-The Sens re-signed RFA Pat Cannone to a two-year, two-way deal. Tim Murray said “It’s great to get him done. He was a rookie last year in Binghamton. He had, what we thought for a first-year player, a really good year. He played probably third-line center, important minutes, both power play and penalty killing on the special teams. He was third in goals and third in points on our team. We thought he had a tremendous first year and certainly merited the opportunity to come back here and improve on that, and see if maybe he can become some type of an NHL player. Whether that’s a regular or a guy that can play games, that’s yet to be seen. But very happy to get him back in the fold.” Randy Lee said “He was definitely in the mix to be considered (as a Black Ace), for sure. He deserves to be. For a first-year guy, he was one of those other guys that really impressed us. I knew he was a college guy coming in, that he was such a smart player, he’s like sort of a really top defensive player, but he can chip in offensively. He finished with 19 goals, which is pretty impressive for a first-year guy. But he’s a real pro. He really impressed his teammates and the coaching staff with his professionalism. He’s got a good future in Binghamton with us, and in the organization.”
–Capgeek has unconfirmed numbers for Fredrik Claesson (623k) and Pat Cannone (625k).
–Stefan G:Son writes about Claesson saying “While not the most physical guy (despite the very quotable Vaclav Burda’s words), he does not shy away from that aspect of the game when he needs to. Claesson always tries to make the simple play, especially when he’s paired with a superior puck-handler. He understands that the other guy is more apt to handle the breakout, which shouldn’t suggest he lacks of confidence as much as a knowledge of his own limitations. He’s everything you’d want out of this type of player in terms of being a team guy, a committed competitor and all that. He could stand to be a lot better in some areas or a little bit better in every area to become a legit NHL prospect.”
–The Silver Seven ran a long series about the top-25 Sens prospects (25 and younger). I’m not sure why that age bracket was picked, but the number surely to match it. They haven’t produced the series as a list, but here it is nonetheless:
1. Erik Karlsson
2. Kyle Turris
3. Jakob Silfverberg
4. Jared Cowen
5. Mika Zibanejad
6. Robin Lehner
7. Nick Foligno
8. Zack Smith
9. Stephane Da Costa
10. Mark Stone
11. Bobby Butler
12. Stefan Noesen
13. Matt Puempel
14. Shane Prince
15. Andre Petersson
16. Mark Borowiecki
17. [Brian Lee]
18. Kaspars Daugavins
19. Mike Hoffman
20. Patrick Wiercioch
21. Jean-Gabriel Pageau
22. Nikita Filatov
23. Fredrik Claesson
24. Derek Grant
25. Jim O’Brien
There are a lot of problems with the list (Cowen should be ahead of Silfverberg, Prince is too high, Petersson is too low, etc), but more problematic is the general comparison. A 25-year old player is much further along in his development than an 18-year old, so why compare them? Nick Foligno is what he is at this point, so he’s better off being compared to other established pros rather than prospects like Mika Zibanejad. The best thing about the list for me was reminding us all about the genius that is Don Brennan, “Thing is, we really don’t know how good Karlsson can and will be. Karlsson won’t play in the NHL for a year or two or three, if he ever does. Real tough to get excited about him. He was one of the five players the Senators had on their list, but apparently not the top one still available when it was their turn to pick.”
-My playoff predictions for round two fell completely off the cliff (0-4!). I had Washington in seven, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Nashville in five. Three of the four series went the right number of games, but for the wrong teams (I was one game off in the LA series, but again, for the wrong team). The Kings are disproving the old adage that you can’t flip the switch in the post-season. My guess is we’ll see a Ranger-Kings final, but I’d prefer Phoenix-New Jersey. Regardless, like most people, I won’t be watching.
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