Small Trade! (Rumour no more)

I really wonder if he adds that much more that what we already have. Couldn't we spend the $1.5-2.5M somewhere better (say, perhaps, Gerber, Neil, and a pick for Khabibulin, Barker, and a first?)

As much as I don't think Khabibulin is all that much better, he is in a contract year, so he has the incentive to kick it up a notch, whereas Gerber may not be able to do so.

My bad please ignore this, I was heading straight into page 3 of Heaters post, thinking the entire thread was dedicated to the rumour of Murray being invited to Sens training camp. . . I thought you guys were really asleep on this one haha.

Acrobat wrote:I really wonder if he adds that much more that what we already have. Couldn't we spend the $1.5-2.5M somewhere better (say, perhaps, Gerber, Neil, and a pick for Khabibulin, Barker, and a first?)

As much as I don't think Khabibulin is all that great, he is in a contract year, so he has the incentive to kick it up a notch, whereas Gerber may not be able to do so.

Who are we talking about? Glen Murray?

504Heater wrote:

Acrobat wrote:I really wonder if he adds that much more that what we already have. Couldn't we spend the $1.5-2.5M somewhere better (say, perhaps, Gerber, Neil, and a pick for Khabibulin, Barker, and a first?)

As much as I don't think Khabibulin is all that great, he is in a contract year, so he has the incentive to kick it up a notch, whereas Gerber may not be able to do so.

Who are we talking about? Glen Murray?

Oops - G. Murray

Sorry

Glen Murray, huh? I like the fact that Murray has been going for some great character role guys and some high-risk high reward type guys. I really think that if Glen works out in Ottawa we would have one of the deepest teams front to back in the league.

I guess I just figure that instead of paying Murray the $2M (plus or minus), give the kids a chance - and we have enough that are chomping at the bit to try for that spot. Then take the money and upgrade the goalie and defence.

Let Hartsburgh work his magic with the forwards and defense (like we all expect him to) and we should have no probs keeping the shots to the outside, but jut in case, make sure that the goalie is motivated. I don't see Gerber as motivated as Khabibulin. And with Auld/Elliot at his heels, he'll know that he has no room to slack off.

PKC wrote:Glen Murray, huh? I like the fact that Murray has been going for some great character role guys and some high-risk high reward type guys. I really think that if Glen works out in Ottawa we would have one of the deepest teams front to back in the league.

But at what point do you have to step back and give some of the kids a chance to step up as well? If we do that, then who will take over when all the "character guys" finish up and become UFAs? And more importantly, how long before the kids become disgruntled and stop pushing?

Acrobat wrote:

504Heater wrote:

Acrobat wrote:I really wonder if he adds that much more that what we already have. Couldn't we spend the $1.5-2.5M somewhere better (say, perhaps, Gerber, Neil, and a pick for Khabibulin, Barker, and a first?)

As much as I don't think Khabibulin is all that great, he is in a contract year, so he has the incentive to kick it up a notch, whereas Gerber may not be able to do so.

Who are we talking about? Glen Murray?

Oops - G. Murray

Sorry

Oh...I dunno. He used to be such a prolific scorer that I guess Murray's hoping an invite to play with Fish, Vermette, Spezza, Heatley and Alf breathes new life into him.

I like it a lot. It gives us a true top six and allows for Foligno to learn more with Kelly in a checking line before taking the plunge. Plus...gives us nice callups for when injuries strike.

I like the NHL experience up there - and I think at 1.5 million (or less hopefully!), this guy could turn out to be one of the best pickups of the summer.

Or he could suck. :D

Acrobat wrote:I guess I just figure that instead of paying Murray the $2M (plus or minus), give the kids a chance - and we have enough that are chomping at the bit to try for that spot. Then take the money and upgrade the goalie and defence.

Let Hartsburgh work his magic with the forwards and defense (like we all expect him to) and we should have no probs keeping the shots to the outside, but jut in case, make sure that the goalie is motivated. I don't see Gerber as motivated as Khabibulin. And with Auld/Elliot at his heels, he'll know that he has no room to slack off.

