Ottawa Senators off-season talk

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Actually to a lot of people the issue is trading Spezza, haha.

That's why this is even being brought up right now.

Fwiw, I agree that Spezza needs more insulation.

Yeah, but the ones who get what's going on in the NHL realize that a two-pronged attack, coupled with good, solid D is what wins. Depth, two top lines, a slick third line and a tough 4th line. No one would question Spezza if Mike Richards was above him in the pecking order - the same way no one really bothers Briere when he's not playing well and Briere pays them back by insulating Richards and scoring massive goals on an equally effective line 2.

Imagine...Richards as the Sens top line center, and Spezza as a 2nd liner. That attack is full out scary - and here's good news: Spezza doesn't have to be 'the guy/the leader'.

That's about all you can do. Richard's isnt walking in that door anytime soon. You can hope and pray all you want but Spezza's contract makes it almost impossible to add impact guys to help him out.

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Actually to a lot of people the issue is trading Spezza, haha.

That's why this is even being brought up right now.

Fwiw, I agree that Spezza needs more insulation.

Yeah, but the ones who get what's going on in the NHL realize that a two-pronged attack, coupled with good, solid D is what wins. Depth, two top lines, a slick third line and a tough 4th line. No one would question Spezza if Mike Richards was above him in the pecking order - the same way no one really bothers Briere when he's not playing well and Briere pays them back by insulating Richards and scoring massive goals on an equally effective line 2.

Imagine...Richards as the Sens top line center, and Spezza as a 2nd liner. That attack is full out scary - and here's good news: Spezza doesn't have to be 'the guy/the leader'.

Carter is the C on that second line, but I see what you mean. The Flyers have crazy depth at forward to help Richards if he is off his game.

N4L wrote:
That's about all you can do. Richard's isnt walking in that door anytime soon. You can hope and pray all you want but Spezza's contract makes it almost impossible to add impact guys to help him out.

Really? Briere makes 6.5, Richard 5.5. Spezza makes 7, Guy X makes 5 = the same amount of money.

N4L wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:
If he goes to Columbus with Nash, Voracek and Filatov surrounding him? Or to a team like Edmonton who will have Hemsky, Hall, Eberle and MPS? Please tell me how Spezza will get by without Nick Foligno and Peter Regin holding his hand and helping him through.

Did you ever stop to consider that other teams might actually have more talent than the Senators do up front? Listen I like Regin and co as much as the next guy, but Spezza is the straw that stirs the drink up front and whether he's in Ottawa, Columbus or Edmonton the guy will put up points.

Yes saying he would hit 100 is maybe a little far fetched, but you know what, it might not be with the amount of talent this guy has.

People know my view on this so I'm not gonna keep ramming it down their throats, but this move has the potential to be one of the worst moves in franchise history. right up there with drafting Daigle and letting Chara walk.

The issue isn't to trade Spezza, the issue is for the Sens to make a 1-2 punch where he can be the number two guy behind a cheaper, yet more complete first line center. Basically, the idea is to do what every other successful team does: slowly build your blueline, then get 2 excellent centers (think Briere, Richards, Toews, Sharp and so on), while at the same time keeping your depth competitive.

We're not trying to trade Spezza here, we're trying to get some consistency on line 2.

A line of Alfredsson - Cullen - Fisher and Regin - Spezza - Kovalev provides some support to Spezza. That's my opinion, it's still not even optimum, preferably a young buck who explodes onto the scene and puts up 65+ points as a consistent threat on line 1 (or two, depending on how you see Spezza in the long run).

That's exactly the issue. If people dont beleive you can win with Spezza, you have to move him. Im not the only person who thinks this and I think it's becoming pretty clear that Murray and a lot of people in that organization are seeing it too. These playoffs were a HUGE warning shot fired off by Spezza, he didnt compete and he made a lot of bad, rookie mistakes. It was a step backwards in a big way for him.

Myeah... the twits from Mendes don't exactly say that:

On Volchenkov:

Sens have contacted a couple of other teams to see if they are willing
to trade for Volchenkov to give them a window before he is a UFA.


On Spezza:

Bryan Murray will speak with Jason Spezza later this month to get an
idea of where he is at - with respect to rumours that he wants out.

Murray said that in the end of season meeting with Spezza he was very
emotional. GM wants to see how he feels now that 2 mths have passed.

Murray re-iterated he does NOT want to trade Spezza.

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:
That's about all you can do. Richard's isnt walking in that door anytime soon. You can hope and pray all you want but Spezza's contract makes it almost impossible to add impact guys to help him out.

Really? Briere makes 6.5, Richard 5.5. Spezza makes 7, Guy X makes 5 = the same amount of money.

If you can get a Pronger clone for under 5 and have 2 million committed to goaltending, then sure you can. Fact of the matter is you look at most successful teams and they have money committed on the blueline.

For the record, people were calling Briere the one of the worst signings in The NHL at the begining og this year, if I suggested that instead of Fisher I would be shot.

Spezza contract is a bit of an issue in terms of getting him tallent. Again, the only player I can see really helping Spezza out on the wings that is available, is Boyes.

http://healthyscratches.blogspot.com/

Spezza doesnt know if he asked for a trade...? Haha, something is up in Ottawa for sure, it is absolutely insane what is going on with him and The Sens right now. He sounds like he is done with Ottawa.

