-The Sens roster for tonight’s game against Toronto has been released and the lines are: Michalek-Spezza-Ryan, Greening-Zibanejad-Neil, Prince-Pageau-Petersson, Kassian-Grant-Schneider; Karlsson-Methot, Claesson-Wiercioch, Wideman-Phillips; Anderson will get the start, with Lawson playing a period.  The Leafs feature: Raymond-Bolland-Kulemin, Broll-Kadri-Abbott, Van Riemsdyk-Colborne-Clarkson, Devane-McClement-Ashton; Percy-Phaneuf, Gunnarrsson-Marshall, Rielly-Ranger; Bernier gets the start.

–Bobby Ryan repeatedly says there are no hard feelings towards former coach Randy Carlyle and that whatever friction once existed was all part of his maturation process.

–Nichols transcribes Bryan Murray’s latest interview on The Team 1200 and there isn’t much to take from it save the following comments:

We’ve got a couple young guys that are just starting – they’ve played part of one year or a full year in the American (Hockey) League only – that look like they’re kicking at the door [this presumably applies to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mark Stone, and Shane Prince]. (Buddy) Robinson looks like he is a candidate. He’ll probably have to start (in the minors) at this point, but he sure looks like a player to me so… There are is a good number of young people here that are going to play games at some point during this year. You want players to have the chance to play in the National Hockey League and it’s not fair to hold people back after you’ve worked with them and they’ve worked really hard within your organization to be recognized and become members. But, because of numbers, you can’t do it for them right now. It would be very hard to lose them, but we’ll try to do what’s right for the organization and then hopefully, if it doesn’t work out for an individual, hopefully get him to a place where he gets a chance to play in the league.

It sounds like an acknowledgement that the logjam at forward will ultimately be resolved by player moves, as well as confirming that Robinson (and likely all of the other names bandied about) will start the year in Binghamton.  Nichols references Murray not getting much back if he has to move a player, the reasoning for which comes from the quote here:

The GM [Murray] said he’d look to trade these guys for a ‘soft pick’ and look for teams that may have injuries, or where they may address a need

Travis Yost (the link above) speculates the most likely candidate to be moved is Stephane Da Costa and I have to agree.  He was a late signee and Binghamton is brimming over with forwards.  I’m not sure how much value he has as trade bait, but definitely more than the other waiver-eligible players on the roster.

–Travis talks about how much he likes Kyle Turris‘ contract and in the midst of that posits these points which I fully agree with:

This is one or more of: (a) textbook late-bloomer; (b) a player more comfortable in a new, expanded role; (c) a player maybe misused in his previous role; (d) a player who decided to grow-up.

–Darryl Dobbs looks at roster battles in the Eastern Conference and hits the nail on the head for Ottawa:

J-G Pageau vs. the numbers game

–Brian McGrattan unintentionally explains one of the reasons why enforcers are a dying breed:

I’m always willing, it’s just that there’s not anybody willing to fight me.

If he runs out of dance partners, what will he do?

–Ryan Kennedy writes about the non-suspension of Jordan Nolan and gives us this chestnut:

But could he not have at least let up a little bit, still separating Klesla from the puck, but not from the Czech’s senses? I’ll let an expert on the subject weigh in: Raffi Torres

I love that that’s who Ryan turned too–the guy with every reason in the world to tell people no one has any choice when it comes to making hits (it’s a great example of confirmation bias, cf Mark Parisi yesterday).  There’s no point in browbeating Kennedy on the subject, but it’s worth bringing up his sentiment because it’s so common in hockey media.  The way to get hits like this out of the game is to suspend them heavily–they will disappear overnight.

-Elmira news: they’ve signed defenseman Dylan Quaile, who played for them briefly last year after finishing his CIS career; they also signed Alexandre Carrier, a QMJHL tough guy who spent last season in Trenton (after a year of pummeling players in tier-2 Austria).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 19, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa defeated Calgary 4-2 in a pre-season game no one saw.  I’m not sure why the marketing geniuses that work for Ottawa, Calgary, and the NHL can’t figure out that it’s worthwhile to show the games (even if only by streaming it online).  Alas!  Prospects scored all the goals for the Sens (Buddy Robinson is working on his Brandon Bochenski award) and Michael Sdao had to fight twice after delivering a big hit–not that anyone has seen either the hit or the fights.

-The Sens had their first cuts at camp, sending Chris Driedger, Francois Brassard, Ben Harpur, and Vincent Dunn back to junior; there’s nothing surprising about the moves.

-Speaking of junior age prospects, Curtis Lazar signed his ELC.

-A number of stories have appeared discussing which Sens prospects are not waiver exempt (Cory Conacher, Eric Gryba, Mike Hoffman, Stephane Da Costa, and David Dziurzynski), wondering how it will impact roster decisions.  I think the simple answer is not much, at least to start the season.  The Sens have a bloated NHL roster which I think already includes Conacher and Gryba; the other three players will sail through to Binghamton along with dozens of other players.  The threat of a waiver claim is much larger during the season and that could impact call-ups, but that’s about the only impact I foresee.

–Mark Parisi writes an interesting piece about how fans scapegoat players, but includes a defence of Matt Kassian which doesn’t make a lot of sense.  It’s too bad, because Mark’s general point about how fans indulge in confirmation bias when looking at players is spot on.  Unfortunately, Kassian doesn’t fit the criteria.  Kassian does one thing: he fights–that’s all he brings to the table.  Most people who object to Kassian do so under the belief that his skill set doesn’t belong in the NHL and his roster spot is better used–which is an entirely different kind of criticism.  Even in the context of enforcers he’s not really established (Minnesota buried him in the AHL for the bulk of his five and a half seasons there).  Part of me wonders if Parisi simply picked Kassian to provoke a reaction.  I wish he’d picked someone like Chris Phillips who, despite incredibly positive coverage in the media, is often a lightning rod for criticism among the fanbase.

