Sens on July 1st, Free Agents, Trades - Interesting storylines to watch.

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

Nope, need a winger for Spezza first. Probably going to be Butler though.

Anyways, next years team is set and unless they have problems signing Regin and Foligno, Savard isnt coming here.

SDH89 wrote:

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

Nope, need a winger for Spezza first. Probably going to be Butler though.

Anyways, next years team is set and unless they have problems signing Regin and Foligno, Savard isnt coming here.

Agreed, I see us going young on the wings now, Butler or Wick.

shabbs wrote:

SDH89 wrote:

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

Nope, need a winger for Spezza first. Probably going to be Butler though.

Anyways, next years team is set and unless they have problems signing Regin and Foligno, Savard isnt coming here.

Agreed, I see us going young on the wings now, Butler or Wick.

It's all going to depend on how much Murray can sign Regin, Foligno and Campoli for. Butler and Wick are on two-way contracts aren't they? And we all know what happens to two-way contract players.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

shabbs wrote:

SDH89 wrote:

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

Nope, need a winger for Spezza first. Probably going to be Butler though.

Anyways, next years team is set and unless they have problems signing Regin and Foligno, Savard isnt coming here.

Agreed, I see us going young on the wings now, Butler or Wick.

It's all going to depend on how much Murray can sign Regin, Foligno and Campoli for. Butler and Wick are on two-way contracts aren't they? And we all know what happens to two-way contract players.

Not all of us, apparently.

Has Alfredsson retired or something? Kovalev?

shabbs wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

shabbs wrote:

SDH89 wrote:

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:So, with Cullen completely out of the picture is adding "Savy" a good idea now?

Nope, need a winger for Spezza first. Probably going to be Butler though.

Anyways, next years team is set and unless they have problems signing Regin and Foligno, Savard isnt coming here.

Agreed, I see us going young on the wings now, Butler or Wick.

It's all going to depend on how much Murray can sign Regin, Foligno and Campoli for. Butler and Wick are on two-way contracts aren't they? And we all know what happens to two-way contract players.

Not all of us, apparently.

Has Alfredsson retired or something? Kovalev?

Source?

N4L wrote:Good little convo going on yesterday with you two... I'm gonna jump in if that's cool.

I agree with Robby for the most part but that's not to say that Hem doesnt make some good points. There's risk for sure, but there is risk in any UFA signing to be honest. The risk in signing Gonchar might be a little higher but the fact remains the reward for The Sens overall, well the sky is the limit.

People forget this is a guy who was the number 1 D man on a team that went to the finals 2 years in a row and played his heart out when they won the cup with a messed up knee, he's also the guy that got that whole offence going.

A guy like Spezza and Kovalev are going to benifit in a BIG way with Gonchar moving the puck and handling it in the back end, so will Phillips if they are paired together. Spezza could very well have a career just on the PP alone with Gonchar doing the duties. Kovalev, well he might be a guy that we can say (collectivly) "he was ok, not worth 5 mil but still provided something The Sens needed".

Then you have the effect it's going to have on guys like Karlsson and Campoli right now, they can learn from the absolute best and see just how smart of a D man this guy really is. Later on, Cowen, Weircoich, Gryba, Runblad, and maybe Wideman. These guys are going to get all the time in the world to develop in their respective leagues without the rush of "The Sens needed a puck mover or offense from the blueline!". Even guys like Cowen and Gryba will get to see how to take away time and space and just work smart in their own end, it's important because these two guys will be taking the body hard but being able to lay off once in a while and get the puck or make a play is just as important.

As for Gonchar's overall play, the guy isnt just some PP specialist that cant do anything else, this is a VERY good D man in every aspect. He's a better defensive D man then A Train, blocking shots is nice, but the way Gonchar works in his own end he doesnt really need to, Im not going to say he's a shutdown D man by any means but he has the ability to play against teams top lines and do a good job and expose them when his team has the puck. Offense, well, that's why he got 5.5 mil per.

If he gets injured then you have other young kids to plug the holes short term here and there,namely Wiercoich who would more then likely be the guy coming up if Gonchar is out of the lineup. I dont get the "LTIR" thing or saying "what if there is a career threatening injury" because that's a risk for every player in The NHL. The decline in production is a legit concern but I just dont see that happening, like Alfi, Gonchar can probably move the puck with his mind he's such a smart player and there is no substitute for that. He just picks apart the defense and exposes them. I just cant see how he gets anything less then about a .75 ppg avg in his entire time in Ottawa.

The signing was a little risky, mainly for the NTC, but the term is perfect IMO and the salary... meh, A Train got 4.25 and might get the amount of points his entire time in NJ that Gonchar will get next year and there is a 1.25 mil dif with 3 more years attached to A Train.

Also, if Gonchar is still going off at a good clip when his contract is up in 3 years, Ottawa will get a cheap, short term 4th for sure because of the Olympics in Russia, he's going to have to play if that is truly his goal, it might not seem like much right now, but that will probably be around the time of Alfi's last run if they dont do it between now and then and that could be huge.

Great signing, Murray was active and The Sens are better today then they were when they ended the year and they didnt give up anything to do it. Not much else you can ask as a Sens fan then your GM being proactive and going for it without risking the future (hell he helped it).

shabbs wrote:So, try this on for size... Ruutu and Shannon off the roster, Butler and Wick in... gives us nearly $3M in cap space with a 22-man roster. Not too bad. Gives Murray some flexibility.

shabbs wrote:I was just going with the minimum required raise as per the CBA and that was 10%. Not sure what they'll get in real life.

Michallica wrote:

shabbs wrote:I was just going with the minimum required raise as per the CBA and that was 10%. Not sure what they'll get in real life.

Well say we double each of their salaries....you'll still have about $1.5M in wiggle room. I don't know if that suffices for Murray (does for me)

Michallica wrote:

shabbs wrote:I was just going with the minimum required raise as per the CBA and that was 10%. Not sure what they'll get in real life.

Well say we double each of their salaries....you'll still have about $1.5M in wiggle room. I don't know if that suffices for Murray (does for me)