Ottawa Senators TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

NEELY wrote:I wonder if Murray would do a MPS for Bishop trade...? I still like the kid and think he would be the absolute perfect shut down winger at some point in his career.

Hoags wrote:

NEELY wrote:I wonder if Murray would do a MPS for Bishop trade...? I still like the kid and think he would be the absolute perfect shut down winger at some point in his career.

That's been my thinking as well, assuming Tambellini actually wakes up.

Bishop will probably get dealt at the draft. Columbus or Oilers, whoever makes a better offer. I think Jarmo will make a strong push.

NEELY wrote:

MPS is very much the Regin type player than MacLean loves. He can skate, decent shot, knows how to play the game, doesn't back down, and works hard. I don't think he ever becomes much more than a 20 goal scorer at his peak but that's not what you bring him in for. He obviously doesn't have the value of top 10 pick anymore or even a to 20 but I would say the value for him is about the same as Bishop... don't think anyone would have to add.

Hoags wrote:

NEELY wrote:

MPS is very much the Regin type player than MacLean loves. He can skate, decent shot, knows how to play the game, doesn't back down, and works hard. I don't think he ever becomes much more than a 20 goal scorer at his peak but that's not what you bring him in for. He obviously doesn't have the value of top 10 pick anymore or even a to 20 but I would say the value for him is about the same as Bishop... don't think anyone would have to add.

I totally agree, MacLean could do wonderful things with MPS here, he is so misused in Edmonton.

I don't think Bishop gets traded by the deadline unless a playoff team loses their #1 goalie long term. In this case Murray can pretty much name his price.

As for Edmonton, Khabibulin is gone after this year so they'll make a move in the offseason I think. It would still depend on Tambellini/Lowe swallowing their pride on Dubnyk but there is so much wrong with that team beyond goaltending.

Both Mason and Bobrovsky are RFA after this year in Columbus as well. Jarmo will move one (if not both) out of there.

NEELY wrote:If Columbus gives up LA's first for Bishop, is that better than MPS? I am not sure but it would be very hard to get a player as good as MPS with a 20th overall selection or worse. On the flip side the Sens passed over MPS in the draft and it seems for good reason so... they may have more confidence in themselves as an organization drafting 20th or worse and developing that player.

Tough to say, just because I like MPS doesn't mean anyone in the Sens organization does. He is being horribly misused in Edmonton though.

There's a lot going on here, but I think the pair of bubbles that should jump out first are those of Erik Condra and Peter Regin, who not surprisingly, have the two best shot differentials among all forwards on the current roster. Condra's kind of taken on a bigger (and tougher) role after the injuries, and has done pretty well in these minutes. He's an RFA at the end of the year, but I think it's just about a guarantee he'll be back with the team next year. Letting him go would be certifiably insane.

Regin's frustrated the organization a bit with his propensity for injury, and his lack of point production (0G/2A in 13 GP) is somewhat concerning. The good news is that his underlying numbers are OK. Much like Condra, this is a guy that probably belongs in a bottom-six role, pulverizing opposing competition.

Up at the top right is prospect Mika Zibanejad. MacLean's obviously used him in an offensive-minded role; so far, he's done well. The points [3G/3A] and possession metrics are very respectable for a player of his age, but unlike fellow highly-touted youngster Jakob Silfverberg, he's drawing the toughest minutes of any forward through the first twenty games. Silfverberg [3G/3A] is seeing a comparable number of offensive zone starts, but isn't driving possession in the same manner, and he's matching against significantly weaker competition. To-date, there's really not much of a question as to which of the two has played better. It's Zibanejad.

Zack Smith's been a popular topic of discussion lately, mostly because he hasn't scored a goal in what seems like ages. The coaching staff may want more scoring from Smith heading forward, but they're not keeping it much of a secret what his primary role is, and that's goal prevention. Smith's drawing ungodly tough minutes -- high quality of competition, and an obscene number of starts in the defensive-zone.