–Amelia L writes an excellent piece about Bryan Murray (perhaps spurred on by Jeremy Milks‘ blog a few days ago), looking at his time with Ottawa and his background (although I don’t see the link between his handling of Paul Kariya/Paul Coffey/etc and Daniel Alfredsson‘s departure–none of the other moves involved murky finances).

–Peter Morrow joins the endless list of would-be Hockey’s Future writers attempting to cover the Sens (replacing, I presume, Jason Menard).  He gives us the updated list of the Sens top-20 prospects according to HF:

1. Mika Zibanejad
2. Robin Lehner
3. Curtis Lazar
4. Cory Conacher
5. Cody Ceci
6. Patrick Wiercioch
7. Mark Borowiecki
8. Jean-Gabriel Pageau
9. Matt Puempel
10. Chris Driedger
11. Mark Stone
12. Shane Prince
13. Mike Hoffman
14. Fredrik Claesson
15. Stephane Da Costa
16. Derek Grant
17. Marcus Hogberg
18. Andre Petersson
19. Mikael Wikstrand
20. Vincent Dunn

I won’t get picky about the order of the players here, but there’s one comment I’ll address: Peter suggests Borowiecki could wind up in the lineup, but without a trade I don’t see that happening this season (presumably he’d be replacing Gryba).

-Here’s my updated look at post-lockout AHL Success Stories.

–ESPN continues “expert” rankings, this time looking at forwards: Jason Spezza clocks in at #33, Kyle Turris #68, Milan Michalek #71, and Mika Zibanejad #94.  Yes folks, there’s no Bobby Ryan (but Chris Kunitz is #44!).

-Some Elmira news: the Jackals signed CIS grad Justin Gova; the winger spent five seasons at Guelph where he was a very productive player.  The Jackals now have ten players signed along with three on PTOs.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 18, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-As expected, Jared Cowen re-signed with Sens, inking a four-year deal with a 3.1 cap hit.  It’s a reasonable deal for both sides (I agree with Travis Yost that the money is largely based on projection rather than his body of work) and suits the Sens internal budget as his numbers essentially replace Chris Phillips’ once the Big Rig is gone.

-I missed yesterday’s pre-season game against Winnipeg (a 3-1 win for Ottawa; here are The Raaymaker‘s thoughts along with a few comments from Yost), but caught some of the post-game on The Team 1200 and was struck by a line Paul MacLean gave that Yost wound up Tweeting afterwards:

Smith and Condra very good .. Kassian didn’t hurt us at all

That’s the bar for Kassian–not that he helped the team, not that he was an asset, simply that he didn’t hurt the team.  That, folks, is the essence of a modern enforcer in today’s NHL.

–Don Brennan adds to the off-season story of Andre Petersson (previous material is here) via Bryan Murray:

He [Petersson] indicated to me that watching the call-ups that came up and got a chance to play important roles here (last year) was a big message to him. “(He said) ‘I just want a chance to do that, too.” I said to him, injuries and your performance have really not allowed us to benefit from drafting you. He told me that he was going to do everything in his power to get ready for this year, come to camp and show us that he was a player. And he’s done that, for the most part. The other question I had was, what happens if you don’t make the team. Are you going to sulk? Are you going to go down there and complain about not getting a chance? He said ‘absolutely not.’ Whatever decision is made at the time, he will live with. but he wants to prove to us that he’s legitimate, and going to be an NHL player down the road. And he looks like an NHL player, there’s no doubt about it.

Petersson himself said:

I just want to get off to a good start this season, show my best to the management. I don’t know where I’m at right now. I feel on the ice I’m way better than I was last year, in the beginning. Now I know I can take a hit, and I can skate 100%. I’ll take it from there. I feel this is a new start for me, this year. I feel like I know what I’ve got to do, to be as skilled as I can be.

What’s interesting to me about all this (beyond the obvious) is how quickly management can sour on a player.  He was second on the team in scoring in 11-12 as a rookie and received an NHL call-up that season, but clearly there were some underlying issues that belied the numbers which made it easy for Murray to dismiss him after his injury-shortened year.  I think Petersson‘s main issues going forward are his defensive work and producing consistently–he’ll never be a fourth-line player so has to produce enough to play in the top-nine.

–THN has slowly and painfully previewing the entire league and finally reached Ottawa, predicting them to finish third in their division.  Here’s their reasoning:

Despite serious injuries to cornerstone players Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, the Senators surprised much of the hockey world last season with a stellar performance. All three of those contributors have pronounced themselves healthy for this year – and they will get to play alongside former Ducks winger Bobby Ryan, Ottawa’s big summertime addition, as well as improving youngsters Kyle Turris and Mika Zibanejad. The Sens also signed former Leafs winger Clarke MacArthur to improve their depth on the wing, especially in the wake of Daniel Alfredsson’s shocking departure for Detroit. But perhaps the biggest reason to like Ottawa’s chances (other than their coach and last season’s Jack Adams winner Paul MacLean) is their quality of goaltending. With veteran Craig Anderson and youngster Robin Lehner patrolling their pipes, the Sens arguably have the best one-two punch in the league and could use one of them in a mid-season trade to improve their fortunes in another area.

The loss of former captain Alfredsson could lead to a leadership and/or emotional void in the Sens’ dressing room, but the bigger concern for Ottawa lies in the health of the stars who missed large amounts of time last season. Of the three, Spezza’s health is most worrisome; he’s missed at least 20 games in three of the past four seasons, is now 30 years old and coming off surgeries to his knee and back. Compounding that issue is the internal salary cap ceiling Sens owner Eugene Melnyk has placed on his franchise. If there’s ever a need for an injury replacement, GM Bryan Murray will be forced to look within the organization. And after the Ryan trade that sent Jacob Silfverberg and Stefan Noesen to Anaheim, there’s less depth for him to lean on.

