In just-Dorion-things: the team lost their most talented AHL-prospect in Lassi Thomson for nothing on waivers (a move that does nothing to help the cap situation). Thomson was the only meaningful remainder from the Matt Duchene trade, which made him the only meaningful return for Bowen Byram. There’s no guarantee the affable 23-year old Finn is going to become a good NHLer–maybe he’s another Christian Wolanin or Max Lajoie (both currently on two-ways in Vancouver and Toronto respectively), but at least the team got something back in those cases (current Vegas Knight Michael Amadio and the scrapheap/two-way Flame known as Clark Bishop). Among pro-blueline prospects, Thomson was the best puck mover in their system (cf), so it’s difficult to express how stupid this was on Dorion’s part. You have to wonder if the Toure signing was made in preparation for putting Thomson on waivers, given that they play the same side (cf), although there’s no comparing their talent (as I said in the link above, I suspect Toure‘s contract will be considered a problem within ~2 years). It’s a suitably botched ending to the last piece of the Duchene deal and a lovely accent on Dorion’s self-created problems.
Dorion has received no criticism from the local media for losing Thomson (Mendes included), but he is getting pushback on the fact that Shane Pinto remains unsigned (the Sens hilarious recent offer was revealed by Elliotte Friedman and that has finally forced some criticism). While the Mendes article is a mixed bag (Mathieu Joseph‘s contract is the problem), one interesting thing brought up is that there’s a limit to how much you can bury in the AHL (which is probably why so many teams magically get players on IR whenever inconvenienced by the cap): 1.15 million. I had thought Del Zotto‘s retirement freed up space, but no one has echoed that so apparently not. You also have to ask yourself what roster player makes that amount of money (or more) that you could bury–the answeris the aforementioned Joseph or Travis Hamonic, neither of whom is likely to get that treatment. It could also be a duo (neither Parker Kelly or Jacob Bernard-Docker are NHL players in my opinion), but is Dorion willing to do that? This is a mess of his own making, so we’ll see.
Pre-season mostly serves to eliminate players rather than reward them, but based on performance and media chatter (as in, the local media that largely serves as Dorion’s mouthpiece, but also including some others) through five of eight games has made a few judgements (excluding the established players). Who stood out? Roby Jarventie and Jiri Smejkal. The former is no surprise and I’ve been a fan of the talented Finn throughout. Smejkal, at his age, should be doing well in pre-season, although how much this really means remains an open question (I don’t think Jarventie is in the NHL barring a trade or injury, as Dorion has too many one-ways to make room for him and more developing wouldn’t hurt). On the opposite side, while he hasn’t been bad, no one is praising PTO Josh Bailey. Without roster moves there was no way for him to make the team anyway so I think his time with the team is simply as a showcase for the league.
As long expected Steve Staios, who has deep ties to Andlauer, has been hired as team president. I see this as the grim reaper knocking on Pierre Dorion’s future. I don’t expect head office moves to be made soon, but a poor start or missing the playoffs will put a merciful end to the Dorion-era.
The Sens have signed Tarun Fizer to an AHL-contract, which is a credit to him and the most he could have hoped for from camp. There’s not a lot of room in Belleville (as we’ll get into in my BSens preview), but the talent on the roster has gaps so he has opportunities.
Speaking of the BSens, their camp has opened. Let’s briefly look at the roster, including the extra bodies floating around. ELCs assigned: Crookshank, Currie (vet), Daoust, Fizer (AHL-deal), McPhee (AHL-deal), Pilon (vet), Saulnier (AHL-deal); Heatherington (vet), MacKinnon (AHL-deal), Sebrango, Toure; Merilainen, Sinclair (AHL-deal). The invites:
Grant Hebert, CL, DOB 1997, 22-23 ECHL 37-8-18-26
The former NCAA center is looking for an ECHL deal if he doesn’t already have one
Mikael Robidoux, RW, DOB 1999, ECHL 42-9-7-16
QMJHLer is a fighter in the ECHL and that’s all he’ll be focused on
Ryan Gagnon, DR, DOB 1996, ECHL 72-4-5-9
Canadian University grad played with Hebert and can only play physical
Eric Williams, DR, DOB 1995, ECHL 16-2-2-4/AHL 9-0-0-0
Former NCAAer has become a fairly effective ECHL player who has had cups of coffee in the AHL (35 games)
These are all older warm bodies to fill out the lineup, as the BSens roster is overflowing with players (cf) and none of the above address a missing need (the primary need is skill, especially on the blueline).
This article was written by Peter Levi
eyeonthesens 