Ottawa Senators off-season talk

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Kuba > Sutton

but

Michalek + Sutton > Kuba + Lee

It's all about cap management and if trading Kuba is the only way we can fit Michalek in then BMurr's gotta pull the trigger.

Adding Michalek and Sutton would be awesome, but finding a home for Kuba where we don't have to take on salary would be hard I would imagine.

the style of play that kuba can play for his cap hit(not much IMO) won't be to hard to find takers.

thrashers, pheonix even Tampa might want him back.

stempniaksen wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Kuba > Sutton

but

Michalek + Sutton > Kuba + Lee

It's all about cap management and if trading Kuba is the only way we can fit Michalek in then BMurr's gotta pull the trigger.

Adding Michalek and Sutton would be awesome, but finding a home for Kuba where we don't have to take on salary would be hard I would imagine.

I don't think it would be that tough, I just imagine it would need to be after free agency. A team like New Jersey could use him, especially if they lose Martin. Another example would be the Blues or maybe the Avalanche, but both those teams have a ton of cap space to make noise.

good call. he's not the as good but he'd be a nice fit for that team.

marakh wrote:big open ice hit is overrated in the playoffs. you need to shut down guys like pronger and COburn and not like VOlchenkov and Sutton.

Volchenkov is a top 10 shut-down guy in the league right now and it's not fair to compare him with one of the greatest d-man to ever play the game. And I don't think Coburn does a better job than Volchenkov,even though he has Kimmo to cover his mistakes . I see Volchie is starting to get a little underrated by our fan-base because he doesn't want to ink a new deal and that's wrong. He gave it all and he played on the biggest discount on our team, remember the good canadian boys who are overpayed now and didn't even bother to take a discount to make this team a contender again.
Now,if we lose him and Murray does nothing and hopes Cowen will be ready by the start of training camp or Lee would easily slide in Volchie's spot , he's clearly out of his mind. We need a top 4 d-man and even though we can't get a guy as good defensively as Volchie,we can improve our team with a player who can defend but has the ability to be a threat at the blueline and in the transition game.(think Zbynek) Gonchar would be good too, our defensive corps were easily the worst shooting group in the entire league and getting a big shooter like Gonchar can make this team an instant contender. I know he's on his last legs and looking to cash in but I sure hope he doesn't lack motivation and wants to win another cup after winning one with Pittsburgh.

Welcome to GMH, Tobias, by the way.

I love A-Train -- he's a shot blocking machine, and delivers a great hit every once in a while (without going out of his way -- an position -- to try to find one). That said, he is *so* limited in his offensive ability that he becomes a negative when slotted in on the top pairing. I literally cringed whenever the other team decided to play their top line against ours, because that meant Philips and Volchenkov were out there while Spezza and Alfredsson were trying to create offense.

Look at it this way -- when we had a powerplay, did you ever see Volchenkov out there?

This is why, in a way, I love the earlier suggestion of putting Karlsson out with Kuba.

Remember what happened in the Olympics? Volchenkov wasn't injured, he just wasn't playing with Phillips. And then, in the playoffs, even when he was with Phillips, he simply wasn't quick enough to stay with Crosby. Against Volchenkov, who wants to shoot everything at everyone from everywhere all the time, he was great in that game where he blocked 11. But against a top play-making center, without great support from a line of 2-way forwards, he was exposed.

Maybe a more experienced coach would have realized that and tried to play our checking line against Crosby, leaving the top line with Karlsson. It didn't happen and we lost in 6.

I'm not blaming the loss on Volchenkov or on Clouston or, certainly, not on Spezza, but Volchenkov is not versatile enough for a team struggling with consistency in their top-six, to pony up $5M or anything close to that.

sorry abotu the posts everyone! .. what's with the smoke in ottawa?

@wprager
I get what you're saying. I'm not in the "re-sign Volchenkov at any costs" group, I understand he's uni-dimensional but at the same time I'm in the "Let's get a cup for Alfie" group, it wouldn't feel right to have him retire without a cup . That's why we can't afford to sit back ,let Volchenkov walk , do nothing in the free agency or sign a scrub at best and wait for the kids to step up. We need to show we are a contender and act like one, so if I'm Murray and can't get Michalek or Gonchar signed at less than what I'm offering to Volchie than I need to show him the money. I don't believe the rumours that he's looking at 5 mil , probably Komisarek is the guy his agent points toward and says "my client is better than that guy so he deserves at least the same offer he got".
About the Pens series,a healthy lineup gets past the Pens. A healthy lineup and Leclaire from the last 2 playoff games advances to the Finals. Look how important health is,Chicago had only one injury throughout the playoffs (a 3rd liner) and Flyers had Gagne and Carter injured but Gagne returned to the lineup in less than 4-5 games and his return inspired the Flyers who went on and had the greatest comeback ever.

Thanks for the welcome:)

Tobias wrote:@wprager
I get what you're saying. I'm not in the "re-sign Volchenkov at any costs" group, I understand he's uni-dimensional but at the same time I'm in the "Let's get a cup for Alfie" group, it wouldn't feel right to have him retire without a cup . That's why we can't afford to sit back ,let Volchenkov walk , do nothing in the free agency or sign a scrub at best and wait for the kids to step up. We need to show we are a contender and act like one, so if I'm Murray and can't get Michalek or Gonchar signed at less than what I'm offering to Volchie than I need to show him the money. I don't believe the rumours that he's looking at 5 mil , probably Komisarek is the guy his agent points toward and says "my client is better than that guy so he deserves at least the same offer he got".
About the Pens series,a healthy lineup gets past the Pens. A healthy lineup and Leclaire from the last 2 playoff games advances to the Finals. Look how important health is,Chicago had only one injury throughout the playoffs (a 3rd liner) and Flyers had Gagne and Carter injured but Gagne returned to the lineup in less than 4-5 games and his return inspired the Flyers who went on and had the greatest comeback ever.

