-Opinions are being offered about the Peter Regin re-signing, with Scott saying “I haven’t seen any compelling evidence the Senators are dabbling in #fancystats, however MacLean at least is teaching and emphasizing possession. Instead of pounding it up the boards on the break-out, he wants his forwards (often the center) swinging low through the slot to support the defenseman. With a roster largely the same as that under Clouston there was a huge improvement in possession metrics this season. For a corsi monster like Regin, he has the oppurtunity to become very appreciated by the Paulrus…as long as he can stay healthy. Reducing the number of shots against (29th worst) next season can’t fall only on the defense. Having another very capable two-way center will help in that department.” Ken Warren says “The Senators now see him fitting in somewhere on their top three lines. At training camp last season, the Senators were pushing Regin to fill the second line vacancy left by the trades of Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly. Perhaps Regin, who has battled inconsistency as well as injuries, is more suitable on a third line. With Zack Smith and Jim O’Brien appearing destined to hold down the third- and fourth-line centre spots, maybe Regin ends up as a winger in the long run.” I think Regin is more effective as a center, although other players may take draws for him. While his point totals may never blow anyone away, Regin does a lot of the little things defensively and will be a welcome addition if he can stay healthy.
–Uffe Bodin talked about the Swedes in the Sens organisation and said he thought Jakob Silfverberg could score 30 goals in the NHL (but not next year) and that Mika Zibanejad probably needs time in Binghamton. The latter is almost certainly true, while the former remains to be seen.
–Pierre Dorion made some interesting comments today: he suggested that in the hindsight of the David Rundblad trade they might not have taken Mika Zibanejad sixth overall last year (presumably selecting Dougie Hamilton instead); he thinks Mark Stone is very close to being an NHL player; he thought Peter Regin‘s injuries were more symptomatic of bad luck rather than something systemic; he said Jakub Culek hasn’t developed as quickly as they hoped, but still has NHL potential (by inference as a checker); they intend to sign Shane Prince and Jean-Gabriel Pageau; they are in discussion with a few others players if they come out of college early (probably referring to Michael Sdao) or leave Europe (presumably Fredrik Claesson); he said Stephane Da Costa is an NHL-talent who just needs to get stronger and be more consistent; he was cagey in talking about Nikita Filatov and did not confirm that they would qualify him as an RFA (his comments were vague and oblique, but I’d guess the scenario they would accept is him signing a contract that would see him sent back to the KHL if he didn’t make the team); he said they will get a very good NHL player with the 15th overall pick (but not an impact player).
-Here are my profiles of Sens prospects Max McCormick and Jordan Fransoo.
–Mark Spector tries to drum up his readership with a ludicrous article suggesting that Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn‘s late night hijinks might impact the draft status of Nail Yakubov. He draws irrelevant parallels with Boris and Dmitri Mironov and then throws in the KHL option for good measure (which has nothing to do with late night antics). There’s actually no point made in the article–Spector doesn’t make an argument linking Radulov et al with Yakupov (nor the entirely different point about the KHL option)–he simply plays on the assumptions and fears within the hockey community about Russians which doesn’t offer anything new about Yakubov specifically. This kind of nonsense isn’t new, but it’s tired and Spector should know better.
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[…] once and awhile Marc Spector writes an idiotic column, one filled with unsubstantiated facts and assumptions. I’ll just pick one element to […]