murray to make changes to the roster?

Just in case it hasn't been mentioned, here's all the Senators free agents at the end of this season:

UFAs:
Alex Kovalev
Jarkko Ruutu
Ryan Shannon
Chris Phiilips
David Hale
Pascal Leclaire

RFAs:
Chris Campoli
Brian Elliott

My best guess is this:

UFAs:
Alex Kovalev - gone
Jarkko Ruutu - gone
Ryan Shannon - gone
Chris Phiilips - re-signed
David Hale - re-signed
Pascal Leclaire - gone

RFAs:
Chris Campoli - 50/50 he stays/ he's gone.
Brian Elliott - re-signed

Any roster changes imminent?

SeawaySensFan wrote:Any roster changes imminent?

It's not even 9:00am. Give it until at least 11:00am before you start asking such things.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:My best guess is this:

UFAs:
Alex Kovalev - gone
Jarkko Ruutu - gone
Ryan Shannon - gone
Chris Phiilips - re-signed
David Hale - re-signed
Pascal Leclaire - gone

RFAs:
Chris Campoli - 50/50 he stays/ he's gone.
Brian Elliott - re-signed

I'm expecting this to be added on to:

Hossa (8g-10a-18p) ---> Heatley (11-13-24) ---> Cheechoo (0-0-0) ---> Retirement?
Michalek (5-5-10) ---> Active

Havlat (5-17-22) ---> Preissing (0-0-0-) ---> Europe
Hennessey (0-0-0) ---> Europe
Barinka (0-0-0) ---> Europe

Chara (4-6-10 +12) ---> Redden (0-0-0) ---> Loss to UFA

Gleason (2-3-5) ---> Smolinksi (0-0-0) ---> Trade

Laich (6-11-17) ---> Bondra (0-0-0) ---> Retirement

Meszaros (1-6-7) ---> Kuba --->Kuba (0-2-0) ---> Active
---> Picard (1-1-2)

Commodore (2-2-4) ---> Corvo (4-5-9) ---> Loss to UFA
Stillman (3-5-8) ---> Eaves (3-2-5) ---> Loss to UFA

Sutton (0-0-0) -4 ---> Loss to UFA
Volchenkov (0-0-0) +4 ---> Loss to UFA
Cullen (5-12-17) ---> Loss to UFA

Paddock - Fired
Harstburg - Fired
Cheechoo - Buyout
Emery -Buyout

Cullen and Laich would be tied for 2nd on this team with 17 points.

Clearly management is not doing their job.

Kovalfie wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:My best guess is this:

UFAs:
Alex Kovalev - gone
Jarkko Ruutu - gone
Ryan Shannon - gone
Chris Phiilips - re-signed
David Hale - re-signed
Pascal Leclaire - gone

RFAs:
Chris Campoli - 50/50 he stays/ he's gone.
Brian Elliott - re-signed

I'm expecting this to be added on to:

Hossa (8g-10a-18p) ---> Heatley (11-13-24) ---> Cheechoo (0-0-0) ---> Retirement?
Michalek (5-5-10) ---> Active

Havlat (5-17-22) ---> Preissing (0-0-0-) ---> Europe
Hennessey (0-0-0) ---> Europe
Barinka (0-0-0) ---> Europe

Chara (4-6-10 +12) ---> Redden (0-0-0) ---> Loss to UFA

Gleason (2-3-5) ---> Smolinksi (0-0-0) ---> Trade

Laich (6-11-17) ---> Bondra (0-0-0) ---> Retirement

Meszaros (1-6-7) ---> Kuba --->Kuba (0-2-0) ---> Active
---> Picard (1-1-2)

Commodore (2-2-4) ---> Corvo (4-5-9) ---> Loss to UFA
Stillman (3-5-8) ---> Eaves (3-2-5) ---> Loss to UFA

Sutton (0-0-0) -4 ---> Loss to UFA
Volchenkov (0-0-0) +4 ---> Loss to UFA
Cullen (5-12-17) ---> Loss to UFA

Paddock - Fired
Harstburg - Fired
Cheechoo - Buyout
Emery -Buyout

Cullen and Laich would be tied for 2nd on this team with 17 points.

Clearly management is not doing their job.

Unfortunately this didn't align but I think the point is still very clear. We've traded the majority of our top talent over the last decade and got nothing back in return. I don't think this is an issue of the players underperforming, I think management is a serious issue in this city. And no, I don't recommend making a trade...

SeawaySensFan wrote:Any roster changes imminent?

I woke up and thought for sure there'd be something happening, some rumour buzzing around.

At least Murray has done a nice job re-stocking the prospect pool on the back end and in goal. It's going to be a long haul but once those guys, plus some blue chip forwards, are regulars we could see a resurgence of the Sens.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:At least Murray has done a nice job re-stocking the prospect pool on the back end and in goal. It's going to be a long haul but once those guys, plus some blue chip forwards, are regulars we could see a resurgence of the Sens.

Yeah, this is a huge thing for sure. That's why I suggested that he be 'promoted' in some capacity - whether it's head of scouting or president - whatever, he's done a nice job scouting for us - just not a great on ice result.

Some people may say blow it up, rebuild or retool. The fact remains that the Sens need to realize they aren't a tweak or two away from being a contender.

This organization has a great opportunity between now and this summer to make drastic roster changes. The Sens have never had enough cap space to make an overhaul but the stars have finally aligned.

The money coming off the cap without trades is pretty good:

Kovalev 5M
Ruttu 1.3M
Shannon .625M
Phillips 3.5M
Campoli 1.4M
Hale .675M
Leclaire 3.8M
Elliott .825M

That is 17.125M off of our current committments.

Let's put Brian Lee on waivers, that makes it 18M.

We are left with 13 players and over 18M in cap space.