This is an excellent point, the flip side to the equation for sure. At some point we need to see the kids up close and personal. Otherwise, why bother farming players.

beerandsens wrote:My bad please ignore this, I was heading straight into page 3 of Heaters post, thinking the entire thread was dedicated to the rumour of Murray being invited to Sens training camp. . . I thought you guys were really asleep on this one haha.

Why did I just lose my long arsed post there.

Damn it, it was so long....now I've lost enthusiasm. :D I was just saying that there can be no shortage of threads for this, because this is part of the big picture that Murray's setting up. We're clearing salary, clearing un-needed players, bringing in fun, character guys.

He drafted well in Anaheim (Getzlaf and Perry) and here too (Jim O'Brien), he took two kids out of universities in Kunitz and Penner (Winchester) and has always used the 'little' trades to make his teams better.

He's making sure we have nice depth if and when injuries happen.

And I have a feeling there's one more to come (although Glenn Murray coming over may put an end to that).

Wha...what? *looking around* how the frank did I get in this thread?

Just to expand on the above:

What I'd like to see is a very solid defense core (we are essentially there now, or at least very close). Murray (the GM) has set us up so that we should be defensively stable (barring a repeat of last year's disaster) for years to come, with elements of speed, size, and physicality. What we may be lacking is a degree of leadership long-term; Smith may be the one to fill the role for now. Later, maybe Phillips? Volchenkov?

Then we need to get a top ten goalie. You don't need a superstar, just a little more than competent. He should be able to make the first stop, and the second, most of the time. There shouldn't be a second, if all goes well defensively. This is where Ottawa has consistently fallen flat. This is where I see our most effective next move in terms of a trade (not necessarily our next move, but our most effective move). The problem is that the only one out there is Khabibulin, unless B. Murray can engineer another miracle, and snag K. Lehtonen (get the first also, and I'll nominate him for Sainthood...)

The forwards are, IMHO, the last piece of the puzzle. Any change at this point is likely to have incrementally less impact. Ottawa was already the second-highest scoring team (highest, if you ignore the stupidities of shootout statistics.) And this during a year where we crapped the bed through half the season. Our bottom six were among the best defensive forwards talent-wise in the league last year, and we have only improved the group this year. We did lose Stillman and Eaves, but now have room for Foligno, Bass, Winchester, etc.

Now consider that some of the younger players may be in the final or penultimate year of their entry-level contracts. In particular, the two Russians are in their final year. If they don't play with the big boys, they may leave and never come back.

Is the upgrade to G. Murray worth $2M, considering who he would displace, and the possibility that the displaced player would possibly be lost to the organization? I would suggest that the money could better be spent elsewhere.

Sorry for the excess verbage above...
got carried away...

You could have written a blog on that dude :D

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:You could have written a blog on that dude :D

Never done that before, never even considered it.
The whole pile just kind of flowed, like the day after a buffet dinner...
(sorry...)

All good points Acrobat. If I were a betting man, I would say that goalie is Brian Elliot.

After he got to Bingo and sucked for the first half, his last 35 games he posted a .935 save %. He's a really, really technically sound goalie who's big and loves to make the most amazingly acrobatic saves. His angles need work (apparently) otherwise he'd be a Sen to start the season and he'd be looking to usurp Gerber by Janurary.

I think if Gerber sucks, Auld can't help, Elliot's not ready (or doesn't perform) then BM will make a move to get a stop gap, but for now, I doubt we make a move for Khabby.

I hate that logic, because I feel this team could go very deep with a great tender, but I hope the guys support Gerber, Auld and Elliot the way they supported Ray when our system was implimented mid-Finals year.

Hartsburg is the big ticket UFA for me. He either performs, or we're franking dead. System, system, system! Make a mistake, learn from it, move on, but stay inside his system. Trust him like you trusted Murray. Organization and a 5 man unit coming back to retieve the puck.

System!

Acrobat wrote:Sorry for the excess verbage above...
got carried away...

Oh oh. Are we supposed to apologize every time we write too much? Because...yeah...I do it all the time. :lol!:

Yikes, Emery sucked like a vacuum in his first start. Lost 6-5 in OT, letting in all 6 goals.