via trades) say mid-season?
Players, agents or employees found to have violated the cap face fines of $250,000 - $1 million and/or suspension. Teams found to have violated the cap face fines of up to $5 million, cancellation of contracts, loss of draft picks, loss of points and/or forfeiture of game(s) determined to have been affected by the violation of the cap.
Thats good for him as I dont think we would have ever given him a fair shot.
thats for circumventing the cap. like kovalchuck's contract.
And what would you call not reaching the cap floor? Circumventing the cap!
Anyone know what the punishment is if they don't ?
Read post 28
I honestly thought the Gov. restricted access to Senschirp i was gonna get mad and go see my boss
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569033
I think they are not able to benefit from revenue sharing? Not positive on that.
Hate to see Kinrade go.. he was a great shot blocking D. Chirp.. you said he was an RFA... does that mean he was not qualified by the Sens?
So who is left on D in Bingo next year that is signed.
Schira, Borowiecki, Gryba, Weircoch -- Cowen, Rundblad -- just saw the Lee Sweatt signing. Who else can come up from Elmira?
The CBA states that "No Club shall, after commencement of the regular season, be permitted to have an Averaged Club Salary that falls below the Lower Limit for that League Year."
The CBA isn't specific on punishment, but I'm assuming it would be fines in the range of those listed above, in addition to eligibility for revenue sharing or escrow payments in the event of a league revenue shortfall.
During the season, the league would nix any trades etc that would take a team below the cap floor. Typically teams have until 5pm eastern each day to solve cap problems (i.e. you trade too much money away, you have to make a move, trade or recall, by 5pm, that brings in salary that gets you back in compliance with the cap expectations).
Johne you have to come to terms that Kuba is going nowhere, we are stuck with him for another year. The Sens org is in no hurry to get rid of him.
I've come to those terms as well. But there is a chance that floor teams could want him. He is horrible for us (with our depth on D), but for teams that could use a PP QB, he still isn't that bad of an option, like an overpaid MA Bergeron.
Two year deal.
Just going with what the Sens are saying. Initially they printed it as a one year deal but have switched it to two.
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.
CARKNER
NEIL
SMITH
KONOPKA
CONBOY (2-WAY)
LESSARD (2-WAY)
TWO-WAY DEAL I HOPE
Yea sorry bout that! Two way deal.
but I now see the edit button. still no ratings.
You hear anything about Nikolai Zherdev and the Sens talking contract ?
Also Lee Sweatt is a good pickup. He was noticeably reliable here with the Moose.
I just thought I'd mention that the spreading of comments over multiple pages would be increasing your server load, not alleviating it. When we refresh with the browser refresh button, or we hit the "Refresh Comments List" link at the bottom of the discussions pages... this takes us back to the first comments page and doesn't keep us on, as of right now, page #2.
This means each time we want to see if there is a new comment, we have to refresh and reload two entire pages from the server. just throwing that feedback out there.
I guessed Strome... damn NYI.
Don't know a lot about Conboy? I assume he's a physical player?
It's not taking Murray long to fill up the defense in Bingo. Does this mean.. with these 2 signings that Cowen & Rundblad won't be part of Binghamton next season?
Personally I think it's been obvious that was the plan for quite a while now. Both belong in the nhl in the fall!
TIMWRX -- Are there any rumours in Bingo about Hale & Derek Smith? Are they leaving as well? What about Daugavins?
Seems a lot of key players could be out in Binghamton... but with Petersson, Caporusso & Wacey Hamilton along with these two D signings.. I guess their spots were easily filled. What about Elmira players that could move up to Bingo. What about Brust.
Right now there is no room - crowded blueline.
Phillips & Karlsson definitely stay.
Gonchar will stay to bring along Filatov.
Kuba -- who would take him?
Lee & Carkner -- what about them...
Still some decent names left among the free agents.
Would Chris Drury not be a reasonable option as a second line centre for one year? he would be a veteran presence on a young team that would add depth. His stock seemed to have fallen, ge wouldn't be that expensive.
