Ottawa has reached the 30-game mark and it’s time to take stock and see how the team has performed.  The Sens went 4-2-4 (here’s the previous ten games) which puts them 5th in the conference and drops them to 3rd in the division (opening a window on how much fun the new playoff format will be next season).  Their 77 goals is twelfth in the conference while their 65 goals against remains second.  Ottawa’s powerplay rose to 11th overall (19.8%); and they now have the 2nd best penalty killing in the league (88.4%).  The Sens are the 2nd most penalized team in the league and they have the 10th best 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio (1.10).

Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, AHL=games in the AHL):

Sergei Gonchar 10-1-12-13 +4 TOI 24:40
Patrick Wiercioch 10-4-4-8 +3 TOI 15:18
Kyle Turris 10-4-3-7 -1 TOI 19:23
Zack Smith 10-3-4-7 -2 TOI 15:50
Daniel Alfredsson 10-2-5-7 +2 TOI 19:04
Jakob Silfverberg 10-4-1-5 +3 TOI 16:23
Guillaume Latendresse 5-3-2-5 +4 TOI 15:08
Chris Phillips 10-1-4-5 +6 TOI 21:01
Mika Zibanejad 10-3-1-4 +3 TOI 13:08
Andre Benoit 9-0-4-4 -2 TOI 16:02 SCR 1
Chris Neil 10-0-3-3 +1 TOI 14:09
Jim O’Brien 9-1-1-2 -1 TOI 11:31 SCR 1
Colin Greening 10-1-1-2 Even TOI 14:10
Milan Michalek 2-0-2-2 Even TOI 18:23 INJ 8
Erik Condra 10-0-2-2 -3 TOI 13:39
Matt Kassian 3-1-0-1 +1 TOI 4:44 [AHL 4-1-0-1]
Kaspars Daugavins 5-0-1-1 -2 TOI 11:09 SCR 5
Peter Regin 8-0-1-1 -1 TOI 11:49 SCR 2
Marc Methot 10-1-0-1 -7 TOI 22:39
Eric Gryba 10-0-1-1 -4 TOI 21:37
David Dziurzynski 4-0-0-0 -1 TOI 12:26 INJ 6
Mark Stone 4-0-0-0 -1 TOI 10:00 [AHL 5-1-2-3]
Erik Karlsson (injured)
Jason Spezza (injured)
Jared Cowen (injured)

Robin Lehner 2-0-4 1.90 .946
Ben Bishop 2-2-0 2.62 .921
Craig Anderson (injured)

Gonchar has enjoyed a remarkable run over this period, taking up the offensive load left by Karlsson‘s absence.  Wiercioch has also stepped up his game.  In general, after suffering through a period of sputtering offence the Sens have ramped up their goal scoring–Turris finally scored again and Smith rewarded Paul MacLean’s faith in him.  Phillips lead the plus/minus charge (+6) while surprisingly Methot (-7) is at the bottom.  Among the depth players it appears as though Regin gets the nod over Daugavins, although he remains maddeningly inconsistent.  Lehner has been fantastic since Anderson‘s injury and earned the team at least a point in every start.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 20, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Ottawa faces the New York Islanders (13-12-3) tonight; the Isles are lead by John Tavares (31 points) and backstopped by Evgeni Nabokov (13-8-3 2.89 .902).  Ben Bishop will get the start in goal.

–Bruce Garrioch Tweets that Milan Michalek has had knee surgery.

–Jakob Silfverberg talked about his progress this season:

I feel like I learn something new every day, and I have a coach that believes in me and wants me to play good. I get stronger and stronger on the puck every day and make better decisions, so yeah — the confidence is getting higher and higher.

–Paul MacLean also talked about Silfverberg‘s progress:

Jakob, in the AHL, it was a similar type of production for him until the 20-game mark, then his production and consistency came around. He’s learned to play in the league and what he has to do to be successful. He really shot the puck (against Winnipeg) which is good to see, and something he does well. His play up and down the rink has been excellent all year. He learned to play without the puck, which is important to have success with the puck. He’s consistently getting opportunities, and he’s starting to finish. I knew from watching him in Binghamton he just had to feel his way through the league. It was just a matter of time for him to find his way. We just felt we had to keep putting him out there.