Murray "hopes" he can talk to Spezza before July 1st?
How about you settle this right now, Mr GM.

marakh wrote:Murray "hopes" he can talk to Spezza before July 1st?
How about you settle this right now, Mr GM.

Hahaha, ahhhhhhh, things are still messed up in Ottawa. Thought the drama would be over last year but nope, lol.

I would actually laugh pretty hard if he ended up in Atlanta, haha.

What kind of message is being brodcasted to potential free agents? (Especially after Heatley and now Spezza.)

marakh wrote:Murray "hopes" he can talk to Spezza before July 1st?
How about you settle this right now, Mr GM.

No kidding. Something is definitely going down here. I'm not getting a good vibe here about Spezza. Saying things like "I'm here if they want me to be" instead of "I want to be here and be a leader" really have me thinking about Spezza's mindset, and not in a good way.

I'm not a proponent of trading Spezza for the sake of trading him, as are most here, but if he is only here because the team is telling him it's so, I am fearful for the prospects of Spezza getting any better going forward. Problem is, we'd be taking a bath if it becomes public. If there is something going on, I pray it's kept quiet and Murray pulls a suprise trade ahead of the draft.

I don't like the prospect of having Mike Fisher as our top centreman, but if it's got to be done, get it done Murray, quickly and quietly!

Perhaps this is the delay on getting Cullen under contract? Maybe he's exploring his options with Spezza before he commits to Cullen?

N4L wrote:

marakh wrote:Murray "hopes" he can talk to Spezza before July 1st?
How about you settle this right now, Mr GM.

Hahaha, ahhhhhhh, things are still messed up in Ottawa. Thought the drama would be over last year but nope, lol.

I would actually laugh pretty hard if he ended up in Atlanta, haha.

Some of my favourite trade destinations are in the East because of the potential return but I'm not crazy about having Spezza in the East.

Now that I've heard that Carolyn Waldo interview it's pretty clear that he wants out. for those gloom-and-doomers that think this is Heatley all over again, Spezza does not have a no-trade. Edmonton offered a boatload in spite of Heatley's no-trade, that barrier doesn't exist for Spezza. We may well have the bidding war I hoped we would get with Heatley.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Now that I've heard that Carolyn Waldo interview it's pretty clear that he wants out.

I heard that clip too this morning. All the dancing he did around those questions would put even Mikhail Baryshnikov to shame.

Finally....a Spezza resolution. While I think it would be MUCH more beneficial to keep Spezza, if there's issues he can be moved, we can get some nice pieces back and we can move on from there.

Either way, let's get 'er done please.

where can I hear this carolyn waldo interview?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:

marakh wrote:Murray "hopes" he can talk to Spezza before July 1st?
How about you settle this right now, Mr GM.

Hahaha, ahhhhhhh, things are still messed up in Ottawa. Thought the drama would be over last year but nope, lol.

I would actually laugh pretty hard if he ended up in Atlanta, haha.

Some of my favourite trade destinations are in the East because of the potential return but I'm not crazy about having Spezza in the East.

Now that I've heard that Carolyn Waldo interview it's pretty clear that he wants out. for those gloom-and-doomers that think this is Heatley all over again, Spezza does not have a no-trade. Edmonton offered a boatload in spite of Heatley's no-trade, that barrier doesn't exist for Spezza. We may well have the bidding war I hoped we would get with Heatley.

I'd ideally like a top 10 draft pick but the only teams I can see giving up their top 10s are Florida, Columbus, Atlanta, and Minnesota, all of which NEED a top line center. Florida has had a huge hole their since Jokinen left, Atlanta the same with Savard, someone needs to play with Nash in CLB, and Minnesota is probably the least likely of the four to make this move but may be interested (and may have interest in Lee too).

It's really hard to gauge Spezza's worth too. I think he's worth a top 10 pick and a top six forward or legit prospect. Here's my take on what we can get for him. Take into account the money as well. Not getting $7 million in players back would be a key in this trade as all the teams mentioned have the cap space to absorb Spezza's contract while not having to give back as much financially. I think you want to take a pick and a prospect (or cheap player) back and sign a UFA center if possible.

Columbus: Spezza for Brassard and 4th overall.
Florida: Spezza and Foligno for Weiss, Matthias and 3rd overall pick
Minnesota: Spezza, Lee, and Ottawa 1st for Burns, Gillies, and 9th overall
Atlanta: Spezza and Ottawa 1st for Little, Esposito and 8th overall pick

SpezDispenser wrote:Finally....a Spezza resolution. While I think it would be MUCH more beneficial to keep Spezza, if there's issues he can be moved, we can get some nice pieces back and we can move on from there.

Either way, let's get 'er done please.

Agreed on that point but it's painfully obvious where this guy's head is at and that's poison for everyone. Fans, team, management and the player himself.

Fare thee well...

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Finally....a Spezza resolution. While I think it would be MUCH more beneficial to keep Spezza, if there's issues he can be moved, we can get some nice pieces back and we can move on from there.

Either way, let's get 'er done please.

Agreed on that point but it's painfully obvious where this guy's head is at and that's poison for everyone. Fans, team, management and the player himself.

Fare thee well...

Yeah, I'm excited, this could potentially set Ottawa up for a Cup run year after next instead of 3-5 years down the road if they play this trade right.