I'd rather sign him for one year while our players develop, then take a chance on a guy like Peter Regin who scored three goals in 55 games last season :S
What harm does giving Regin and Da Costa a shot a 2C do? It's not like we would be in the playoffs if only we could find a decent 2nd line centre.
No more 1 way contracts please.
its been mentioned before and already discussed. Drury was bought out because his knee is shot. he is done, or will never live up to what he was if he ever plays again..
stop the drury talk please. Lets see Regin play before we write him off for the season. He had great year before last, and hit some injury trouble. Ottawa has a bunch of "meh" centers, hopefully one will prove themselves early in the season
Well put. I think they'll give Regin the last glorious opportunity that he'll have with us next season. With a very talented, yet unproven youth on one wing (Filatov or Butler) and an experienced two-way forward with strong playmaking ability and scoring touch on the other (Michalek or Alfredsson) Regin's numbers might not end up being so terrible next season, and definitely will be an improvement on last year.
I still don't think that he has a long term future with this team - the same with Foligno. Neither of them resemble the type of players that Murray and the scouting staff has been drafting the past 4 years. That's not to say that Regin shouldn't be given this opportunity. The best case scenario is he shines in a year with zero expectations on the team and bolsters his trade value.
Remember Foligno & Regin were Muckler draft picks...
I think coming into last season he tried 'to rest on his laurels' from the playoffs and his world championships.
Maybe coming into next season, he will have worked hard the off-season and be ready to play.
I don't like the idea of two rookies on the same line, even with Spezza between them.
I know a lot of people thought that Michalek and Spezza had no chemistry, but this could all change with a new coaching system. I'm looking forward to seeing what combos come out of training camp.
Same goes for Wick & Potulny playing in Europe, do we get financial compensation? Or do they stay RFA if they decide to return to the NHL.
here is a link saying that hes gone
http://theahl.com/columbus-inks-st-pierre-byers-p171668
havent any of you heard of this? Iknow hes not a key player but im still surprised no one heard of this and hes been on columbus for like 5 hours cmon senschirp if youre saying bass left youre saying st pierre left
Not in this case. The Sens did not qualify Bass so there is no compensation.
Yes, St. Pierre has signed on with CBJ. Believe he was in Europe last year. That means I'm really late getting the news up on the site.
No word on Derek Smith yet. I imagine he will be elsewhere to get a better chance at the NHL or Europe. Same with Daugs. Really sad to see this many guys go, but understandable.
Phillips, Gonchar, Kuba, Lee, Carkner
Entry Level
Karlsson, Cowen, Rundblad, Wiercioch, Gryba, Borowiecki, Schira
Two way
Conboy and Sweatt
Thats 14 d-men to fill 12 spots, and theres still hale, smith or benoit to sign.
Will Murray be looking to trade some d-man????
I guess all odds are him returning back to Sweden.
Right move.
Double checked from my previous post in Moving On...,
and noticed that I do have the Edit Button !
ALSO SEE IT ON THIS POST !!
its to replace all the people in bingo that are leaving konopka was for a 2 line center but the rest are for bingo.
I think sweatt and conboy are supposed to be for two guys that bryan murray will not sign. I think that derek smith might be one of the people brian murray wont sign.
It's difficult to field a team in the AHL when you don't have enough players.
They frown on that.
Konopka is not playing 2nd line centre, LMAO!!
He's gonna be on the 3rd or 4th line.
Some of these posts are just sad.
He'll be a 4th liner for sure....
Comments lookin good.
I find it kind of depressing that the remaining big name UFA list contains a fair amount of recent former Ottawa Senators that can't find work. Ruutu, Stillman, Emery, Kovalev.
Well to be fair, they were not longtime Senators, mostly quick pick ups, so I dont really care for them.
Except Emery, he was a Sens prospect. But thats it!
Thats what is kind of depressing to me. We acquired everyone except Emery through free agency or trade.
They dont represent the Sens anymore so I could care less. The way I look at it, Ruutu is a former penguin, Stillman is a former hurricane/light ning and Kovalev a former habs. None of them should be remembered as a Sens.