Last year, Ottawa excelled despite the fact all of its key players were hit with the injury bug. Because of this, it’s hard to say if the Sens would still have been a playoff team after 82 games. Surely they couldn’t deal as well with that much bad luck again – and in a different format that provides stiff intra-division competition no less. The big guys have to stay healthy, namely new captain Spezza. If they do, Ottawa could prove itself a force.

There’s not much analysis here (it’s mostly a summary of what’s happened), but THN echoes a common them that the Sens should benefit from coaching (something I think has limited value in terms of wins and losses) and goaltending.  I don’t think Anderson‘s goaltending numbers from last season are sustainable, but the position is a strength.  I put no stock at all in the Sens suffering from an “emotional void” in the absence of Alfredsson, but injuries are a major concern and anyone who thinks that either Spezza or Michalek are going to play full seasons are delusional (each has only managed one in their last four).  I disagree that Ottawa has shed too much depth in acquiring Ryan, but they don’t have a player of Silfverberg‘s caliber to call-up this season.

–ESPN ranks goaltenders (via unnamed “experts” grading them from 1 to 10) and Craig Anderson is 7th, behind Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Tuukka Rask, Sergei Bobrovsky (!), Pekka Rinne, and Jimmy Howard.

-Ottawa named Jason Spezza as their new captain.  The captaincy is not something I get worked up about, but it provided a ton of fodder around the blogosphere.

–Travis writes a long and engaging look at Marc Methot‘s Corsi numbers in the context of both a conversation with the player and the larger context of the numbers themselves (compared to a team’s overall numbers, his partners, and his matchups).

-Here’s my updated look at CHL and CIS NHL success stories.

–JP Nikota does a great job of illustrating how simple stats (time of possession) correlate to Corsi and Fenwick (he’s doing it in a Leafs context, but it’s well worth reading).  He concludes:

it looks as though Fenwick and Corsi numbers mirror TOA so closely that it’s no longer really worth tracking

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 16, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

–Scott considers Cory Conacher‘s place on the roster and believes his high shooting percentage makes him second line material.  I think the sample size (and even the theory) are a little weak, but it’s food for thought.

–Travis Yost ponders the potential lineup for the Sens (admitting early guesses are likely going to be off the mark).  Beyond the obvious Michalek-Spezza-Ryan unit, he has Conacher-Turris-MacArthur as the second line (I agree with Travis that Conacher could easily be replaced by another player), Greening-Smith-Neil returning as the third (I wasn’t a big fan of this line last season, but clearly MacLean likes it), and finally Pageau-Zibanejad-Condra (Travis worries about Pageau on the fourth line, but it’s worth remembering that’s where he started in Binghamton last season).  Notably excluded from this lineup is pressbox regulars Matt Kassian and Jim O’Brien.

–Bruce Garrioch offers up five players to watch in training camp: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mark Borowiecki, Shane Prince, Cody Ceci, and Mike Hoffman.  These aren’t radical choices, but there are a pair of tidbits worth mentioning: 1) Tim Murray called Prince the “most talented” player at the rookie tournament, 2) Hoffman is waiver-eligible.  The latter makes it very unlikely that he’ll suit up with the roster other than as an injury replacement (not that I thought he would crack the forward lineup anyway given how many one-way contracts Ottawa has at forward).

–Jeremy Milks writes an entertaining piece about Bryan Murray’s tenure as GM of the Sens.  The best part are his comments on Eugene Melnyk:

Contrast that with Murray’s more volatile boss, owner Eugene Melnyk, who not only conducts himself much differently in public and elicits direct anger from the fans, but is arguably Bryan Murray’s biggest headache these days.  The latest in an increasing number of very public fiascos was Melnyk going on Toronto sports radio yesterday (as he always does, virtually ignoring the local Team 1200 in the process) and attacking Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and deputy mayor Steve Desroches for a perceived unfairness in the casino process. He’s claiming losses of close to a $100 million dollars the past decade and doesn’t know how the team will “survive”. Coincidentally, his President Cyril Leeder abruptly resigned from every city board he could think of, which is very unlike Leeder, who is well-known for his commitment to the community. There are also hints the Senators won’t be involved civically in the future (outside of charities) unless Watson and his fellow martians start playing ball with the team.  Before that it was a potpourri of ugliness, from forensic investigations into Matt Cooke’s skate slicing of Erik Karlsson, a public battle over bonus money with former star Dany Heatley, unproven allegations of shaky finances, a drastically reduced team budget and the Alfredsson affair which turned sour after a promise of fair money to the franchise icon was broken by the organization, at least according to Alfie himself.  Melnyk granted the Ottawa Citizen an interview and, in my view, disparaged the character of the city’s favourite adopted son in a see-through pre-emptive strike before Alfredsson’s first local news conference. Melnyk was still angry and defiant an entire month later, which seems to be his most defining characteristic lately. Meanwhile, Melnyk is out there spitting venom. Let’s be honest here. We’re all just waiting for him to mutter the familiar words “move the team” any day now, aren’t we?

-Some Elmira bookkeeping: Andrew Rowe was signed by Hartford (AHL), while the team re-signed Matt Carter and invited three players from their Pro Placement Camp to the main camp: defenseman Scott Morongell (ACHA grad), forward Brett Leonard (spent last season in the FHL), and goaltender Mike McDonald (a tier-2 NCAA grad).  I wouldn’t expect much from the invitees (as a look at last year’s training camp roster illustrates).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 13, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Sens training camp is underway and there are no real surprises in the roster other than the appearance of Scott Greenham (who played with Bakersfield in the ECHL last season along with a cup of coffee in Binghamton; he also attended the Sens rookie camp awhile back).

–Nichols peaks behind ESPN’s paywall to take a look at Corey Pronman’s top-100 prospects.  The following Sens made his list: Cody Ceci (#65), Robin Lehner (#92), and Mark Stone (#99).  Nichols tries to provide explanations for the rankings, which suggests Pronman does not.  I have mixed feelings about Pronman’s analysis, but it’s good enough to be considered if nothing else.