–Bryan Murray continues to indicate that he doesn’t expect to be a player at the trade deadline, as he wants a top-six forward, but doesn’t want to give up a top prospect to get that player.

–Scott had the scoring chances 25/14 in the Winnipeg game.

-I mentioned yesterday that I thought Robin Lehner had outdueled Ben Bishop and that Bishop‘s time with the Sens was running out.  Sylvain St-Laurent wonders about the same thing today, but doesn’t offer an answer the question, instead stating the obvious in that it’s an academic debate until Craig Anderson is healthy.

–Amelia L goes into the numbers to see how Paul MacLean’s approach to young defensemen varies from Cory Clouston, with the conclusion being MacLean gives his young players more sheltered minutes.

-With the Sens recent signings there has been some limited discussion over Ottawa’s contract situation.  NHL teams are allowed 50 contracts per season and Ottawa is very close to their limit.  There are, however, quite a few players who are in the last year of their contracts.  They are (those in red are the ones I expect to be let go or traded before the year is out):
Daniel Alfredsson
Guillaume Latendresse
Peter Regin
Sergei Gonchar
Mike Lundin
Andre Benoit
Hugh Jessiman
Nathan Lawson
Kaspars Daugavins (RFA)
Erik Condra (RFA)
David Dziurzynski (RFA)
Patrick Wiercioch (RFA)
Ben Bishop (RFA)
Stephane Da Costa (RFA)
Mike Hoffman (RFA)
Corey Cowick (RFA)
Mark Borowiecki (RFA)
Louie Caporusso (RFA)

That’s 18 players whose contracts could disappear at season’s end, with (by my estimation) 9 disappearing, leaving plenty of space for additions to the NHL and AHL rosters.

-The WTYKY boys debate Paul MacLean’s shot at the Jack Adams award and it’s well worth combing through.

-Yesterday I took a look at free agent prospects in Europe.

-Here are Binghamton highlights from Friday and Saturday.

–Bobby Kelly takes a look at the week that was for Ottawa’s prospects and agrees with me that Chris Wideman seems to have turned a corner in his development.

-I like Pierre LeBrun, but I have no idea why he’s stunned that Anaheim was able to retain both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.  The team had the cap room and the success to pitch both of them–I would have been surprised if they were moved.

–Stu Hackel outlines the topics for the upcoming GM’s meeting, but expect nothing particularly worthwhile to come out of it (goaltending equipment changes would be at the top of the agenda for me, along with some safety provisos).  It amuses me that GM’s are more concerned about players faking boarding calls then the serious injuries that are the result from boarding.

–Sarah Kwak believes the Sens stock will fall before the season ends because…well, you know, injuries:

With forwards Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, defenseman Erik Karlsson and  goalie Craig Anderson all on injured reserve, Ottawa is ailing to say the least.  It’s a wonder that with so many injuries they remain fifth in the East. Head  coach Paul MacLean should be commended for the job he’s done keeping things  together, but the wear is bound to catch up with the Sens. They’ve been able to  eke out points by just making it through regulation — nine overtime games this  season — but if this playoff race comes down to tie-breakers, as I suspect it  will, those shootout wins won’t help.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

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

-Ottawa ran over the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 yesterday afternoon; Robin Lehner made 25 saves for the win, while Jakob Silfverberg (2), Guillaume Latendresse, and Kyle Turris provided the scoring.  It was a good effort all around for the Sens (who had 42 shots on goal) and a well-deserved win.  Here’s the boxscore.  Adana offers his own description of the game and the most interesting thing he pointed out was that Ottawa has the Eastern Conference’s best home record (10-1-3).  I think that’s a tip of the hat to Paul MacLean, as home ice is the place where a coach is most to affect the game.

–Robin Lehner talked about being run into by Dustin Byfuglien:

I don’t know (what happened). I saw the replay a little bit later and he was trying to cut in (to the net). It’s hard to say (if he was out). It was a little blurry for me. It was more when (athletic therapist) Gerry Townend came to talk to me (he wasn’t sure what happened) and then I felt good. (Byfuglien) hit my head, I was leaning forward and my neck took a beating. That just took me out for a second or two. It’s nothing concussion-wise. That’s fine.