Sens have been mentioned in Colgiano rumours before. Would have been an interesting pick up but still wouldn't solidify that second line centre spot.
Rather try to fill it in house than add a guy like Cogliano.
I think he should do a seperate tab on the page for Bsens news and call it BSensChirp like I proposed during the Calder Cup run.
Penner is worth a 1st round pick and prospect
Cogliano is worth a 2nd round pick
But instead we got
Michalek
Cheechoo doesn't even play in the NHL anymore.
:/ FUCK YOU DANY.
Yeah pretty sad when you think about it. I think he made a bad move, knowing what he was getting, no way I pull the trigger on a deal that involves Michalek and Cheechoo, Im sure Murray pushed for others, like Ehrhoff, Setoguchi but he wasnt in a position of strength. I said sit Heatley for the year and I still believe its what we should have done!
I completely agree with this. Should have put him in the press box like we did to Yashin, instead of forcing a trade. I know Yashin was a different situation, but still.
I don't blame Murray one bit. He could of traded Heatley for a 7th round pick, just getting that guy out of town was what had to be done. I wish really really horrible things on Heatley for being a selfcentered douchebag that couldn't go through proper channels to get a trade done. Look at what Murray did for Kelly and Fisher, you can't tell me that Murray was the one that messed up. Heatley should of never gone public with his trade request and he will forever be remembered for it.
Those players drafted this year -- with the exception of 1 or 2 -- won't be playing pro hockey for 3 - 4 yrs.
The two D signed today are to replace the ones leaving in Binghamton.
Not sure who Konopka will be replacing.... Shannon?
He'll be taking Z. Smith spot on the 4th line as Zach moves up to 3rd.
Shannon was a spare, he had no spot.
I agree with you that Heatley forced Murray's hand slightly, BM still had the option to not trade him, sit him for a year, maybe halfway through or before the season starts he has a change of heart and comes back to score 50 goals? who knows.
The point was Murray had ATLEAST 2 options, the trade with SJ and benching Heatley, I would have benched him, considering what SJ was offering....gar bage!
Filatov/Spezza/Butler
Michalek/Foligno/Alfy
Greening/Regin/Condra
Z Smith/Konopka/Neil
Winchester doesn't fit in on any of those lines except the 4th line, and Konopka easily gets the nod over him. Guess he sits in the box with Kuba or Carkner lol.
1) it's not my 8 million dollars being paid to a guy to do nothing
2) clearly the guy was not a positive force in the dressing room, why have that around for any longer than you needed too
i was saying at the time that the Heatley thing was a blessing in disguise and I still believe that. The cap situation would have been untenable moving forward with so much tied up in Spezza, Heatley, Alfie and Fisher. We had far too much money tied up in 4 forwards.
Would we be in better shape now if we had of got Setoguchi, Clowe or Couture instead of Cheechoo - yes we would, but one thing I think we can all agree on is that we are better off with Heatley wearing a different jersey than ours.
While we're on it, Muckler should not have let Chara go!
I wish I could wake up and it was October 2012 (the year of Sens/Yakopov)!! !!
@Tookie & Johne - Don't give up on Michalek yet, he's still the best player that was available in either Heatley trade scenario and if he can get his injury behind him now that he's fully recovered from surgery, we should have a pretty dependable 25-30goal scorer with ~55+pts on the 2nd line, who can play in any situation (PK, PP or even strength)!
I agree, but he has been a complete waste with Spezza. I really hope that experiment is over and he sticks on the 2nd line. My jaw does drop at Michalek's speed when he is fully healthy.
You do realize we are already weak at the C spot, Smith played all year at the C spot, why move him to wing?
1. Spezza 56.3% in 1210 faceoffs
2. Regin 41.8% in 316
3. Smith 53.9% in 388
4. Konopka 57.7% 1075
5. Greening 45.8% in 24
6. Winchester 55.6% in 545
Da Costa is going to Bingo.
Z Smith isn't going to make or break our team @ center, he just doesn't have the foot speed to play on our 2nd or 3rd line. The only place he can play center is on our 4th line, which I give Winchester or Konopka ahead on the depth chart.
