Ottawa without Mr. Anderson

So I went to the other thread to discuss 's injury and what this means to the team, but for some reason found a discussion about whether or not it was reckless, and whatever. So to avoid that whole absurd discussion, I started a new thread. Also, this is THE STORY right now for the Sens, so it merits a stand-alone discussion.

Our options:

A) Call-up Lehner, hope for the best. Lehner has proven he can handle some pressure and perform well, as evidenced by the Calder run last spring. He has struggled somewhat in Bingo this year, but his stats aren't all that bad (except the W/L column), and the whole team has been fairly awful. Between him and Auld, we could expect some serviceable, perhaps good, goaltending, maybe?

B) Trade for someone. Who's available? Maybe Nabokov...maybe Harding...probably quite a few backups if we're willing to pony up for them. Nabokov would be my choice, but he'll likely have quite the price tag attached, given his good play this year (and our situation...not exactly one of strength).

C) Sign someone not in the NHL. By far, the most unlikely scenario. Guys on the radio mentioned that apparently Marty Turco is having a pretty good year playing in Austria or somewhere like that...doesn't really sound like a viable option.


So anyway, which option do you want to take?

Personally, I think this is Lehner's job to lose right now. The problem is, there's no time left before the deadline. We have all of two games to evaluate our goaltending situation before Deadline Day, and that's not enough. I'm guessing we call-up Lehner and cross our fingers. Murray did say that Lehner was the guy if we needed a starting goalie this year for whatever reason.

To Ottawa:
Kristian Huselius + Aaron Johnson + Curtis Sanford

To Columbus:
Mid picks/Mid prospects/Garbage

Free depth at every position! But seriously, I don't think I'm comfortable rolling with Lehner/Auld at this point in the season and would like to add a somewhat capable guy into the fold on the cheap. Other options would be Turco, Nittymakkii, ect.

Nittymaki will be put on waivers for sure in the next few days, that's 1/2 his salary so he could be an option but other than that, probably should stand pat in terms of a goaltender.

Lehner is probably the way to go and whether or not the Sens are winning this is still a building year and getting Lehner in there for very important games will do a lot for Lehner and a lot for the Sens, they can see what kind of goaltender they really have.

I like the idea of going out and getting a Penner or a Huselius, both those guys are legit top 6 guys that can put the puck in the net.

Stick with the plan. Let's call-up Lehner and run with Lehner/Auld until Anderson is better. Hopefully he's back soon. This is not the time to make a panic move at the deadline. We are not in a position where that makes any sense at all.

NEELY wrote:Nittymaki will be put on waivers for sure in the next few days, that's 1/2 his salary so he could be an option but other than that, probably should stand pat in terms of a goaltender.Lehner is probably the way to go and whether or not the Sens are winning this is still a building year and getting Lehner in there for very important games will do a lot for Lehner and a lot for the Sens, they can see what kind of goaltender they really have.

I like the idea of going out and getting a Penner or a Huselius, both those guys are legit top 6 guys that can put the puck in the net.

There are always a handful of players (goalies in our case) that go on waivers once the deadline is up (McBackup and Conklin from last year) so we may go in that direction if prices are too high at the deadline or if Murray is deadset on holding on to all his picks and prospects. Guys like Niittymaki, Leighton, Conklin, Clemmensen, Montoya or even Roloson could all be in play by that point. It definitely could be worth the risk to wait it out.

Hey, is Conklin still on waivers?

shabbs wrote:Stick with the plan. Let's call-up Lehner and run with Lehner/Auld until Anderson is better. Hopefully he's back soon. This is not the time to make a panic move at the deadline. We are not in a position where that makes any sense at all.

To be fair I think the plan was "Ride Anderson as far as he'll take us" and not "Put all our eggs in the Lehner/Auld basket".

If you ask me, getting a suitable backup even *before* this injury happened seemed like a reasonable course of action to me. Auld was better in his last outing, but he doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Still, put Lehner in net on Saturday & let's go from there. Make the decision Sunday night / Monday morning.

If Anderson is likely to be out 8 weeks, as some have speculated, then that increases the urgency in my mind, tho'.

stempniaksen wrote:

shabbs wrote:Stick with the plan. Let's call-up Lehner and run with Lehner/Auld until Anderson is better. Hopefully he's back soon. This is not the time to make a panic move at the deadline. We are not in a position where that makes any sense at all.

To be fair I think the plan was "Ride Anderson as far as he'll take us" and not "Put all our eggs in the Lehner/Auld basket".

The plan was:

1. Lehner is the goalie of the future, but this is a re-build year, so let him develop in Bingo.
2. Anderson is our starter this year and next; Auld as the backup this year.
3. If Anderson misses a few games in a row, Lehner brought in as the interim #1.

