Ottawa Senators (present and past) TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

So speaking hypothetically maybe the focus of this summer is addition by subtraction.

Out: MDZ, White, Zaitsev, Gaudette, Tierney, Gambrell, Mete. Assuming no money is retained and with Ryan's cap hit reduction, this clears around $22.5M in cap space. If they buy out White they're obviously going to have a cap hit albeit not a huge one.

In: Norris ($8M), Formenton ($3.5M), Joseph ($3M), Brannstrom ($1.5), Giroux (5M) is around $21M

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:So speaking hypothetically maybe the focus of this summer is addition by subtraction.

Out: MDZ, White, Zaitsev, Gaudette, Tierney, Gambrell, Mete. Assuming no money is retained and with Ryan's cap hit reduction, this clears around $22.5M in cap space. If they buy out White they're obviously going to have a cap hit albeit not a huge one.

In: Norris ($8M), Formenton ($3.5M), Joseph ($3M), Brannstrom ($1.5), Giroux (5M) is around $21M

I don't think they've got 3M planned for Joseph. I also think that supposed deal for white to Montreal gets revisited in the summertime.

you may be stuck with MDZ and Zaitsev also and I'm not sure Gambrell is going anywhere.

Not sure I see them buying out White. I think they have no choice but to buy out Murray, but maybe they just stupidly give him another shot next season.

Naw. They'll buyout White. The 1/3 buyout is too much to pass on. Plus if you move Murray and Forsberg gets hurt you're going with Gus and Sogaard. No way that happens. Murray is better off in and out of the lineup and on IR. They can buy him out, send him to the minors, or try to trade him the year after.

I think having Murray around is a drain on the team, but that's just me speculating.

tim1_2 wrote:I think having Murray around is a drain on the team, but that's just me speculating.  

You're probably right but paying this guy $10M not to be around is a lot of money

So far the harmonic and Joseph trades have been brilliant

always nice winning against the Habs in their barn.

Yes, always feels excellent stomping the smurfs. Gallagher whined after the game about how Stutzle is a diver/faker. Sweet sweet tears.

Hamonic has been better than I expected...still nothing great, but for a guy starting 65% of the time in his d-zone, he's been good. Joseph has been just ripping it up...we've kind of got ourselves in another Anthony Duclair situation where the player is smoking hot for the last bit of the season going into contract negotiations...although I remember Duclair kind of cooled down at some point towards the end of his last season here. Anyway, the team looks really good beating up the likes of the Red Wings and Habs!

It's going to be tough to evaluate the Sens down the stretch. Apparently Ottawa ranks 27th with respect to strength of schedule remaining.

If I were Dorion my strategy would be to lock up Norris long-term and sign Formenton and Joseph to bridge/2-3 year deals allowing the team to evaluate them properly. I think Joseph is big-time overachieving and his production will eventually normalize so I wouldn't let his dominance of Detroit x 2 and Montreal sway contract negotiations. I also lock up Formenton into a top-six contract or give him too much term. He's a good player but he's very inconsistent. I also see him being a piece, along with Brannstrom, if the plan is to bring in a top-six forward via trade.

If Joseph can continue his play and be a complementary player on the top line, slotting becomes that much better for everyone else. If you can find someone to then play with Stutzle and Batherson you have a pretty balanced top six with a very effective third line (Formenton-Pinto-Brown) that can contribute offensively.

A successful off-season IMO is bringing in a second line top-six forward (Giroux or trade?), buying out White or Murray, and moving Zaitsev. I'd also like to see Kastelic push for that 4C role and Sokolov/Jarventie push for a role.

Victor Lodin joining the BSens. Not sure if that was mentioned here. I'm also not sure what Crookshank's deal is.

Curious if the Sens send Pinto down for a Belleville run. He needs to play some games if he's healthy. I don't Sanderson would go given his injury and long year.

But what an injection if Belleville gets Lodin, Crookshank, Kelly and Pinto

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Victor Lodin joining the BSens. Not sure if that was mentioned here. I'm also not sure what Crookshank's deal is.

Curious if the Sens send Pinto down for a Belleville run. He needs to play some games if he's healthy. I don't Sanderson would go given his injury and long year.

But what an injection if Belleville gets Lodin, Crookshank, Kelly and Pinto

Pretty sure pinto is not eligible for the playoffs since he wasn’t on the roster before but I could be wrong

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:It's going to be tough to evaluate the Sens down the stretch. Apparently Ottawa ranks 27th with respect to strength of schedule remaining.