A complete waste is a bit strong. Both he and Spezza have dealt with injuries, and there have been times like early 2009-10 where they did click, however yes Michalek does seem to do better with Alfie and does not match the offense Spezza needs to be able to create. I think that's why so many of us are penciling Filatov on the 1st line with Butler and Spezza, creates a higher potential ceiling for the 1st line, and Michalek seems perfect for a good all around 2nd line that can keep the other teams offensive line down.
He doesnt need to, either Konopka starts 3rd and SMith starts 4th, either way they are bottom 6 players and will be moslty used on faceoffs and PK.
you're right about being a bit harsh, but he is not a 1st line caliber player and we tried to make him into one, and I guess he isn't to blame, but its been a frustrating top line for a while now and I hope MacL doesn't fall into the same routine. I think I'd rather see Foligno crashing the net on the top line than see Michalek doing a whole lot of nothing with Spezza.
I think with the lack of a decent 2C, Michalek and Alfie will struggle and will be taking most of the losses on their shoulders...Mea ning their line will suck and cost us many games.
That will force MacLean to adjust, will be fun to see how he adapts!
That line was music to my ears, I've been saying that since last summer. Foligno can play with anyone and seems to be able to read Spezza, he just has trouble with the finishing aspect, but hopefully he works on that this summer.
Hahaha! I think the Chara thing might even be worse than the Heatley fiasco. At least we got something in return for heatley. Chara was just let go...
Agreed, Greening and Condra are the most interesting players right now simply because they could slot anywhere from the 1st to 4th line depending on which way the coach wants to go and who they create chemistry with. 2 months seems so long to go!
The thought of Foligno on the top line and Greening and Condra in the top 6 just made me puke.
You say that like we didn't see it at all last year ... those were actually some of the lineups that worked in the 2nd half, not sure why you feel so uncomfortable with them.
Condra is not a centre, never played it and never will. And as for the obvious, he isnt top 6 material. Especially not with the slew of talent we have coming up (Noesen, Puempel, Zibanejad, Stone)
Condra is a 3rd liner. You have to come to your senses!!
Yeah we did so well last year. It's the thought of another year like last year without any improvement that is going to make me puke. The end.
So you think Condra and Greening are capable of stepping in as 2nd line roles, but Zach Smith isn't capable of being our 3rd line centre? I think you'll see Smith start the season as 3rd line centre and be given every chance to stay there.
When he, Condra, and Greening went down to Bingo for the playoffs, it was Smith who was given the largest role, and he played at centre and did very well...
So a team that went 15-10-2 in their last 27 makes u puke ... good to know
still blows my mind how Condra and Greening weren't on anyones radar to start the season last year and they seemed to fit in effortlessly to the NHL. I consider myself to follow the Sens organization pretty closely from top to bottom and both those guys were nobodies to me playing in Bingo. Half a season in Bingo and they're probably our most NHL ready prospects. The credit goes to KK or some extreme personal motivation and hard work.
Yeah and it was all Foligno , Greening, and Condra, the superstars! wow.
Give the credit where it is due Jabs.. Spezza, Karlsson, Butler, and Andswer.
They have shots of playing in the top 6 because we suck so much, on any decent team these guys are 3rd liners. We need help thus we plug them in and see what they do while our top prospects develop and replace them.
I agree, Foligno, Greening & Condra were not the reason we had that nice streak (which made us lose Landeskog!!!).
They are great 3rd liners but will have shots to play top 6 only because its a team rebuilding.
When did I take any credit away from any of those players? Condra and Greening both provided key contributions throughout that stretch, u cannot deny that either. We ended the year with a good group and we'll start this year with an even better one!
Also nowhere did I call them superstars!
I think they both were expected to be borderline NHL players and have since upgraded themselves to players you can depend on in the bottom 6 and plug and play elsewhere as needed. It's nice to see for sure.
