Ottawa Senators (present and past) TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

tim1_2 wrote:I'm on board with buying out Murray...Forsberg is the perfect backup.  If we want to run a goalie tandem for a year or two while we figure it out, we have lots of guys to do that with.

Forsberg buys us time to develop Gus as a backup. He's not ready to be a starter. Sogaard and Mandolese need more minutes in Belleville too. Murray just can't be counted on to stay healthy which puts a huge strain on our goaltending depth.

tim1_2 wrote:I have no idea why Connor Brown gets a bad rap.  Yeah, he's not a goal scorer, no one ever said he was.  

He has 30 points, his metrics are all great, his contract is entirely reasonable......

Imagine his metrics if he could score goals. He's also really inconsistent with respect to his offensive tool-set. Defensively he's excellent. He's the perfect 3RW for this team. He's not a top six forward

I'm beginning to think we are going to trade Paul. I'd like to retain him but spending more than $2M a year on a guy who should be on our 4th line is way too much money. We have lots of prospects that can be eased into our bottom six and kill penalties for less. From a succession perspective they should be looking at Greig to fill his spot longer term.

I also think we should be looking to upgrade our bottom six vs keeping it the same. If Norris, Tkachuk, Batherson and Stutzle are core pieces in the top-six then we should be looking at adding better pieces to the bottom six. If we're not winning games with Paul now, then why keep him.

A few moves to "fix" the Sens next year.

1. Re-sign Forsberg to a 2 year x $3M deal. Buyout Murray if he can't be traded or picked up off waivers. His health can't be counted on. Gus is on a one-way contract next season.
2. Trade Paul, Sanford, Tierney, J. Brown, Ennis, Gaudette, Gambrell, Del Zotto for picks at the deadline. Try to save 2 or 3 of them to finish out the year in Ottawa and don't re-sign them.
3. Send Sanderson, Pinto (if healthy), Brannstrom, Greig (if eligible) and Kelly, to Belleville for a playoff run if they make it in.

Off Season:
4. Trade Brannstrom and a 3rd rd pick to LA for Vilardi. 22 years old, 6"3" 215 lbs from Kingston. Putting up great numbers in the AHL. LA doesn't have room for him and they need a d-man.
5. Trade Zaitsev and a 3rd rd pick to Arizona for a 5th rd pick (before his bonus). Just get him out of here.
6. Sign Giroux to a 3 x $5M deal

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Vilardi-Stutzle-Giroux
Formenton-Pintoe-C.Brown
Kelly-White-Watson

Chabot-Thomson
Sanderson-Zub
Holden-JBD

Forsberg
Gustavsson

Vilardi, Pinto, White, C. Brown can be moved around the lineup as required. Replace Kelly and Watson with Greig and Sokolov/Jarventie the following year.

That D would be scary, but not to the opposition. You can bring in one rookie on D but playing someone without a full NHL season on every pairing is asking for trouble or miracle.

I guess but icing another lineup with Zaitsev and Josh Brown is scarier. Sanderson is probably the highest ranked defenseman not in the NHL

Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*! Pascal Leclaire take 2.

wprager wrote:Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*!  Pascal Leclaire take 2.

Yeah, we gotta get rid of him. Can't have a starting goalie that is so unreliable.

The third round pick we get for Forsberg isn't worth it. Re-sign him for two years, slot your goalies appropriately NHL: Fors, Gus AHL: Sogaard, Mandolese OHL/ECHL: Leevi.

The Sens should be talking to Edmonton about retaining some salary/cap on Murray, they need to buy him out, or they bury him in the minors. Dorion better be eating dung on this one. Hated it the day it happened but never thought the trade would end up being this bad.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:A few moves to "fix" the Sens next year.

1. Re-sign Forsberg to a 2 year x $3M deal. Buyout Murray if he can't be traded or picked up off waivers. His health can't be counted on. Gus is on a one-way contract next season.
2. Trade Paul, Sanford, Tierney, J. Brown, Ennis, Gaudette, Gambrell, Del Zotto for picks at the deadline. Try to save 2 or 3 of them to finish out the year in Ottawa and don't re-sign them.
3. Send Sanderson, Pinto (if healthy), Brannstrom, Greig (if eligible) and Kelly, to Belleville for a playoff run if they make it in.

