As fans celebrated the Sens attaining a playoff position in the standings I can’t help but think how vindicated many of us feel in that the success is tied to the absence (or reduced role) of terrible veterans who clogged up the arteries of the Sens lineup.  As much as we love the Andrew Hammond story, goaltending has not been the team’s primary problem and isn’t the key element to their success (as Nichols echoes): player usage and lineup have had the biggest impact.  No longer bogged down with Paul MacLean’s favouritism or pressure to play people like Chris Phillips and Chris Neil, the team has soared (Richard McCrae also explores this).  The question remaining is has the organisation learned the right lesson or not?

Speaking of Nichols, via the same link above he continues to beat on the drum that the Sens system is clogged with mediocrity:

I don’t think anybody questions the assortment of quality young talent that Ottawa has. They are a young team that is vying for a playoff spot. The problem is that they have been in this position for a number of years now without taking a significant step forward as a franchise. It’s foolish to expect linear growth on an annual basis, but I have reservations about how good this team can become by expecting or relying upon significant growth from its young players. That isn’t meant to be a crack on who is on the parent roster, but from a talent projection standpoint, I just don’t see how this team can take the next step in its development without a ton of room for exponential growth from many of this team’s players. (Note: obviously there are a few exceptions.)

As I mentioned in my Binghamton article (link below), I think this reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what depth means.  For Nichols it seems, if the player isn’t a slamdunk top-six, top-four, or starting player, they just aren’t that valuable, which is a funny thing to consider given how much he loves Erik Condra.  I agree with him that there’s no elite talent still in the system (a first-line forward or top-two defenseman), but there’s certainly plenty of quality in the ranks (indeed, even his note of exceptions undermines his point).  I wish we could cure Nichols of his Cory Pronman addiction (do I need to bring up Ben Blood again?), but I digress.

I missed referencing Travis Yost‘s post looking at Patrick Wiercioch and Bryan Murray’s apparent inability to figure out what he does well.  Since the post Wiercioch has produced (9-1-4-5, his best stretch of the season), so perhaps at least Dave Cameron has figured out what he can do.

It’s interesting to note that the Dallas Stars have not profited (yet) from the Jason Spezza trade–the Stars have fewer points than the Sens and while Spezza‘s production is about what you’d expect, his Ottawa co-pilot Ales Hemsky (not part of the trade, but a component of the Stars plans) has been a disappointment and throwaway prospect Ludwig Karlsson has already been loaned out of the organisation.  In other words, a change meant to produce immediate dividends has not done so.  That’s not to say the Sens are getting much value out of Alex Guptill or Alex Chaisson, or that Nick Paul or the upcoming 2nd round pick will ever be as good as Spezza, but it’s something worth noting.

For those who missed it I did an update on the Binghamton Senators last week (thanks to The Silver Seven‘s Amelia for the shoutout).  You can read TheIanAlex BSens update for their last few games as well.

I also took a look at Free Agent Europeans of interest.  The Sens have rarely dived into this pool (preferring NCAA free agents, like the moribund Garrett Thompson or excellent Cole Schneider), but I think it’s worth paying attention too.

Prospect update (players signed are in green, those for whom decisions must be made this year are in red).  All regular seasons are over:

SHL (Sweden)
Mikael Wikstrand (DOB 1993, DL, 7-196/12, Frolunda) 46-5-15-20
Regular season is over; he finished 14th in scoring by a defenseman; is injured and missed the playoffs thus far
Andreas Englund (DOB 1996, DL, 2-40/14, Djurgarden) 49-2-3-5
Regular season is over; did not dress in the playoffs and his season is over
Marcus Hogberg (DOB 1994, GL, 3-78/13, Linkoping) 12-11-4 2.30 .917
Regular season is over; finishes 10th in GAA and 8th in save percentage; lost his only game (thus far) in the playoffs

