Ottawa Senators off-season talk

I would like to see Wick become a friggin super star, haha, but we'll see what he brings. He could be a total bust and I wouldnt be shocked.

stempniaksen wrote:I hope both don't make it. Room in this lineup will be scarce.

Regin - Spezza - xxxxxxxx
Cullen - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - xxxxxxxx - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

ex: Butler, Wick, Winchester, Smith, Shannon, Cheechoo, Foligno

2 spots for 7 guys? You can probably take Cheechoo out of the running, but every other guy there has a real shot. I would probably go with Foligno, Winchester, Shannon/Smith and let the other guys get a year of seasoning.

I hope both do because they would have done something really special or look fantastic at some point to get one of those spots. Them making the team would only be positive.

stempniaksen wrote:I hope both don't make it. Room in this lineup will be scarce.

Regin - Spezza - xxxxxxxx
Cullen - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - xxxxxxxx - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

ex: Butler, Wick, Winchester, Smith, Shannon, Cheechoo, Foligno

2 spots for 7 guys? You can probably take Cheechoo out of the running, but every other guy there has a real shot. I would probably go with Foligno, Winchester, Shannon/Smith and let the other guys get a year of seasoning.

more like...
Regin - Spezza -Michalek
Fisher - Alfredsson -Kovalev
xxxxxxxx- Cullen - xxxxxxxx
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Alfredsson and Kovalev won't play on the same line. They are both natural RW who play like dung on the left side.

I also don't see a point in signing Cullen to a 3 million dollar contract to play in the bottom-six with a couple rookies.

We'll see once the season starts though.

Wick is very close. I would say by thursday he's signed.

stempniaksen wrote:Alfredsson and Kovalev won't play on the same line. They are both natural RW who play like dung on the left side.

I also don't see a point in signing Cullen to a 3 million dollar contract to play in the bottom-six with a couple rookies.

We'll see once the season starts though.

That's kind of relative. If he gets 1st PP mins and PK mins, is he really a bottom 6 guy? Not really, even if he is placed on the 3rd line.

N4L wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Alfredsson and Kovalev won't play on the same line. They are both natural RW who play like dung on the left side.

I also don't see a point in signing Cullen to a 3 million dollar contract to play in the bottom-six with a couple rookies.

We'll see once the season starts though.

That's kind of relative. If he gets 1st PP mins and PK mins, is he really a bottom 6 guy? Not really, even if he is placed on the 3rd line.

Plus the way he finished last year he pretty much proved he's still a top 6. Putting him on a line with Fish guarantees you've got both a left and right handed center for faceoffs and they were dominant...or was I dreaming of what I wanted to see?

N4L wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Alfredsson and Kovalev won't play on the same line. They are both natural RW who play like dung on the left side.

I also don't see a point in signing Cullen to a 3 million dollar contract to play in the bottom-six with a couple rookies.

We'll see once the season starts though.

That's kind of relative. If he gets 1st PP mins and PK mins, is he really a bottom 6 guy? Not really, even if he is placed on the 3rd line.

Oh yeah, he'll get tons of good minutes. Potentially PP QB with Karlsson. Big time, nice minutes and he can play all three forward positions, so he's instantly moved up if and when there are injuries.

I can't see him finding a better fit anywhere. He should stay with us - I say this as unbiased as possible.

stempniaksen wrote:I hope both don't make it. Room in this lineup will be scarce.

Regin - Spezza - xxxxxxxx
Cullen - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - xxxxxxxx - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

ex: Butler, Wick, Winchester, Smith, Shannon, Cheechoo, Foligno

2 spots for 7 guys? You can probably take Cheechoo out of the running, but every other guy there has a real shot. I would probably go with Foligno, Winchester, Shannon/Smith and let the other guys get a year of seasoning.

Cheechoo and Winchester have no shot. They can barely skate, AHL material IMO.
Wick has pro level experience over Butler, I just don't want to rush this kid into the NHL ,give him a couple of months to learn the pro style in Binghamton , dominate the league and go from there.
Shannon is a fringe NHL-er, he's a great guy but he doesn't belong in the league.
So Wick , Z.Smith and Foligno for the final spots. Two regulars and an extra guy. I just don't see Murray re-signing Cullen(just a hunch) so that's 3 regulars

Regin - Spezza - Wick
Foligno - Fisher - Alfie
Michalek - Z.Smith - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Winchester is fine in the 4th line roll IMO. If Wick makes the team and is actually on the first line then he will have blown everyone away at camp and I say bring it but I doubt that. I also doubt you see Michalek on the third line.

Tobias wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:I hope both don't make it. Room in this lineup will be scarce.

Regin - Spezza - xxxxxxxx
Cullen - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - xxxxxxxx - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

ex: Butler, Wick, Winchester, Smith, Shannon, Cheechoo, Foligno

2 spots for 7 guys? You can probably take Cheechoo out of the running, but every other guy there has a real shot. I would probably go with Foligno, Winchester, Shannon/Smith and let the other guys get a year of seasoning.

