-The Sens have released their development camp roster:
Goaltenders
Andrew Hammond (FA 2013)
Chris Driedger (3-76/12)
Francois Brassard (6-166/12)
Marcus Hogberg (3-78/13)
Branden Komm (FA NCAA Bentley University)
Defensemen
Troy Rutkowski (FA 2013)
Chris Wideman (4-100/09)
Michael Sdao (7-191/09)
Fredrik Claesson (5-126/11)
Cody Ceci (1-15/12)
Tim Boyle (4-106/12)
Ben Harpur (4-108/13)
Justin DaSilva (FA NCAA Ohio)
Mathieu Gagnon (undrafted)
Jeff Corbett (undrafted)
Macoy Erkamps (undrafted)
Forwards
Buddy Robinson (FA 2013)
Corey Conacher (FA 2013)
Cole Schneider (FA 2012)
Wacey Hamilton (FA 2011)
Derek Grant (4-119/08)
Jeff Costello (5-146/09)
Jakub Culek (3-76/10)
Mark Stone (6-178/10)
Mika Zibanejad (1-6/11)
Stefan Noesen (1-20/11)
Matt Puempel (1-24/11)
Shane Prince (2-61/11)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4-96/11)
Darren Kramer (6-156/11)
Max McCormick (6-171/11)
Ryan Dzingel (7-204/11)
Jarrod Maidens (3-82/12)
Robert Baillargeon (5-136/12)
Curtis Lazar (1-17/13)
Tobias Lindberg (4-102/13)
Vincent Dunn (5-138/13)
Chris Leblanc (6-161/13)
Quentin Shore (6-168/13)
Jack Berger (FA NCAA Princeton)
-Here’s my review of the Sens 2013 NHL entry draft, including the most comprehensive scouting reports on all the players picked out there along with comments from the organisation about each player. Allan Muir gives the Sens a B- for their draft, writing:
Another team desperate for offense, the Sens tabbed forward Curtis Lazar (17) in the first round. Scouts raved about his character and wheels, but his scoring potential is up for debate. Marcus Hogberg (78) is a big, rangy goaltender who fills the organizational hole left by the trade of Ben Bishop. Center Quentin Shore (168) was picked up late after being passed over last year. He’s hardly a blue chipper, but he’s a kid whose heart and bloodlines make him worth watching.
How this becomes his grade is not clear–his assessment would be much more useful if he wrote who they should have taken (since, presumably, a B- is a subpar assessment).
-Here’s my look at how all the draft prognosticators did in the draft.
–Amelia L writes about how the Sens approach to development camp changed with the Murray regime. She sums it up with:
Ottawa’s development camps have evolved from relatively simple, introductory camps to complex multi-purpose events. Originally, camps were held so recent draft picks and prospects could meet coaches and workout as part of an internal evaluation program. Today, the annual development camp is a week-long indoctrination into all aspects of club life. The expanded staffs of recent development camps reflect an organizational push to ensure the methodology employed in the NHL is used in the AHL. Coaches and assistants, video coaches, and the athletic therapist of the Binghamton Senators now attended the camps as well, ensuring a united message is delivered to all prospects. Initiatives such as yoga, biochemistry sessions, nutrition seminars, and healthy cooking classes illustrate an increased concern on players’ overall health, a growing trend in pro sports. Team building exercises and “Champions” presentations help future teammates bond and indoctrinate players about the “Ottawa way” – the club’s expectations on and off the ice. In the future, I wouldn’t be surprised to see organizations such as the “You Can Play Project” take part in this aspect of development camps. Perhaps seminars such as “Acceptable Use of Social Media” will be added to next year’s camp.
–Elliotte Friedman stirs the blogging pot with this:
Can there seriously be an issue between Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators? Can you imagine Boston — now in need a right-winger — even being able to bid because this gets to Friday?
I don’t see an issue. Many sensible bloggers have given this serious consideration due to the perceived financial troubles of Eugene Melnyk (see below), but those issues (even if true) won’t get in the way of signing Alfredsson.
–Travis Yost (who unfortunately is still floating Mika Zibanejad trade rumours because the Sens have “too many centers”) wonders about Melnyk’s financial woes:
questionable finances from Biovail litigation, divorce hearings
Creating an apparently self-imposed 50 million team salary cap (according to Ken Warren) and trying to jive this with Melnyk’s boisterous statements early on in his regime about spending money in order to have success. I think anything Eugene has ever said needs to be with a grain of salt (certainly his divorce won’t creating the kind of financial distress that will affect the team)–as Travis points out the team tried to land Rick Nash just last year, so what limits are there really? Travis believes it hurts their efforts in the free agent market, but how many marquee players want to come to Ottawa irrespective of the money they have available? Not many methinks.
-One thing I’m glad Travis pointed out (in the link above) is how similar The Ottawa Sun and The Ottawa Citizen‘s coverage of the Sens tends to be–sometimes to the point of wondering if there’s a real difference between the two.
-Speaking of Travis, he illustrates that (at least this year) the money spent on goaltending seems to have no correlation to performance (or, at least, save percentage). I like the idea, although it would have been better if he’d included a similar chart for goaltenders not making top dollar for comparison’s sake.
–Ian Altenbaugh believes the 2013 draft is one of the best ever (Tim Murray described it as average); he doesn’t include Ottawa as either a winner or a loser for their picks.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 