CHL
Tobias Lindberg (DOB 1995, C/RW, 4-102/13, OHL, Oshawa) 67-32-46-78
Three points in his last three games, finishing 20th in overall scoring
Francis Perron (DOB 1996, C/LW, 7-190/14, QMJHL, Rouyn-Noranda) 64-29-47-76
Two points in his last two games, finishing 26th in overall scoring
Nick Paul (DOB 1995, LW, 4-101/13 Dallas, OHL, North Bay) 58-37-29-66
Two points in his last two games; finishing 36th in overall scoring
Vincent Dunn (DOB 1995, CL, 5-138/13, QMJHL, Rimouski) 46-19-13-32
Has not played since last time
Ben Harpur (DOB 1995, DL, 4-108/13, OHL, Guelph/Barrie) 57-5-26-31
No points in his last game
Miles Gendron (DOB 1996, DL, 3-70/14, BCHL, Penticton) 54-5-12-17
Has nine points in thirteen games in the playoffs; did he sleepwalk through the regular season?

NCAA
Quentin Shore (DOB 1994, C/RW, 6-168/13, U Denver) 37-10-14-24
One point in his last two games
Robbie Baillargeon (DOB 1993, CR, 5-136/12, Boston U) 26-3-12-15
No points in his last two games
Shane Eiserman (DOB 1995, LW, 4-100/14, U New Hampshire) 35-4-11-15
No points in his last game; his season is over
Kelly Summers (DOB 1996, DR, 7-189/14, Clarkson) 33-6-4-10
His season is over
Chris Leblanc (DOB 1993, RW, 6-161/13, Merrimack) 28-5-4-9
His season is over

NCAA-III
Tim Boyle (DOB 1993, DR, 4-106/12, Endicott) 18-3-8-11
His season is over

I hadn’t realised former SenShot scribe and Matt Kassian fan Jared Crozier had picked up the Travis Yost mantle as the Sens writer for Hockeybuzz (once Yost left I stopped visiting the site).  Once upon a time Jared used to lurk around here and I wish him all the best.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 27, 2015
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

It’s been well over a month since my last update.  Back in January, the B-Sens were 6-10-2, including a particularly ugly losing streak.  The team has gone 9-9-3 since my last update; their 197 GF has them 1st in the Conference, while their 209 GA has them last.  As for individual numbers, here’s a quick look:

