The Week BEFORE July 1: Go!

tim1_2 wrote:

Not to be all doomy and gloomy, but there are waaaaay too many question marks in this top six. This has "potential disaster" written all over it. Filatov could be a bust, Michalek is injury prone, and is likely better on the second line, Butler is a big question mark, Zibby is a HUGE question mark, and Alfie is old, and also injury prone. So five of those six guys are question marks. Great. I know it could be another really tough year, but we still need to sign at least one top six forward. I also know there aren't too many good options on the FA market, so it might mean overpaying for somebody...but I think it'd be worth it. We need a little insurance up front.

Problem with signing FA is it locks out any of the prospects for several years. You're not going to sign a FA for a few million dollars/season only to sit him on the bench because someone really impresses at training camp.

Hoags wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

Not to be all doomy and gloomy, but there are waaaaay too many question marks in this top six. This has "potential disaster" written all over it. Filatov could be a bust, Michalek is injury prone, and is likely better on the second line, Butler is a big question mark, Zibby is a HUGE question mark, and Alfie is old, and also injury prone. So five of those six guys are question marks. Great. I know it could be another really tough year, but we still need to sign at least one top six forward. I also know there aren't too many good options on the FA market, so it might mean overpaying for somebody...but I think it'd be worth it. We need a little insurance up front.

Problem with signing FA is it locks out any of the prospects for several years. You're not going to sign a FA for a few million dollars/season only to sit him on the bench because someone really impresses at training camp.

we're not contending this year. let's roll the dices and see who can make it in the NHL when we have injuries. worst comes to worst we get a nice pick next year.

tim1_2 wrote:
Not to be all doomy and gloomy, but there are waaaaay too many question marks in this top six. This has "potential disaster" written all over it. Filatov could be a bust, Michalek is injury prone, and is likely better on the second line, Butler is a big question mark, Zibby is a HUGE question mark, and Alfie is old, and also injury prone. So five of those six guys are question marks. Great. I know it could be another really tough year, but we still need to sign at least one top six forward. I also know there aren't too many good options on the FA market, so it might mean overpaying for somebody...but I think it'd be worth it. We need a little insurance up front.

I think Murray feels the same - I do. I feel great about the direction of the team - and wouldn't really care one way or the other, but getting another guy who can come in here and play a top 6 role would be a really strong move IMO. That's one of the reasons I've wanted Leino or Fleichmann for a while now, this team didn't score last year and we're adding Nikita Filatov as our answer to that? Dunno...I would get too used to the puck going in for the Sens this year as of right now.

dennycrane wrote:Spezza too is injury prone. In the last six seasons, he has played 70 or more twice.

God, I didn’t even think of Spezza’s injury-proneness. Imagine he goes down in addition to a mix of other bad circumstances (Alfie being hampered, Zibby not being on the team, Filatov busting out, etc…). The offense could really be anaemic.

I fully understand that the worst-case is that we get another high draft pick…and that could still happen even if our top six end up scoring regularly…but at some level, you need to remain competitive. A guy like a Simon Gagne, or to a lesser extent, Michael Ryder, Cory Stillman, Marco Sturm, Alexander Frolov, Tomas Fleischmann, Chuck Kobasew, or Sergei Samsonov could all provide a bit of scoring depth on a team that will undoubtedly need it. None of these guys should break the bank. Personally, I like the speed of Kobasew, but could see any of these guys helping out.

SpezDispenser wrote:
I think Murray feels the same - I do. I feel great about the direction of the team - and wouldn't really care one way or the other, but getting another guy who can come in here and play a top 6 role would be a really strong move IMO. That's one of the reasons I've wanted Leino or Fleichmann for a while now, this team didn't score last year and we're adding Nikita Filatov as our answer to that? Dunno...I would get too used to the puck going in for the Sens this year as of right now.

They're not signing any big FA, these guys will demand big money and term and they'll get it (from someone). If we can get someone for a 1-2 year contract it'd make sense and we can let Zib develop instead of tossing him. The other alternative is we can rely on Peter Regin again (ugh). Fleischmann might be a possibility, I can see teams being reluctant on giving him a long term deal due to his blood condition.