With Karlsson gone, just about every defender has taken a hit. The only bubble that really impresses me is Marc Methot: the newly-acquired defender has moved from a Norris Trophy winner to a replacement player in Eric Gryba on the team's top-pairing, and his play hasn't really depreciated to a point of concern.

Sergei Gonchar for any kind of asset at the deadline would've been a win, because he's simply not the player he was a few years ago. Forget his bizarre obsession with dumping the puck in from the neutral zone -- he's getting creamed by fairly tough competition, and because Ottawa's first-pairing has been beaten to hell through injuries to both Erik Karlsson and Jared Cowen, he's been moved to a primary-defensive role against the best of the best.

Chris Phillips might be starting a ton of shifts in the defensive zone, but Paul MacLean couldn't soften his opposition any more than he's already doing, and he's still coming out on the wrong end of most shifts. Right next to him is newfound pairmate Andre Benoit. The only difference between the two is that Benoit starts about 50% of his shifts offensively. Possession wise, it's not great. Perhaps that's because this pairing feels it necessary to prioritize throwing pucks to center ice as a way of clearing the zone. Those pucks, naturally, come right back in.

One player that's been mildly surprising, though, is Patrick Wiercioch. Sure, he's seeing softer competition and a lot of offensive zone time, but he's doing well in those minutes, and for a rookie defenseman that's still a work-in-progress, that's just about all you can ask for. Wiercioch is becoming a moderate threat moving the puck and generating attack

Hoags wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:We could absolutely beat Montreal in a 7 game series. Discussion over.

not a chance, they thoroughly dominated us last time. We had barely any scoring chances and DD's goal was a fluke that Price messed up on.

They had the puck most of the time and it was in our zone most of the time. If we somehow got the puck out they brought it right back in. For a puck possession team we don't possess the puck a whole lot without EK and Spezza.

If it wasn't for Bishop, 2 posts and a crossbar we'd have been blown out.

tim1_2 wrote:Why the negativity...jesus, look at the past few games.

It's not negativity, just realism. Do only homer opinions matter now ? Do shootout wins somehow indicate our chances of playoff succes ?

I am not saying they can't do it, just that there is huge void with EK out that they haven't addressed.

SpezDispenser wrote:Good teams find a way to win, is the saying.

Michallica wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Good teams find a way to win, is the saying.

And what hoags is saying is shootout isn't exactly a statement of 'victory'....I'm happy when they can win in shootouts but we're losing out on ROW and is no indication that it can lead to success in the playoffs.

SpezDispenser wrote:Good teams find a way to win, is the saying.

NEELY wrote:
Nope but they will have Michalek, Spezza, and maybe even Karlsson back if they do make it into the playoffs. As is, yah, the Sens would have a tough time beating anyone in a 7 game series but it doesn't mean they can't and it certainly doesn't mean that when they do get some bodies back they can't ride that momentum.

NEELY wrote:
A long article of absolute BS.

NEELY wrote:

Michallica wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Good teams find a way to win, is the saying.

And what hoags is saying is shootout isn't exactly a statement of 'victory'....I'm happy when they can win in shootouts but we're losing out on ROW and is no indication that it can lead to success in the playoffs.

Nope but they will have Michalek, Spezza, and maybe even Karlsson back if they do make it into the playoffs. As is, yah, the Sens would have a tough time beating anyone in a 7 game series but it doesn't mean they can't and it certainly doesn't mean that when they do get some bodies back they can't ride that momentum.

SpezDispenser wrote:I can tell you without fancy metric numbers:

Gonchar has sucked

Methot is amazing

Gryba has been excellent

Phillips has been VERY average

Benoit has been solid

Wiercioch has been just below Benoit

The end.

SpezDispenser wrote:I can tell you without fancy metric numbers:

Gonchar has sucked

Methot is amazing

Gryba has been excellent

Phillips has been VERY average

Benoit has been solid

Wiercioch has been just below Benoit

The end.

Hoags wrote:

NEELY wrote:
A long article of absolute BS.

What exactly is BS in there ? It's just an article on how our roster is being used and when. There's little opinion in there.