-If the evidence hasn’t been clear enough I thought last night was yet another nail in the coffin for Ben Bishop, whom Lehner has outplayed at the NHL (and AHL) level.  If the Hammond signing (see below) is accurate it could be an indication that the Sens are preparing the groundwork to lose one of their current goaltenders.  Paul MacLean talked about Lehner‘s performance yesterday:

We’ve seen a lot good things from Robin, but maybe Lehner is Irish. He was outstanding. Outstanding. He made some really good saves (in the third) and he held the fort in the second when they came out hard.

–Mark Parisi offers his ups and downs for the week that was, with only Colin Greening getting a negative marker (I’m ignoring Mark Stone‘s selection as it’s not his fault Bryan Murray made a dumb trade), which I’m not sure I agree with.  Mark doesn’t like the fact that Greening isn’t producing, but he’s never going to be consistent in his production.  Matt Kassian deserves a negative–two games, no fights, and no discernibly positive impact.

–Ian Mendes goes through the ins and outs of who might be coach of the year, pointing out an interesting fact:

In fact, on that list of eight teams that have completed the similar turnaround to what the Canadiens are trying to do this season [last place to a playoff position], only Pat Burns with the 1998 Boston Bruins ended up winning the Jack Adams. So for some reason, the voters — who are broadcasters from around the National Hockey League — are not impressed with the going from worst-to-a-playoff spot storyline.

He also throws Sportsnet Nick Kypreos under the bus who told viewers that the Sens weren’t a playoff team.  As one would expect Ian concludes that Paul MacLean should be coach of the year (should things continue as they are) and I think it’s hard to argue with that conclusion.

–Reports have free agent collegian Andrew Hammond signing with the Sens.  The 6’3, 25-year old Bowling Green State grad had a record of 10-15-3 2.47 .917 this season.  Given his age his ELC would be for just one season (assuming this is not an ATO like Nick Craven).

–Scott Burnside offers his power rankings and has Ottawa 9th.

-As expected Kyle Bushee was released from his PTO by Binghamton.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 18, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Ottawa defeated Buffalo 4-3 yesterday, overcoming a shaky start (falling behind 2-0) to rally to a 3-2 lead and eventually win the game in overtime.  Ben Bishop made 25 saves for the win while Kyle Turris (2), Patrick Wiercioch, and Chris Phillips scored the goals.  The Sens deserve credit for overcoming the early deficit.  Matt Kassian barely played in his debut (3:21), which was as expected, and did not look like he belonged on the ice.  Here is the boxscore and here’s Mark Parisi‘s lengthy description of the game.

-The Sens play Winnipeg (15-11-2) this afternoon; the Jets are lead by Andrew Ladd (28 points) and backstopped by Ondrej Pavelec (12-11-2 2.75 .904).

-Binghamton crushed Norfolk 5-1 yesterday; Nathan Lawson made 42 saves for the win, while Mark Stone, Chris Wideman, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Wacey Hamilton, and Michael Sdao (his first professional goal) scored.  Sdao also fought in his first game, so it has been an auspicious beginning for the rugged defenseman (this was his second game).  Here’s the boxscore.

–Allan Muir offers his draft rankings and for context I’ve noticed the differences between his list and the latest from ISS:
1. Seth Jones
2. Nathan MacKinnon (3)
3. Jonathan Drouin (4)
4. Aleksander Barkov (6)
5. Elias Lindholm (8)
6. Sean Monahan (9)
7. Darnell Nurse (5)
8. Ryan Pulock (12)
9. Hunter Shinkaruk (13)
10. Valeri Nichushkin (2)
11. Anthony Mantha (27)
12. Curtis Lazar (11)
13. Valentin Zykov (15)
14. Max Domi (28)
15. Adam Erne (NR)
16. Zach Fucale (NR)
17. Rasmus Ristolainen (10)
18. Alexander Wennberg (18)
19. Frederik Gauthier (20)
20. Ryan Hartman (26)
21. Nikita Zadorov (7)
22. Shea Theodore (NR)
23. Josh Morrissey (19)
24. Morgan Klimchuk (NR)
25. Bo Horvat (24)
26. Robert Hagg (23)
27. Kerby Rychel (16)
28. Ian McCoshen (30)
29. Nic Petan (29)
30. Gustav Olofsson (NR)

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 17, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Buffalo (10-14-3) this afternoon; the Sabres are lead by Thomas Vanek (30 points) and backstopped by Ryan Miller (9-12-3 2.83 .914).  Matt Kassian will make his debut and Peter Regin is also added up to the lineup while Kaspars Daugavins will sit.

