What if you could re-tool/re-build the Sens?

I guess I should give my opinion on Elliott now and say that he was not rushed in anyway; his timelines are decent age-wise. He could definitely have used more minor-pro experience, but meh.

Elliott just doesn't have the capabilities right now to handle the position Ottawa and Leclaire forced upon him. He is still young, still a proven winner and very mature; but currently and maybe never a #1 goalie in the NHL.

Maybe not rushed, but circumstances made Elliott a number one in front of a disgusting D - and now he's been damaged and needs a lot of work to work himself back up IMO.

Lots of goalies have gotten a chance like Elliott and ran with it eventually replacing the #1 goalie.

Like CR says he's not a #1 NHL goalie now and may never be one.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:I'd rather move along from Elliott now, he's had such bad luck here and we rushed him too quickly and it's just all bad now. He needs a change of scenery as much as we need a new goalie.

FA
Brust

that's my vote and I'm sticking to it!!

What's wrong with Elliott getting backup duties to a top goalie? We just want to avoid him playing any more than 30 games. If Brust is a *lot* cheaper, then maybe, but as of now, I think we could be fine with Elliott - heck, no goalie could have survived this year in Ottawa, although Elliott has been pretty bad.

I don't know, I really feel that we need to change everyone in that net and wipe it clean. Hopefully that way the bad luck that's been following our goalies around can be washed away. Goaltending was a good 60% of our problem this season if not more. I'm not fully blaming Elliott, he wasn't supposed to be the number 1 guy yet, but wow, he's been really really really really bad. I think he'd welcome a change as much as we would to be honest. That's just what I think though, who knows what's going on through his head right now...

Elliott hasn't earned the #1 spot next year, that's the biggest reason why I don't want him. Don't designate the #1 goalie by default to someone who hasn't earned it.

I'm also very tired of us playing goalies who possibly, maybe, hopefully can be #1 in this league.

Stick a legit #1 in there (we have the cap space) and let the backup (Elliott or whoever) prove they can replace him.

My, um, vision? is pretty similar. Here’s what I hope happens:

1. We stink ‘til the end of the season and are able to pick one of the top-3 forwards at the draft (preferably RNH, personally, but Landeskog or Couturier would be great too). If we pick up any other top-3-round draft picks, they go towards replenishing the forwards corps. Pick up a goalie or two in the later rounds, and some big defencemen.

2. Kovalev, Leclaire, and Kuba GTFO, no question. Ruutu also goes. Shannon isn’t re-upped, not because I have anything against him but because I’d rather give the roster spot to someone more clearly part of the team’s future. Depending on the return, I’d seriously look at trading Fisher, too. He’s just not consistent enough offensively to be top-6 IMO, and it feels like he’s stopped doing the stuff that made him so awesome as a bottom-6/so awesome an all-around player.

3. Coaching/GM overhaul. Muller would be nice, IMO. If Murray could stay on as an advisor, then awesome.

4. Keep Alfie, Spezza, Gonchar and Phillips unless we get a really good offer. In this scenario I’m assuming we don’t. Prospects perhaps don’t need mentors to develop but it certainly seems to help. IMO performance or not, these four have a lot to offer to young players on the roster.

5. Anyone else could go if the offer was right, but preferably Kelly is kept for the bottom 6 along with Winchester, Neil and Z. Smith who gets a full-time spot with the team. In addition to Alfie and Spezza up front, I’d like to see Michalek, Foligno, Regin (bad year but I can’t see any reason to hold on to him for at least one more year to see if he realizes the potential), Butler, and our forward prospect at the draft providing it’s Landeskog or Couturier. Silfverberg, Condra, Petersson, etc. can battle for a spot but they might be better served in the AHL although from what I’ve seen of Silfverberg I think he has a pretty good shot of making the team in some capacity depending on what we do.

6. On defence, Phillips, Gonchar, Karlsson are the top-3. Cowen and Rundblad will battle the rest for roster spots and depending on their performance I might be inclined to see if I could get a deal for Campoli. Lee (if he keeps up his recent play) and Carkner are kept around. If both Cowen and Runblad make it, I'd play Karlsson with Phillips, Rundblad with Gonchar and Cowen with Carkner.

7. In goal, Elliott is kept as back-up while Lehner is on a team (not in the NHL) where he’ll get the bulk of the games played (!). With the money freed up from Kovalev’s $5 million, Leclaire’s $4.8 million and Kuba’s $3.7 million (and hopefully Fisher’s $4.2 million, although it’s likely we’d get salary back, I guess) we pursue an established goalie like crazy if one hits the FA market. This means Vokoun or Bryzgalov. I realize the oddity of getting a goalie that would win us games when we’re trying to rebuild, but I feel like it’d be a great example for Elliott and Lehner, and I also think if we have a lot of young core guys on the roster like Karlsson, Landeskog/Couturier, Rundblad, Cowen and the other supporting forwards on the roster that it’s actually good to have them in something of a competitive/winning environment. Plus if we were to land Bryzgalov, he’s young enough to potentially be here long-term. It’s a bit of a pipedream that we’d be able to sign him, but this is what I hope to happen.

