Sens' Offseason Shopping Guide

504Heater wrote:

PKC wrote:

504Heater wrote:

strachattack wrote:
Now we're cookin'! I really like the look of that team.

You'll love it...until we produce our 6 man D. :****:

I don't think they are going to be that bad.

I agree, they'll be fine, but nothing spectacular.

You know, we don't really have any high, high end defensemen, but I think we have a nice mix.

Phillips - Campoli
Kuba - Picard
Volchenkov - Lee

It might be much, much better than anyone expects. Even at decent projections

Phillips - 5 G, 11 A, 16 PTS
Campoli - 13 G, 24 A, 37 PTS
Kuba - 7 G, 28 A, 35 PTS
Picard - 12 G, 21 A, 33 PTS
Volchenkov - 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS
Lee - 6 G, 20 A, 26 PTS

That's roughly in the 150-170 point neighborhood from the backend...which isn't bad at all.

I think Picard at 33 might be a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

I'm hoping for 25-28 points from him.

asq2 wrote:I think Picard at 33 might be a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

I'm hoping for 25-28 points from him.

Really? He had 14 points in 47 games. And I'm thinking we see some serious improvement from him.

PKC wrote:

asq2 wrote:I think Picard at 33 might be a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

I'm hoping for 25-28 points from him.

Really? He had 14 points in 47 games. And I'm thinking we see some serious improvement from him.

I might actually be inclined to agree. If he's not bringing 30 points to the table, he's of little use.

Now, if we can get the mojo back that he and Kuba apparently had in TB, then he might find a permanent home in the top pairing ( :****: ), if not, he should be able to play with the third pairing and hold up.

Your breakdown of the points from the D is interesting - and probably really conservative and therefore probably pretty accurate. I'm happy with the squad, but we still have a lot of quantity and very little of the holy Dung quality that we're seeing in playoff teams.

But...patience is a virtue - and we'll have to wait for Karlsson and Wiercioch. Or throw a boatload of $$ at Neidermayer

PKC wrote:

asq2 wrote:I think Picard at 33 might be a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

I'm hoping for 25-28 points from him.

Really? He had 14 points in 47 games. And I'm thinking we see some serious improvement from him.

I'm with you PKC... He didn't get a chance to show what he could do under Clouston, and personally i think upwards of 30 points is not too much to ask of him. He's a big body dman with an accurate point shot, and he's willing to take the punishment to make plays. He's still young (inexperienced) and raw, and Clouston has shown what he can do when working with youth. And you know Murray must have seen something special in this kid when he asked specifically for him in the Meszaros trade.

I think the team could be a low playoff seed next season if Leclaire plays as he can.

Deep goaltending, an average but probably not below average D, and some nice offensive ability.

Couple that with some emerging young blue-liners in the system and a top-10 pick, and things aren't looking so bad.

As far as Picard goes, he needs to cut a few of the (Komisarek-tonight-esque) give-aways from his game and play a little more consistently.

I liked what I saw when he was on his game, though. I think 33 points might be a little optimistic, but if he plays with some consistency it's easily within reach IMO.

Clouston will have three raw talents to work with in Campoli, Picard and Lee. And he'll get them from the first weigh in this time, not midway through a clusterdiddle season.

EDIT: I suppose I shouldn't write that in permanent marker just yet.

I dont see Lee being up with the big club next year to be honest.

We have Atrain, Phillips, Kuba, Campoli, Picard, Smith, as it stands, we are trying to get Karlsson over here, and we want to sign another D man, plus bell is an RFA. Lee has his work cut out for him if he even wants to dream of being in a Senators uniform next year.

Personally, I think he has no shot.

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see Lee being up with the big club next year to be honest.

We have Atrain, Phillips, Kuba, Campoli, Picard, Smith, as it stands, we are trying to get Karlsson over here, and we want to sign another D man, plus bell is an RFA. Lee has his work cut out for him if he even wants to dream of being in a Senators uniform next year.

Personally, I think he has no shot.

Lee's better than Smith, and I'll be shocked if Karlsson plays for the Sens next season.

Unless he's traded or injured, I think we'll see quite a bit of Lee next season. I definitely wouldn't say he has no shot.