–Jeff Ulmer tries to look ahead at the Binghamton Senators, but he seems a bit behind on Bingo news; he thinks Andre Petersson might not report (Petersson made an impassioned plea to stay), he missed Marc Cheverie signing with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL), speculates that Daniel New will be with the team (we know he’s signed to an AHL-deal), doesn’t know Danny Hobbs is signed, and he thinks Jack Downing will be there (he is attending Boston‘s training camp).  Regardless, it’s a good effort from Jeff and hopefully he’ll continue to provide Binghamton news (I posted my early look at Binghamton over a month ago and nothing has changed enough for an update to it yet).

-It’s clear Eugene Melnyk can’t keep his mouth shut, however much that would help his cause.  He hit the radio to rant about his casino dreams and Nichols provides us all with the transcription (without commentary, which I believe is a first from him).  Here’s a great sense of Melnyk’s inability to put his thoughts together:

Well, the Canadian Tire Centre is the arena – which it was renamed. It used to be called Scotiabank and we renamed it the Canadian Tire Centre. A sign just went up. It looks gorgeous and we’ve got about 80 acres of land there. There was supposed to be… So for seven years, going back to the (Dalton) McGuinty days, I came in and said, ‘You know, if there’s going to a chance, I’d love to build a casino out there (near Scotiabank Place),’ because if you go across the (Ottawa) River from downtown Ottawa maybe fifteen minutes and you’re at Lac Leamy – which is a nice casino. And (McGuinty) said himself, he said, ’90-percent of the (license) plates are (from) Ontario and all the problems come back to our province and (Quebec) gets all of the cash, so we’re very open to this.’ So we started working on a plan and then all a sudden the OLG gets involved and everybody else gets involved and says, ‘This is going to be a big, master plan.’ So, you know, we’re ready. I’ve got casino operators. I’m really a land operator; I’ve got about 80 acres of land around Kanata and the City is growing that way. It’s growing west, west, west. And it’s like Mississauga was 30 years ago. Then, all of a sudden, these guys come out and it was hilarious. People submitted… The OLG, and this is where there is a lot of bull going around… The OLG went to everybody and said, ‘Okay guys, tell us where you don’t want a casino because we’ve got all these submissions and we don’t want to spend hundreds of hours on looking at submissions when you guys aren’t going to approve a casino in this area – like next to a national monument or something.’ So Kingston comes in and they’ve got this little, tiny square in the middle of the town and said, ‘Look, that is the only place that we don’t really want.’ Then you go to Ottawa and (the City) has blacked out the whole city other than (Rideau Carleton Raceway). And I said, ‘You can’t do that – that’s called sole-sourcing.’ It’s illegal, for one. You can’t do it and they go ahead and they try to do it.

Incoherent doesn’t come close to describing this rambling.  The above can be summed up in one sentence: “I planned on having a casino and thought I would get it–that didn’t happen and I’m pissed.”  Regardless, there’s plenty more from the Eug, who complains that there was no bidding process and rants about the mayor not allowing him to compete for it.

No, not me; they owe everybody. Like I said, I don’t care if I win, lose or draw, just do it right. Do a competition

Irrespective of the casino process itself, anyone who thinks Melnyk doesn’t care if he wins needs their head examined.  Here’s a better reflection of what he really thinks:

Bring CFL football back to Ottawa (for) a third time and they gave a $400 million gift of land to a group of insiders there

The Eug would very much like that kind of deal.  As I said awhile ago if Melnyk was still in great financial shape he could have applied real pressure to the political process to help strong-arm himself either the casino or his MLS franchise, but without the money to grease the political process he’s left to whine and complain.  Varada does a great job at taking a serious look at what having a casino means to the city as well as Eugene’s other statements (I highly recommend reading it, not just for the article itself, but for comments from Travis Yost and Michael Slavitch on the minutia of procurement works in government).

-A shoutout to Daniel Wagner for linking my ECHL success stories blog–he writes an engaging story about Sacha Guimond‘s efforts in cracking the Canucks lineup.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 11, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-The Sens re-signed Colin Greening,  something rumoured to be in the offing for quite some time.  It’s a three-year deal with a 2.65 cap hit.  It’s not a bad deal, especially considering that the cap is going to rise over that time.  Many folks are predicting this indicates the Milan Michalek era will be over soon and I honestly think that’s the case irrespective of Greening‘s new contract.

–Danny Hobbs confirms he has an AHL contract with Binghamton (along with Daniel New).

-The Sens finished the rookie tournament with a clean sweep (3-0), beating Toronto’s rookies 6-2 in a game I sadly missed (Amelia L offers a great recap).  Ken Warren wisely suggests not to take the results of the tourney too seriously.  Ken also says:

Andre Petersson, on the verge of being gone from the organization for good only a few months ago

Which is the premise of his next article where he reports:

the Senators were prepared to cut him loose altogether – he has one year remaining on his entry level contract – before Petersson made an impassioned plea for the organization to give him another chance to showcase himself

Petersson talked about his approach:

I’ve got to be more professional. I’ve got to do all the right things and all that. I have to be 100 per cent focussed on hockey. Not anything else come first. Hockey is number one priority right now. As I see it now, it’s a fresh start for me and I want to look forward, starting from square one this year. I have to have my best year as a player and show all the people that are interested in the Ottawa Senators and the guys upstairs (the coaches and management) that I’m ready to go. I know the situation [competition at camp]. I feel like it’s all up to me. I’ve got to show what I can do. If that’s good enough, hopefully, they’ll give me an opportunity

The idea that the organisation would cut him loose surprises me, but I’ll take Warren at his word.

