Sens' Offseason Shopping Guide

Add a defenceman IMO. Kuba, Volchenkov, Campoli, Phillips are all nice to have for next season. Lee and Picard should battle it out for a spot (you could potentially toss either Karlsson in as well). But I think we need an established top-4 guy to complement the D.

As far as offence goes, I'm *somewhat* confident in it for next season. Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson are what they are (assuming no huge shake-up is made). Shannon and Foligno provide a spark. Hopefully Fisher can re-bound.

I think Regin will be at least what Vermette meant to us. He's got great wheels and hands and decent size, and he's very solid already defensively. I hope he gets a spot here for the full season. Zubov's another competitor, although that depends on his off-season.

So we've got:

Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Shannon
Kelly - Regin - ?
Winchester - Bass - Ruutu

I'm not sure Kelly really fits on this team any more. I definitely don't like the concept of putting Regin with such an offensively anaemic player, although Kelly's reliable in the defensive end. Still, I'd rather not develop Regin as a solely checking player.

Maybe try him out with Alfredsson.

ASQ--which of the players on the shopping list would fit...in your opinion?

Hard to say. I like Ohlund on defence (longshot) but Foster's another nice option.

Offensively, I'd love to add PJ Axelsson and I have a suspicion that if he isn't re-signed, Ottawa may look for him. He and Alfredsson have been dynamite when they player together, and putting Regin with them would give him two nice role-models to learn from on his wings. Or you could go so far as to unit the whole gang and sign Pahlsson too. That was one helluva line for Sweden in '06 IIRC. However, that might stymie Alfredsson offensively.

Plus, it would open up a slot on the top-line. You could try Zubov up there, or look at another forward.

To be honest, it's not a great year for forwards on the market. Cammalleri, Hossa and Gaborik are all way out of our price range.

So I'd be looking at trying to find youngsters to fill the gaps up front. Regin and Bass, at least, are ready.

The Sens should worry about the back end first and trimming the fat in Ottawa. They are not winning the cup this year, so as much as Murray may want a top 6 forward he might have to be as patient as the fans will have to be next year as well.

Sens might go into rebuild, it just we have a nice solid base already.

Neely4Life wrote:The Sens should worry about the back end first and trimming the fat in Ottawa. They are not winning the cup this year, so as much as Murray may want a top 6 forward he might have to be as patient as the fans will have to be next year as well.

Sens might go into rebuild, it just we have a nice solid base already.

would you want Murray to invest in a D if we have Karlsson 1 year away and weircoch 1 or 2 years away

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:The Sens should worry about the back end first and trimming the fat in Ottawa. They are not winning the cup this year, so as much as Murray may want a top 6 forward he might have to be as patient as the fans will have to be next year as well.

Sens might go into rebuild, it just we have a nice solid base already.

would you want Murray to invest in a D if we have Karlsson 1 year away and weircoch 1 or 2 years away

The issue is that as promising as these kids are, they are futures...at this point the Sens D just isn't good enough to move them up in the standings next year in any significant way.

If Karlsson and Wiercoch turn out, great, but d-men generally take time to mature...

IMHO Boynton is worth looking at...and probably a few others on this list in that price range.

Before we can think of adding anyone, there will have to be a lot of subtracting. That is the priority, IMO.

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:The Sens should worry about the back end first and trimming the fat in Ottawa. They are not winning the cup this year, so as much as Murray may want a top 6 forward he might have to be as patient as the fans will have to be next year as well.

Sens might go into rebuild, it just we have a nice solid base already.

would you want Murray to invest in a D if we have Karlsson 1 year away and weircoch 1 or 2 years away

Yup, you win with defense. Your offense is created from defense. If Ottawa becomes too deep on the blue line and too thin up front, you can ALWAYS move an asset on D for something good up front.

Exactly..

I'm so glad others share the sentiment(s) on Kurtis Foster. I've been intrigued by him for quite some time, and considering his Ottawa roots and character, he epitomizes a Murray-type player to a Tee! I seriously think he'll get some serious pitch(es) from Murray come July.

