Camp cuts and other notes

wprager wrote:Neely, you're up unusually early?

OK, who's his competition? Hedman, Tavares, who else?

Hedman played 27 minutes the other night. Had *one* shot on goal. Those minutes are great but for a D-man to win the Calder he's got to pump in some goals (Meszaros had a great rookie year but was barely even considered for the Calder). I think Karlsson has a better chance than Hedman.

Tavares is a different story, but he's on a crappy team. Their top-four wingers are 30-35 point players. Sure, they'll get a little more with Tavares between any two of them, but high-end talent, they're not.

Not that I am saying those two (Hedman and Tavares) aren't serious competition, but who are the others?

wprager wrote:Helm as a center or moved to wing? He's got a lot of guys ahead of him at center.

Duchene has talent around him? Who? I could be wrong, but I thought if he plays, it's because they've got nobody else.

Crawford in Chicago is an intriguing possibility, but I think with all their offense it will take a lot for Huet to be pushed aside. Kinda like Osgood in Detroit, Huet doesn't have to be excellent to win enough to keep the lynch mob at bay.

N4L wrote:Kovalev is playing? Pretty sure he isn't. Anyways, good time to try some other things, I like seeing Kelly moved to the wing there as well.

DirtyDave wrote:

N4L wrote:Kovalev is playing? Pretty sure he isn't. Anyways, good time to try some other things, I like seeing Kelly moved to the wing there as well.

4+ million dollar 3rd winger... makes me sick

Kovalfie wrote:I'm not a fan of the Sens Army line-up at all.

Cheechoo should be given a shot to play on the first line (until he proves he can't) with Spezza and Alfredsson. He's the added toughness this line needs; he'll fight for pucks, battle in corners, hit, and will hopefully get his feet wet in front of the net.

A combination of Kovalev and Michalek on the second line will be lethal. If Michalek plays on the first line, I worry that Ottawa will revert back to their one-line offense. Kovalev needs someone around him equally as skilled to score goals. I worry that Fisher (who he was paired up with during pre-season) and Cheechoo are on different pages in terms of hockey intelligence and ability. Foligno, as a center, could fit nicely on this line. He has showed glimpses of being a solid power forward and will help create room on the ice. Not to mention the fact that he is in his contract year. He's stated in every interview that he wants a top six spot, and I think he'll get it and succeed with this pairing.

Fisher and Shannon should undisputedly be on the third line. They looked great toward the end of last season, and with Foligno on the second line, this leaves the left wing position open (assuming Fisher doesn't move to the wing). Smith would fill in nicely on this line having had success with Shannon in Bingo, but Kelly (barring a trade) has to play somewhere. This would be our shutdown line, also very capable of scoring 35-50 goals this year.

Fourth line is pretty straight forward. Ruutu and Neil are locks, while center can be played by Winchester or Bass. Bass deserves a chance to start the season in Ottawa and the Sens could use another hard hitter/fighter on the team, especially against the Leafs and Bruins. Neil's role as a tough-game will be in question a bit this year. You don't pay a player $2 million to fight. It's Winchester's spot on the team to lose and I think it should go to whoever has a better camp.

Cheechoo-Spezza-Alfredsson
Michalek-Foligno-Kovalev
Kelly/Smith-Fisher-Shannon
Ruutu-Bass/Winnie-Neil

Clouston has to make all the players know their roles on their teams and on their respective lines.

N4L wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:I'm not a fan of the Sens Army line-up at all.

Cheechoo should be given a shot to play on the first line (until he proves he can't) with Spezza and Alfredsson. He's the added toughness this line needs; he'll fight for pucks, battle in corners, hit, and will hopefully get his feet wet in front of the net.

A combination of Kovalev and Michalek on the second line will be lethal. If Michalek plays on the first line, I worry that Ottawa will revert back to their one-line offense. Kovalev needs someone around him equally as skilled to score goals. I worry that Fisher (who he was paired up with during pre-season) and Cheechoo are on different pages in terms of hockey intelligence and ability. Foligno, as a center, could fit nicely on this line. He has showed glimpses of being a solid power forward and will help create room on the ice. Not to mention the fact that he is in his contract year. He's stated in every interview that he wants a top six spot, and I think he'll get it and succeed with this pairing.

Fisher and Shannon should undisputedly be on the third line. They looked great toward the end of last season, and with Foligno on the second line, this leaves the left wing position open (assuming Fisher doesn't move to the wing). Smith would fill in nicely on this line having had success with Shannon in Bingo, but Kelly (barring a trade) has to play somewhere. This would be our shutdown line, also very capable of scoring 35-50 goals this year.

Fourth line is pretty straight forward. Ruutu and Neil are locks, while center can be played by Winchester or Bass. Bass deserves a chance to start the season in Ottawa and the Sens could use another hard hitter/fighter on the team, especially against the Leafs and Bruins. Neil's role as a tough-game will be in question a bit this year. You don't pay a player $2 million to fight. It's Winchester's spot on the team to lose and I think it should go to whoever has a better camp.

Cheechoo-Spezza-Alfredsson
Michalek-Foligno-Kovalev
Kelly/Smith-Fisher-Shannon
Ruutu-Bass/Winnie-Neil

Clouston has to make all the players know their roles on their teams and on their respective lines.

I'm way too lazy to write all of that, but I agree 100% with everything. Noooo fun at all.

DirtyDave wrote:

N4L wrote:Kovalev is playing? Pretty sure he isn't. Anyways, good time to try some other things, I like seeing Kelly moved to the wing there as well.

4+ million dollar 3rd winger... makes me sick

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Cowan...wow....I'm shocked. If he's good to go...someone's leaving....

one of the 5 or 6 d-men is bye bye, who's the odd man out?

Cowen is not going to make this team this time around. Just not enough room, and he's coming off of a major injury. Look for a late season appearance on call-up, if he plays lights out in the AHL and we suffer an injury on D -- but not before.

I don't think he's AHL-eligible.

He isnt, Canadian's have to go back to Jr.

Kovalfie wrote:Yeah I was definitely expecting some sort of dispute on this one. Maybe I'll throw something arbitrary out there.

Brian Lee should be the #2 defenceman

SensGirl11 wrote:...anyone else really excited to see Jared Cowen's first NHL action tonight?