Amelia offers her top performers as: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mark Stone, Shane Prince, Cody Ceci, Chris Wideman, and gives Andre Petersson, Curtis Lazar, and Fredrik Claesson honourable mentions.  She thought both Andrew Hammond and Chris Driedger played well in goal.  Jason Menard doesn’t dwell too much on individual performances, but specifically praised Shane Prince (from the way the article is written I get the sense Jason only saw the third game).

For my own part, here are some random observations in no particular order:
Buddy Robinson – reminds me a lot of Colin Greening–great size, good north-south speed, decent hands, but not a lot of finish and not as physical as his size would suggest
Andre Petersson – showed his usual offensive flair, but struggled defensively and was guilty of some brutal turnovers
Mark Stone/Jean-Gabriel Pageau – excellent
Cody Ceci – a bit of a mixed bag; an adventure defensively
Vincent Dunn – a great third game; invisible otherwise
Derek Grant – some good and bad in the only game he played–too small a sample size to say much about his play
Wacey Hamilton – wore the “C” and must be bloody amazing in the room because he accomplished nothing on the ice
Ludwig Karlsson – didn’t accomplish much, but showed some chemistry with Petersson
Danny Hobbs – played hard, but the ECHL seems like the place for him
Darren Kramer – any hopes we’d see anything other than fighting were dashed
Curtis Lazar – some great flashes and lot’s of hard work
Shane Prince – was strong in the game he played
Jakub Culek – did not play
Matt Puempel – was largely invisible in limited sample
Cole Schneider – created a number of chances, but could not finish
Daniel New – ECHLer didn’t stand out
Ben Blood – hasn’t taken that step forward
Michael Sdao – the sample size is too small for me to assess him
Ben Harpur – very rough around the edges–lot’s of room for improvement
Troy Rutkowski – I liked his play on the point
Chris Wideman – strong play; was very poised
Fredrik Claesson – excellent defensively; very intense
Francois Brassard/Chris Driedger/Andrew Hammond – nothing really stood out, although Brassard was the weakest of the three

–Milan Michalek says he’s 100%, but given his past I think we have to take that diagnosis with a grain of salt.

–John Allemang writes a superb article about David Dziurzynski.  It addresses his fight with Frazer McLaren (whose career will likely only be remembered for it) along with his journey as a hockey player and who he is as a person.  Articles of this quality and style are very rare and I encourage you all to check it out.

-I like Sylvain St-Laurent but he can do better than this:

Sdao n’a pourtant pas le profil du bagarreur type. Il n’a pas passé son adolescence à peaufiner son art dans les arénas du hockey junior canadien. Il a choisi la voie des collèges américains, où les joueurs portent des protecteurs faciaux complets et où il est formellement interdit de jeter les gants.

Yes, Michael Sdao didn’t fight while he played at Princeton, but he fought a lot previously in the USHL and when drafted was considered the best fighter available.  It wouldn’t take much for Sylvain to look that up or get that information from Pierre Dorion (who he quotes in the piece).

-Speaking of not doing his home work, Dave Lozo illustrates how unimportant that is in sports journalism with a trip through his biggest errors covering hockey.

–Paul McCann offers his predictions for the Atlantic Division and picks Ottawa to finish first, saying:

Losing your captain can be a difficult thing, especially when you consider the ham-handed way it was handled, but this is a deep team that added some really strong pieces in the offseason. Paul MacLean is an excellent coach and this team has gotten better every season under him.  The addition of Bobby Ryan is an upgrade talent wise and helps ease the loss of Alfredsson. They have solid role players to fill out the roster, excellent goaltending in Craig Anderson and a good blueline, led by former Norris winner Erik Karlsson, who did not have a good year last season. This team is one I put in the same category as Detroit, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the division…  or if they were on the outside looking in come mid-April.

Not a very bold prediction if in the same breath he says they could miss the playoffs, but take it for what it’s worth.

–Stu Hackel looks at the KHL as competition with the NHL and illustrates that, as it stands, the business model used by the Russian league isn’t effective enough to truly trouble the NHL.  What the KHL does do is limit the flow of Russians across the Atlantic and denude the other European leagues of their best talent.

–Miikka Kiprusoff retired and Calgary Flames fans can begin to sweat the fact that Karri Ramo (of all people) will be their starting goaltender.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 9, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 6 Comments

-The Sens rookies rolled Pittsburgh’s 4-1 in the first game of the rookie tournament (prior to the game I took a look at all the lineups here).  Ottawa spent a lot of time shorthanded, but dominated the game nonetheless.  None of the individual performances were outstanding, but Andre Petersson looked a step ahead in skill and Fredrik Claesson was solid on defence.  Ludwig Karlsson was invisible, but he wasn’t alone in that category (the mystery that is Wacey Hamilton continues).  Jakub Culek, Vincent Dunn, Mark Stone, Daniel New, Ben Harpur, and Andrew Hammond sat this game out.

–Travis Yost looks at the numbers and determines he’s not a big fan of re-signing Colin Greening (or at least, not at a big price).  I’ve always seen Greening as a useful player who can move up and down the lineup, but ultimately doesn’t belong in the top-six; Yost’s numbers underscore that feeling.  I’d like to keep Greening, but as with any player it depends on the cost.

-There’s a lot of discussion about the Jared Cowen negotiations, but whether he misses camp or not isn’t relevant to me.  Until he starts missing regular season games it’s all just posturing.

–Jared Crozier previews the Sens and predicts they will finish second in their division, saying:

The addition of Bobby Ryan and the return of Karlsson, Spezza and Michalek could add a full goal per game or more to the lineup.  Combine that with the defensive track record and the solid goaltending duo of Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner, and the Senators should continue to surprise.

I think I’d frame this opinion by saying the Sens will be at their best if all those players are healthy and have good seasons.  To my mind, the likelihood of Spezza and Michalek enjoying healthy seasons is suspect, which should impact predictions.

-Sens prospect Tim Boyle has left Union College to join the South Shore Kings of the EJHL.  No specific reasons were given for the change, but likely playing time and going to another college (which requires a year away from the NCAA) is why.