As for DTR's suggestion of Boynton and Asq's mention of Axelsson, I think BOTH are fantastic ideas myself as well. Depending on what PJ's agent negotiates as a raise, PJ could essentially fill the void left by Vermette on our PK (so could Regin but STRONG PK'ers are a good thing IMHO).

I voted for size and skill, not dependant on position, but should start with D first. J - Bo might be the biggest name out there, but he is going to cost everything but the farm to get him. If I was Murray, I would concentrate on the draft first, if he is confident with pick # 9 and getting who he wants, then so be it, if he wants to trade up or trade down, then again, you do it.

Cronie wrote:Exactly..

I'm so glad others share the sentiment(s) on Kurtis Foster. I've been intrigued by him for quite some time, and considering his Ottawa roots and character, he epitomizes a Murray-type player to a Tee! I seriously think he'll get some serious pitch(es) from Murray come July.

As for DTR's suggestion of Boynton and Asq's mention of Axelsson, I think BOTH are fantastic ideas myself as well. Depending on what PJ's agent negotiates as a raise, PJ could essentially fill the void left by Vermette on our PK (so could Regin but STRONG PK'ers are a good thing IMHO).

I don't know about those two (Axelsson and Boynton i mean). I've always liked Boynton, but having him along with Phillips, Smith and Volchie is a bit redundant in that we will have a similar problem to the one we had at the beginning of the year, that we will have difficulty clearing the puck from our own end. If we were to replace Smith with Boynton, i would be more open to that.

I've never really understood people's like of Axelsson, is he not just another Chris Kelly, but only older? He's definitely not a second liner, Kelly's highest point season is higher than Axelsson's, and Axelsson has had a history of injury problems, and the fact that he's 34 won't help him with that. I really don't see him as a solution, only a method of further stocking our 3rd and 4th lines. There must be another solution better than Axelsson... I'd much rather give Zubov the chance.

I think the first order of business for Murray should be to clear out Brenden Bell, Jason Smith, Christoph Schubert, Mike Comrie and one of Alex Auld or Brian Elliott.

Then, he needs to see who he ends up with at the draft, and go from there.

I'm starting to sense that our D is staying the same for next year:

Phillips (30) - Campoli (23)
Kuba (31) - Picard (22)
Volchenkov (26) - Lee (21)

Good mix of veterans and youngsters, puck-movers and shut-down defensemen. If you can add a Bouwmeester without breaking your back, then all for it. But realistically, if he is asking for $8-million per season -- and he'll end up getting it from one of the crappier teams around the league -- then we say "Thanks, but no thanks."

I think if they can fit in a top six forward without breaking the bank, then that might help right the ship for next year.

I think a team that is preparing to give 8Million to Jbo has serious problems in their mind :KJK:

marakh wrote:I think a team that is preparing to give 8Million to Jbo has serious problems in their mind :KJK:

well, it may be very well the going market for a J-Bo, especially since Redden got 6.5 and Campell got 7.0. Some GM will throw 8 mil on a long term contract for J Bo, possibly even more than one.

Precisely, Redden was signed by a GM who has a serious problem in his mind and Campbell was signed by a team who had a very friendly cap situation. Add to that the fact that they both had many playoffs experience, Jbo has none, + the cap is going down next year. I say Not gonna happen.

marakh wrote:Precisely, Redden was signed by a GM who has a serious problem in his mind and Campbell was signed by a team who had a very friendly cap situation. Add to that the fact that they both had many playoffs experience, Jbo has none, + the cap is going down next year. I say Not gonna happen.

true and true on both your points, never even thought about the cap going down either, who knows, maybe he will take a bit of a cut to go to a team like detroit in order to win a cup (would have to be a big cut on that one). Florida is a vastly improving team though, it might be in his own best interest to stick around a bit.

Biggest thing the Sens have to do is trim the fat still. Two straight years of under achieving. Two straight years where, after signing brand new contracts, the "core" players production has gone down.

Murray does not have an easy job, haha. Where to starts?!

Neely4Life wrote:Biggest thing the Sens have to do is trim the fat still. Two straight years of under achieving. Two straight years where, after signing brand new contracts, the "core" players production has gone down.

Murray does not have an easy job, haha. Where to starts?!

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