–Daniel Alfredsson talked about his future as a coach, “I don’t see myself coaching too soon. I think it takes even more time at the rink than it does as a player to prepare! (He chuckles) Right now, I don’t think I’m ready for that. But I like the strategic aspect of the game. I read the game really well. I try to talk to our coaches about things I’d like to see at times. I’m interested in how the coaches think. I like that part of it. So I think I’d be a bit of both types. I think I can also challenge guys and motivate them in different ways.”
–Doug MacLean says “In my opinion, he [Alfredsson] owes them another year and, unfortunately, (the Senators) have nothing to say about it. He can retire, I guess. Who knows? Maybe that’s the way the contract was structured.” I sometimes wonder if even MacLean understands what he means, but I cite this nonsense simply because it’s amusing.
-Sens scout Bob Lowes talks about Mark Stone, “To be honest, I didn’t know that he would be that good. But I thought with his size (6-2, 188 pounds), with his hockey sense and he had enough of a skill set … he would be able to find a fourth-line checking role. He exceeded that, obviously. He had been hurt that year [when he was drafted] and there was a situation where he played lower in the lineup, based on all the trades they [Brandon] made and the experience they had. But I knew they didn’t want to trade him. He was asked for in a lot of trades, but they felt they couldn’t give him up. Randy and Chris have done a tremendous job with him in order to work on his skating, and then work on him getting stronger and work on his weaknesses. And then it’s his character to do everything and come back stronger, work on his skating … he wants to be a player and guys who want to be a player find ways to get better. He has some things you can’t teach, obviously, but the intangibles are going to be what makes him a player as well. I thought he would be (Brandon’s) top scorer and one of their better players, just based on the opportunity he would get because of all the players (who moved on) after the Memorial Cup. I thought he’d get more of an offensive shot. But to say he would do that well … I’d be lying if I said that.”
-As expected, Nikita Filatov signed a new deal in the KHL. It remains to be seen if this will impact the Sens keeping his rights or not.
–Red Line Report‘s latest issue is out with an updated list of 2012′s top prospects (with the position changes noted; for the previous report go here). Coming into the 2011-12 season scouts believed the 2012 draft was going to be a deep one, but now the sentiment is the opposite.
1. Nail Yakupov (Sarnia, OHL)
2. Filip Forsberg (Leksand, Sweden)
3. Matt Dumba (Red Deer, WHL) (+2)
4. Ryan Murray (Everett, WHL) (-1)
5. Teuvo Teravainen (Jokerit, Finland) (+12)
6. Alex Galchenyuk (Sarnia, OHL)
7. Morgan Rielly (Moose Jaw, WHL)
8. Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec, QMJHL) (-4)
9. Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton, WHL)
10. Andrey Vasilevski (Salavat, KHL) (+1)
11. Jacob Trouba (US NTDP, USHL) (+1)
12. Derrick Pouliot (Portland, WHL) (+2)
13. Olli Maatta (London, OHL) (+11)
14. Matt Finn (Guelph, OHL) (-1)
15. Pontus Aberg (Djurgarden, Sweden) (-5)
16. Radek Faksa (Kitchener, OHL)
17. Scott Laughton (Oshawa, OHL) (+26)
18. Cody Ceci (Ottawa 67s, OHL) (-3)
19. Zemgus Girgensons (Dubuque, USHL) (+1)
20. Hampus Lindholm (Rogle, Sweden) (+20)
21. Slater Koekkoek (Peterborough, OHL) (-3)
22. Sebastian Collberg (Frolunda, Sweden) (-14)
23. Jordan Schmaltz (Sioux City, USHL)
24. Henrik Samuelsson (US NTDP, USHL) (+4)
25. Scott Kosmachuk (Guelph, OHL) (-3)
26. Tomas Hertl (Slavia, Cze) (+4)
27. Damon Severson (Kelowna, WHL) (-8)
28. Tom Wilson (Plymouth, OHL) (+13)
29. Brady Skjei (US NTDP, USHL)
30. Oscar Dansk (Brynas, SEL) (-4)
Falling out of the top-30 were Brendan Gaunce (#31, -6), Phil Di Giuseppe (#32, -11), and Anton Slepyshev (#41, -13) . Here’s the movement among former top-30 players: Colton Sissons (#39, -4), Martin Frk (#40, -9), Troy Bourke (#51, +8), Nick Ebert (#53, -5), Chandler Stephenson (#56, -1), Gianluca Curcuruto (#70, -4), Jarrod Maidens (#90, +8), Eric Locke (#97, -2), Matia Marcantuoni (#109, -2), Calle Andersson (#122, -32), Patrik Machac (#185, -32), Ryan Olsen (#225, -4), and Luca Ciampini (NR).
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eyeonthesens 
[…] Red Line Report’s 2012 NHL draft guide is out and here’s a look at their final top-30 rankings along with my thoughts about the publication (changes from their previous rankings are noted in brackets, for the previous list go here): […]
[…] have qualified all their RFA’s except Craig Schira (so including Nikita Filatov despite his KHL contract); this was reported weeks ago, but apparently rumours about Filatov have been floating around […]