-I updated my article on free agent success stories out of Europe.  It features a much smaller group than the NCAA, but arguably the best of this lot are more impactful than those from college.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 6, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

I previously looked at the Sens rookie tournament roster, but I thought I’d put it in context before their game this afternoon by looking at the rosters of their competitors (Chicago, Toronto, and Pittsburgh); I’ve included comments for most of the players (those with none are on track or else were just drafted and there’s not much to say).  Key: players in italics are on ATO’s; players in blue spent last season playing in the AHL or ECHL.

Here’s the Sens roster (it includes 3 first rounders and 13 pro players):

Forwards
Jakub Culek (3-76/10, QMJHL)
Vincent Dunn (5-138/13, QMJHL)
Derek Grant (4-119/08, AHL)
Wacey Hamilton (AHL)
Danny Hobbs (ECHL)
Ludwig Karlsson (NCAA)
Darren Kramer (6-156/11, ECHL/AHL)
Curtis Lazar (1-17/13, OHL)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4-96/11, AHL)
Andre Petersson (4-109/08, AHL)
Shane Prince (2-61/11, AHL)
Matt Puempel (1-24/11, OHL)
Buddy Robinson (NCAA)
Cole Schneider (AHL)
Mark Stone (6-178/10, AHL)

Defense
Ben Blood (4-120/07, ECHL/AHL)
Cody Ceci (1-15/12, OHL)
Fredrik Claesson (5-126/11, AHL)
Ben Harpur (4-108/13, OHL)
Danny New (ECHL/AHL)
Troy Rutkowski (5-137/10 Col, WHL)
Michael Sdao (7-191/09, NCAA)
Chris Wideman (4-100/09, AHL)

Goaltenders
Francois Brassard (6-166/12, QMJHL)
Chris Driedger (3-76/12, WHL)
Andrew Hammond (NCAA)

Ottawa has by far the most experienced roster here which (for those interested in wins) gives them the edge in the tournament.  The players I’m most interested in seeing are those I’ve never seen play before–so the 2013 selections along with the NCAA free agents.  Here’s the Leaf’s roster (it includes 4 first rounders and 5 pro players):

Forwards
Tyler Biggs (1-22/11, OHL)
David Broll (6-152/11, OHL) – enjoyed a career year in his final junior season
Connor Brown (6-156/12, OHL) – had a career year
Sam Carrick (5-144/10, ECHL/AHL) – unable to be a regular AHLer in his rookie season
Andrew Crescenzi (ECHL/AHL) – mediocre numbers for the big center
Jamie Devane (3-68/09, ECHL/AHL) – big winger hasn’t established himself as a pro yet
Frederik Gauthier (1-21/13, QMJHL)
Fabrice Herzog (5-142/13, Swiss Jr) – good numbers in his own league; will play in the Q this season
Josh Leivo (3-86/11, OHL) – slightly better numbers in his final junior season
Greg McKegg (3-62/10, AHL) – was solid in his pro rookie season
Brad Ross (2-43/10, AHL) – super pest struggled in his rookie season
Matt Rupert (OHL) – undersized brother of Ryan had decent numbers
Ryan Rupert (6-157/12, OHL) – slightly improved his ppg last season
Carter Verhaeghe (3-82/13, OHL)

Defencemen
Matt Finn (2-35/12, OHL)
Petter Grenberg (4-116/10, SHL) – did not play a lot in Sweden last year
Andrew MacWilliam (7-188/08, NCAA) – unremarkable numbers from the four-year college grad
Trevor Murphy (OHL) – undersized defender was minus 37 last season
Stuart Percy (1-25/11, OHL)
Kevin Raine (OHL) – righthanded shot does not have remarkable numbers
Morgan Reilly (1-5/12, WHL)
Zachary Yuen (4-119/11 Win, WHL) – production seems to have flat lined since he was drafted

Goaltenders
Antoine Bibeau (6-172/13, QMJHL)
Christopher Gibson (2-49/11 LA, QMJHL) – couldn’t put up the same numbers as his draft year as he finished junior
Garret Sparks (7-190/11, OHL) – his final year in junior was his career best

Toronto has the most high-end picks in the tourney, but also a number of unremarkable players.  The players I’m most interested in watching are Fabrice Herzog and Petter Grenberg.  Here’s the Blackhawks roster (oddly, none of their 2013 selections will play; it includes 3 first rounders and 4 pro players):

Forwards
Alex Broadhurst (7-199/11, OHL) – made a good USHL-to-OHL transition
Terry Broadhurst (FA, ECHL/AHL) – Alex’s older brother, the former college player is looking to establish himself in the AHL
Phillip Danault (1-26/11, QMJHL)
Chris Desousa (CIS) – undersized ex-OHLer has done well in the CIS
Byron Froese (4-119/09, ECHL) – demoted from the AHL last year
David Gilbert (7-209/09, CHL) – unable to stay in the AHL the first two years of his ELC
Drew Leblanc (NCAA) – very productive college player entering first pro season
Johnny McGuire ( OHL) – pugilist brings his 0.06 ppg to the table
Mark McNeill (1-18/11, WHL)
Pat Mullane (NCAA) – another very productive college grad entering his first pro season
Joakim Nordstrom (3-90/10, SHL) – hasn’t evolved much playing in Sweden
Garret Ross (5-139/12, OHL) – had a huge final year in junior
Maxim Shalunov (4-109/11, VHL/MHL) – arrives after not being able to establish himself as a VHL regular

Defencemen
Travis Brown (5-149/12, WHL) – a minus 22 last season
Dillon Fournier (2-48/12, QMJHL) – took a step back offensively
Joe Gleason (7-192/08, NCAA) – steady but unremarkable numbers for the college grad
Adam Henry (WHL) – unremarkable numbers in junior
Dylan Olsen (1-28/09, AHL) – not much progress in his third AHL season
Bobby Shea (NCAA) – coming off a solid senior year; slotted to play in the ECHL
Viktor Svedberg (SHL) – 6’8, offensively challenged European free agent is set to begin his AHL career