	18	Shane Prince	LW	58	20	30	50	+10	29	7	0	0.86	0.50	147
	6	Chris Wideman	D	61	16	33	49	+9	96	7	0	0.80	1.57	188
	11	Carter Camper	C	62	13	31	44	+3	16	1	0	0.71	0.26	98
	15	Cole Schneider	RW	55	22	21	43	+3	12	7	1	0.78	0.22	130
	9	Matt Puempel	LW	51	12	20	32	-13	31	5	0	0.63	0.61	146
	57	Derek Grant	C	59	18	13	31	-7	39	8	1	0.53	0.66	143
	14	Patrick Mullen	D	52	5	24	29	0	30	3	0	0.56	0.58	65
	20	Alex Grant	D	46	5	23	28	-10	49	4	0	0.61	1.07	86
	10	Buddy Robinson	RW	61	9	18	27	+12	60	0	2	0.44	0.98	139
*	43	Ryan Dzingel	C	53	15	11	26	-5	48	2	0	0.49	0.91	89
	72	Aaron Johnson	D	59	5	21	26	+5	68	1	0	0.44	1.15	94
	44	Jean-Gabriel Pageau	C	27	11	10	21	+9	27	1	3	0.78	1.00	103
*	17	Max McCormick	LW	48	7	9	16	0	120	0	1	0.33	2.50	82
	3	Fredrik Claesson	D	62	3	13	16	-7	40	0	0	0.26	0.65	69
	37	Darren Kramer	LW	60	4	11	15	-3	225	0	0	0.25	3.75	71
	22	David Dziurzynski	LW	39	4	10	14	+1	79	0	0	0.36	2.03	49
*	27	Alex Guptill	LW	48	7	6	13	+1	50	0	0	0.27	1.04	66
*	16	Garrett Thompson	C	53	6	7	13	-11	27	0	0	0.25	0.51	65
	19	Brad Mills	C	25	3	7	10	-1	73	0	0	0.40	2.92	52
	8	Daniel New	D	31	2	7	9	-5	19	0	0	0.29	0.61	34
	24	Colin Greening	LW	12	5	2	7	-2	13	0	1	0.58	1.08	25
*	12	Danny Hobbs	LW	13	2	1	3	-5	2	0	0	0.23	0.15	20
	7	Guillaume Lepine	D	26	1	2	3	-1	57	0	0	0.12	2.19	21
	4	Michael Sdao	D	26	1	2	3	-5	78	0	0	0.12	3.00	16
	21	Matt Tassone (total)	C	6	1	1	2	-2	11	0	0	0.33	1.83	7
		Rochester Americans	LW	3	1	0	1	-1	7	0	0	0.33	2.33	3
		Binghamton Senators	C	3	0	1	1	-1	4	0	0	0.33	1.33	4
	24	David Marshall	RW	4	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0.25	0.50	1
	5	Nick Tuzzolino	D	10	0	1	1	+2	23	0	0	0.10	2.30	8
	30	Andrew Hammond	G	25	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.04	0.00	0
	5	Marc Methot	D	1	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	1
	84	Todd Bertuzzi	RW	2	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	2
	41	Jakub Culek	C	2	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0	0.00	1.00	4
	33	Chris Driedger	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0
	21	Shawn Szydlowski	RW	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00	0.67	2
*	2	Troy Rutkowski	D	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00	0.50	1
	31	Peter Mannino (total)	G	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0
		Portland Pirates	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0
		Binghamton Senators	G	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0
	35	Scott Greenham	G	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0

1		Scott Greenham	23	1318:39	57	1	2.59	12	8	2	719	662	0.921
2	*	Chris Driedger	2	119:57	6	0	3.00	2	0	0	55	49	0.891
3		Andrew Hammond	25	1368:43	80	2	3.51	7	13	2	782	702	0.898
4		Peter Mannino (total)	19	1085:08	67	0	3.70	5	8	4	656	589	0.898

.

Carter Camper has finally started to produce as expected, with 21 points in his last 19 games, but it’s far too late for that to matter to the team; otherwise players have stayed the course.  Shane Prince is 13th in overall scoring, while Chris Wideman is 16th (1st among defensemen).  Michael Sdao has returned to the lineup after missing almost two months of action, and Troy Rutkowski has been recalled from Evansville, but the B-Sens blueline remains a mess.  I think the team wound up signing too many vets who fill the same role (Alex Grant, Patrick Mullen, and Aaron Johnson).  Not only have those players not performed up to expectations, but they’ve meant limited room for prospects to grow behind their wall of ice time.  Other than Wideman I’d argue none of the B-Sens blueliners have improved.  The forward group is better, although there’s no need for someone like Brad Mills to be taking ice time away from players who could use it to develop.  I think Richardson shares Paul MacLean’s hangup of over being overly reliant on veterans (which makes no sense in the AHL).

As Andrew Hammond continues to excel in Ottawa, Scott Greenham (5-4-1) has been Binghamton’s best goaltender despite splitting time with Peter Mannino (4-5-2).  Exactly why the goalies are receiving equal time is beyond me.