If I were Dorion my strategy would be to lock up Norris long-term and sign Formenton and Joseph to bridge/2-3 year deals allowing the team to evaluate them properly. I think Joseph is big-time overachieving and his production will eventually normalize so I wouldn't let his dominance of Detroit x 2 and Montreal sway contract negotiations. I also lock up Formenton into a top-six contract or give him too much term. He's a good player but he's very inconsistent. I also see him being a piece, along with Brannstrom, if the plan is to bring in a top-six forward via trade.

If Joseph can continue his play and be a complementary player on the top line, slotting becomes that much better for everyone else. If you can find someone to then play with Stutzle and Batherson you have a pretty balanced top six with a very effective third line (Formenton-Pinto-Brown) that can contribute offensively.

A successful off-season IMO is bringing in a second line top-six forward (Giroux or trade?), buying out White or Murray, and moving Zaitsev. I'd also like to see Kastelic push for that 4C role and Sokolov/Jarventie push for a role.

A successful off-season for me would be a top 6 RW through FA or trade, trading white (and I suspect MTL would try and do this with Petry somehow because they’ve both underperformed and could both look to have bounce back, some assets could be involved).

When it come to Murray I think the sens will keep him and address the issue as next year progresses. I doubt they want to just hand the reign altogether to Gus and Forsberg. Without Eugene in the mix, Dorion might have some greater latitudes at carrying salaries/mistakes into the year.

Zaitsev. If the sens can move him that’s a home run.

So to resume, if we wind up with Petry and a top 6 forward that’s a win in my books.

tim1_2 wrote:Not sure I see them buying out White.  I think they have no choice but to buy out Murray, but maybe they just stupidly give him another shot next season.

With Melnyk gone, maybe White stays.

Joseph is great, now, but he's a middle 6 forward. He and Formenton are best on L3 plus PK. Eventually there is probably just one spot between the two of them.

Pinto was injured while on the NHL roster so they could not send him down to the AHL (not even a paper transaction), so that makes him ineligible for the Calder Cup playoffs. I think it's the same deal with Crookshank.

Lodin, however, *is* eligible. Not sure how, but I think it's because he is "on loan" to the SHL so technically still on the AHL roster (at least from the playoff eligibility point of view). Rules are weird.

wprager wrote:Joseph is great, now, but he's a middle 6 forward. He and Formenton are best on L3 plus PK. Eventually there is probably just one spot between the two of them.

Pinto was injured while on the NHL roster so they could not send him down to the AHL (not even a paper transaction), so that makes him ineligible for the Calder Cup playoffs. I think it's the same deal with Crookshank.

Lodin, however, *is* eligible. Not sure how, but I think it's because he is "on loan" to the SHL so technically still on the AHL roster (at least from the playoff eligibility point of view). Rules are weird.

They don’t even play the same position so I don’t see them fighting for one spot. Joseph is probably a third liner next year but that’s what they said about players like marchessaulr as well

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Joseph is great, now, but he's a middle 6 forward. He and Formenton are best on L3 plus PK. Eventually there is probably just one spot between the two of them.

Pinto was injured while on the NHL roster so they could not send him down to the AHL (not even a paper transaction), so that makes him ineligible for the Calder Cup playoffs. I think it's the same deal with Crookshank.

Lodin, however, *is* eligible. Not sure how, but I think it's because he is "on loan" to the SHL so technically still on the AHL roster (at least from the playoff eligibility point of view). Rules are weird.

They don’t even play the same position so I don’t see them fighting for one spot. Joseph is probably a third liner next year but that’s what they said about players like marchessaulr as well

I think you slot Joseph in your top-six and do whatever you can to get a third line of Formenton-Pinto-Brown. If you get a top-six LW keep Joseph on the right. If you get a RW you can move Joseph to the left. Ottawa shouldn't be building their team around where he wants to play. A winger is a winger. They skate all over the ice anyway. Shouldn't make much of a difference. For all we know he only prefers the right based on opportunity in Tampa

I think we can all agree now that we’re looking to add a top 6 winger and possibly improve our RHD with a top 4 pairing.

Thankfully we’re not looking for a top line C anymore. Those were costly to acquire and usually the ones available via trade came with a level of uncertainty.