Goaltenders
Mac Carruth (7-191/10, WHL) – enjoyed a great final year of junior
Brandon Whitney (7-191/12, QMJHL) – not much progress from his draft year, but a good playoff

Chicago’s group is a mix of over and under achievers.  The players I’m most interested in seeing are Drew Leblanc, Pat Mullane, Joakim Nordstrom, Maxim Shalunov, and Viktor Svedberg.  Here’s Pittsburgh’s roster (features a ton (12) of ATO players; it includes 2 first rounders and 8 pro players):

Forwards
Cameron Brace (OHL) – coming off a solid season
 Jean-Sebastien Dea (QMJHL) – great season in the Q
Bobby Farnham (AHL) – earned himself a two-way contract by racking up penalty minutes
Tom Kuhnhackl (4-110/10, AHL) – coming off injury-plagued season
Matia Marcantuoni (4-92/12, OHL) – had a poor season with Kitchener
Jason Megna (AHL) – signed early out of college, had a mediocre rookie season
Richard Nejezchleb (WHL) – had a solid but abbreviated rookie season in junior
Adam Payerl (AHL) – coming off a mediocre rookie season
Liam O’Brien (QMJHL) – good penalty totals, but not much else
Connor Rankin (WHL) – solid junior season for undrafted forward
Carter Rowney (NCAA) – solid college player entering his rookie season
Scott Simmonds (OHL) – nothing of note here
Cody Sylvester (WHL) – career year in his final hurrah of junior
Dominik Uher (5-144/11, AHL) – had a rough season in the minors

Defencemen
Nick D’Agostina (7-210/08, NCAA) – consistent numbers for the college grad
Brian Dumoulin (2-51/09 Clb, AHL) – coming off his rookie season in the AHL
Scott Harrington (2-54/11, OHL)
Olli Maatta (1-22/12, OHL)
Reid McNeill (6-170/10, ECHL) – buried in Wheeling in his first pro season
Derrick Pouliot (1-8/12, WHL)
Harrison Ruopp (3-84/11 Phx, WHL) – makes impressions with his fists, not his scoring
Philip Sameulsson (2-61/09, AHL) – not much progress after his second pro season
Clark Seymour (5-143/12, OHL)

Goaltenders
Eric Hartzell (NCAA) – coming off a great finish to his collegiate career
Tristan Jarry (2-44/13, WHL)
Matt Murray (3-83/12, OHL)

The Penguin roster is a hodgepodge of ATO hopefuls, struggling ELC players, and sprinkles of actual talent.  The forward group is particularly weak on the surface.  The player I’m most interested in seeing perform is Eric Hartzell.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 5, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-With Jarrod Maidens out of the rookie tournament lineup due to injury, Andre Petersson (himself no stranger to lingering injuries) has been tapped to replace him.  Petersson hasn’t played in a long time and it will be interesting to see how he does.

–Nichols‘ transcription service checks in with Pierre Dorion’s comments about the rookie tourney and players for fans to look at:

I think if we’re looking at a few guys, who probably people haven’t heard too much about, I’m looking at a guy like Buddy Robinson. Coming out of Lake Superior last year, he had a great development camp. Big body. Skates. I’m anxious to see how he’s going to do in his first pro experience, even though he played a few games in Binghamton. I’m looking at a guy that we signed also as a free agent, a guy like Andrew Hammond, who we signed as a free agent out of Bowling Green. Both of these guys are a bit older, but guys want to see how they react to their first pro experience. Two other guys that we signed out of college, Ludvig Karlsson, that I know coach Paul (MacLean) talked about yesterday a bit. Coming out of Northeastern, (Karlsson) is 22 years old. And maybe a guy like Cole Schneider, who had a really good second half last year in Binghamton, to see where he is at compared to some of our other prospects.

Dorion only names FA signees out of college and simply wonders how they will do rather than predicting.  The absence of Troy Rutkowski‘s name is interesting–hype around the FA blueliner did not carry over into the rookie camp.  About Cody Ceci:

If I can be brutally honest, we had a chance to see Cody play for the 67s early in the year and everyone from management staff to the coaches were at some of the 67s games. And I think after some games, I was in the fetal position in the corner after watching Cody play a bit, but after that, things straightened out. He got much better in Owen Sound, but where his play really impressed me was in Binghamton at the end of the year. For a 19-year old kid coming into Binghamton, stepping up and controlling games, his play with the puck and pushing the play was so good. But what impressed me the most about Cody was: his play without the puck – which needed a lot of room (to grow); his battle level in front of the net; asserting himself against 25 and 26-year olds – guys who have played in the NHL. It was really something, not that we hadn’t seen it, we had seen it more in Owen Sound. But, he really stepped up and showed that he’s going to be a really good NHL player for us sooner, rather than later.

Not much new here–simply describing Ceci‘s season.  Then he discussed Matt Puempel:

His season was exceptional last year. Sometimes, you know… he had good stats. I think last year, he went from being a kid to being a man. Every time you went and saw him in Kitchener, he was on the puck, he was battling for pucks, he was scoring big goals, and he was going to the net. We really feel we have a real good prospect in Matt. I don’t know if Matt’s going to make our team this year, I think he’s a longshot. But, the way he progressed last year was really something to see. He played in Binghamton at the end of the year and it was a really good indication of where he is. He contributed, not always with goals, but just with how he played. We think Matt, down the road, has a chance to be a top six forward – someone who can score big goals and play the game the right way.

Essentially this is preaching patience–we probably won’t see him in a Sens uniform this year is how I’d read it.  Pierre moves on to Mark Stone:

His ankle is 100%. Mark has always been a guy that trains hard. He was in here by himself in the past two weeks, if I’m not mistaken. Mark is going to compete for a spot on the team. With Mark’s hockey sense, his offensive IQ, his hands, it’s something we’re looking for goals. The good thing is that he’s 100%. He’s healthy. Last year in the playoffs in Binghamton, he was probably our best forward, so it just shows you that he’s competing for a spot on our team.

