Should the A-Train make a one way trip out of town?

Cap'n Clutch

Cap'n Clutch

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Number of posts : 13873
Registration date : 2008-07-31

We all know the value of Volchenkov and what he brings to the table as Sens fans. What is that worth? Is it worth more to the Senators as a member of our Defense core or as a trade-able asset?

Lets be honest here. Based on the Senators performance so far this season it does not look like a playoff bound team. Sure we currently hold down a playoff spot with games in hand but, based on our winning percentage spread over the full season we can expect to miss the playoffs this year unless there is a bit of a turn around over then next month or two. Even if we make the playoffs does anyone really believe we'll make some noise this season?

I can't tell you what will happen and can only give you my opinion on the situation. I would personally hate to see Volchenkov go but he is a very valuable asset that could bring back pieces that are sorely missed in the prospect cupboard. There is very little in the way of true top end first line forward talent in the Senators system right now and I believe that a playoff team, looking for that last key piece, would be willing to give that up for a shot this year in a trade for Volchenkov.

Assuming we hold onto Volchenkov he will likely be signed for at least 4 years for somewhere around 4 Million per season. That cap hit plus his roster spot will handcuff the Senators somewhat. Our D with Volchenkov.

Phillips - Volchenkov

Kuba - Karlsson

Cowen - Carkner

What do we do with Lee, Campoli & Picard. You can make Lee or Carkner your 7th D but then you still have Campoli and Picard to deal with. Then in a couple years you'll also have Wiercioch looking for a roster spot. You could manage by not re-signing Kuba I suppose.

Now if you move Volchenkov and get that Blue chip forward you save a big chunk on the Cap and you've got a guy that could come in either next season or the season after and step right into the top 6 without missing a beat most likely. Then you have a D that looks more like this or some variation of this.

Kuba - Karlsson

Phillips - Campoli/Picard

Cowen - Lee

7th D - Carkner

In this scenario you only have one D man to decide on whether to trade or walk away from. Will it be Picard or Campoli? You also have a very good and very cheap D core for the next few years. Just enough time to make a real run at the Cup.

Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:43 am by Guest · Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:43 am by Guest

asq2 wrote:Absolutely, I'm not advocating re-signing Volchenkov for $6 million+.

But IMHO, the ideal situation for this team is that Volchie gets re-signed.

I do too but like I said before, a lot of circumstances and situations can arise. We'll see where The Sens are in a month or two because I think that will be the telling factor.

Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:49 am by **Riprock** · Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:49 am by **Riprock**

Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:53 am by Guest · Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:53 am by Guest

Dash wrote:Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Relax, we'll see how the road trip goes, then people can start to talk about the playoffs.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:59 pm by Guest · Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:59 pm by Guest

N4L wrote:

Dash wrote:Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Relax, we'll see how the road trip goes, then people can start to talk about the playoffs.

Agreed. Please don't start speculating that we are going to make the playoffs this early in the season. Before assuming we are going to make the playoffs, consider things like: how many one goal games we've won, our PP is amongst the league's worst, our PK is slipping into mediocrity, our starting goalie is injured for a month, our star player has two goals, we've played 16 of 23 games at home, and we're in arguably the worst division in hockey . A couple of bounces the other way and we could easily be 7-13-3.

Wait until the end of this Western road trip and see where we sit. We win 3 of 5 (including a win against the Bruins) and then maybe we can conclude where the Sens fit in around the league.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:06 pm by Guest · Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:06 pm by Guest

500 on that road trip and I would be extremely happy. They walk away with 5 of 10 points, then I will be way more optimistic.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:18 pm by **Cap'n Clutch** · Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:18 pm by **Cap'n Clutch**

Kovalfie wrote:

N4L wrote:

Dash wrote:Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Relax, we'll see how the road trip goes, then people can start to talk about the playoffs.

Agreed. Please don't start speculating that we are going to make the playoffs this early in the season. Before assuming we are going to make the playoffs, consider things like: how many one goal games we've won, our PP is amongst the league's worst, our PK is slipping into mediocrity, our starting goalie is injured for a month, our star player has two goals, we've played 16 of 23 games at home, and we're in arguably the worst division in hockey . A couple of bounces the other way and we could easily be 7-13-3.

Wait until the end of this Western road trip and see where we sit. We win 3 of 5 (including a win against the Bruins) and then maybe we can conclude where the Sens fit in around the league.

Since you brought it up. How many 1 goal games have we won? I was under the impression we have done quite well in that area actually. I know why I thought we were doing well in one goal games:

8-1-3 Only one regulation loss in one goal games. 19 of a possible 24 points. Got that area covered at least. I'm definitely not saying we are making the playoffs but 1 goal games are not an issue at this stage of the season for sure.

Edit: Our PK is slipping into mediocrity??? Have you been following the Sens? They slipped to 15th and fixed that in short order to bounce all the way back to 5th overall.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:47 pm by **ddt** · Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:47 pm by **ddt**

Sorry to be joining in so late in the discussion, but I saw a point being mentioned a few times that bears expanding on. A new contract for Volchenkov will mean a shift of what's expected from him. I think he'll be expected to be a leader and a mentor to younger players, kind of like what Phillips has been doing for a while. And that means no longer having the security blanket of playing with Phillips.

With that in mind, I think it would be valuable to split them up at some point this season, to see if that is something we can get from him, prior to signing any new deal.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:25 am by Guest · Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:25 am by Guest

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:

N4L wrote:

Dash wrote:Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Relax, we'll see how the road trip goes, then people can start to talk about the playoffs.

Agreed. Please don't start speculating that we are going to make the playoffs this early in the season. Before assuming we are going to make the playoffs, consider things like: how many one goal games we've won, our PP is amongst the league's worst, our PK is slipping into mediocrity, our starting goalie is injured for a month, our star player has two goals, we've played 16 of 23 games at home, and we're in arguably the worst division in hockey . A couple of bounces the other way and we could easily be 7-13-3.

Wait until the end of this Western road trip and see where we sit. We win 3 of 5 (including a win against the Bruins) and then maybe we can conclude where the Sens fit in around the league.

Since you brought it up. How many 1 goal games have we won? I was under the impression we have done quite well in that area actually. I know why I thought we were doing well in one goal games:

8-1-3 Only one regulation loss in one goal games. 19 of a possible 24 points. Got that area covered at least. I'm definitely not saying we are making the playoffs but 1 goal games are not an issue at this stage of the season for sure.

Edit: Our PK is slipping into mediocrity??? Have you been following the Sens? They slipped to 15th and fixed that in short order to bounce all the way back to 5th overall.

That's exactly my point.8-1-3 in one goal games. We're winning them now but a bounce here and there could easily have us losing those one-goal games. What I'm getting at is yes we're winning games, but we're not blowing anybody out. We're narrowly winning the games we're supposed to win (the majority of our one-goal games) like twice against the leafs for example. Once we start winning these games by 2+ goals i'll feel a lot more comfortable

Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:42 am by **wprager** · Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:42 am by **wprager**

I'd rather be 8-1-3 in 1-goal games than be 5-4-3 or worse. We used to blow teams away when we had the best 1st line in the league, but when that line was not going for whatever reason we were losing a lot of 1-goal games. I really, really like our scoring depth this year. Fisher, Michalek, Alfie and we haven't gotten significant production from Spezza or Kovalev (IMO). Neil, Foligno, Ruutu, Regin are all tertiary scorers and they are all on pace for 10+ goals. Phillips' 2-goal outburst aside, if we start getting productin from the back-end we could be lethal. Seriously. Karlsson to the rescue?

Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:04 am by **Cap'n Clutch** · Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:04 am by **Cap'n Clutch**

Exactly Prages. Having that record in 1 goal games is a good thing.

Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:21 am by **LeCaptain** · Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:21 am by **LeCaptain**

Kovalfie wrote:

N4L wrote:

Dash wrote:Ottawa's making the playoffs this year, no way he is moved, at least not during the season. They will try to re-sign him, if not by the draft, he might get moved. But he might just walk.

Relax, we'll see how the road trip goes, then people can start to talk about the playoffs.

Agreed. Please don't start speculating that we are going to make the playoffs this early in the season. Before assuming we are going to make the playoffs, consider things like: how many one goal games we've won, our PP is amongst the league's worst, our PK is slipping into mediocrity, our starting goalie is injured for a month, our star player has two goals, we've played 16 of 23 games at home, and we're in arguably the worst division in hockey . A couple of bounces the other way and we could easily be 7-13-3.

