Spezza and Michalek return in 'a week'

http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2010/01/17/12502611.html

There was surprising news yesterday and into today as Jason Spezza had a full on ice workout with trainers, then went to the ice with teammates to see how he felt. The news was good and Spezza is now expected to return either next Saturday or the following Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Milan Michalek is showing almost no signs of the concussion and has begun preparing to return - possibly as soon as this week.

Barring any more setbacks, this team will be 100% healthy in 7 days or less....

100% healthy for how long though?

I am really undecided how much slack Spezza should get upon his return to get his offensive game in gear.

I'd rather see an offensively inspired Spezza. With the Olympics out of the question, maybe we'll see him concentrate on offence.

hemlock wrote:100% healthy for how long though?

I am really undecided how much slack Spezza should get upon his return to get his offensive game in gear.

I'd rather see an offensively inspired Spezza. With the Olympics out of the question, maybe we'll see him concentrate on offence.

I'll take the Spezza we saw at the beginning of the year.

If Spezza is healthy he will contribute offensively. I'm still thinking something was off with his back earlier.

If Spezza is fully healthy and playing like he did at the start of the season I'll be happy. Throw in Michalek and we should be fine come playoff time. I also believe that a healthy Spezza will help this whole lineup in terms of matchups.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:If Spezza is fully healthy and playing like he did at the start of the season I'll be happy. Throw in Michalek and we should be fine come playoff time. I also believe that a healthy Spezza will help this whole lineup in terms of matchups.

It should help Fisher and Michalek get going again. The only problem is that it will probably not help guys like Kelly, Neil, Foligno, Shannon get the ice time they've been getting. Of course that can be remedied in a couple of ways. Play Donovan only half the games (give him more than 5 minutes, though); move someone. Moving someone may become necessary soon just because of our cap situation. We have a projected cap space of almost $634, of which $515 is the bonus cushion (and I think all the bonuses are rookie bonuses that will be paid out). Basically, we only have enough to carry one injury call-up (at close to league minimum) through the remaining games. Currently we are carrying Smith, Regin and Brodeur for at least another week. By the time all our injured players are back we may have less than the league minimum in cap room remaining. Forget about calling up someone like Lee ($1.3M cap hit) because we would be burning through our cap room at more than double the pace we can afford, even with a single call up. Forget about expanding our roster to 25 after the trade deadline because we simply could not afford it.

Unless, of course, someone is moved. It's pretty close to a necessity.

We have to move somebody here. We get 2 players back in less than a week, and who do we take off? Is it time to buy out Cheechoo? Trade Donovan? Sending Z Smith down would disappoint me.
We basically have 3 forwards who have to go either down or traded.

From the past few games that I have watched. This team has been able to play without Spezza. I think he should be the one to be moved.

Phoenix30 wrote:From the past few games that I have watched. This team has been able to play without Spezza. I think he should be the one to be moved.

From the last 4 games yes, because Alfie came back and we still have some skill in Kovalev.
When those 2 won't be here anymore in 2-3 years, we will need Spezza (the good one).
Unless we can get a dynamic top 6, which we won't get because of Spezza's salary, I wouldn't do that.

alfie spezza smith
michalek fisher kovalev
foligno regin shannon
rutuu kelly neil

waive cheechoo

trade lee to carolina for andrew alberts.

Right now we are carrying 22 players, and that includes three goalies. When Leclaire is cleared to play they have no choice but to send down Brodeur. That leaves us room for Spezza and Michalek, when they come back. So we're OK w.r.t. the 23-man roster. The cap room is another matter, but all we would have to do is waive Cheechoo and send him down. It sucks, I know, but don't feel sorry for a guy making $3M.

I wonder if they send Leclaire down for a conditioning stint for a couple weeks if Brodeur is still playing well with Elliott?

It's harder than it looks, I'll admit.

Michalek - Spezza - Kovalev

Foligno - Fisher - Alfredsson

Shannon - Regin - Neil

Ruutu - Kelly - Winchester

Extras:
Donovan
Cheechoo

Volchenkov - Phillips
Kuba - Karlsson
Campoli - Carkner

Extras:
Picard

Leclaire
Elliott

So we send down Z.Smith, M.Brodeur (there's nothing we can do with either guy).

I don't see where Cheechoo will fit on this team when Winchester comes back, I really don't.

Perhaps they Waive Cheechoo as the season gets closer to an end?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Perhaps they Waive Cheechoo as the season gets closer to an end?

I'm curious if they will or not. It's a lot of $$ to play in Bingo, but we can call him back up when the rosters expand. Tough call. If someone will take him on re-entry, I guess the Sens will deal with that.