Two things have thrown a monkey wrench in this plan:
1. Lehner isn't exactly developing in Bingo. He was supposed to grab the #1 and run with it, but instead ran into injuries, suspension, inconsistent play and a horrible team in front of him.
2. The Sens are in the hunt for a 6th seed and a date with the SE "winners" (if not better). In fact the Sens could catch the Bruins with a win tomorrow night.

Does that change the plan? Is it playoffs and then anything could happen or do we stay the course? Frankly, I don't think right now is when you make the decision. As horrible as it is to lose Anderson *just before* a crucial home-and-home series with the Bruins, perhaps it's a ctually a blessing in disguise. First, we are not expected to win those games. If the Sens win the games against teams below them in the standings, they can go 0-6 against the Bruins and no-one would care. Just don't finish 7th. So it's perfectly fine to let Auld play Saturday, then Lehner on Sunday against the Islanders. Evaluate how both goalies play and practice and then decide who gets to face the Bruins on Tuesday. Remember, tomorrow night will be a second game in two nights for Boston, since they play Buffalo tonight; Tuesday will be Boston's first game back home after a long road trip. Not saying it's an easy 4 points, but it's certainly easier than it could have been.

stempniaksen wrote:

shabbs wrote:Stick with the plan. Let's call-up Lehner and run with Lehner/Auld until Anderson is better. Hopefully he's back soon. This is not the time to make a panic move at the deadline. We are not in a position where that makes any sense at all.

To be fair I think the plan was "Ride Anderson as far as he'll take us" and not "Put all our eggs in the Lehner/Auld basket".

I guess the projected recovery time is another issue that could determine if Murray does anything. The optimistic estimate was 10 days, but then there's also rumours of him having surgery for tendon damage, and recovery pegged at 6-8 weeks.

wprager wrote:

The plan was:

1. Lehner is the goalie of the future, but this is a re-build year, so let him develop in Bingo.
2. Anderson is our starter this year and next; Auld as the backup this year.
3. If Anderson misses a few games in a row, Lehner brought in as the interim #1.

Two things have thrown a monkey wrench in this plan:
1. Lehner isn't exactly developing in Bingo. He was supposed to grab the #1 and run with it, but instead ran into injuries, suspension, inconsistent play and a horrible team in front of him.
2. The Sens are in the hunt for a 6th seed and a date with the SE "winners" (if not better). In fact the Sens could catch the Bruins with a win tomorrow night.

Does that change the plan? Is it playoffs and then anything could happen or do we stay the course? Frankly, I don't think right now is when you make the decision. As horrible as it is to lose Anderson *just before* a crucial home-and-home series with the Bruins, perhaps it's a ctually a blessing in disguise. First, we are not expected to win those games. If the Sens win the games against teams below them in the standings, they can go 0-6 against the Bruins and no-one would care. Just don't finish 7th. So it's perfectly fine to let Auld play Saturday, then Lehner on Sunday against the Islanders. Evaluate how both goalies play and practice and then decide who gets to face the Bruins on Tuesday. Remember, tomorrow night will be a second game in two nights for Boston, since they play Buffalo tonight; Tuesday will be Boston's first game back home after a long road trip. Not saying it's an easy 4 points, but it's certainly easier than it could have been.

Yeah, I'm with Prags. And hey, on the blessing in disguise front, at least this provides with some well-deserved rest. Maybe he'll be refreshed and ready for a nice long playoff run (assuming things don't collapse and we fall out of a playoff spot and oh god oh god I'm hyperventalating).

tim1_2 wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:

shabbs wrote:Stick with the plan. Let's call-up Lehner and run with Lehner/Auld until Anderson is better. Hopefully he's back soon. This is not the time to make a panic move at the deadline. We are not in a position where that makes any sense at all.

To be fair I think the plan was "Ride Anderson as far as he'll take us" and not "Put all our eggs in the Lehner/Auld basket".

I guess the projected recovery time is another issue that could determine if Murray does anything. The optimistic estimate was 10 days, but then there's also rumours of him having surgery for tendon damage, and recovery pegged at 6-8 weeks.

That obviously plays into the decision, because 10 days is nothing in the grand scope of things.

To be though, I was on board with trading for a goaltender long before the Anderson injury because I have zero faith in Auld, and the injury only re-enforces that in my mind.

I think we should stay the course. You give Lehner a chance. If he has the nards to win a Calder cup, he has the nards to play under pressure.

You keep the chain tight though. He starts to turd it up the crease and you send him back and give the other Bingo goalie a chance.

As a last resort, perhaps the tie can do a few games......

I think you give Auld the nod. If he falls on his face you give the reigns to Lehner and ride out the season hoping for the best.

I say stick with the plan if Anderson is out long term the plan was to go with Lehner.

We're not even supposed to be in a playoff spot so run with that, I have no faith in Auld and I don't think MacLean does either. He put up a good save% in front of a Jacques Martin trap team, he's been Auldful this year.

I don't think there is any good goalies available either, at least none worth the massive price, other teams will try and milk us knowing our situation.