Silfverberg to stay in Ottawa?

Hoags wrote:Is Silfverberg LW ? Where is he going to play ?

Hoags wrote:Is Silfverberg LW ? Where is he going to play ?

Da lil Guy wrote:There's got to be a girl in Sweden.

Michallica wrote:It's personal with silfverberg. It's got nothing to do with SEL getting him better prepared for the NHL. But its a nice excuse to use right?

According to our friend, what Silfverberg said translates to, "I'm glad to hear it but I need to be bigger, stronger and elevate my game another level before I jump in. That's why I've decided to stay in Sweden another year".

And when I asked him for his take on the situation, he emailed me with this:

The Curious Case of Jakob Silfverberg is a tricky one to decipher. When he signed his contract after the World Championships it was with the condition that he would play another year with his hometown team Brynäs of the SEL. However, in lights of Pierre Dorion's and Bryan Murray's recent comments, they seem eager to convince him that he should be playing in Ottawa. Despite what he says, I think he could be tempted by this. Silfverberg and his Swedish agent Patrik Aronsson will need to sit down and think this through. This year - without sounding too pessimistic - is probably as easy an opportunity as he'll ever get to grab an NHL spot without spending time in the NHL. This opportunity might not be there next year. The team will be improving; a lot of our young guys will establish themselves as NHLers this year. From a simple contract perspective, the only NHL spot owners scheduled to leave is Konopka and Winchester, and it's not a too risky bet at least one of them will be re-signed. Silfverberg will have to put up a hell of a season with Brynäs to go straight into the NHL next season without any AHL time, if only a few of the prospects that will see a ton of NHL action this year establish themselves in the top-6 or top-9.

One other issue, even if Silfverberg realizes this, he's got his loyalty to Brynäs. He was born in Gävle, the town which Brynäs is located in, and he's been with them from pee-wee all the way up to be a carrying player on the senior team. SEL teams are usually finished building the vast majority of their team in April, so if he changes his mind now, it'll leave a big hole on their roster that will be hard to fill at this time of the year, especially since Silfverberg's playing essentially for free compared to what a player of his calibre to replace him would cost.

The Sens have him under contract, so technically they have the final say in this. Everything Silfverberg has said and done thus far is of course pointing towards him staying. However, everything Pierre Dorion and the Murray's have said and done is pointing towards they want him in OTT come camp. Will be interesting to see what will go winning during the battle - the dream of playing in the NHL, or the loyalty to Brynäs and the comfort of playing a big role on the hometown team. I think he will "budge" eventually.

This year - without sounding too pessimistic - is probably as easy an opportunity as he'll ever get to grab an NHL spot without spending time in the NHL.

Da lil Guy wrote:There's got to be a girl in Sweden.