POLL: Which D-man will the Sens acquire on/by March 3rd

SpezDispenser wrote:Hmmm...Burns has such a nice ring to it. Burns/Phillips, Karlsson/Volchenkov, Kuba/Carkner. Campoli press box?

That's as good as it gets IMO.

That's a wet dream for us guys in Ottawa. Those pairings look tight as hell and might be the backbone of the league's best defense.

I reiterate again, get Burns no matter what it costs!

PKC wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Hmmm...Burns has such a nice ring to it. Burns/Phillips, Karlsson/Volchenkov, Kuba/Carkner. Campoli press box?

That's as good as it gets IMO.

That's a wet dream for us guys in Ottawa. Those pairings look tight as hell and might be the backbone of the league's best defense.

I reiterate again, get Burns no matter what it costs!

Not to mention it has the potential to get a lot better when/if Cowen and Wiercioch come into the league as well.

SpezDispenser wrote:

PKC wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Hmmm...Burns has such a nice ring to it. Burns/Phillips, Karlsson/Volchenkov, Kuba/Carkner. Campoli press box?

That's as good as it gets IMO.

That's a wet dream for us guys in Ottawa. Those pairings look tight as hell and might be the backbone of the league's best defense.

I reiterate again, get Burns no matter what it costs!

Not to mention it has the potential to get a lot better when/if Cowen and Wiercioch come into the league as well.

We'd have a legendary defense corps. Unfortunately, at some point it would be impossible to keep all of them paid accordingly.

I have to reiterate other's concerns about the concussion history. This guy has missed serious time already as a young player. That does not bode well for his long term viability. Perhaps I am mistaken but I can't think of one player who had severe concussions at his age and went on to have a long career. Not just in terms of years but in terms of games played per year

Burns is not a player we should even be thinking about due to one thing and one thing only. That is his concussion history. I think some people on here have already mentioned it. what is the fascination with taking on people that can not stay healthy? how do they help us when they are out of the lineup? has leclaire's history not proven enough to you guys? some people just are not meant to play contact sports in the long term. deal with it.

I have to admit that I'm inclined to agree. I'd still be over the moon if we got Burns, but the risks attached are massive.

Still...if he can stay out of the concussion issues, he'd immediately be our best D-man (until Karlsson usurps him).

mostly every nhl player will get their bell rung every once in awhile, but it is how your body/head react to that collision. burns can't deal with it, nor can shannon, nor could lindros, leclaire just cant handle walking and talking at the same time and the list goes on and on.
robidas has had one diagnosed concussion and it only kept him out 7 games. he had a broken jaw after that and no consussion came from it which is a good sign. for a player like robidas to have some injuries is common as we also see in volchenkov, it happens. other players can't prevent it and it finds them - burns is one of those guys.

robidas and hamhuis are the front runners by a long shot, not even close.

SpezDispenser wrote:I have to admit that I'm inclined to agree. I'd still be over the moon if we got Burns, but the risks attached are massive.

Still...if he can stay out of the concussion issues, he'd immediately be our best D-man (until Karlsson usurps him).

I wouldn't be over the moon, i would be furious.
and he wont be able to stay healthy, unless he does what havlat and peter mueller are doing and that is shying away from everything physical just to stay healthy and be 25% as effective as they could be all the while getting paid 100% of their salary. no thanks.
burns is out of the coming to ottawa conversation.

http://hfbroads.com/showthread.php?p=611574#post611574

Also on the Stars front, the Robidas to Ottawa rumor seems to be gaining steam. Not sure who is coming to Dallas, but the Stars are definetely looking at moving some pieces out and Robidas may be the first to go. Ottawa isn't the only team sniffing around though.

cheechoo, Leclaire and Lee

for

Turco and Robidas?

DirtyDave wrote:cheechoo, Leclaire and Lee

for

Turco and Robidas?

ha! dallas wins that trade hands down

DirtyDave wrote:cheechoo, Leclaire and Lee

for

Turco and Robidas?

The only reason this trade is respectable for Ottawa is because Turco's contract expires this year.

My goodness, Zidlicky looked fantastic this aft. despite the Czech's loss. What an electric puck mover, with a great shot and some nice offensive creativity. Looks real good!

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=2592798&sponsor=




Pavel Kubina in an Ottawa Senators uniform? How about Dennis Seidenberg or Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers, Dan Hamhuis of the Nashville Predators or the return of Brendan Bell, who is now playing for the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League?

All of the above have been mentioned in trade speculation involving the Senators, for good reason.

It's pretty much a given that Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray will be adding a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent defenceman -- or maybe two -- before the March 3 trade deadline.

Murray took his cellphone with him to Florida for his Olympic holiday, hoping to have a deal or two in place once the NHL roster freeze ends a week from Monday.