Clearly Stone is close, but barring a roster move or an injury I can’t see him making the team out of camp.  I’m interested to see what he can do if he can stay healthy. On to Curtis Lazar:

I think Curtis made a big impression, as you just said, at development camp. Curtis, the way he plays the game, the way he skates, the way he shoots the puck, the way he drives the net, the character he brings to the table, I think he’s someone that… I think we have to be careful of our expectations of Curtis. I think if he has a good rookie camp and has a chance to get into some NHL exhibition games, we’ll have a chance to gauge his progression to play in the NHL. I know he’ll be a very good player down the road, whether it’s next year, this year or three years from now, but I know he’ll be a key component in us having a chance to win a Cup down the road. We’ve always got to be careful. A kid coming in at 18-years old to his first pro camp, it will be good if he does well at rookie camp. But when he goes up in an exhibition game against Phaneuf, we’ll see really where things are.

This is a lot of work done here by Dorion to temper expectations for the first-rounder, which is sensible.  Moving on to Jean-Gabriel Pageau:

Well, I think it’s just, with a guy like Pageau, even though he had a great playoffs for us and finished the year well, I think he’s someone that had only one rookie camp under his belt. He’s someone who was fighting to make a spot on the American (Hockey) League team last year. He barely played any NHL games. We just felt for him, starting the season with the kids, and he’s still on his entry-level deal, wouldn’t be a bad thing for him.

As Nichols points out, a small sample size of success doesn’t necessarily bode anything for the future (I like him using the example of Patrick Eaves).  Again, Dorion is tempering expectations (perhaps lessons learned from the Jesse Winchester‘s, Bobby Butler‘s, and Stephane Da Costa‘s of the world).  He moves on to Chris Driedger:

He had a tremendous year last year. They were probably, if you talked to anyone in Calgary last year, he was the main reason they went to seven games versus Edmonton in the (WHL) Conference Finals. He had a tremendous year. I think when he got back (to Calgary from development camp), I had the chance to talk to his coach Mike Williamson, he came back a bit immature thinking that everything was going to be easy. He just had a quick turnaround and he said, ‘I’m going to be the guy here. I’m going to be the hardest worker in practice.’ He just led his team. Unfortunately, what people don’t know is that, I’m not sure he would have been one of the three final guys (for the Team Canada World Juniors). He was hurt at the camp, which is one of the reasons why he barely played in development camp. But we think he’s got a chance to be one of Canada’s World Junior goalies, if not the starting guy. He plays and he beats Brent Sutter regularly when Calgary plays Red Deer, and I think they know how good he is. We’re expecting big things out of Chris, and I think he could surprise a lot of people by being on Canada’s World Junior team.

This is high praise for Driedger and it will be interesting to see how he performs at the tourney.  Finally Pierre offers a brief comment on Darren Kramer who struggled to stick in the AHL last season:

With Darren, it’s always trying to work on his foot speed and puck skills. I think he has enough hockey sense to play that role down the road; it’s just improving every year. He took a step last year, but this year is a big year for a guy like Darren Kramer.

What Dorion means by “big year” is that Kramer is able to establish himself as an AHL-regular and stop bouncing back and forth between Binghamton and Elmira.  Can he be anything other than a one-dimensional pugilist?  Time will tell.  Many other players on the tourney roster go unmentioned by Dorion, but there’s not much to be concluded from that other than (perhaps) the absence of Rutkowski.

–Ken Warren suggests which prospects Sens fans should keep an eye on during the rookie tournament and picks Curtis Lazar, Cody Ceci, Shane Prince, Buddy Robins, and Fredrik Claesson.

-The lads at WTYKY offer their NHL predictions with a taste of humour–enjoy!

–Jeremy Milks offers him potential line combinations and throws Mike Hoffman on the fourth line for kicks–that isn’t going to happen folks.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 4, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Sadly, Sens prospect Jarrod Maidens‘ season is already being cut short by recurring concussion symptoms.  At this point the hope has to be less about hockey and more about Maidens simply being symptom free at some point in the future.

–Mark Stone talked about making the jump to the next level:

There are a lot of guys who can play in the NHL. You realize that everybody is so close, from the AHL to the NHL, it’s just not that far apart, guys are knocking on the door everyday. It’s just a matter of who can do it on a consistent basis. I feel like I’m close. I’ve felt that way for the last couple of years. I know I’m knocking on the door. It’s just a matter of me putting together some consistent hockey and showing I can play at this level for an 82-game season.

–Travis Yost wonders how the team will use Cory Conacher (the man who was overwhelmed by his exit interview–likely focussing on his conditioning and a commitment to both ends of the ice) and suggests the diminutive forward will be on a very short leash and could be passed over by other prospects.  I agree with Travis that Conacher will likely play the wing with Mika Zibanejad.

–Sensfan90 looks at expectations for the Sens players attending the rookie camp and it’s a solid piece, I’d only suggest that Daniel New is essentially playing to establish himself as a call-up for Binghamton (not a spot on the main roster) and that I don’t believe Mark Stone, Matt Puempel, or Cody Ceci have a shot at the main roster to start the season barring injury.  All three are likely enough call-ups, however.

-I updated my look at the success of NCAA free agents in the NHL along with my look at ECHL success stories.

-For those of you who remember Andrey Osadchenko‘s rumour that the Sens were interested in Russian blueliner Viktor Antipin, he’s signed a new three-year deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

-It’s funny how after resisting any expansion of replay for so long the NHL’s one exception this season is something as trivial as reviewing high sticking double minors.  Given the sad state of the league’s officiating and the declining rate of penalty calls, I suppose this limp addition is what should be expected.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 3, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments