Can Ottawa survive a rebuild?

I wonder what the longest timespan between bumps is?

hemlock wrote:

dennycrane wrote:I think if the Sens went for a rebuild it could be done in short order. I also think their average attendance would be close to and possibly better than what it will be for this season.

Short order is right. The defence is practically done with Karlsson, Cowen, Rundblad and Wiercioch. We've also got Lehner in the pipeline. Add some forwards and we'd well on our way. 3 years from now we could be relatively competitive again (not this pretend competitive Murray wants us to believe). At that point, Spezza will be hitting his prime and guys like Regin, Foligno and Butler will hopefully be mainstays in scoring roles.

Let's not forget that Bingo is not indicative of the offensive talent that this team has. Sure, Butler, O'Brien, and Condra are having great years down there but we've got guys like Caporusso, Costello, Grant putting up points in the CCHA, Sorenson and Silfverberg are having nice seasons in their respective SELs, and Mark Stone has 37 points in 29 games in Brandon.

If one or two of these guys amount to top six forward we're in good shape moving forward. We've got a lot of cap room for next season, and assets that could be traded at the deadline to bring in more picks/prospects.

Kovalfie wrote:

hemlock wrote:

dennycrane wrote:I think if the Sens went for a rebuild it could be done in short order. I also think their average attendance would be close to and possibly better than what it will be for this season.

Short order is right. The defence is practically done with Karlsson, Cowen, Rundblad and Wiercioch. We've also got Lehner in the pipeline. Add some forwards and we'd well on our way. 3 years from now we could be relatively competitive again (not this pretend competitive Murray wants us to believe). At that point, Spezza will be hitting his prime and guys like Regin, Foligno and Butler will hopefully be mainstays in scoring roles.

Let's not forget that Bingo is not indicative of the offensive talent that this team has. Sure, Butler, O'Brien, and Condra are having great years down there but we've got guys like Caporusso, Costello, Grant putting up points in the CCHA, Sorenson and Silfverberg are having nice seasons in their respective SELs, and Mark Stone has 37 points in 29 games in Brandon.

If one or two of these guys amount to top six forward we're in good shape moving forward. We've got a lot of cap room for next season, and assets that could be traded at the deadline to bring in more picks/prospects.

Good point. There are several reasons for optimism going forward. Even if we were to initiate a rebuild, some of the groundwork has been done by some shrewd drafting, particularly mid and late round.

From that list, Stone and Sorenson are particularly exciting prospects, while Butler and O'Brien may be ready sooner rather than later.

Timely post Kovalfie.

I disagree that Stone is an exciting prospect. Sure he's having a good season, but he was a late pick for a reason. Usually guys who are labelled steals come out of nowhere later on.

What would make him exciting, if not a good season? Alfie was a late pick as well. Why be down on someone before we know the trajectory of his development, especially if that trajectory is currently favourable?

The big knock on Stone that I've read about is his poor skating. I read somewhere, that it was particularly bad, although, I'm not sure in which way (speed, acceleration, agility, etc...). At the same time, one must think that if his skating really is that bad, how good must the rest of his game be if he's putting up these numbers? Hopefully he has a strong desire and puts in the effort to improve his skating, while accepting criticism and improving on those areas.

Bass Destruction wrote:The big knock on Stone that I've read about is his poor skating. I read somewhere, that it was particularly bad, although, I'm not sure in which way (speed, acceleration, agility, etc...). At the same time, one must think that if his skating really is that bad, how good must the rest of his game be if he's putting up these numbers? Hopefully he has a strong desire and puts in the effort to improve his skating, while accepting criticism and improving on those areas.

latendresse had uge issues with his skating while with the habs. he took entire summers to work it out. i don't know how well that worked for him, but he's playingin the NHL and is scoring. it can be done and you're right, the kid has to focus on those problems and get a skating coach. it's a small step when you look at what the big picture, but some kids aren't always focused and have a problem looking far away. it's also easy to focus on the area's you're good with. time will tell the story