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see Lee being up with the big club next year to be honest.

We have Atrain, Phillips, Kuba, Campoli, Picard, Smith, as it stands, we are trying to get Karlsson over here, and we want to sign another D man, plus bell is an RFA. Lee has his work cut out for him if he even wants to dream of being in a Senators uniform next year.

Personally, I think he has no shot.

I've been thinking about this a lot - and I think you might be right. I think another full year of AHL hockey will go a long way to determining if Lee has a future in the NHL (specifically here) or not.

asq2 wrote:
Lee's better than Smith, and I'll be shocked if Karlsson plays for the Sens next season.

Unless he's traded or injured, I think we'll see quite a bit of Lee next season. I definitely wouldn't say he has no shot.

IMO! I would take Smith over Lee any day of the week. Any day. Smith was putting it all together when he got injured. Seems Hartsburg couldn't coach anyone, not just the forwards. I think you'll be surprised with what Smith can bring to this young squad.

504Heater wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see Lee being up with the big club next year to be honest.

We have Atrain, Phillips, Kuba, Campoli, Picard, Smith, as it stands, we are trying to get Karlsson over here, and we want to sign another D man, plus bell is an RFA. Lee has his work cut out for him if he even wants to dream of being in a Senators uniform next year.

Personally, I think he has no shot.

I've been thinking about this a lot - and I think you might be right. I think another full year of AHL hockey will go a long way to determining if Lee has a future in the NHL (specifically here) or not.

If we bring in a defenceman, that's a possibility, but as it stands, I have him in my top-6.

I dont think Lee has a shot to be a full time D man in Ottawa anytime soon. A lot of players he has to leap frog at the same time playing with a 2 way, entry level contract.

Karlsson coming over this year or next, being a right handed shot will spell the end of Lee in Ottawa IMO.

504Heater wrote:

asq2 wrote:
Lee's better than Smith, and I'll be shocked if Karlsson plays for the Sens next season.

Unless he's traded or injured, I think we'll see quite a bit of Lee next season. I definitely wouldn't say he has no shot.

IMO! I would take Smith over Lee any day of the week. Any day. Smith was putting it all together when he got injured. Seems Hartsburg couldn't coach anyone, not just the forwards. I think you'll be surprised with what Smith can bring to this young squad.

Eh. Agree to disagree. I feel the same way about Smith I feel about Richardson: better off the ice than on the ice. And we need more puck-movement.

If we were talking about the playoffs, though, I'd agree with you.

asq2 wrote:
If we bring in a defenceman, that's a possibility, but as it stands, I have him in my top-6.

You're better off letting him play 22+ minutes and learning the ins and outs and playing Kuba - Campoli, Volchenkov - Phillips - Picard - Smith IMO.

But yeah, as it stands he'll be in the top 6 for sure. He got tons of ice last year, so no reason to think that'll differ.

So who's going then?

asq2 wrote:

504Heater wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see Lee being up with the big club next year to be honest.

We have Atrain, Phillips, Kuba, Campoli, Picard, Smith, as it stands, we are trying to get Karlsson over here, and we want to sign another D man, plus bell is an RFA. Lee has his work cut out for him if he even wants to dream of being in a Senators uniform next year.

Personally, I think he has no shot.

I've been thinking about this a lot - and I think you might be right. I think another full year of AHL hockey will go a long way to determining if Lee has a future in the NHL (specifically here) or not.

If we bring in a defenceman, that's a possibility, but as it stands, I have him in my top-6.

Well the top 6 in Ottawa are Kuba, A train, Phillips, Campoli, Picard, and Smith. They all have 1 way contracts and are NHL D men. Shouldnt be a lot of debat about that.

504Heater wrote:

asq2 wrote:
If we bring in a defenceman, that's a possibility, but as it stands, I have him in my top-6.

You're better off letting him play 22+ minutes and learning the ins and outs and playing Kuba - Campoli, Volchenkov - Phillips - Picard - Smith IMO.

But yeah, as it stands he'll be in the top 6 for sure. He got tons of ice last year, so no reason to think that'll differ.

So who's going then?

I don't know enough about Smith's injury recovery to comment on that, but I don't know if he's going to continue.