Nichols (6th Sens) likes to shit all over the Sens depth in Binghamton and I think a lot of his reasoning comes from how highly he values the opinion of Corey Pronman (for example)–I’ve discussed my issues with Pronman before (he somehow included Ben Blood as a worthy prospect, for example).  There’s a disconnect between people like Nichols and Travis Yost (now at TSN) on the value of prospects–they seem to think that if the player isn’t guaranteed to be elite then the prospect doesn’t matter.  This an odd approach in that these are the same analytics fans who love Erik Condra (a late pick who wasn’t remotely exciting as a prospect).  The flipside of this can be found on the HFboards or SenShot where prospects are given far too much weight.  On average only 1 or 2 players from each draft class is ever going to become an NHL player.  The point of all this is that there are still players in Binghamton with NHL potential.  Prince certainly deserves a shot, as do several others.  Unfortunately for Binghamton fans the mix of players this season simply wasn’t good enough–the free agents brought in to solve the defensive and goaltending problems failed to do so.

There’s still a month’s worth of games before the season ends, but it’s time to start thinking about who is responsible for the failed season.  Tim Murray signed the free agents, so the blame for the roster is certainly his.  That being said, Luke Richardson has also made some peculiar coaching decisions, particularly in how he’s handled his goaltenders.  Richardson can’t be blamed completely for the Jekyll and Hyde act Hammond put on (if Greenham can put up a .920 save percentage with this defense, the Hamburglar should as well), but he did fail to adjust how he was handling him in the AHL (as I brought up at the time).  Richardson can also be questioned in how he’s utilized young players, but on the whole I think his influence pales in comparison to the hand he was dealt.  Tim Murray is gone, so the architect of the problem has already been removed.  With talented prospects on the horizon things should be better next season.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 19, 2015
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

As Andrew Hammond‘s improbable run continues, it reminds me of Jim Carey‘s with Washington eons ago: a middling NCAA goaltender takes the NHL by storm for a brief time before fading away.  Carey won a Vezina and was a first-team all-star in his first full season (95-96), but proceeded to bomb out afterwards, retiring from the AHL just three years later.  Hammond may be better than that, or he may not be, but when I hear speculation of moving Robin Lehner (who is younger than Hammond–he’s 23, the Hamburglar is 27), I have to shake my head.  Bryan Murray is very much a “what have you done for me lately” manager when it comes to players who aren’t over-the-hill veterans, so there’s a chance we might see a very foolish trade when the season ends.

The all-powerful and all-knowing Nichols reports the Sens and Leafs talked about swapping Zibanejad for Kadri in the summer, but the Sens balked at Toronto’s request for additional assets to be included.  I’m not sure how fans would have reacted at the time, but I’m happy Murray didn’t pull the trigger.

Richard McCrae looks at the odds of Ottawa catching Washington (now that Boston seems out of reach) and concludes even that will be difficult.  A more interesting question is whether it would be good for the organisation to make the playoffs–what message would that send to management?  Does Murray realise a large part of the recent success is because useless players like Chris Neil and Chris Phillips aren’t on the ice?  I have my doubts, although it could be argued nothing will cure Murray of his obsession with aging vets, in which case results are actually meaningless–I prefer not to be so pessimistic.

I only occasionally dip my toe into SenShot for anything other than AHL information, which is why I rarely cite them here.  As for why, I’ll use editor Jack Leiper recent post to illustrate it: he writes about Mika Zibanejad‘s season and how it seems to have turned after a rough start…and his analysis doesn’t go much beyond that he’s been more consistent.  Here’s what Nichols (link above) offers as an aside on the same subject:

Fortunately for the Senators, Zibanejad has come into his own after a sluggish start that has mostly been attributed to a reduced role and shitty linemates to start the season

However flippant the remark is, there’s specific, quantifiable analysis (quality of linemates and use on ice).  I get enough vagueness from official Sens outlets, so when I come to the blogosphere I want analysis.

