Ottawa signed Johnny Oduya, the kind of depth move you make when pushing for a Stanley Cup–this fits what the org thinks it’s doing, but makes little sense outside that bubble. I don’t mind the addition so long as it means a subtraction, but who are they really going to move? The primary benefit I see is that it means it’s more likely that Tomas Chabot is given time to grow in Belleville (albeit, as a realist, the Sens have shown no patience with North American prospects, so he’ll likely be in Ottawa sooner than later).
Speaking of the roster, where are we at with Andrew Hammond? I feel like he’s hit Christoph Schubert limbo (09) where the team was only able to shift him through waivers (Oct.2) to hapless Atlanta–sadly, Don Waddell isn’t a GM anymore, so I’m not sure there’s a sucker dumb enough to do the Sens that favour.
The BSens posted their new logo, which is fine (it’s like the Bruins “B” stamped across a version of the Sens jersey). More importantly, the AHL schedule was released awhile ago and I thought I’d take an early look at it:
76 total games
Division (54 games, 71% of the total schedule)
Laval Rockets (Mtl) 12 games
Toronto Marlies (Tor) 12 games
Binghamton Devils (NJ) 8 games
Rochester Americans (Buf) 8 games
Syracuse Crunch (TB) 8 games
Utica Comets (Van) 6 games
Outside Division (22 games)
Manitoba Moose (Win) 4 games
Charlotte Checkers (Car) 4 games
Hershey, Hartford, Providence, Springfield, Leigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre, Bridgeport 2 each (14)
The franchises division is unchanged outside of location moves (Binghamton to Belleville, St. John’s to Laval, and Albany to Binghamton), which results in a slightly different balance of games against whom. One interesting note is that Belleville starts the season on a 9 game road trip (all their October games are on the road), undoubtedly so improvements to the arena can be finished.
There’s still no ECHL affiliate announcement and at this point one seems unlikely. As it stands only two franchises currently have no affiliation outside of declared independent Fort Wayne (Adirondack and Tulsa). If the Sens choose not to have an affiliate they are not alone, as six other NHL clubs also have none announced.
Speaking of the ECHL, former Sens pick Robbie Baillargeon (5-136/12) signed with South Carolina (the Washington affiliate).
The Rangers signed goaltender Alexandar Georgiyev (who I included on my list of free agents months ago–he’s the seventh off that particular list and possibly the last from it to go), while Chicago signed goaltender Collin Delia. Since I posted the big list of signed free agents over a month ago, they are the second and third added to it (putting us at 21 players from Europe, 23 from the NCAA, and 6 from NA junior hockey)–the Rangers lead the pack with 7 such signings, followed by San Jose with 5; no other team has more than 3, with 23 of 31 franchises signing at least one.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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eyeonthesens 
According to Wichita’s coach, the Sens are still affiliated with the Thunder. Just in an unofficial capacity now. Apparently they’re expected to provide a goalie and a few positional players to the team.
That’s interesting as, at least officially, Wichita is now Edmonton’s affiliate, but the Sens have to send their players *somewhere*
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