-The Senators have announced a four-year contract extension for Zack Smith for with a cap hit of 1.887,500. It’s a big increase on his current salary (700k), but the organisation has been a fan of his since they drafted him and he’s the type of player every team wants. The team paid a little extra to buy out some of his time as a free agent (the deal will end when Smith is 29). Nichols and the Raaymaker have mixed feelings on the extension, but physical players can always be traded and at less than 2 million per season finding a dance partner wouldn’t be difficult.
–Mike Johnston picks Kyle Turris and Marc Methot (!) as his breakout players for the Sens this season. At age 27 Methot isn’t someone I’d expect to radically improve.
–Nichols offers this about the upcoming season:
When your favorite hockey team is not in a position to be contending for a Stanley Cup, there is only one thing that organization can sell you on as a fan: hope.
He goes on to talk about the basis of that hope and I agree wholeheartedly with him on the general point. Ottawa is not going to challenge for the Cup and is touch and go to make the playoffs, but the on-ice product should be entertaining and there are good players in the pipeline. The main point of concern is that virtually none of the prospects are puck-moving defensemen (Cody Ceci being the exception). Puck control begins at the back end and the team might find themselves sorely pressed with their current blueline.
-I finish off my look at undrafted success stories in the post-lockout NHL.
–Adam Proteau offers his opinion on the best hockey to watch if the NHL season does not start on time:
1. AHL
2. CHL
3. KHL
4. NCAA
5. CWHL (women’s hockey)
6. SEL
7. DEL
8. Junior B
9. ECHL
10. SM-Liiga
The decision really depends on the kind of hockey you want to watch. If it’s based on the most talented league available then you’ll watch the KHL. If it’s based on style of play, none comes closer than the AHL. If it’s pure entertainment it’s much more a matter of personal taste. For me, my eye will be on the AHL and on Europe–I like watching hockey I wouldn’t normally see in these circumstances.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
1 Comment
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
eyeonthesens 
[…] Senators News: September 5th […]