Now let's see where the roster sits, including roles, with those 13 players.
1st line centre - Spezza
2nd line wingers - Alfie and Michalek
3rd line of - Kelly, Neil and Foligno
4th line centre - Winchester

3 Top 4 Dmen - Gonchar, Kuba and Karlsson
6/7 Dman - Carkner

This leaves Regin and Fisher. You have to ask are either players top 6 forwards. Regin has the skill but hasn't put it together and Fisher fits in somewhere between line 2 and line 3.

So how do we fill in the roster.

First resign Elliott to a fair market deal, which I believe is around 1.2-1.5M short term and invest 4-5M on a proven goalie. Using the high numbers that costs 6.5M leaving 11.5M with a 15 man roster.

Second, I am fairly certain that Jared Cowen is on the roster next year as a 5/6/7 Dman. His cap hit is 1.3M. I like the depth Hale has brought and I'd resign him on a one-way 1 year for the same as he got this year. Let's give him 700K. We now have a 17 man roster with 9.5M to spend.

At forward I expect that Butler and Smith will be moved into the lineup next year (or sooner), with Butler taking a top 6 spot and Smith on the fourth line. They'll likely come in around 1.5M total. That's 19 spots and we still have 8M.

We still have glaring holes, a physical big minute top 4 Dman, two top 6 spots and a tough guy 4th liner who can play a little and fight.

Roster assets that can be moved are Fisher and Regin OR Foligno.

If you move Fisher for the top 4 Dman in a $$ for $$ trade and keep Regin in the top 6, there is 8M left for a 4th liner and the STAR TOP 6 forward we need.

Fill the other roster spots, like 13/14 forwards using the cap increase.

All in all that would be 7 - 9 new faces in the lineup next year. A changing of the old nice guy culture with the departure of Fisher and Phillips, a younger and hopefully hungrier/faster lineup and still enough flexibility to resign key young players when their deals expire.

Sounds about right really. The only thing I'm still really badly on the fence on is Phillips. Could he have lost it, or is he a victim of a revolving door of partners and a stagnant gameplan?

Very well thought thru.

May I ask why the heck Bobby Butler hasn't been called up to see if he can put the puck in the net? What's the worst that could happen, we don't score? Sounds like what's happening anyway. We HAVE to make an assessment on Butler now, can he hack the NHL, does he need more time, how much time? We need to see him.

And if he can light it up, then that's one hole filled in the top six - with another mean sniper to come hopefully. Then this team can be back, infused with Cowen, perhaps with an upgrade on Phillips if he's still defective. As long as Clouston has them hopping every game with an exciting game plan that is - something that we haven't seen much of this year at all.

SpezDispenser wrote:May I ask why the heck Bobby Butler hasn't been called up to see if he can put the puck in the net? What's the worst that could happen, we don't score? Sounds like what's happening anyway. We HAVE to make an assessment on Butler now, can he hack the NHL, does he need more time, how much time? We need to see him.

And if he can light it up, then that's one hole filled in the top six - with another mean sniper to come hopefully. Then this team can be back, infused with Cowen, perhaps with an upgrade on Phillips if he's still defective. As long as Clouston has them hopping every game with an exciting game plan that is - something that we haven't seen much of this year at all.

I'm just afraid he'll be poisoned by the current lazy mindset in Ottawa.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:
I'm just afraid he'll be poisoned by the current lazy mindset in Ottawa.

That's what I mean by culture change. These kids, like Butler, can't be affected by anything happening up here, because if he dogs it for one second, he's back down to Bingo. Butler keeps two pucks in his hockey bag at all time, one of them is from his first pro game that he scored as a reminder that he's come this far - and to continue working. That's what we need.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's fast, smart and has lethal offensive instincts. Name me one player on the Sens who has all three of those attributes. Spezza maybe? That's about it.

SpezDispenser wrote:Sounds about right really. The only thing I'm still really badly on the fence on is Phillips. Could he have lost it, or is he a victim of a revolving door of partners and a stagnant gameplan?

If you resign Phillips (to a friendly contract) then Kuba has to go. With Gonchar, Karlsson firmly entrenched in the top 4 for the next two years a physical big body presence is needed. Neither Kuba nor Phillips brings that, so one has to go. Phillips is part of the culture here and no trade needs to be made, so that's why I chose Kuba (not to mention Karlsson and Kuba play fairly well together).

SpezDispenser wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:
I'm just afraid he'll be poisoned by the current lazy mindset in Ottawa.

That's what I mean by culture change. These kids, like Butler, can't be affected by anything happening up here, because if he dogs it for one second, he's back down to Bingo. Butler keeps two pucks in his hockey bag at all time, one of them is from his first pro game that he scored as a reminder that he's come this far - and to continue working. That's what we need.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's fast, smart and has lethal offensive instincts. Name me one player on the Sens who has all three of those attributes. Spezza maybe? That's about it.

Don't forget to add "winner" to Butler.

Not sure if you know this about Spezza or not, but name me the last team Spezza won a championship on? Don't waste too much time looking.

SpezDispenser wrote:May I ask why the heck Bobby Butler hasn't been called up to see if he can put the puck in the net? What's the worst that could happen, we don't score? Sounds like what's happening anyway. We HAVE to make an assessment on Butler now, can he hack the NHL, does he need more time, how much time? We need to see him.

And if he can light it up, then that's one hole filled in the top six - with another mean sniper to come hopefully. Then this team can be back, infused with Cowen, perhaps with an upgrade on Phillips if he's still defective. As long as Clouston has them hopping every game with an exciting game plan that is - something that we haven't seen much of this year at all.

Bringing up Butler may appease you and I as fans, but he really needs to grow as a professional. I don't see a downside in his career development by leaving him in the AHL at least until mid to late January, if not all year.