I hate debating with people like u, u can't read a comment to save your life. If 1 of those 3 is in the top 6 at a time, we are fine. If all 3 are our 1st line we have problems. Thankfully we've been discussing a situation where 1, maybe 2 is in the top 6, so maybe u can actually join the conversation we're having. They all fill in well in the roles they have experimented with so far and the experiment will just continue. Seeing condra or greening on the 2nd line on opening night DOES NOT mean our season is over before it started.
Ya I guess u missed the convo Johne, Tookie and I were having. I should know better then to expect you to read on a website.
Gonna have to give you the extra two minutes for instigating on this one :)
They had enough issues during the Paddock/Hartsbu rg era... they did not want more.
Murray had wanted Michalek for a long time -- so I guess that is why he went for him. Issue there was he should have said no to Cheecho. If SJ wanted Heatley that bad... they would have altered the offer... or Heatley stayed in Ottawa.
http://twitter.com/JeffMarek - ..the Oilers. It's believed the Oilers may be looking to part w/another centre
Greening/Contra will be 3rd liners.
Thats my thought as well, but that all revolves around Filatov making the team.
This is a top 6 that won't make me hurl.. I would love to find a decent 2C though.
The guy is pure raw talent. Hadn't skated in 3 1/2 months when I saw him at the dev. camp and he still stood out as the best forward (even with borrowed equipment)! I'd be absolutely shocked if he didn't make this team.
Did you not watch the team after the trade deadline with Anderson in net... and Butler & Greening playing on Spezza's wings? Spezza was one of the top point getters down the stretch playing with those 2 rookies. They just clicked..
But yeah it's that old... they have nothing to play for crap. The teams they played against for the most part DID have something to play for.
The games were competitive... better than Oct - Jan that's for sure.
They will experiment in pre-season with the lineups.
The pre-season this year should be about systems & line combinations... not wasting 8 or 9 games in having 50 players in and out of the lineup. Start with your expected line-up + a couple extra players... rest go to Bingo.
Quoting Captain Alfie:
Okay, barring a trade, who are your top 6 players to play in the Sens lineup next season?
Spezza, Alfie, Michalek, Butler, Filatov and the 2C is open because we don't have one.
I did read this. I agree that goaltending was a big part of the stretch play. What would have been - had Anderson been in at start of October & Spezza did not get injured. Sens would have been in a big fight for the playoffs.
But what I said, down the stretch those young guys you don't like played very well for ROOKIES (Butler, Greening, Condra). Give them a chance before trashing too much.
I agree, they could turn out but who knows.. I hope so but at this point in time I stick with my top 6. I beleive Alfie made an immediate impact in the NHL if I am not mistaken.. He won the Calder.
That is the same thing I have been saying for weeks and falls right into Johne & I's Foligno, Greening, Condra discussion. Currently Foligno/Regin have the inside track on that 2C job for this coming season, but the coach will definitely toss around several lineups and see what sticks.
Looking back the scenaro that involved Foligno on the top line and Greening and Condra on the 2nd line is what was going to make me puke.. not my top 6 sans a 2C. I can live with not having a good 2 C.
I remember when Ottawa signed him, we were all anxious to see him in a few games, and when Clouston actually gave him some shifts, he did look promising, but he seems to have fallen off of our collective rader, through no real fault of his own. Just seems odd to me. Perhaps it's because we're all focused on the players we just drafted?
He would have to have a more than impressive camp to make that jump and would have to beat out Regin/Foligno for the job and I don't see that happening but in all fairness he didn't get much of a chance to make an impression. I saw a few flashes of a NHL player, but I really think he needs some time in Bingo.
I fully expect him to come to camp and push for that spot.
Very true, I think we're getting a bit caught up in the hype that's been surrounding other players, especially Filatov and Zibanejad, however Da Costa hasn't quite excited us as much as expected so far. I know I personally expected to hear more from him in the dev camp that was held, and to me BM coming out and saying Zibanejad has an outside shot this year, but not mentioning much on Da Costa's chance (at least not that I saw) really starts to temper expectations going forward. The Sens need 1 of Regin, Foligno, Da Costa or Zibanejad to step up to 2nd line C this year.
Yeah, I suppose, but I hope he gets a legitimate shot at it.
