GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Atlanta Thrashers – 7:00PM EST, Thursday, March 18, 2010

N4L wrote:
Dude, Leclaire is 26 years old and makes 3.8, Kovalev is 37 and makes 5 mil... Kovalev is a short term solution at best, Leclaire if healthy can solve this teams goalie problems for 5-10 years.

There is no good in dealing Leclaire right now nor dealing Elliott. It is a tallented duo with the potential to be good to great for The Sens. People have to stop being so short sighted.

Kovalev was one of the only reasons we're even in a playoff spot right now and he's got one more year left. I'm okay with him, Leclaire is talented, but Elliott's our guy, what is the point in keeping a guy making 4 million dollars when Elliott has stepped up and taken this job.

I'd much rather spend Leclaire's 4 million (minus 1 million for a Scott Clemenson type backup), so the remaining 3 million + Volchenkov's $$ and get ourselves a Pavel Kubina or a Gonchar. This team is so bereft of vet. talent on the backend it's almost embarrassing, we need a number one D-man WAY more than we need Pascal Leclaire.

I would clear Leclaire's salary and spend it on a number one D-man - it would make a world of difference for us. I would bring in a vet. back up and I'd leave everything pretty much the way it is.

rooneypoo wrote:
LOL. How long have I been saying this for?!? A team is not a group of individuals; it has to come together over time to play as a unit. Deadline deals for anything other than complementary players rarely ever work out. I wish people would keep these sentiments in mind when Feb/Mar roll around and they're screaming for OTT to make big, ridiculous moves.

And, to be fair, I like the Sutton and Cullen acquisitions. It's not that they're a problem. Rather, it's the naivete of the position that messing with the chemistry of a team in the middle of setting a record for consecutive wins is what's needed.

Yeah, it's time to take that to heart in the Sens organization. You build your team by late Dec.- early January and you live and die by the sword. Your big moves should come in the summer, your tinkering in December and nothing by the trade deadline. As I go along, I learn more and more about this game and the way the ebbs and flows work - and I would support doing absolutely NOTHING next trade deadline - PROVIDING we don't do nothing in the summer.

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:
Dude, Leclaire is 26 years old and makes 3.8, Kovalev is 37 and makes 5 mil... Kovalev is a short term solution at best, Leclaire if healthy can solve this teams goalie problems for 5-10 years.

There is no good in dealing Leclaire right now nor dealing Elliott. It is a tallented duo with the potential to be good to great for The Sens. People have to stop being so short sighted.

Kovalev was one of the only reasons we're even in a playoff spot right now and he's got one more year left. I'm okay with him, Leclaire is talented, but Elliott's our guy, what is the point in keeping a guy making 4 million dollars when Elliott has stepped up and taken this job.

I'd much rather spend Leclaire's 4 million (minus 1 million for a Scott Clemenson type backup), so the remaining 3 million + Volchenkov's $$ and get ourselves a Pavel Kubina or a Gonchar. This team is so bereft of vet. talent on the backend it's almost embarrassing, we need a number one D-man WAY more than we need Pascal Leclaire.

I would clear Leclaire's salary and spend it on a number one D-man - it would make a world of difference for us. I would bring in a vet. back up and I'd leave everything pretty much the way it is.

There are no "number 1" D men out there. 4.4 mil on goaltending is minimal. Elliott isnt truly ready to carry the load as much as he looks like it at times and Leclaire is the more tellented goaltender.

There are a lot of other places to looks for money if it was actually an issue, not to mention Ottawa has perhaps the most over paid forward group in The NHL.

The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

wprager wrote:The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

Yeah, well, we're seeing right now that you can't buy chemistry, no matter how appealing the reduced price tag of the players. That's something you can only build, not buy. And I actually like Cullen and Sutton.

rooneypoo wrote:

wprager wrote:The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

Yeah, well, we're seeing right now that you can't buy chemistry, no matter how appealing the reduced price tag of the players. That's something you can only build, not buy. And I actually like Cullen and Sutton.

Hopefully we can call it back up (Cheechoo) once the regular season is over. Not that I think he makes the team much better talent wise, but this stiff decline in the team's play can be traced almost exactly to his demotion. I think the team lost a valuable locker room presence and a well-liked teammate when he went down.

Obviously, he's not the answer to all this teams problems, and probably not even the biggest answer, but it's pretty obvious to me that the team plays better when he's there. I've said for a long time, that the playoffs is when we'd see Cheechoo's true worth.

hemlock wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

wprager wrote:The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

Yeah, well, we're seeing right now that you can't buy chemistry, no matter how appealing the reduced price tag of the players. That's something you can only build, not buy. And I actually like Cullen and Sutton.