–Wayne Scanlan talks about the fighting culture in the NHL:

Future generations will look back at this era and wonder. They’ll wonder how it was that a relatively sophisticated professional sport, one that supposedly cared about player safety, would not only allow big, strong players to crack each other in the skull with bare knuckles, it would encourage it. Of course, a single generation from now there will be such detailed information on brain function and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), it will be deemed common sense … the NHL’s move to ban fighting in the year (fill in the blank). It won’t be any time soon. Not when the NHL does such a poor job of policing terrible behaviour on the ice that teams have to find their own means of street justice.

Scanlan is right about the how the game will be looked at in the future, but I agree with him that that future is a long way away.

–Sylvain St-Laurent writes about Michael Sdao and includes these comments from Pierre Dorion (courtesy of Google translation):

He is robust, he has a good sense of the game and does not complicate life unnecessarily, he makes things simple. He is very strong physically. He’s a very good fighter. In college, he could not fight. He will therefore be obliged to spend a little time in the minors to learn how to play his position, but in the medium term, we believe he can play a role with our team [Ottawa].

-Binghamton plays Norfolk (29-26-5); the Admirals are lead by Patrick Maroon (36 points) and backstopped by Frederik Andersen (16-11-1 2.11 .931).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 16, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens have announced the signing of Michael Sdao to an ELC (yesterday only his ATO was official).  The release notes:

Sdao recently completed his fourth and final season of college eligibility with the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association’s Princeton Tigers. Sdao played in 31 games this season, scoring seven times and adding eight assists, while recording 36 penalty minutes. In four years with Princeton, he recorded 54 points (26 goals, 28 assists), while registering 236 penalty minutes in 118 games. Sdao was an assistant captain for the Tigers in each of the last two seasons and, following the 2011-12 season, he was named Second-Team All-ECAC Hockey and First-Team All-Ivy League. Originally drafted by the Senators in the seventh round (191st overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Sdao has participated in the team’s annual development camp in each of the last three summers.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Montreal game 16/17.

-Binghamton faces Adirondack (23-31-5) tonight; the Phantoms are lead by Jason Akeson (36 points) and backstopped by Scott Munroe (12-15-0 2.78 .912).

-Yesterday I looked at Binghamton’s last ten games in Binghamton at the sixty game mark.

–Bob McKenzie Tweeted about this year’s crop of FA college players:

DeKeyser generally considered to be head and shoulders No. 1 guy in this college UFA class, which is considered average, at best, this yr. Based on my conversations with NHL clubs, consensus top 3 college free agents are: DeKeyser, D, WMU; Sustr, D, UNO; Laganiere, RW, Yale.

The Sens have already signed one free agent (Rutkowski) and from past comments generally only target two free agents per season, so I wouldn’t expect much more activity.

–Eric T. writes about modern hockey statistics.  The article is very involved, but here is a selection:

For starters, if we know that a team’s shot differential is a strong predictor of their future results, then it makes sense to look at what their shot differential is with a given player on the ice. But it’s not that simple. (Is it ever?) If you just rank all of the players in the NHL by Corsi, you come up with a list that does OK but has some clear flaws. The problem is that it is missing context. One way we can adjust for this is with a statistic called Relative Corsi (often abbreviated Corsi Rel), which compares the team’s shot differential with a player on the ice to their shot differential with him off the ice. Corsi Rel isn’t perfect, though. It does a reasonable job of accounting for the forwards [playing] in front of [a defenseman], but it is quite closely tied to their defensive depth — if the guys who come on the ice whenever he goes off are inept, that will make him look better by comparison. The simplest thing to do is use Corsi Rel with a bit of subjective modification, recognizing that it is easier to have a good Corsi Rel on a team with little depth at your position.