Off Season:
4. Trade Brannstrom and a 3rd rd pick to LA for Vilardi. 22 years old, 6"3" 215 lbs from Kingston. Putting up great numbers in the AHL. LA doesn't have room for him and they need a d-man.
5. Trade Zaitsev and a 3rd rd pick to Arizona for a 5th rd pick (before his bonus). Just get him out of here.
6. Sign Giroux to a 3 x $5M deal

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Vilardi-Stutzle-Giroux
Formenton-Pintoe-C.Brown
Kelly-White-Watson

Chabot-Thomson
Sanderson-Zub
Holden-JBD

Forsberg
Gustavsson

Vilardi, Pinto, White, C. Brown can be moved around the lineup as required. Replace Kelly and Watson with Greig and Sokolov/Jarventie the following year.

Im not sure we need to add anything more than brannstrom to get him. The opposite actually.
I actually think we could get a better player in a better trade.
It’s debatable wether Grieg can step into Paul’s shoes right away but surely by the end of next season.
I think the sens can resign him and still trade him within his next contract, unless you can get a first. Which I doubt. There’s enough guys on the market that will net firsts.

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*!  Pascal Leclaire take 2.

Yeah, we gotta get rid of him.  Can't have a starting goalie that is so unreliable.

What’s the hurry? So far he’s injured. We’re probably going to trade forsberg and have our duo for next year plus call ups. It’s not like we need the cap space.
IMO, the payoff might be better if we hold on to him and he does regain his health. His play has been much better.

He already had 3 concussions while with the Penguins and then there was the Kreider knee. If this is another concussion it would be his 5th (at least) in 7 NHL seasons. With any luck (sorry) Murray will be put on LTIR until he retires.

I'd love the Sens to trade for Jack McBain. If the asking price is a 2nd and there's reason to believe he'll sign here then he's well worth the price

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*!  Pascal Leclaire take 2.

Yeah, we gotta get rid of him.  Can't have a starting goalie that is so unreliable.

What’s the hurry? So far he’s injured. We’re probably going to trade forsberg and have our duo for next year plus call ups. It’s not like we need the cap space.
IMO, the payoff might be better if we hold on to him and he does regain his health. His play has been much better.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be cool to keep the good, reliable, cheaper goalie (Forsberg) and just ditch the unreliable, worse, more expensive goalie (Murray)?

But Murray has "pedigree" LOL.

I was checking out the AHL standings. What a sh*t show. Adding up games played and games remaining there are 3 teams in the North Division with 76 games, and the rest only 72. The B-Sens are in 5th place and will play 72 games while the team ahead of them (Rochester) will play 76. The Amerks have played 5 more games than the B-Sens and are 6 points up in the standings. Are they going to use winning percentage to determine who gets in and who goes golfing? I assume they have to. Going to be close.

If Belleville manages to squeak into the post-season and then get Sanderson, Pinto, Brannstrom (?) joining them they could go on a run.

tim1_2 wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*!  Pascal Leclaire take 2.

Yeah, we gotta get rid of him.  Can't have a starting goalie that is so unreliable.

What’s the hurry? So far he’s injured. We’re probably going to trade forsberg and have our duo for next year plus call ups. It’s not like we need the cap space.
IMO, the payoff might be better if we hold on to him and he does regain his health. His play has been much better.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be cool to keep the good, reliable, cheaper goalie (Forsberg) and just ditch the unreliable, worse, more expensive goalie (Murray)?

I don’t know that Forsberg is a starter tbh. He’s alright. Don’t know that he could handle the full workload. Sell high.

I personally don’t think it’s a terrible idea to have murray in a rotating position with Gus and whoever is ready for some games in Belleville.
Either Gus or soogard will have a good shot to be our starter down the road. If not hit the market.


And who knows, maybe Murray gets healthy and you manage to trade him.

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:Can't believe that Murray is on the IR *again*!  Pascal Leclaire take 2.

Yeah, we gotta get rid of him.  Can't have a starting goalie that is so unreliable.

What’s the hurry? So far he’s injured. We’re probably going to trade forsberg and have our duo for next year plus call ups. It’s not like we need the cap space.
IMO, the payoff might be better if we hold on to him and he does regain his health. His play has been much better.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be cool to keep the good, reliable, cheaper goalie (Forsberg) and just ditch the unreliable, worse, more expensive goalie (Murray)?

I don’t know that Forsberg is a starter tbh. He’s alright. Don’t know that he could handle the full workload. Sell high.

I personally don’t think it’s a terrible idea to have murray in a rotating position with Gus and whoever is ready for some games in Belleville.
Either Gus or soogard will have a good shot to be our starter down the road. If not hit the market.


And who knows, maybe Murray gets healthy and you manage to trade him.

I don't think Forsberg is a starter either (although why not), but at least we know that about him. Murray should be the starter, but is totally unreliable, which is terrible. IF Murray were to be healthy for a few MONTHS and play really well, maybe there could be a trade made, but there's just no chance of that when he's injured 75% of the time. Pascal Leclaire 2.0.