-I updated my profile of Sens prospect Ryan Dzingel.
–Travis Yost summed up the contradictory public statements about the Sens finances–funny how that story seems to have vanished from the mainstream media almost as soon as it arose.
–Senschirp keeps RTing his story that Mike Hoffman needs to be re-signed, so here’s the heart of his post:
Hoffman is a skilled forward with terrific speed and strong offensive instincts. He showed flashes of what he can do in his short stint with the team last season before running into injury troubles.
Senschirp makes two statements following this: 1) he’ll get the same kind of deal Mark Borowiecki received (two years with the second one-way), because 2) he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL. I disagree on both counts. I don’t see the Sens giving Hoffman a one-way deal because I’m not convinced that he’s ready to make the jump. As I mentioned in my review of Binghamton’s season, Hoffman‘s offense seems to have stagnated at the AHL-level, where it isn’t elite and that doesn’t bode well for his transition to the NHL. Given that, he’s a player who has to occupy a bottom-six role at the next level and the evidence that he can do so isn’t there yet. He’s also up against a lot of competition at forward position from other prospects, like Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mark Stone, etc. [Travis Yost reports that Hoffman has signed a one-year, two-way deal.]
–Sun Media announced job cuts and the closing of a number of its papers yesterday (commiserations and best wishes to all those effected), but these have had minimal impact at The Ottawa Sun (one job loss was announced).
–Paul Grant confirms my take on the impact of the lockout on the fanbase:
Everything went to abnormal: revenues, attendance and ratings went through the roof. The NHL lost 58.5 percent of its games but made 72 percent of its full-season revenue, not to mention the pure gravy for the 16 playoff teams. The shortened regular season experienced 97 percent capacity and the playoffs were at the mathematically impossible more than 100 percent capacity. You get the point. Fans came back in droves.
–Stu Hackel writes at length about Fred Shero as an innovative coach.
-Sportsnet continues to take the cake when it comes to Z-grade articles and Chris Johnston adds to the tally with an article about players jumping to the KHL. Articles about the KHL “threat” made the rounds en masse five years ago and Johnston simply ignores the fact that Kovalchuk left for murky personal reasons (it’s difficult to unpack the how or why of the move, since it benefits the Devils immensely, but it’s completely unlike an Alexander Radulov or the RSL departure of Alexei Morozov). The move isn’t the beginning of a “trend” and the best players will always come to the NHL because it’s the best league there is. All the KHL will do is continue to siphon off underachievers, older players, or prospects who are unhappy with their situation within a franchise (Ken Campbell echoes these points).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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eyeonthesens 
Hoffman is an interesting prospect. I think this contract is his defining contract with the organization. He’s at an interesting point in his career as you’ve mentioned that his offense seems to have hit a ceiling.
Hoff and Da Costa are both in the same boat as this year will decide their future in the Sens org.
I agree with you that this is the make-or-break year for Hoffman. He either needs to take a step forward offensively or else illustrate he can play ala Erik Condra and be a useful depth guy. I think the bar is higher for Da Costa–he *should* dominate at the AHL level.