We have more direct metrics for assessing a player’s quality of competition. The most widespread is one calculated at behindthenet.ca, called Corsi Rel QoC. Corsi Rel QoC assesses the average Corsi Rel of a player’s opponents and does a pretty good job of showing who goes against the opponents’ top lines. The other important piece of context is zone starts. Offensive zone faceoffs are often followed by a shot attempt, so a player who is used for a lot more offensive zone draws than defensive zone draws will see his Corsi inflated by his usage. The current revolution in advanced stats is starting to break things down from team-level results to individual contributions — figuring out exactly what a player is doing to help drive shot differential. We’ve talked about zone entry data a couple of times this year, and now perhaps you can see how this fits into our evaluations. The stats show that carrying the puck into the offensive zone generates more than twice as many shots and goals as dumping it in, so a player who is very good at gaining the line will help drive his team to have a positive shot differential.

–Stu Hackel states the obvious that the NHL’s suspensions don’t actually work as a deterrent for behaviour (specifically in regards to head shots).

-ISS has released its latest 2013 draft rankings (for their previous list go here):

1 – Jones, Seth – D – Portland – WHL
2 – Nichushkin, Valery – F – Chelyabinsk Chelmet – RusS
3 – MacKinnon, Nathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL
4 – Drouin, Jonathan – F – Halifax – QMJHL
5 – Nurse, Darnell – D – S.S. Marie – OHL
6 – Barkov, Aleksander – F – Tappara – FinE (+1)
7 – Zadorov, Nikita – D – London – OHL (-1)
8 – Lindholm, Elias – C – Brynas – SweE (+1)
9 – Monahan, Sean – C – Ottawa – OHL (-1)
10 – Ristolainen, Rasmus – D – TPS Turku – FinE
11 – Lazar, Curtis – C – Edmonton – WHL
12 – Pulock, Ryan – D – Brandon – WHL
13 – Shinkaruk, Hunter – F – Medicine Hat – WHL
14 – Dickinson, Jason – F – Guelph – OHL
15 –Valentin Zykov – RW – Baie-Comeau – QMJHL
16 – Rychel, Kerby – F – Windsor – OHL (+4)
17 – Burakowsky, Andre – F – Malmo – SweAl (-1)
18 –Alexander Wennberg – C – Djurgarden – SweJr (NR)
19 – Morrissey, JT – D – Prince Albert – WHL (-2)
2o – Gauthier, Frederik – C – Rimouski – QMJHL (+1)
21 – J. T. Compher – C – USA Under-18 – NTDP (+4)
22 – Santini, Steve – D – USA U18 – NTDP (-2)
23 – Hagg, Robert – D – Modo – SweJE (-1)
24 –Bo Horvat – C – London – OHL (NR) (-1)
25 – Madison Bowey – D – Kelowna – WHL (-1)
26 – Ryan Hartman – RW – OHL (NR)
27 – Anthony Mantha – LW – QMJHL (NR)
28 –Max Domi – C – London – OHL
29 – Nic Petan – C – Portland – WHL
30 – Ian McCoshen – D – USHL (NR)

Falling out of the top thirty were Adam Erne (26), Artturi Lehkonen (27), and Keaton Thompson (30).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 15, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

The Binghamton Senators have reached the 60-game mark so it’s time to take stock and see how the team and the players are doing (for the previous ten games go here).  Binghamton went 6-3-1, dropping to 4th in their conference 2nd in their division.  Their 179 goals-for are tied for 3rd in their conference, while their 150 goals allowed drops also puts them in 3rd.

Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, NHL=games in the NHL, ECHL=games in the ECHL):