What may give him an edge is he stayed in Ottawa to work out at SBP with the other Sens players that hung around town. With the proper training techniques.. we shall see how improved him may be... but I agree with your take.. we don't talk about him too much. Did Clouston give him a real shot playing with skilled offensive players? I can't remember who mostly his linemates were.. can anyone remind me?
Spezza, Alfie, Michalek, Butler, Filatov and the 2C is open because we don't have one.
That is the same thing I have been saying for weeks and falls right into Johne & I's Foligno, Greening, Condra discussion. Currently Foligno/Regin have the inside track on that 2C job for this coming season, but the coach will definitely toss around several lineups and see what sticks.
I agree with JABS,
Both Foligno and Regin, who have had some success along with some slumps, are now more mature,and could become 2nd
line Centres. Teaming them with Michalek and Alfredsson
will help them develop greatly. Murray did not get a top sniper with Spezza, and did not get a top Centre for line 2 ! Personally, I think Peter Regin will Centre Line 2 !!
I know, at one point, he (DaCosta) was playing with Lessard (can't recall who the other winger was) but when he got the odd shift with an offensive line he looked alot better.
was probably Wick, poor guy never had a shot playing w/ Lessard.
post of the day SC, +1 for the sense of humour
I was, and still am a proponent of building through the draft. But the more research I do, the more I see examples of teams who have tried and failed at this method. We all cling to the dream that the Sens will emulate the Blackhawks or Penguins, but then on the other end of the spectrum there are the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Coyotes, Wild, Thrashers and Blues who have consistently picked in the top of the draft with little to no success. Can someone calm my nerves and explain to me while the Sens will be different than those failures? Also, can someone convince me that one or two drafts of high picks will make our team not only a playoff team, but a Stanley Cup contender?
So an offensive gifted player was on the 4th line with a goon. How can he prove anything when he has nothing to play with? I certainly hope McLean gives him a chance with better players. How can they really judge his NHL skills if he is not put into a position to succeed.
Probably will be Regin or DaCosta fighting for the 2C spot. Not ideal as far as experience.. but they will learn as they go... that's what a re-build is all about.
Do you think that Zibby gets a contract before the 15th? or is their intention to let him go back to Sweden to finish his contract?
What do the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Coyotes, Thrashers and Blues all have in common?? They constantly spend to the cap basement...
Glad to see our tax dollars going to good use!
Im not, Im basing my opinion on the Dev camp where he was pretty much invisible...
He will need a great camp to make that 2C, but Im willing to go on record saying he's starting in Bingo.
Would be stupid to not let him go to SEL for another year and get better. The guy is a beast but why rush him?
Agreed, as much as we are in dire need of a 2nd line center, I think it would be better to see if anyone on their current roster can fill that spot, at least for this year. We are not a playoff team anyways, so I think there's little risk in doing this. Who knows, one of them might surprise and maybe provide us with trade bait at the deadline. I think there's a good chance that Zibanejad is the long term answer but there's no hurry.
Zibanejad has already played a year against men in the SEL, so its not like he's just coming out of junior. Karlsson played his first year in the SEL after he was drafted and then made the team the next year after that despite being undersized and playing for a team that still had playoff aspirations.
Zibanejad would be the best option but only if he really is ready and doesn't have a major hole in his game. He wouldn't be coming in with us expecting the world from him, and he wouldn't be playing 7-8 minutes a night because we have a vacant second line center position available.
I know apples and oranges but seriously.
Foligno was way better.
Regin is waiver material if he does not step up.
There is a massive difference between multiple picks at 1st, 2nd, even 3rd overall compared to picking 4th-10th on a regular basis. The Sens were extremely lucky this year that players one through eight will probably have similar career trajectories. That's not something which happens very often.
If you're going to build through the draft the optimal strategy is to finish dead last. That is the same reason why me and Tookie share the opinion that Zibanejad should not be on the big team this year. We want to be as bad as possible if we're not competing for a Stanley Cup. That's how you acquire the key assets needed to build a team that contends for the big prize.
