The Sens have two PTOs in camp, so let’s take a look at them.
Nikolay Kulemin, LW, 38, 2-44/06
23-24 KHL 46-13-12-25 0.54
22-23 KHL 68-13-15-28 0.41
The 38-year old hasn’t played a full season in the NHL since 2016-17 and I have no idea why, after six years in the KHL, he’s decided on this gambit. Perhaps it’s an effort to showcase himself (likely as much to Europe as the NHL itself). Staios (2012-15) and Poulin (2009-14) know him from their days in Toronto, so whether this is simply a favour to him or they are seriously considering signing him is hard to say (I’d hope the former).
Calen Addison, DR, 24, 2-55/18
23-24 Min/SJ 72-1-16-17 0.23
22-23 Min 62-3-26-29 0.46
After a solid year with the Wild (albeit not defensively), he was flipped to San Jose early last season and the Sharks choose not to qualify him. He’s an undersized, right shot defenseman who has to produce to be effective. When the worst team in the league (San Jose) doesn’t want you, it’s not a good sign, but who knows what the org will do? With Staios, Poulin, and many other parts of the Sens org attached to gut feelings and personal attachments over statistics, it’s hard to know what they will do.
With The Athletic‘s Ian Mendes and Le Droit‘s Sylvain St-Laurent joining the org, there’s no meaningful press coverage of the team anymore (granting that Mendes’ coverage had degraded considerably, presumably as part of his successful effort to ingratiate himself (cf) with Andlauer). This comes in conjunction with the fan sphere getting worse, as Nichols’ continues his sojourn into objectivity oblivion. Most of those remaining who cover the team have agreed to attend ‘influencer’ gatherings held by the club. Participating in things like this is always a terrible idea, as it destroys the idea of objective commentary (the hilarious Rings of Power folks above are simply one of the funnier examples of it)–this kind of thing occurs everywhere, from video games, film and television, to embedded journalists in the military (cf). If you want to remain an independent voice you have to say ‘no’ to events like this (along with gifts and other perks). I don’t think The Silver Seven or other fan sites care about that one way or another (they simply want access and, perhaps, a pat on the head from the establishment), but I wish they did (the long departed Jeremy Milks might not have had the most insightful coverage of the team, but I never doubted that his opinions were his own). The entire sphere of fan coverage seems to be shrinking (with Youtube being a better place for it), perhaps echoing the general shrinkage of sport overall (cf).
This article was written by Peter Levi
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