Thanks for the welcome:)

How can you not? This is his one time to hit a home run on a contract and the way he plays he can't afford to just sit back and not take every penny he can get. I dont blame him one bit.

A Train does everything Komiserek does and more, no reason why he wont be getting close to a million more per season, no reason at all. Someone will pay him that cash as well.

DirtyDave wrote:sorry abotu the posts everyone! .. what's with the smoke in ottawa?

I could smell it in Morrisburg at 5 this morning.

Wild fires... I think Spezza started them.

It smells like my BBQ smoker.

N4L wrote:Wild fires... I think Spezza started them.

Another Spezza rumour...

I can totally see Volchie asking for 5M+, pretty sure the Caps will give it to him.

Roman Wick is signing soon.

Tobias wrote:@wprager
I get what you're saying. I'm not in the "re-sign Volchenkov at any costs" group, I understand he's uni-dimensional but at the same time I'm in the "Let's get a cup for Alfie" group, it wouldn't feel right to have him retire without a cup . That's why we can't afford to sit back ,let Volchenkov walk , do nothing in the free agency or sign a scrub at best and wait for the kids to step up. We need to show we are a contender and act like one, so if I'm Murray and can't get Michalek or Gonchar signed at less than what I'm offering to Volchie than I need to show him the money. I don't believe the rumours that he's looking at 5 mil , probably Komisarek is the guy his agent points toward and says "my client is better than that guy so he deserves at least the same offer he got".
About the Pens series,a healthy lineup gets past the Pens. A healthy lineup and Leclaire from the last 2 playoff games advances to the Finals. Look how important health is,Chicago had only one injury throughout the playoffs (a 3rd liner) and Flyers had Gagne and Carter injured but Gagne returned to the lineup in less than 4-5 games and his return inspired the Flyers who went on and had the greatest comeback ever.

Thanks for the welcome:)

I think we're all in the 'Get Alfie A Cup' boat which is why we don't sign Volch. What's more important to you right now: a) Signing Volch for $5 million or b) signing Z. Michalek for $3.7 million and using that extra $1.3 million to sign Regin? I think everyone in this forum agrees plan b is the right move to make. The only major moves to this team are going to be on the defensive side with Lee and Kuba likely to go and one of Campbell or Michalek likely to come in. A few minor offensive moves like maybe the departure of Foligno, Shannon, and/or Kovalev (at the very most). It's likely going to be a quiet off-season for the Sens

Big Ev wrote:Roman Wick is signing soon.

Yeah? That would be pleasant news for sure.

DirtyDave wrote:sorry abotu the posts everyone! .. what's with the smoke in ottawa?

There are some raging forest fires around Latuque -- that's some 300 km north-west of *Montreal*! This morning I first thought we had a house fire down the road. Yikes, that's a lot of smoke for fires that are some 450 km away.

Kovalfie wrote:

Tobias wrote:@wprager
I get what you're saying. I'm not in the "re-sign Volchenkov at any costs" group, I understand he's uni-dimensional but at the same time I'm in the "Let's get a cup for Alfie" group, it wouldn't feel right to have him retire without a cup . That's why we can't afford to sit back ,let Volchenkov walk , do nothing in the free agency or sign a scrub at best and wait for the kids to step up. We need to show we are a contender and act like one, so if I'm Murray and can't get Michalek or Gonchar signed at less than what I'm offering to Volchie than I need to show him the money. I don't believe the rumours that he's looking at 5 mil , probably Komisarek is the guy his agent points toward and says "my client is better than that guy so he deserves at least the same offer he got".
About the Pens series,a healthy lineup gets past the Pens. A healthy lineup and Leclaire from the last 2 playoff games advances to the Finals. Look how important health is,Chicago had only one injury throughout the playoffs (a 3rd liner) and Flyers had Gagne and Carter injured but Gagne returned to the lineup in less than 4-5 games and his return inspired the Flyers who went on and had the greatest comeback ever.

Thanks for the welcome:)

I think we're all in the 'Get Alfie A Cup' boat which is why we don't sign Volch. What's more important to you right now: a) Signing Volch for $5 million or b) signing Z. Michalek for $3.7 million and using that extra $1.3 million to sign Regin? I think everyone in this forum agrees plan b is the right move to make. The only major moves to this team are going to be on the defensive side with Lee and Kuba likely to go and one of Campbell or Michalek likely to come in. A few minor offensive moves like maybe the departure of Foligno, Shannon, and/or Kovalev (at the very most). It's likely going to be a quiet off-season for the Sens

Like I said in my post, signing one of Michalek/Gonchar at a lower price than Volchie would be a better move for us.

Tobias wrote:
Like I said in my post, signing one of Michalek/Gonchar at a lower price than Volchie would be a better move for us.

Welcome aboard!

Signing Michalek for less than A-Train gets might/should be possible, but signing the most sought after puck moving PP QB to anything less than 5.5 is not happening IMO.