Wait until the end of this Western road trip and see where we sit. We win 3 of 5 (including a win against the Bruins) and then maybe we can conclude where the Sens fit in around the league.

And how many one goal games did we lose? That works the other way too, you know Should the A-Train make a one way trip out of town? - Page 6 Icon_wink

1st game against the Rangers, Pitts, Boston, NJ, those were all winnable games, that's 4 wins right there... Add the games with some horrendous referring too, and IMO it evens pretty well.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:14 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:14 am by Guest

Ottawa is not looking like a playoff team right now.

0-2-1 on current road trip. Should be 0-3 (lucky to get that point from Boston). Outscored 11-5 in the last two games. And you can't really use the Leclaire injury as an excuse. New Jersey and Vancouver both survived last year with their goalies being out a lot longer than Leclaire and management should have planned for this given Leclaire's laundry-list and history of injuries.

They need to win in Phoenix and Anaheim to save face. It's not the fact that they're 0-2-1, it's the fact that they've been blown out in both their regulation losses by faster skating, harder hitting teams, and harder working teams.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:18 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:18 am by Guest

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Exactly Prages. Having that record in 1 goal games is a good thing.

Oh I agree. Having an 8-1-3 record in one-goal games is a fantastic thing. I'm just saying I'd feel a lot more comfortable winning goals by 2+ goals, especially against teams like Toronto. All I'm saying is a bounce or post here and there the other way and we could easily be on the outside looking in.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:02 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:02 am by Guest

Kovalfie wrote:Ottawa is not looking like a playoff team right now.

0-2-1 on current road trip. Should be 0-3 (lucky to get that point from Boston). Outscored 11-5 in the last two games. And you can't really use the Leclaire injury as an excuse. New Jersey and Vancouver both survived last year with their goalies being out a lot longer than Leclaire and management should have planned for this given Leclaire's laundry-list and history of injuries.

They need to win in Phoenix and Anaheim to save face. It's not the fact that they're 0-2-1, it's the fact that they've been blown out in both their regulation losses by faster skating, harder hitting teams, and harder working teams.

How didnt they? Elliott has been solid and IMO been the reason The Sens (on the road) are kept in most games, Florida and Boston jump right to mind.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:20 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:20 am by Guest

N4L wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:Ottawa is not looking like a playoff team right now.

0-2-1 on current road trip. Should be 0-3 (lucky to get that point from Boston). Outscored 11-5 in the last two games. And you can't really use the Leclaire injury as an excuse. New Jersey and Vancouver both survived last year with their goalies being out a lot longer than Leclaire and management should have planned for this given Leclaire's laundry-list and history of injuries.

They need to win in Phoenix and Anaheim to save face. It's not the fact that they're 0-2-1, it's the fact that they've been blown out in both their regulation losses by faster skating, harder hitting teams, and harder working teams.

How didnt they? Elliott has been solid and IMO been the reason The Sens (on the road) are kept in most games, Florida and Boston jump right to mind.

That's just it. People on GM are jumping all over Elliott for stopping only 18 of 24 shots and calling for Mike Brodeur to play. It's ridiculous. Elliott has played well enought to keep his team in the games, especially considering he is probably still injured from taking that shot off of his shoulder in practice. None of the goals he let up last night were his fault. Ottawa has way too many holes and doing patch-work won't fix anything. Ottawa is where they should be in the standings; 7th place fighting for their playoff lives.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:23 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:23 am by Guest

Yuuuup, if they lose one more in regulation it was a disater of a road trip getting MAX 3 of 10 points and the schedual only gets harder from here as well.

Like I said, The Sens season will be decided by Christmas (give or take) and right now it's looking like they better start selling off some pieces at some point. A Train in the short term and they better get Spezza out of town before next year because he has just been an epic failure since signing his big deal.

Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:48 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:48 am by Guest

I can only see three teams being legitimately interested in Spezza: Edmonton, Florida, Colorado, and Columbus, but neither has a legit #1 center coming back.

I would consider the following more than a lot for Spezza: Edmonton: Cogliano, O'Marra, Edm 1st
Columbus: Brassard, Columbus 1st
Florida: Horton, Frolik, Ellerby

Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:54 am by Guest · Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:54 am by Guest

I dont think Columbus would have any intrest personally, no way does he fit in there. A Train? That's something I can see Columbus really wanting.

I can see Pheonix making a run at Spezza for Turris and Mueller say.

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