Cheechoo and Winchester have no shot. They can barely skate, AHL material IMO.
Wick has pro level experience over Butler, I just don't want to rush this kid into the NHL ,give him a couple of months to learn the pro style in Binghamton , dominate the league and go from there.
Shannon is a fringe NHL-er, he's a great guy but he doesn't belong in the league.
So Wick , Z.Smith and Foligno for the final spots. Two regulars and an extra guy. I just don't see Murray re-signing Cullen(just a hunch) so that's 3 regulars

Regin - Spezza - Wick
Foligno - Fisher - Alfie
Michalek - Z.Smith - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Ummm what?

Winchester is a Murray guy out of university, he's not leaving. Murray is the KING of finding these guys out of uni and college, I love that about him. Butler will be a player as well.

I find it hard to find a spot for Winnie as well, but I still don't think he's going anywhere personally.

PS I still want Cullen back!

Wow, Wick on the top line and Kovalev on the 3rd line? I am not a huge Kovalev fan but even I find that insulting. Either play him top 6 or send him packing.

Wick's got some skills as demonstrated in the Olympics, but he's also one of the best, or at least better players on that team for sure, so it's not that unheard of that he would stand out.

The reason Wick's signing has taken years is because he probably doesn't' want to play in the AHL and would rather stay home and make more money and travel in luxury. Once he gets here it's a different game - maybe they convince him to stay under the premise that he gets a shot once a move can be made or he proves himself.

But putting him on the top line with zero North American experience (hardly consider the Vancouver Olympics NA experience) is only going to set him and the fans up for disappointment.

Dash wrote:Wow, Wick on the top line and Kovalev on the 3rd line? I am not a huge Kovalev fan but even I find that insulting. Either play him top 6 or send him packing.

Wick's got some skills as demonstrated in the Olympics, but he's also one of the best, or at least better players on that team for sure, so it's not that unheard of that he would stand out.

The reason Wick's signing has taken years is because he probably doesn't' want to play in the AHL and would rather stay home and make more money and travel in luxury. Once he gets here it's a different game - maybe they convince him to stay under the premise that he gets a shot once a move can be made or he proves himself.

But putting him on the top line with zero North American experience (hardly consider the Vancouver Olympics NA experience) is only going to set him and the fans up for disappointment.

Wick did play in the WHL. He did what he had to do to prepare for the NHL, IMO. It just didn't work out for him so far.

As for Kovalev, the popular thing to do is Dung on this guy. The media is on board with wishing his career to be over too. The fact is, without Kovalev, media darling Mike Fisher has the same ho-hum seasons he's been known for. I, for one, would be very interested to see how Fisher looks without Kovalev.

N4L wrote:

Tobias wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:I hope both don't make it. Room in this lineup will be scarce.

Regin - Spezza - xxxxxxxx
Cullen - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - xxxxxxxx - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

ex: Butler, Wick, Winchester, Smith, Shannon, Cheechoo, Foligno

2 spots for 7 guys? You can probably take Cheechoo out of the running, but every other guy there has a real shot. I would probably go with Foligno, Winchester, Shannon/Smith and let the other guys get a year of seasoning.

Cheechoo and Winchester have no shot. They can barely skate, AHL material IMO.
Wick has pro level experience over Butler, I just don't want to rush this kid into the NHL ,give him a couple of months to learn the pro style in Binghamton , dominate the league and go from there.
Shannon is a fringe NHL-er, he's a great guy but he doesn't belong in the league.
So Wick , Z.Smith and Foligno for the final spots. Two regulars and an extra guy. I just don't see Murray re-signing Cullen(just a hunch) so that's 3 regulars

Regin - Spezza - Wick
Foligno - Fisher - Alfie
Michalek - Z.Smith - Kovalev
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Ummm what?

Just because Winnie isn't a star player doesn't mean he's AHL material. He played his limited role very well last year. Cheechoo, yeah I agree and he likely won't be in the NHL again.

When did Wick have pro-level experience? If you're referring to him playing in Europe then I'd probably argue that playing college is comparable in terms of playing in pressure situations, etc. Not to mention the fact that Wick is showing signs of immaturity by holding out on this contract while Butler is coming in a lot younger and ready to work; not to mention he was a Hobey Baker nominee. In the two-three games he played Butler showed he's capable of playing in the NHL. An off-season of training will go along way for this guy. He chose to sign with Ottawa versus a lot of other teams because there's a belief that this guy could make the NHL next year.

And really? Wick on your first line? What are you smoking cus I want some of whatever it is.... You've seen Wick play in what, four olympic games on a defense-oriented, low scoring team and you want him on your top line? If anything Wick plays on the third line or in a shutdown role.

Dude, I know you're new to the site and everything which is awesome (welcome by the way), but as a tip you should research what you say. There's guys on this forum who feed on posts like this...

Im not going to get into the Fisher thing, he's a solid player and a key piece in Ottawa, but people shouldnt pretend Kovalev didnt have an enormous impact on Fisher's career year. They played well together.

Yeah, Wick had 70 points including 30+ goals in the WHL at 19/20.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=70438

Not only that but he's 6'1" and close to 200 pounds now from what some people are saying.

N4L wrote:Im not going to get into the Fisher thing, he's a solid player and a key piece in Ottawa, but people shouldnt pretend Kovalev didnt have an enormous impact on Fisher's career year. They played well together.

No doubt about it. That's not even an issue.