Assuming he looks good in training camp (physically and mentally ready) I say toss him in the top-6 and see what happens. It's a risk worth taking, he's a talented scoring machine.

Looking at his goal highlights, he benefits from having talented linemates, playing him sheltered minutes with 3rd and 4th line grinders doesn't seem the best appraoch.

I'm hosting a Canada Day get together at my house. This is a kids friendly event. We live in the east end; near Alfred. Anybody headed out this way, stop by

Hoags wrote:They're not signing any big FA, these guys will demand big money and term and they'll get it (from someone). If we can get someone for a 1-2 year contract it'd make sense and we can let Zib develop instead of tossing him. The other alternative is we can rely on Peter Regin again (ugh). Fleischmann might be a possibility, I can see teams being reluctant on giving him a long term deal due to his blood condition.

Assuming he looks good in training camp (physically and mentally ready) I say toss him in the top-6 and see what happens. It's a risk worth taking, he's a talented scoring machine.

Looking at his goal highlights, he benefits from having talented linemates, playing him sheltered minutes with 3rd and 4th line grinders doesn't seem the best appraoch.

I think most people expect Murray to make a trade - either today, tomorrow or soon after the 'frenzy' of July 1 - whatever frenzy there will even be. This might be the weakest crop of UFAs I can ever remember, Leino, Richards, Fleishmann, Connolly, Arnott.

Trade seems the route - I feel like there's no chance we go into the beginning of the year status quo.

kuklaskorner Kukla's Korner .com
RT @ChrisBottaNHL: James Wisniewski, who will sign with the BJs in the next 24 hours, will be 1 of the big winners of this year's UFA class.

Word is, it's a 5 year, 25 million dollar deal, but no one knows for sure yet.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Hoags wrote:They're not signing any big FA, these guys will demand big money and term and they'll get it (from someone). If we can get someone for a 1-2 year contract it'd make sense and we can let Zib develop instead of tossing him. The other alternative is we can rely on Peter Regin again (ugh). Fleischmann might be a possibility, I can see teams being reluctant on giving him a long term deal due to his blood condition.

Assuming he looks good in training camp (physically and mentally ready) I say toss him in the top-6 and see what happens. It's a risk worth taking, he's a talented scoring machine.

Looking at his goal highlights, he benefits from having talented linemates, playing him sheltered minutes with 3rd and 4th line grinders doesn't seem the best appraoch.

I think most people expect Murray to make a trade - either today, tomorrow or soon after the 'frenzy' of July 1 - whatever frenzy there will even be. This might be the weakest crop of UFAs I can ever remember, Leino, Richards, Fleishmann, Connolly, Arnott.

Trade seems the route - I feel like there's no chance we go into the beginning of the year status quo.

i'm afraid you might be right... how do you get someone good without dealing away something good... I'd rather we take a jab at Connolly or Arnott even if it ends up being not the greatest deal. give them one year deals and trade them at the deadline. that's IF they want to sign with us.

I don't think either of those guys (Connolly or Arnott) would be interested in one year deals...not with Ottawa.

Flo The Action wrote:i'm afraid you might be right... how do you get someone good without dealing away something good... I'd rather we take a jab at Connolly or Arnott even if it ends up being not the greatest deal. give them one year deals and trade them at the deadline. that's IF they want to sign with us.

Murray can afford to be patient and wait teams out a bit. If he can get a soft trade for someone down the middle, I think he'll go for it. Even if it's a big contract for a year, I doubt the Sens will balk really.

Can't really think of who off the top of my head though.

I wonder if Murray is looking at Ilari Filppula at all. He could always try to do what he did with the Niedermeyers, bring in the brother and hope the other signs later. But even if that's not the case Ilari is very skilled, leading the Grand Rapid Griffins in points potting 64 in 76 games. He's listed as a Forward, so hopefully that means he can play centre too. He's played with men in the past in the Finnish league. I wonder if Melnyk would approve to signing him to a 1 way deal as a means of enticing him to sign a 1 year deal with us:

Both videos have filler until about the 50 second mark:

Geez, I didn't even know he existed.

SpezDispenser wrote:Geez, I didn't even know he existed.

He's "The Other Flipper".