8. Pursue college FAs. Free prospects is free prospects (well they’re not free, I guess, but we’re not trading anything for them. When are our buy-outs up?). Plunk ‘em in the AHL.

9. If we have spots left on the roster and any money left over, go after a FA scorer provided you think he’s the right fit. My choices would be Leino (sorry Big Ev) or Laich but I doubt they make FA. Again, though, this is what I hope happens.

The TL;DR version of this post:

Forwards: Spezza (lock), Alfie (lock), Michalek (lock), Laich/Leino (potentially/hopefully), Michalek (lock), Regin (lock), Foligno (lock), Butler (lock), 2011 Forward Prospect (if Landeskog/Couturier, lock, if RNH, not on roster but much celebration on my part), Kelly (lock), Neil (lock), Winchester (lock), Z. Smith (lock) – and then guys like Silfverberg, Hoffman, O’Brien, Condra etc. are hopefully the call-ups

Defence: Karlsson (lock), Phillips (lock), Gonchar (lock), Carkner (lock), Cowen (potentially), Rundblad (potentially, but one of he or Cowen should be on the roster), Lee (potentially), Campoli (potentially but more likely traded in my dream world)

Goal: Bryzgalov/Vokoun (potentially/hopefully), Elliott (lock, back-up). I haven’t given much thought to who would be 3rd goalie but I’d actually prefer it not be Lehner.

Coach: Muller, maybe. Don’t have a clear view of who the new GM would be, but maybe a guy like Jarmo?

This requires, of course, that we suck ‘til the end of the year, and that we find a way to move Fisher and Kuba without getting salary back, which is probably unlikely. The return would hopefully be forward prospects or picks that turn into forward prospects. I know, BPA BPA BPA because theoretically it allows your team to deal your BPA for a hypothetical equivalently valuable prospect at the desired position; the problem is if your BPA is stuck behind a bunch of other players (like um, Karlsson, Cowen, Rundblad and eventually Wiercioch and perhaps Gryba) at his position or struggles on an imbalanced team, his value won’t be where it could be and the whole purpose is defeated.

The above team, in whatever line combinations you want (within reason, of course) is definitely one I could get behind (well I'll support them either way). I see a clear emphasis on having the young kids on the roster but with vets to guide them along and a little attempt at being competitive to further the development. While sucking every year a la NYI or Columbus will get the most “high-level” prospects into the organization, it’s also prone to cause some of them to bust/disappoint, like in Columbus’ case Brule, Zherdev, Picard, and potentially Filatov. While some may argue our team plan sounds more like the Leafs', I’ll grant that it does, but, crucially, we wouldn’t have moved any of our picks.

As time progresses, the veterans are phased out and the mostly-2008-and-on core begins to take over. This includes Karlsson, Cowen, Rundblad and Wiercioch on D, Lehner and maybe Bryzgalov in goal, and a forward corps potentially still including guys like Spezza, Michalek, Regin/Foligno/Butler but led by Couturier/RNH/Landeskog, Silfverberg, Petersson, our high 2nd round pick in 2011, the return for whatever vets we deal (like Fisher), and first round picks in subsequent drafts. Alternatively, we could really try to go for it in 2012-2013, assuming the world doesn’t end, to try to take advantage of Rundblad, Cowen, Landeskog/Couturier/RNH’s ELCs, although unfortunately that’s the year where Karlsson will have to be re-upped as a RFA.

I’ve probably forgotten about some players on the roster or in the system. And, of course, this is unlikely as far as Bryz/Vokoun/Laich/Leino are concerned but I think the over-all idea could work even if you adjust to worse signings in that regard.

Great write up Asq, echoing what I think a lot of us are looking forward to.

In terms of the goalie, if we can't get Bryz or Vokoun, I would seriously look at Rinne if Nashville is confident enough to let him go. Hopefully the price would be Fisher and we can call it a day, but that's likely a dream scenario as well.

SpezDispenser wrote:Great write up Asq, echoing what I think a lot of us are looking forward to.

In terms of the goalie, if we can't get Bryz or Vokoun, I would seriously look at Rinne if Nashville is confident enough to let him go. Hopefully the price would be Fisher and we can call it a day, but that's likely a dream scenario as well.

Why would they let Rinne go? Personally, with the way this season has gone, I don't see too many guys, even in a weaker goalie market, lining up to play behind this bunch. I think all 3 of those guys are wishful thinking. I hope I am wrong though.

SpezDispenser wrote:Great write up Asq, echoing what I think a lot of us are looking forward to.

In terms of the goalie, if we can't get Bryz or Vokoun, I would seriously look at Rinne if Nashvilleis confident enough to let him go. Hopefully the price would be Fisher and we can call it a day, but that's likely a dream scenario as well.

I've been saying so for weeks.

Remember when Chris Mason came in and "took the job" from Vokoun? That's where Rinne is headed too.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Great write up Asq, echoing what I think a lot of us are looking forward to.

In terms of the goalie, if we can't get Bryz or Vokoun, I would seriously look at Rinne if Nashvilleis confident enough to let him go. Hopefully the price would be Fisher and we can call it a day, but that's likely a dream scenario as well.

I've been saying so for weeks.

Remember when Chris Mason came in and "took the job" from Vokoun? That's where Rinne is headed too.

Umm, not really.