whoa! Another Spezza rumor!

Fresh from Hockeyleaks.com, here's there latest take on swirling rumors:

"The struggling Sens are looking to shake things up, and it appears Jason Spezza could be the fall guy. While no concrete talks have taken place, two teams that have HUGE interest in Spezza are Chicago (who I really think can get a deal done with Ottawa, given their strength in goaltending and young defensemen) and Edmonton. With that said, three other teams that I have heard whispers about are Columbus, Vancouver and Calgary. More on this as we head into the new year..."

www.hockeyleaks.com

I still don't think Spezza is the guy to trade. Who will be our top line center? Do you remember the days when we didn't have a 2nd line center and we were scrambling and scrambling to balance things out? The only time we did that was with Comrie and look where it took us. If we trade Spezza, we have no 1st line Center and no 2nd line Center....how does this make sense? Are they going to give us Kane back for him?

I just can't see us getting fair value for Spezza right now. I say hold on to him until the draft. Unless one of these teams comes in with a really nice offer, patience is the way to go I think. Imo, as long as Spezza and the team underachieve, these rumours won't go away.

I'd would certainly consider moving him for something like Cogliano, Gilbert and a 2009 1st right now though.

Nice call Hemi And Stargate.
I couldn't agree more.
I forget which member kept stressing this point, but I certainly agree that if Spezza is moved, a highly-touted or proven Centerman must come back...
If we snag another sweet prospect or 1st as well, it's just gravy in my eyes.

The longer Murray stands pat has me a little worried that perhaps the Sens will stay status quo, which is NOT good because I think these guys need a shakeup of some sort. Perhaps not a HUGE blow out, but something to get these guys going. Plus, our top line had better come out of their collective funk because they aren't helping either.

Unless we got Keith, Sharp and Seabrook back our way...then nope.

Spezza is going nowhere, I can tell you that.

Cronenbergfan wrote:Nice call Hemi And Stargate.
I couldn't agree more.
I forget which member kept stressing this point, but I certainly agree that if Spezza is moved, a highly-touted or proven Centerman must come back...
If we snag another sweet prospect or 1st as well, it's just gravy in my eyes.

The longer Murray stands pat has me a little worried that perhaps the Sens will stay status quo, which is NOT good because I think these guys need a shakeup of some sort. Perhaps not a HUGE blow out, but something to get these guys going. Plus, our top line had better come out of their collective funk because they aren't helping either.

Let's look a t it this way....

This past summer, we blew up the defence...upgraded the goaltending.

And now it's time to take a long look at the forwards.

Safe are the Heater, Fisher, and Alfie....but Spezza, Vermette, Neil...are just a few names that could be gone come July 1st....

I'm guessing that they will try to bring in some deadline forward (S) and if the playoffs don't happen...or they end quickly...at least 6 of our current 12 forwards will be new come September. With the 6 including some Bingo players...

From a deadline deal wishlist though...I've been thinking about this more and more...

How awesome would it be to bring back Marty Halvat? Put him on the second line with Fisher?

Well, I don't think he'll stand pat either way. If we decide to forget about this seaon, he'll trade what he can for picks and prospects. I'm really leaning towards that now. If there was a move to be made, I think he would have made it by now.

With that trade I mentioned, grabbing Gilbert also allows us to move Kuba, who is UFA, for a 1st somewhere. He's certainly played well enough to fetch that. If we did that, we would also have quite a bit more space under the cap.

BigRig77 wrote:

Cronenbergfan wrote:Nice call Hemi And Stargate.
I couldn't agree more.
I forget which member kept stressing this point, but I certainly agree that if Spezza is moved, a highly-touted or proven Centerman must come back...
If we snag another sweet prospect or 1st as well, it's just gravy in my eyes.

The longer Murray stands pat has me a little worried that perhaps the Sens will stay status quo, which is NOT good because I think these guys need a shakeup of some sort. Perhaps not a HUGE blow out, but something to get these guys going. Plus, our top line had better come out of their collective funk because they aren't helping either.

Let's look a t it this way....

This past summer, we blew up the defence...upgraded the goaltending.

And now it's time to take a long look at the forwards.

Safe are the Heater, Fisher, and Alfie....but Spezza, Vermette, Neil...are just a few names that could be gone come July 1st....

I'm guessing that they will try to bring in some deadline forward (S) and if the playoffs don't happen...or they end quickly...at least 6 of our current 12 forwards will be new come September. With the 6 including some Bingo players...

From a deadline deal wishlist though...I've been thinking about this more and more...

How awesome would it be to bring back Marty Halvat? Put him on the second line with Fisher?

HAvlat and FIsher on the same line...two china dolls together. LMFAO! COuldn't resist!

jamvan wrote:Unless we got Keith, Sharp and Seabrook back our way...then nope.

Spezza is going nowhere, I can tell you that.

Yeah, I could see that. Nothing less that's for sure.

It's strange that a lot whispers have Edmonton interested in Spezza and Kovalchuk...

Cronenbergfan wrote:

jamvan wrote:Unless we got Keith, Sharp and Seabrook back our way...then nope.

Spezza is going nowhere, I can tell you that.