Before I get to my prospect update below, a quick look at those from the ECHL contingent.  Troy Rutkowski has been playing in Binghamton since March, but prior to his recall stood at 54-6-18-24, leading the awful Evansville defensecorps in scoring.  His points-per-game (0.44) are a marked increase over his rookie season in Elmira (0.21), and however middling those numbers are, it still shows some improvement.  His production had started to rebound after a long stretch of inconsistency (December into February, 31-2-7-9), perhaps worn down from the massive number of games played over such a short period.  Chris Driedger was (until his recall today due to Craig Anderson‘s health) the last man standing in Evansville.  His numbers have been awful (8-27-2 3.78 .885), albeit the roster in front of him is even worse (Evansville is 14-39-8, last in the ECHL).  Driedger hasn’t won a game since January and has been woefully inconsistent, but getting his head beat in game after game can’t help his confidence any and as a younger goaltender (20) it’s far too soon to say he’s done.  That being said, I’d rather have Marcus Hogberg in the Sens system.

Prospect update (players signed are in green, those for whom decisions must be made this year are in red):

SHL (Sweden)
Mikael Wikstrand (DOB 1993, DL, 7-196/12, Frolunda) 46-5-15-20
Regular season is over; he finished 14th in scoring by a defenseman; no points in two playoff games
Andreas Englund (DOB 1996, DL, 2-40/14, Djurgarden) 49-2-3-5
Regular season is over; has not dressed in the playoffs
Marcus Hogberg (DOB 1994, GL, 3-78/13, Linkoping) 12-11-4 2.30 .917
Regular season is over; finishes 10th in GAA and 8th in save percentage; has not played in the playoffs

CHL
Tobias Lindberg (DOB 1995, C/RW, 4-102/13, OHL, Oshawa) 64-31-44-75
Five points in his last three games, moving him up to 18th in overall scoring
Francis Perron (DOB 1996, C/LW, 7-190/14, QMJHL, Rouyn-Noranda) 62-27-47-74
Two points in his last three games, dropping him to 25th in overall scoring
Nick Paul (DOB 1995, LW, 4-101/13 Dallas, OHL, North Bay) 56-35-29-64
Two points in his last three games; dropping him to 36th in overall scoring
Vincent Dunn (DOB 1995, CL, 5-138/13, QMJHL, Rimouski) 46-19-13-32
Has not played since last time
Ben Harpur (DOB 1995, DL, 4-108/13, OHL, Guelph/Barrie) 56-5-26-31
Two points in his last three games
Miles Gendron (DOB 1996, DL, 3-70/14, BCHL, Penticton) 54-5-12-17
Has six points in seven games in the playoffs

NCAA
Quentin Shore (DOB 1994, C/RW, 6-168/13, U Denver) 35-9-14-23
Two points in his last two games
Robbie Baillargeon (DOB 1993, CR, 5-136/12, Boston U) 24-3-12-15
Two points in his last two games
Shane Eiserman (DOB 1995, LW, 4-100/14, U New Hampshire) 34-4-11-15
Two points in his last three games
Kelly Summers (DOB 1996, DR, 7-189/14, Clarkson) 33-6-4-10
Has not played since last time
Chris Leblanc (DOB 1993, RW, 6-161/13, Merrimack) 28-5-4-9
No points in his last game

NCAA-III
Tim Boyle (DOB 1993, DR, 4-106/12, Endicott) 18-3-8-11
His season is over

I have a full Binghamton update in the works as the team approaches the end of their season.  With the Sens still winning we’re unlikely to see other call-ups any time soon (barring injury).  It’s been a tough season in Bingo and I think most of the problem is on the blueline and in goal, but I’ll get into that with that post.

Ludwig Karlsson, moved in the Jason Spezza trade, has bombed out of the Dallas organisation.  He was traded from the ECHL affiliate in Idaho to Missouri (which is St. Louis’ affiliate).  I expect the Swede to sign in Europe at season’s end.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 17, 2015
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Ottawa continues to tease fans with a playoff race.  I don’t see them succeeding and think the organisation would draw the wrong conclusion if they did, but it does add some fun to the end of the season.

The Sens have expressed interest in Boston University goaltender Matt O’Connor, who fans may remember attending the 2011 development camp (right after he finished his rookie season with Youngstown in the USHL).  The twenty-three year old O’Connor has posted career numbers in his third year in the NCAA and the pursuit of him is an indictment (at the time) of the goaltending depth the organisation thinks it has.

Speaking of goaltending, as Andrew Hammond finished his career run I’ll be interested to see what the organisation does with him.  An RFA at the end of the season, there’s nothing in Hammond‘s history to suggest his current success is going to continue (as Ary M illustrates); if I were in Murray’s shoes I’d move him at season’s end while his value is at its height.

Nichols re-hashes the obvious in the aftermath of the trade deadline: the Sens were in a box Bryan Murray put them in, stuck with unmovable contracts.  Via the same link it’s clear that Murray has no idea what analytics is, which confirms one of the major reasons why the organisation hangs on to useless players who are perceived as “gritty”.

The always thoughtful Amelia correctly points out that the Sens weren’t the first team to give away Ben Bishop in a bad deal–St. Louis traded him to Ottawa after all (for a second round pick they used to select Tommy Vannelli; currently playing in the WHL).  That may come as little solace to fans, but it’s worth remembering.  For Ottawa, they have Tobias Lindberg left from dealing the big goaltender.

Amelia also mentions the prospective call-up of Buddy Robinson, who other than being 6’5 has no real reason to appear.  I’d much rather see Cole Schneider if a forward is being recalled, but that seems unlikely (in part due to the waiver situation).

Speaking of the deadline, the folks over at The Silver Seven offered their thoughts and there was one point in particular I wanted to echo:

The most surprising move of the day for me was Despres for Lovejoy. Lovejoy is worse, older, and more expensive (though Despres will become more expensive when he becomes an RFA in 2016). If the Penguins truly think they have too many good, young defencemen, why trade for an old defenceman? I can’t help but think that not trading at all would’ve been better than Lovejoy as a return.

Prospect update (players signed are in green, those for whom decisions must be made this year are in red).  It’s worth pointing out that Ben Harpur has had only 9 points in his last 30 games, so his numbers are inflated by a very hot start.  The Swedish league has just entered its playoffs, while the BCHL is already in the midst of the post-season.

SHL (Sweden)
Mikael Wikstrand (DOB 1993, DL, 7-196/12, Frolunda) 46-5-15-20
No points in his last game; he finishes 14th in overall scoring by a defenseman (13th in PPG among players with more than 20 games played)
Andreas Englund (DOB 1996, DL, 2-40/14, Djurgarden) 49-2-3-5
No points in his last two games
Marcus Hogberg (DOB 1994, GL, 3-78/13, Linkoping) 12-11-4 2.30 .917
He’s 0-0-2 since last time; he finishes 10th in GAA and 8th in save percentage

CHL
Francis Perron (DOB 1996, C/LW, 7-190/14, QMJHL, Rouyn-Noranda) 59-25-47-72
Five points in his last three games, putting him to 23rd in overall scoring
Tobias Lindberg (DOB 1995, C/RW, 4-102/13, OHL, Oshawa) 61-28-42-70
One point in his last two games, dropping him to 22nd in overall scoring
Nick Paul (DOB 1995, LW, 4-101/13 Dallas, OHL, North Bay) 53-34-28-62
Three points in his last three games; up to 34th in overall scoring
Vincent Dunn (DOB 1995, CL, 5-138/13, QMJHL, Rimouski) 46-19-13-32
No points in his last game
Ben Harpur (DOB 1995, DL, 4-108/13, OHL, Guelph/Barrie) 53-5-24-29
One point in his last three games
Miles Gendron (DOB 1996, DL, 3-70/14, BCHL, Penticton) 54-5-12-17
Has three points in four games in the playoffs

