GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens– 7:30PM EST, Monday, March 22, 2010

marakh wrote:You make a pitch for Erik Johnson like that other dude on HF suggested

Not sure about this, but how available is A Kostytsin? That's the kind of guy I want.

SpezDispenser wrote:That's my good luck post for the Sens. I love them and there's no other team I give a Dung about, it's time to do it for the fans as well as themselves!

SpezDispenser wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:
Where would you suggest the $6-7 saved go? This is a bad year for UFAs. Maybe we do end up keeping Cullen...

Oh man, this is my kind of question.

These are the Sens needs:

1.A number one D-man. Hard to find, but if you get an angle on one, you do it.

2.A big, talented left-winger. Someone like Michalek and Foligno, but who's been through this before and can navigate through the slumps and lift the team up. Real hard to find this kind of guy as well.

That's it. If you can't find a true number one D-man and/or a true top line LW, then you do nothing and wait with the ultimate prize in this NHL - cap space.

This team is young, this team is good, but we're not there yet. If you find a way to tick off 1 and 2 on the list, all of a sudden, this team has a chance at the NorthEast division next year - AT LEAST, maybe taking a crack at the 2nd seed even.

I find it stunning how many people cry about Bryan Murray (not here usually), but he's set this team up so well for the future. Great job.

Kovalfie wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:
Where would you suggest the $6-7 saved go? This is a bad year for UFAs. Maybe we do end up keeping Cullen...

Oh man, this is my kind of question.

These are the Sens needs:

1.A number one D-man. Hard to find, but if you get an angle on one, you do it.

2.A big, talented left-winger. Someone like Michalek and Foligno, but who's been through this before and can navigate through the slumps and lift the team up. Real hard to find this kind of guy as well.

That's it. If you can't find a true number one D-man and/or a true top line LW, then you do nothing and wait with the ultimate prize in this NHL - cap space.

This team is young, this team is good, but we're not there yet. If you find a way to tick off 1 and 2 on the list, all of a sudden, this team has a chance at the NorthEast division next year - AT LEAST, maybe taking a crack at the 2nd seed even.

I find it stunning how many people cry about Bryan Murray (not here usually), but he's set this team up so well for the future. Great job.

I've always liked Simon Gagne. I wonder if Philly would bite and take Leclaire off our hands... Both equally injure prone, Philly gets a bit of cap space, and both UFAs at the end of next year. He'd be a perfect fit to play with Spezza IF he stays healthy

Bass Destruction wrote:
I fear you may have set a very time consuming precedent!

Big Ev wrote:Are you saying you wouldn't want Erik Johnson on the Sens?

Kovalfie wrote:
I've always liked Simon Gagne. I wonder if Philly would bite and take Leclaire off our hands... Both equally injure prone, Philly gets a bit of cap space, and both UFAs at the end of next year. He'd be a perfect fit to play with Spezza IF he stays healthy

SpezDispenser wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:
I've always liked Simon Gagne. I wonder if Philly would bite and take Leclaire off our hands... Both equally injure prone, Philly gets a bit of cap space, and both UFAs at the end of next year. He'd be a perfect fit to play with Spezza IF he stays healthy

That's actually a great idea.

Kovalfie wrote:
It's really a wash on both ends. Both need roster shakeups, both have an asset the other team needs, I really hope BM is reading this right now. His GP over the last couple years is scary but the way the Flyers play hockey it's not a shock. Look at Briere's production. Not saying Briere is an elite hockey player but I think his decline in points only strengthens my argument. Gagne would fit in perfectly with Ottawa. Wouldn't mind taking Powe off their hands too for say Cody Bass.

SpezDispenser wrote:No Dan Hamhuis IMO. It's time to save some $$s for a real number one guy. We have one coming up in Karlsson, but we need a Dan Boyle, Shea Weber, Andrei Markov kind of guy.

Before Markov returned to the Habs from injury, they sucked. Since his return, they're 22-13. That's no coincidence, every team NEEDS a number one D-man. If they don't have one, odds are, they won't win anything more than a round or 2. There are exceptions, like Carolina, but as a rule, without that big, 25+ minute-eating D-man, you're not gonna make it.

We need one of those as badly as anyone in the league.

Big Ev wrote:Hypothetically speaking, would you trade Karlsson for Erik Johnson?

Kovalfie wrote:
It's great to save money and all but UFAs are hard to come by at this point. With the exception of very few players, all the franchise players are locked up with teams that drafted them. Otherwise you end up paying too much a la Campbell. We once had a franchise d-man but we let him walk for two years of Wade

SpezDispenser wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:
It's really a wash on both ends. Both need roster shakeups, both have an asset the other team needs, I really hope BM is reading this right now. His GP over the last couple years is scary but the way the Flyers play hockey it's not a shock. Look at Briere's production. Not saying Briere is an elite hockey player but I think his decline in points only strengthens my argument. Gagne would fit in perfectly with Ottawa. Wouldn't mind taking Powe off their hands too for say Cody Bass.

We don't need a roster shakeup, we're just young in virtually every position. Philly needs a goalie and at the same time they need to dump $$ to do it, so it makes sense. But...Gagne has a NTC, is Ottawa a place he'd want to play?