If finishing dead last 3-4 years in a row is so important to building a successful franchise, how come it didn't work out for us the first time we did it in the early 90's? How come recent cup winning teams include Detroit and Boston who haven't finished bottom 5 in the league in the last decade?
Throwing a season to get the top pick is a horrible idea because telling all those young players on our team who've worked their asses off to get drafted and make the team to lose on purpose is basically a slap in the face and is guaranteed to impede their development.
I think we will in all likelihood get a good pick next year, but the only way its first overall is if we trade up, win the lottery or if Anderson gets injured.
Season has not even started, and you are once again suggesting that we tank to get best picks.
Hope the Sens have a surprising season, and play even better than their last 27 games at end of last year.
At the rate you and Tookie are going, we will never become a top contender!
Da Costa
Regin
Zib
Foligno
Other...you get the idea
Nobody said anything about the organization throwing the season. Perhaps you should learn to read before writing irrelevant paragraphs. I said I expect the Senators are unlikely to contend for the big prize. Thus the management of the organization should set the roster with this in mind. Not rushing players like Zibanejad and Silfverberg into the lineup. That way we finish only as high as the development of our young players allows - just like Edmonton.
There is a reason the Ottawa Senators didn't go out and blow their wad on free agents. The team is biding its time before looking to transfer over to win now mode. This is the time for collecting assets through the draft and building our youth.
I didn't say building through the draft was the only way. I said it's the best and fastest way to build an elite team. Top end draft talent does that. Get the 1st overall 3-4 times in a row and you have an elite core to build around. Solid fact.
lol
Hope he gets a shot with the Blues. Always had a soft spot for Cheechoo.
That's all according to paper and we all know that whats on paper rarely matches up with what actually happens. I don't think we're contenders, I don't think anyone does. But I do think we're competitive and full of youth, so expect the unexpected.
That's why I said that the only way we get the first overall pick is if we win the lottery, trade up, or if Anderson gets hurt. I'm not arguing that we are a playoff team, but I KNOW that we aren't the worst team in the league. It would take a series of disasters on an off the ice and even more injuries than last year for us to do worse than Florida, NYI, Colorado etc. We beat out 4 other teams in a year where everything went wrong.
Drafting top 3 year in and year out means squat if your development staff is crap or if the player has a bad attitude or work ethic. Not knocking Yakupov, but for every Datsyuk, Ovechkin and Malkin, there's a Yashin.
I agree that building through the draft is necessary, but it doesn't need to be with the first 3 picks. Our scouts know their stuff. Not only are they very good at identifying current talent, but they are even better at identifying potential (Karlsson, Rundblad, Lehner)
I will grant you teams have got better since but do you really think we have got worse.
Filatov Butler Petersson Foligno Greening Condra Smith Rundblad Cowan Gonchar Konopka Anderson Lehner
I know Lehner is AHL but if we make playoffs he comes up.
It is going to be a long summer.
Detroit is an exception to everything. Boston gets high picks from Toronto.
How do you think the Avs got Landeskog.. they tanked by bringing in a sieve.
I think if Zibby did not have that 1 yr contract left in the SEL he would be Bingo bound this year.
He will not learn the North American game by playing on larger ice in the SEL. Still a good league though... but would have been better in Bingo. But it is what it is.
Valid argument. I don't think you can say that Seguin was anything more than a depth piece in Boston's cup run though.
You could say the same thing for Vancouver though... the last time they picked top 5 was for the Sedins I think.
No question that the Avs purposefully tanked to get Landeskog. It remains to be seen how that works out for them though.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/news?slug=ottcit-ca-5085456
Last year we sucked for two reasons, Brian Elliot and Spezza getting injured.
We went 1 in 17, 1 in 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We will not do that this year.
I think this team is going to surprise a lot of people this year. Spezza is gonna take this team and run with it.
Anderson is better than any goalie we've had in a number of years.
Get ready sens fans, we're not gonna be as bad as you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rroTt8nQO1w
RAISE YOUR STANDARDS
GO SENS GO!
Bill Sweatt is in Vancouver, is he not?