NCAA
Quentin Shore (DOB 1994, C/RW, 6-168/13, U Denver) 33-9-12-21
No points in his last two games
Robbie Baillargeon (DOB 1993, CR, 5-136/12, Boston U) 22-2-11-13
Has not played since last time
Shane Eiserman (DOB 1995, LW, 4-100/14, U New Hampshire) 31-4-9-13
No points in his last two games
Kelly Summers (DOB 1996, DR, 7-189/14, Clarkson) 33-6-4-10
No points in his last two games
Chris Leblanc (DOB 1993, RW, 6-161/13, Merrimack) 27-5-4-9
No points in his last two games

NCAA-III
Tim Boyle (DOB 1993, DR, 4-106/12, Endicott) 18-3-8-11
His season is over

I’ll be posting my usual interesting-prospects-in-Europe article at some point, but as a teaser here are some interesting 24 and under players who might attract NHL interest (they are organised by league; for the issues of comparing stats in Europe to production elsewhere, I wrote about it here):

Toni Rajala RW/LW DOB 91 4-101/09 Edm 5’10 SHL 31-14-13-27
The former Oiler prospect has already established himself as a PPG player in the AHL; after a brief stint in the KHL he produced at about the same clip in the SHL; he’s undersized and has been dumped by one organisation already, but given how dysfunctional Edmonton is I’m not sure it’s a true black mark; I suspect he’d be given an opportunity elsewhere, but Rajala may not want to come back to North America to play in the minors so soon

Tim Heed D DOB 91 5-132/10 Ana 6’0 SHL 50-10-27-37
Another former draft pick, he enjoyed a breakout season right after Anaheim’s rights to him expired, finishing second in scoring by a blueliner behind former free agent wunderkind Cory Murphy (but ahead of him in PPG); he’s also tops among the 24 and under crowd (including forwards), so there’s a lot of reasons for teams to approach him

Kristian Nakyva D DOB 90 6’0 SHL 55-10-19-29
Brought over from the Liiga after three strong seasons, he posted similar numbers in the SHL (a better league) and finished fifth in scoring by a defenseman; I’m not sure if his numbers are remarkable enough to be signed, particularly given that he doesn’t have typical NHL size, but it remains a possibility; he’s someone I identified back in 2013

Joel Lassinantti G DOB 93 5’9 SHL 1.88 .928
The diminutive goaltender might still be draft eligible (I get a bit fuzzy about the European rules as they vary from league to league), assuming he’s not eligible he’s 2nd in GAA and save percentage, so the only thing holding him back is his size

Lino Martschini RW DOB 93 5’6 NLA 50-23-24-47
At just 5’6 I’m not sure what it will take to get the opportunity to cross the pond; he’s 1st among 24 and under players and 4th in overall scoring; it took Mats Zuccarello (who is about the same size) leading the SHL in scoring and a successful Olympic experience to get his shot with the Rangers, but even then he left the team for the KHL for part of a season before becoming fully established

Inti Pestoni RW DOB 91 5’8 NLA 30-9-15-24
Passed over in the draft largely due to his size (a common theme), he’s put up good numbers in an injury-shortened season–currently 2nd in PPGs among 24 and under; I suspect his size will keep him off the radar again this year and that he’ll need a bigger season to overcome that

Joonas Donskoi RW/LW DOB 92 4-99/10 Flo 6’0 Liiga 54-17-28-45
The Panthers never signed the Finn who enjoyed a breakout season with Karpat (fifth in overall scoring); the Finnish league is a good league, but not on the level of the Swedish (Eric Perrin leads the Liiga in scoring); the numbers are still significant enough to get noticed and as a former draft pick teams can much more easily assess the risk of signing him

Markus Hannikainen LW DOB 93 6’2 Liiga 55-18-25-43
I think he may still be eligible for the draft (see above), but assuming he’s not eligible, he’s 9th in overall scoring and 2nd in the 24 and under group (behind Donskoi above); his numbers might be getting inflated by teammates Perrin and Jani Tuppurainen, so that’s something for GMs to consider