The Senators' defence is ultra-thin at this point, following the Feb. 12 trade that sent Alexandre Picard to the Carolina Hurricanes for Matt Cullen and the left knee injury suffered by Chris Campoli on Feb. 11.

When the Senators return for a mini-camp Wednesday, they will have only three defencemen on the ice: Chris Phillips, Matt Carkner and Erik Karlsson, and that's providing Karlsson is fully recovered from the shoulder injury he suffered Feb. 5.

Even when Anton Volchenkov (Russia) and Filip Kuba (Czech Republic) return from the Olympics, the Senators will have only five healthy defencemen. In the short term, the Senators could attempt to plug the hole by recalling Brian Lee from Binghamton of the AHL. But Lee struggled, once again, when called up by the Senators for the club's final two games before the Olympic break.

As much as Murray needs to strengthen the team's defence in anticipation of a playoff run, he also can't afford to take on much in the way of additional salary obligations beyond the current season.

The club is in negotiations with Volchenkov over a contract extension, and he's expected to receive a substantial increase on his current $3.2-million-U.S. salary. Perhaps the best comparable is Mike Komisarek of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who signed a five-year, $22.5-million deal last summer.

The Senators are also hoping that Jared Cowen, their first-round draft choice last June (ninth overall) can compete for a spot on the roster next season. There's a possibility that Patrick Wiercioch, the club's second-round draft choice in 2008 (42nd overall), could leave the University of Denver early.

All of this means Murray is looking at players who will be rentals, only around for as long as the Senators' season lasts.

The list of available defencemen for whom unrestricted free agency is pending in the offseason is short, especially considering 22 of the league's 30 teams still have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.

Depending on the calibre of the player coming back, the Senators may have to part with one of their forwards. With the arrival of Cullen, Ryan Shannon could be a trade possibility. Below, the Citizen takes a look at who's out there, their 2009-10 salaries and the likelihood they'll end up in Ottawa:
#
# Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks ($6.75 million): Forget it. Even if he considered coming to to Ottawa, the price would be huge for Anaheim to give up one of the faces of the franchise. He's a better bet for New Jersey.
# Nick Boynton, Anaheim Ducks ($1.5 million): The former 67's player has been on four teams in four seasons and when the Ducks put him on waivers before the Olympic break, there were no takers. No chance.
# Pavel Kubina, Atlanta Thrashers ($5 million): Solid defensively, he could play among the top four defencemen and on the power play. Would be a nice fit, but is Murray willing to give up another top pick or prospect?
# Aaron Ward, Carolina Hurricanes ($2.5 million): The Gloucester native has won Stanley Cups with Carolina and Detroit and is tough in his own end, but his offensive game is limited and his career winding down.
# Brendan Bell, Columbus Blue Jackets (700,000*): Bell could return as an insurance policy in case of an injury and would be an upgrade over Lee. He filled a void for the Senators last season and would accept any role. Could happen.
# Dennis Seidenberg, Florida Panthers ($2.25 million): A German Olympian, he is solid in both ends. Blocks shots, moves the puck well, can play on the power play and penalty kill. A comfortable fit, but what's the price in return?
# Jordan Leopold, Florida Panthers ($1.75 million): More offence and power play potential than Seidenberg, but not as reliable defensively. The Panthers may opt to move him ahead of Seidenberg.
# Marek Zidlicky, Minnesota Wild ($3.5 million): He would add plenty of punch to the power play, but the Wild have opened contract negotiations with the hope of re-signing him before the trade deadline.
# Dan Hamhuis, Nashville Predators ($2.5 million): A tough call for the Predators, as he is coveted by the Senators and other teams, but Nashville is pondering whether to re-sign him long-term.
# Kurtis Foster, Tampa Bay Lightning ($600,000): Murray had an interest in the Carp native last summer and the Lightning have used him on the wing at times. Great shot and size, could be added for depth.

SpezDispenser wrote:My goodness, Zidlicky looked fantastic this aft. despite the Czech's loss. What an electric puck mover, with a great shot and some nice offensive creativity. Looks real good!

Agreed. I had my reservations about him, but I wouldn't mind if we picked him up now that I've seen what he can do next to Kuba.

Ward, Leopold, Seidenberg, those are the three that Murray's looking at. Anyone else is gonna be too expensive. That's my final answer on who we're acquiring, one of those.

I'm actually thinking it's gonna be bigger than that. Look towards Robidas, Burns, Zidlicky, Seidenberg and Hamhuis.

stempniaksen wrote:I'm actually thinking it's gonna be bigger than that. Look towards Robidas, Burns, Zidlicky, Seidenberg and Hamhuis.

I find it hard to believe Murray alters the team too much, but maybe.