When does Ottawa become a Cup Contender?

marakh wrote:I like Enstrom and if Kubina and Hainsey stay, that's a pretty solid top 4. They are not flashy but they are pretty solid and make very few mistakes IMO.
For us being top 4 in the East in 4 years, the 3 have to meet the expectations. for most of the teams i named, they have at least 1 proven superstar.

Yeah, I guess I was overlooking those two, although Kubina will be 36 in 4 years. I'd probably match up Phillips and Volchenkov with those two and call it about even.

Looking at the young guys, the way I see it if everyone pans out...

Bogosian > Cowen (although it will be close, if Cowen reaches his full potential)
Enstrom

marakh wrote:I like Enstrom and if Kubina and Hainsey stay, that's a pretty solid top 4. They are not flashy but they are pretty solid and make very few mistakes IMO.
For us being top 4 in the East in 4 years, the 3 have to meet the expectations. for most of the teams i named, they have at least 1 proven superstar.

They'll never get rid of Hainsey (no one bring this post up if Murray acquires him please) - he's got 3 years left after this at 4.5 million. Ridiculous.

They could use re-upping Kubina. He's made a nice difference for them.

SpezDispenser wrote:

asq2 wrote:Atlanta's got Bogosian, who is a machine, but then it's pretty thin. I think our D can be better than Atlanta's. Tampa's another name to mention - Hedman, Ranger, Wishart, etc.

Meh...will Ranger ever even return? And even if he does, doesn't our D beat out TB's?

If everyone pans out, it does. But Hedman will be awe-inspiring if he fully pans out. We'd win because Karlsson and Wiercioch should be better than guys like Wishart (who looks good in Syracuse) and Lashoff.

asq2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

asq2 wrote:Atlanta's got Bogosian, who is a machine, but then it's pretty thin. I think our D can be better than Atlanta's. Tampa's another name to mention - Hedman, Ranger, Wishart, etc.

Meh...will Ranger ever even return? And even if he does, doesn't our D beat out TB's?

If everyone pans out, it does. But Hedman will be awe-inspiring if he fully pans out. We'd win because Karlsson and Wiercioch should be better than guys like Wishart (who looks good in Syracuse) and Lashoff.

I love Hedman, I think he's gonna be the bee's knees, but...Cowen has the ability to reach a close potential to him IMO.

This will make you wretch:

Bogosian has more goals than ANYONE on our team.

Yes, he does. The deciding factor will be how far apart offensively they end up. Cowen matches him in size and speed and arguably beats him in defence. His O-game is considerably less developed at the moment, though.

SpezDispenser wrote:This will make you wretch:

Bogosian has more goals than ANYONE on our team.

His figures aren't all that surprising. It's been discussed for a while that he's going to be a consistent 20+ goalscorer on the blue-line.

I don't think he'll hit 38, though.

WE have to rely on lines, not single the defensemen out IMO. If we can match some nice combos like Chicago does, we will compete with anybody. PHilips and Volchenkov is already a nice one.

asq2 wrote:His figures aren't all that surprising. It's been discussed for a while that he's going to be a consistent 20+ goalscorer on the blue-line.

I don't think he'll hit 38, though.

Can he start getting some assists as well though?

N4L wrote:Right now, my actual and literal guess for the defense next year is.

Lee/Phillips
Karlsson/Kuba
Carkner/Cowen

I dont think it's that big of a stretch and could actually be better then what we have this year with a healthy defense.

You're missing Volkie. He's not going anywhere. Take that to the bank!

TheAvatar wrote:

N4L wrote:Right now, my actual and literal guess for the defense next year is.

Lee/Phillips
Karlsson/Kuba
Carkner/Cowen

I dont think it's that big of a stretch and could actually be better then what we have this year with a healthy defense.

You're missing Volkie. He's not going anywhere. Take that to the bank!

Ask me right after x-mas if you would like to make a bet or not, I'll make my judgment then. If The Sens are out and A Train isnt signed, I would say he is as good as gone.

I still think it's incredibly dumb for him to be as good as gone. IMO Volchie stays unless the offer we get blows us away.

That blue-line you listed is respectable, but we could potentially have this season:

Lee/Phillips
Campoli/Kuba
Carkner/Volchenkov

Which reads almost exactly the same, so I don't think it's much of an improvement. Now, you re-sign Volchenkov, and then you have:

Lee/Phillips
Karlsson/Kuba
Volchenkov/Cowen
*Carkner

And then you have a better blue-line and you're more alright if one of your top guys goes down.

So you risk letting him go for nothing and not signing him...

N4L wrote:So you risk letting him go for nothing and not signing him...

Their probably closer than we all realize. Be done by Jan 1st, or he's gonzo.

EDIT: The minute that happens, one of Kuba or Phillips is gone next year - probably Kuba at the deadline.

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:So you risk letting him go for nothing and not signing him...

Their probably closer than we all realize. Be done by Jan 1st, or he's gonzo.

EDIT: The minute that happens, one of Kuba or Phillips is gone next year - probably Kuba at the deadline.

Phillips isnt going anywhere. Kuba might be gone though.

Anyways, if A Train is unsgined and Sens are out (realistically) of the playoffs, he's gone. Why let a guy like that go for nothing? A Train with that cap hit and as a UFA will get a really solid return come Febuary for teams looking to improve on the back end. Especially like in a place like Chicago or LA where they have a pretty solid D core already and he will slip right in where he belongs and can domiante, that's the 3, 4 pairing, not 1, 2 like in Ottawa.

SpezDispenser wrote:

asq2 wrote:His figures aren't all that surprising. It's been discussed for a while that he's going to be a consistent 20+ goalscorer on the blue-line.

I don't think he'll hit 38, though.

Can he start getting some assists as well though?

He'll probably rack up more assists now that Kovalchuk is paired up with him again on the point for the powerplay.

I'd say that's the scariest powerplay point tandem in the league, but you don't even have to leave the division to find a more frightening one in Green - Ovechkin.

Weird that in Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, St. Louis and Staal, all the teams in the SE have a star forward on the point on the powerplay. Except Florida, but that's because they don't have a star forward.

N4L wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:So you risk letting him go for nothing and not signing him...

Their probably closer than we all realize. Be done by Jan 1st, or he's gonzo.

EDIT: The minute that happens, one of Kuba or Phillips is gone next year - probably Kuba at the deadline.

Phillips isnt going anywhere. Kuba might be gone though.

Anyways, if A Train is unsgined and Sens are out (realistically) of the playoffs, he's gone. Why let a guy like that go for nothing? A Train with that cap hit and as a UFA will get a really solid return come Febuary for teams looking to improve on the back end. Especially like in a place like Chicago or LA where they have a pretty solid D core already and he will slip right in where he belongs and can domiante, that's the 3, 4 pairing, not 1, 2 like in Ottawa.

Define un-signed. Do you mean, unwilling to sign at all?

I mean Chris Neil from last year unsigned.