Charles Bertrand LW/RW DOB 91 6’1 Liiga 55-12-28-40
The Frenchmen is in the midst of a true breakout season with Sport, sitting at 13th in overall scoring and 3rd amongst the 24 and under crowd; not only are these career numbers for him, but he’s also doing it on a talent-deprived team, so he should earn some looks from scouts if nothing else

Eetu Laurikainen G DOB 93 6’0 Liiga1.98 .936
The former Swift Current Bronco sailed through the draft as a WHL backstop, but has had a remarkable season back in Finland where he’s 6th in GAA and 2nd in save percentage; a bit undersized, Finnish goaltenders have a well-deserved reputation for technique that might overcome that objection, so I could see him signed

Yasin Ehliz RW DOB 92 5’10 DEL 48-11-34-45
The German league is not generally a place where free agents are signed, but it does happen occasionally; Ehliz has his size against him, but he’s made good progress in the DEL; he’s 13th in league scoring and 1st among players 24 and under

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 9, 2015
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

The Sens only received one call (link) on deadline day and turned down the offer for Erik Condra.  If there’s a clearer sign of how poorly valued their aging vets are, I don’t know what it is, but I suppose no deals is better than bad deals.  There were plenty of bad deals in the league and it was amusing to see the moribund Cory Conacher moved (presumably for Utica’s playoff run).

Another thing the deadline has illustrated is that Bryan Murray was not swayed in his understanding of the team by Andrew Hammond & Co.’s current hot streak.  He made no attempt to augment the group, so clearly he knows that the team needs changes.  Unfortunately, Murray is responsible for many of the problems on the roster, so I’m not sure he’s the man to fix them.

Prospect update (players signed are in green, those for whom decisions must be made this year are in red).  Last week I posted profiles of Tobias Lindberg and Mikael Wikstrand, so check them out if you missed them.

SHL (Sweden)
Mikael Wikstrand (DOB 1993, DL, 7-196/12, Frolunda) 45-5-15-20
Two points in his last three games
Andreas Englund (DOB 1996, DL, 2-40/14, Djurgarden) 47-2-3-5
One point in his last three games
Marcus Hogberg (DOB 1994, GL, 3-78/13, Linkoping) 12-11-2 2.31 .918
He’s 1-1-0 since last time, with no significant change in his underlying numbers

CHL
Tobias Lindberg (DOB 1995, C/RW, 4-102/13, OHL, Oshawa) 59-27-42-69
Four points in his last three games, pushing him to 20th in overall scoring
Francis Perron (DOB 1996, C/LW, 7-190/14, QMJHL, Rouyn-Noranda) 56-24-43-67
One point in his last three games, dropping him to 26th in overall scoring
Nick Paul (DOB 1995, LW, 4-101/13 Dallas, OHL, North Bay) 50-33-26-59
Five points in his last three games; up to 36th in overall scoring
Vincent Dunn (DOB 1995, CL, 5-138/13, QMJHL, Rimouski) 45-19-13-32
Four points in his last three games
Ben Harpur (DOB 1995, DL, 4-108/13, OHL, Guelph/Barrie) 50-5-23-28
No points in his last three games
Miles Gendron (DOB 1996, DL, 3-70/14, BCHL, Penticton) 54-5-12-17
No points in his last two games

NCAA
Quentin Shore (DOB 1994, C/RW, 6-168/13, U Denver) 31-9-12-21
One point in his last two games
Robbie Baillargeon (DOB 1993, CR, 5-136/12, Boston U) 22-2-11-13
One point in his last two games
Shane Eiserman (DOB 1995, LW, 4-100/14, U New Hampshire) 29-4-9-13
One point in his last two games
Kelly Summers (DOB 1996, DR, 7-189/14, Clarkson) 31-6-4-10
No points in his last two games
Chris Leblanc (DOB 1993, RW, 6-161/13, Merrimack) 25-5-4-9
No points in his last two games

NCAA-III
Tim Boyle (DOB 1993, DR, 4-106/12, Endicott) 18-3-8-11
I believe his season is over

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 2, 2015
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment