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)
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