Hopefully we can call it back up (Cheechoo) once the regular season is over. Not that I think he makes the team much better talent wise, but this stiff decline in the team's play can be traced almost exactly to his demotion. I think the team lost a valuable locker room presence and a well-liked teammate when he went down.

Obviously, he's not the answer to all this teams problems, and probably not even the biggest answer, but it's pretty obvious to me that the team plays better when he's there. I've said for a long time, that the playoffs is when we'd see Cheechoo's true worth.

The only point I was trying to make is that there *is* a reason for trade-deadline acquisitions that prevents some trades from being made in the Summer. The other reason, of course, is that teams are willing to shed pending UFAs when they know their season is almost over.

The point about chemistry is valid, of course. The best case I remember is Nashville, a few years back, grabbing Forsberg. Some people in a hockey pool I was in said "So, I guess Nashville just bought themselves a Stanley Cup?" I was quick to mention that they were leading the league because of everyone in the roster pitching in, doing their jobs. Bringing in a top-three player was clearly going to disrupt the chemistry, the only question was, how much?

Teams that try to do more than tweak very rarely improve. It takes a great GM to know just what the team needs. It also take a great coach to use the newly acquired piece(s) in a complementary way.

Cullen is a pretty interesting piece. He is versatile -- can play on any of the top three lines, but unfortunately he's best at center. He may still end up a good deadline acquisition, but so far he has not been used well by Clouston.

Can Cheechoo be brought up without risking losing him on re-entry waivers? $1.5M plus change for his services for the playoffs and next season would be a great for a few teams. It could prove very costly to the Senators.

hemlock wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

wprager wrote:The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

Yeah, well, we're seeing right now that you can't buy chemistry, no matter how appealing the reduced price tag of the players. That's something you can only build, not buy. And I actually like Cullen and Sutton.

Hopefully we can call it back up (Cheechoo) once the regular season is over. Not that I think he makes the team much better talent wise, but this stiff decline in the team's play can be traced almost exactly to his demotion. I think the team lost a valuable locker room presence and a well-liked teammate when he went down.

Obviously, he's not the answer to all this teams problems, and probably not even the biggest answer, but it's pretty obvious to me that the team plays better when he's there. I've said for a long time, that the playoffs is when we'd see Cheechoo's true worth.

Say what you want about Cheechoo but the team was better with him on it and he should have had anywhere from 10-15 goals if the net was 1 cm larger. Ive never seen a guy hit ore posts then him.

What I find amazing is every during our winning streak a large group of The Sens fan base was trashing him saying he needs to go. That is the kind of stuff that makes me furious because he was playing well, playing hard, and doing what was asked of him. People got their wish so why are they complaing?

Question stands: can we bring him up without risking losing him (an $1.5M of cap room next season) to re-entry waivers?

wprager wrote:Question stands: can we bring him up without risking losing him (an $1.5M of cap room next season) to re-entry waivers?

He will be brought up with Smith and Brodure before the playoffs start IMO when Bingo's season is over. He will be part of that black aces (maybe) but I think he should be up in the lineup playing on the 3rd/4th line with Cullen centering it.

N4L wrote:

hemlock wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

wprager wrote:The reason for the trade deadline moves is the cap hit is reduced to 1/3. You can get a player in March whom you could not afford in July.

Yeah, well, we're seeing right now that you can't buy chemistry, no matter how appealing the reduced price tag of the players. That's something you can only build, not buy. And I actually like Cullen and Sutton.

Hopefully we can call it back up (Cheechoo) once the regular season is over. Not that I think he makes the team much better talent wise, but this stiff decline in the team's play can be traced almost exactly to his demotion. I think the team lost a valuable locker room presence and a well-liked teammate when he went down.

Obviously, he's not the answer to all this teams problems, and probably not even the biggest answer, but it's pretty obvious to me that the team plays better when he's there. I've said for a long time, that the playoffs is when we'd see Cheechoo's true worth.

Say what you want about Cheechoo but the team was better with him on it and he should have had anywhere from 10-15 goals if the net was 1 cm larger. Ive never seen a guy hit ore posts then him.

What I find amazing is every during our winning streak a large group of The Sens fan base was trashing him saying he needs to go. That is the kind of stuff that makes me furious because he was playing well, playing hard, and doing what was asked of him. People got their wish so why are they complaing?

I'm certainly not one of the people who's complained about Cheechoo. Sure a little more production would have been nice, but his all out effort is a damn sight better than we've seen recently from most if not all of the forward group.

I'll be happy to see him back come playoff time. If we make it of course.