UPDATE: Jason Smith retires; door open for Erik Karlsson?

Hopefully Shubert gets deal so he can get his number, haha.

That's really sad, I'm sorry to see him go like this. He was one of my favorite players and has a heart of gold. I wish him all the best in the future.

He's taylor made to be a coach at some point. He'll land on his fee for sure, people with that work ethic and character always do.

SensGirl11 wrote:That's really sad, I'm sorry to see him go like this. He was one of my favorite players and has a heart of gold. I wish him all the best in the future.

Yeah, sad to see it all go down like this without a chance to see what he can do in the post season for the Sens.

shabbs wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:That's really sad, I'm sorry to see him go like this. He was one of my favorite players and has a heart of gold. I wish him all the best in the future.

Yeah, sad to see it all go down like this without a chance to see what he can do in the post season for the Sens.

Excellent point. That would have been the payoff. Maybe he's reasonably good to go but this is his one last demonstration of being a good soldier.

This is pretty much what I figured would happen, allow the guy to go out with some dignity with the ability to look back on his career with very few negatives and all positive.

Everything was handled right which is a big deal at this point. 2.6 mil off the cap though does allow for a lot more felxability as well.

sad to see Gator retire, especially under these circumstances, brilliant career for sure, sad he never got himself a ring like N4L was eluding to, but still one of the grittiest competitors in the game, we would be lucky to have him in the organization with Luke Richardson.

shabbs wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:That's really sad, I'm sorry to see him go like this. He was one of my favorite players and has a heart of gold. I wish him all the best in the future.

Yeah, sad to see it all go down like this without a chance to see what he can do in the post season for the Sens.

I was really hoping we'd get to see it this year and that it could possibly be a turning point for us in the playoffs. He's a really special kind of player and he's a warrior in the post-season. I thought he might sit out injured until the deadline and then come back and be awesome. I'm sad.

SensFan71 wrote:sad to see Gator retire, especially under these circumstances, brilliant career for sure, sad he never got himself a ring like N4L was eluding to, but still one of the grittiest competitors in the game, we would be lucky to have him in the organization with Luke Richardson.

It would be pretty sad when your coaches have more character and grit then your entire team put together. Can't be bad though.

N4L wrote:This is pretty much what I figured would happen, allow the guy to go out with some dignity with the ability to look back on his career with very few negatives and all positive.

Everything was handled right which is a big deal at this point. 2.6 mil off the cap though does allow for a lot more felxability as well.

Waiving him or burying him in the minors was not an option. You don't do that.

N4L wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:sad to see Gator retire, especially under these circumstances, brilliant career for sure, sad he never got himself a ring like N4L was eluding to, but still one of the grittiest competitors in the game, we would be lucky to have him in the organization with Luke Richardson.

It would be pretty sad when your coaches have more character and grit then your entire team put together. Can't be bad though.

I was hoping you wouldn't point that out, but you are right, maybe character is contagious? maybe? Heatley is immune to it however.

I guess this is pretty much the age we'll see A-train retire too, there's only so much abuse your body can take.

shabbs wrote:

N4L wrote:This is pretty much what I figured would happen, allow the guy to go out with some dignity with the ability to look back on his career with very few negatives and all positive.

Everything was handled right which is a big deal at this point. 2.6 mil off the cap though does allow for a lot more felxability as well.

Waiving him or burying him in the minors was not an option. You don't do that.

Nope, unlike what 1 person thought was a good idea, the rest of the world thought was stupid, inappropriate, classless, and just generally a mornic idea. Good on Murray, good on Smith, and hopefully he gets sent out like a champ from fans, media, and especially the players.

shabbs wrote:
Waiving him or burying him in the minors was not an option. You don't do that.

Agreed. Wasn't going to happen. I don't even think a trade to a team that intended to do so was in the cards.

I suppose Murray was crossing his fingers and hoping this would be the outcome, though.

SensGirl11 wrote:I guess this is pretty much the age we'll see A-train retire too, there's only so much abuse your body can take.

Richardson played until he 40, Chelios is still playing, everyone case is different. Wouldnt say this is the rule of thumb at all. Somewhere between 35-40 is where most players retire.

The first real news in weeks and its dead.

I wouldn't say it's bad news necessarily. It is and it isn't. We've cleared up the space we needed to without having to throw someone out. I wonder if Murray will still move Schuby or Lee. This gave him an out to not have to do that.

I just hope that Smith is doing this for himself and not because he feels he has to with all the talk this summer.

I also wonder if this opens the door wider for Karlsson this year. Murray is so in love with him, I wouldn't be surprised to see him play this season for the full year. I still don't think he's quite ready yet though.