Yeah, I could see that. Nothing less that's for sure.

It's strange that a lot whispers have Edmonton interested in Spezza and Kovalchuk...

Not really. They've made it clear that they want a big-ticket forward with their offer to Hossa. I only wonder how they expect to make it happen with the lack of cap space they have.

Spezza has as good a chance of being dealt as just about anyone who doesn't have a NTC on this team.

jamvan wrote:Unless we got Keith, Sharp and Seabrook back our way...then nope.

Spezza is going nowhere, I can tell you that.

I'd love to get Sharp. He's what we've been waiting for Vermette to become. A defensive and PK specialist who can SCORE!!!

Keith would be brilliant as well. Pipe dreams I'm sure.

Cronenbergfan wrote:

jamvan wrote:Unless we got Keith, Sharp and Seabrook back our way...then nope.

Spezza is going nowhere, I can tell you that.

Yeah, I could see that. Nothing less that's for sure.

It's strange that a lot whispers have Edmonton interested in Spezza and Kovalchuk...

No way Chicago does that ... even Sharp for Spezza would be a stretch. Maybe Bollad & Barker at best.

Cronenbergfan wrote:Fresh from Hockeyleaks.com, here's there latest take on swirling rumors:

"The struggling Sens are looking to shake things up, and it appears Jason Spezza could be the fall guy. While no concrete talks have taken place, two teams that have HUGE interest in Spezza are Chicago (who I really think can get a deal done with Ottawa, given their strength in goaltending and young defensemen) and Edmonton. With that said, three other teams that I have heard whispers about are Columbus, Vancouver and Calgary. More on this as we head into the new year..."

www.hockeyleaks.com

Thanks for sharing the rumor Cronie. Here's my take:

CHICAGO:
I guess losing the Sundin sweeps makes them target a guy like Spezza as second choice. Obviously they wouldn't trade guys like Toews and Kane, even Sharp, Campbell and Keith are highly unlikely to be moved. I don't think Ottawa wants to "improve" their goaltending though, and if they did, Gerber would have to be going to Chicago as well. Havlat, while he has remained healthy this season so far, is still a huge question mark, and I wouldn't take the risk. Besides he is not a center, and I don't think Ottawa experiments with Heatley at center. I suppose Barker, Seabrook or maybe Winsiewski, or Byfuglien could be moved. They have a tonne of young forwards as well, but none that fill the void of Spezza. I say pass.

EDMONTON:

Why? They have a lot of centers already. Horcoff, Gagner, Cogliano, as well as Schremp in limbo. Schremp is or could be good, but I don't think he's much of an improvement over Spezza or ever will be. He has the same knocks as Spezza. I would certainly take Gagner or Cogliano in exchange as a starting point.

COLUMBUS:
Certainly see their need for a #1 center like Spezza to play with Nash. Highly doubt they would trade away Brassard, Voracek or Filatov. I hear Leclaire, but most likely Norrena, will be moved, with Mason's rise to stardom.

VANCOUVER:
Again, seems like a contingency plan on the Sundin sweeps. Do we even have to ask who we want from them? It'd have to be either Luongo, or Hodgson and Schneider for me. Hodgson is a phenomenal player and could be a #1 for us sooner than you think. He's great at both ends, and is just a great kid. Schneider is > Elliott as well, so that helps us quite a bit.

CALGARY:
Kipper has become too inconsistent at times, how would he fair in Ottawa? And aside from Iginla, Camalleri and Phaneuf, who else do we really want? Dustin Boyd would be a good #2 at most probably.

I still think Spezza is going to be a Senator for a while, but if he has to be moved, whether it be to improve the team or save money, the time to do it is at the draft I think. A top 5 pick would be a nice starting point, but would a team trade a pick and a chance at a top 5 for Spezza?

BigRig77 wrote:

Cronenbergfan wrote:Nice call Hemi And Stargate.
I couldn't agree more.
I forget which member kept stressing this point, but I certainly agree that if Spezza is moved, a highly-touted or proven Centerman must come back...
If we snag another sweet prospect or 1st as well, it's just gravy in my eyes.

The longer Murray stands pat has me a little worried that perhaps the Sens will stay status quo, which is NOT good because I think these guys need a shakeup of some sort. Perhaps not a HUGE blow out, but something to get these guys going. Plus, our top line had better come out of their collective funk because they aren't helping either.

Let's look a t it this way....

This past summer, we blew up the defence...upgraded the goaltending.

And now it's time to take a long look at the forwards.

Safe are the Heater, Fisher, and Alfie....but Spezza, Vermette, Neil...are just a few names that could be gone come July 1st....

I'm guessing that they will try to bring in some deadline forward (S) and if the playoffs don't happen...or they end quickly...at least 6 of our current 12 forwards will be new come September. With the 6 including some Bingo players...

From a deadline deal wishlist though...I've been thinking about this more and more...

How awesome would it be to bring back Marty Halvat? Put him on the second line with Fisher?

I love Havlat and have been quietly saying we should snag him back for a long time now...

sign him to a decent contract...

Plus, doesn't Spezza's NTC come into effect July 2009 or is it 2010?