I don’t normally post twice in a day, but the Sens continue to make comical decisions.  Anyone who doesn’t understand why trading Shane Prince for a 3rd-round pick is a bad idea needs their head examined, but for those looking to have it spelled out Nichols is here for you.  Am I surprised by the move?  Absolutely not–it’s completely consistent with how the organisation does things.

As frustrating as the above is (and it’s a terrible move), I was much more amused by the minor league trade that sent Conor Allen to Nashville in exchange for Finnish forward Michael Keranen.  The Finn was a European free agent signed by Minnesota last season after a career year in the Liiga with Ilves.  His offensive numbers didn’t translate as hoped (this season he’s the fourth or fifth most productive forward for Iowa), although they’re certainly good enough to help Binghamton (his contract ends this year and I think there’s no chance he’ll be retained).  My interest is less about Keranen and more about Allen going the other way.

I wasn’t impressed when Allen was acquired from Nashville for Patrick Mullen, and my surmise at the time about his limitations certainly panned out–Pierre Dorian looks a little silly having said this at the time:

In Conor Allen, we’ve added a hard, competitive player who has ability. He’s played NHL games in the past and provides us additional organization depth

Get it?  He was good in the corners–the only criteria that seems to matter.  However, the organisation revised its impression in less than two months and it must have been bad indeed for them to throw him away for a rental like Keranen, particularly given how lousy the BSens blueline is.  In essence the BSens have traded two defensemen in Mullen and Allen for 21 games of Keranen (who himself is a rental).  Utterly bizarre, but fitting for what has been an abominable season (I wonder if the move has something to do with the number of veteran contracts they have, but still, what does adding a bunch of 25-26 year old forwards really do for Binghamton this season?).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 29, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

A lot of Sens fans (myself included) enjoyed a good chuckle when they heard that Jared Cowen was waived by Toronto.  This is the beginning of the end for the former first-round pick, a player we now know was carried by Jared Spurgeon when he was drafted and has ridden his size through his fruitless NHL career.  Rest in peace.

The BSens made a poor trade with Buffalo as Tim Murray happily fleeced them of Cole Schneider (along with Eric O’Dell, Michael Sdao, and Alex Guptill).  In return the BSens get a pair of undersized 25-year old reliable AHL-scorers (Jason Akeson and Phil Varone), along with failed blueline prospect Jerome Gauthier-Leduc.  All three players have their contracts up at the end of the season, but there’s no reason to doubt that local boy Akeson will be kept.  In essence the Sens gave up on Schneider, who is the only real prospect among all this minor league confetti, and in return get a player who maybe is a bit better than O’Dell (maybe)–there’s also a potential 7th-round pick for Ottawa if Schneider plays at least three NHL games.  I agree with Nichols that all-in-all there’s not much to get upset about here, but it bothers me when the team gives up on talented players and gets nothing in return.  With Schneider gone, Nick Paul and Ryan Dzingel in Ottawa, and Tobias Lindberg traded, the cupboard is truly bare.

You know we live in a funny world when we’re worrying about what Mark Borowiecki thinks about Erik Karlsson.  Nichols spends way too much time on this, but the key point is this:

But, is Mark Borowiecki truly held accountable for his play on the ice?  To borrow a phrase from Daniel Alfredsson, probably not.

No he’s not, but the organisation reinforces his delusions.

Regular readers have noticed I haven’t been posting my game-by-game breakdowns for both Binghamton and Evansville and for those who aren’t away I stopped because there’s simply not enough interest for me to invest my time in it (it has been suggested that I set up a patreon to do it, but until I hear from more people I’ll leave it be).  I will continue to post updates on both teams from time-to-time.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 29, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 5 Comments