The Filip Kuba Recognition Thread

I'll be the first to admit: I wasn't thrilled when we ended up re-signing Kuba instead of trading him this deadline. But since Clouston took over, it's hard not to notice that he's picked his game up to where it was at the beginning of the year - and beyond.

He's a steady, calming influence on the Sens' backend. He plays fantastic positionally and is starting to be more and more physical. To be fair, he'll never really be an overly physical guy, but his reads and positioning more than make up for it.

He's starting to shoot more - especially on the PP - and his shot is a heavy one that frequently leads to rebounds and scoring chances.

I'm starting to see the player I hoped we'd acquired - a rock-solid number 2 guy (who can be a number one, but probably isn't quite suited to it).

Good job Kuba, keep it up!

:KKK:

Hear hear!

Way to go Kuba!

I have to 2nd Heater's view, as I too was initially mortified when I heard that Murray signed Kuba at the Deadline; but since being tutored under Clouston, the player we acquired to replace to dogged Mezaros is starting to break through, and quite nicely I might add.

In fact, about a month or so again, when we were hosting the Caps I believe, that game brought one thing to mind: the fact that Kuba was shadowing Ovie ALL night long and not only kept him off the scoresheet, but Ovie was held to a measely 3 - 4 shots on goal the entire night... That, I'm sure we can all appreciate, is NO easy feat.

Kudos to Kuba making BM looking like a genius for signing that extension, look forward to Kuba mentoring Karlsson when he makes it to the NHL, possibly as early as next year.

Kuba has been great. I'm a big fan of the way he plays.

*He's been the +/- leader for most of the season and that's saying something.
*We've lost the gross majority of games that he has been out of the lineup.
*Even though he's been around a while it still looks like he's improving.
*He's key on the PP (23 pts) Overall he has 35 pts in 59 games.
*He waived his no-trade to come here, voiced that he'd rather stay here than be traded, resigned at good value and is playing inspired hockey. He wants to be here and that makes me glad we have him. :___:

He is a good player that kind of goes under the radar. He doesn't do much that makes him stand out but he does a lot of things very well.

I'm really happy we got him resigned for 3.7M. That's pretty damn good for everything he does.

beerandsens wrote:Kuba has been great. I'm a big fan of the way he plays.

*He's been the +/- leader for most of the season and that's saying something.
*We've lost the gross majority of games that he has been out of the lineup.
*Even though he's been around a while it still looks like he's improving.
*He's key on the PP (23 pts) Overall he has 35 pts in 59 games.
*He waived his no-trade to come here, voiced that he'd rather stay here than be traded, resigned at good value and is playing inspired hockey. He wants to be here and that makes me glad we have him. :___:

Excellent summary! :GHF:

beerandsens wrote: He wants to be here and that makes me glad we have him. :___:

That's the big key to me. For all the fabricated "hometowners" the media has crammed down our throats, this guy is the real deal. The point production is a nice touch as well.

He will frustate us with some soft play, but he more than makes up for it elsewhere. I don't think I've ever seen him break a sweat or get winded. A fascinating player.

I must say, I was up and down about this guy all season. But, he's been pretty solid the whole way through, and he's been even more solid since signing the new contract with us. I love the fact that he wants to be here and asked to stay, and also took a bit of a pay cut from what he could've made on the open market.

I am now starting to feel the love for him more and more!

GO KUBA!

I too was bewildered when Kuba wasn't moved at the deadline but I'm starting to think it was a good move to re-sign him for below market value. Imagine for a moment that we traded him for something as High as a late first rounder, we'd then be forced to go hunting for a #1 AND a #2 D man.

That's another great point Clutch.

Essentially, Kuba's personality and determination to truly wish to remain a Senator and wish to stay here to WIN here coupled with Murray's thought of having to shop for not just one but 2 D-men as you pointed out really makes this signing seem all the more brilliant.

I'm o.k. with Kuba being soft at times so long as he remains effective at either foiling an opponents breakout, shutting down a charging player or just keeps being in the right position at the key time.

I also have to chime in on SSF's comments about Kuba's conditioning. Now that he brought it up, I was thinking back to when the camera pans to Kuba on the bench, and you rarely see him sucking wind hard or dripping sweat like Coolio in that godawful Gansta's paradise tune.

Welcome aboard Kuba and this fan is glad you're along for the LOONG haul.

Again, this guy is the perfect number 2 D man, close to a number 1. Playoff time Im not sure how he will responde and all that, but glad he got locked up at well under market value.

Nice to see him poppin a few more in the net and jumping up into the play.

He's made a lot of people (me included) eat their words. Very impressed.