Shane Prince 10-5-3-8 +3
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 10-3-5-8 +7
Corey Cowick 7-3-4-7 +5 INJ 3
Brett Lebda 10-0-7-7 +1
Stephane Da Costa 10-1-5-6 +2
Chris Wideman 10-1-5-6 Even
Dustin Gazley 10-3-2-5 +5
Wacey Hamilton 10-2-2-4 -3
Mark Stone 5-1-2-3 +2 INJ 1 [NHL 4-0-0-0]
Mark Borowieck 8-1-2-3 +5 INJ 2
Derek Grant 4-2-0-2 +2 [NHL 1-0-0-0]
Cole Schneider 7-2-0-2 -3 INJ 3
Fredrik Claesson 10-2-0-2 -1
Pat Cannone 10-1-1-2 +1
Darren Kramer 6-1-0-1 -2 SCR 4
Hugh Jessiman 6-0-1-1 +1 INJ 4
Louie Caporusso 10-0-1-1 -5
Tyler Eckford 6-0-0-0 +1 INJ 4
David Marshall 3-0-0-0 -3 [AHL 4-1-1-2, ECHL 3-1-2-3]
Mika Zibanejad 2-0-0-0 +1 [NHL 9-4-1-5]
Kyle Bushee 2-0-0-0 Even [ECHL 9-2-5-7]
Stephen Schultz 3-0-0-0 +2 [ECHL 8-10-4-14]
Nick Craven 4-0-0-0 Even [NCAA 25-16-17-33]
Daniel New 6-0-0-0 Even
Jean Bourbeau 6-0-0-0 -3 [ECHL 4-1-0-1]
Ben Blood 8-0-0-0 Even SCR 2
Andre Petersson injured
Mike Hoffman injured
Jack Downing injured

Nathan Lawson 3-1-1 2.30 .937 INJ 2
Marc Cheverie 3-2-0 3.10 .900

The Binghamton lineup continued to be devastated both by call-ups and injuries, but played very well despite that.  Players like Prince, Pageau, and Cowick took their games to another level to fill-in for the scorers missing in the lineup.  The blueline remained patchwork, but Wideman showed the first signs of serious development as he contributed offensively on a consistent basis.  Lawson has returned to form and Cheverie has been solid backing him up.  Cannone‘s miserable season continues, while Blood hasn’t been good enough to be regular even with the depleted blueline.  Craven hasn’t made an impact yet, while Caporusso‘s brief offensive burst (beginning at the end of the last 10-game segment) quickly fizzled.  The only ECHL call-up who has truly delivered is Gazley.  Blueline reinforcements are on the way in the form of NCAA grad Michael Sdao, but free agent signee Troy Rutkowski likely won’t arrive any time soon as the Portland Winterhawks look bound for a long playoff run.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 14, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Ottawa lost 4-3 to Montreal in yet another shootout; Robin Lehner made 42 saves in the loss, while Mika Zibanejad, Daniel Alfredsson, and Patrick Wiercioch scored the goals.  The Sens were down 3-1 late in the second and did well to rally back for the tie, but were pretty awful in the third period and OT and deserved the loss.  Mark Stone played under six minutes, while Kaspars Daugavins and Jim O’Brien didn’t see much more ice time.  I don’t think the three line approach can really work with this team and I anticipate Paul MacLean will try to role four lines more equitably going forward.  Here’s the boxscore.

-The Sens signed free agent defenseman Troy Rutkowski to an entry level deal.  Rutkowski (69-20-41-61) played for Portland in the WHL.  The right-handed, 6’1 blueliner was drafted by Colorado in (5-137/10), but was not signed by the Avs.  He played in the CHL top prospects game in the year he was drafted and was part of the silver medal winning WHC Pacific team in 2009.  Under Bryan Murray the Sens have only signed one free agent blueliner like him before (Craig Schira, who did not pan out, but was another offensively oriented right-hand shot).  Bobby Kelly (via Corey Pronman) says his biggest issue is skating, but the Sens have never shied away from players like that.

-Ottawa has also signed prospect Michael Sdao to an ATO so he can finish out the season with Binghamton; Sdao‘s NCAA career is over (tip of the hat to SensProspects for breaking this yesterday).  Sdao (7-191/09) finished up his season by leading Princeton in points by a blueliner (31-8-7-15) for the second season in a row, but when he was drafted the 6-4 left-handed defenseman was best known as a fighter (the best fighter of his draft class; here’s a profile from the summer).

–Mark Stone was re-assigned to Binghamton, which makes a lot of sense given how little he was playing.

-Binghamton lost 3-1 to Rochester last night; Nathan Lawson made 36 saves in the loss while Derek Grant scored the only goal.  The B-Sens had less than 20 shots in the game and will welcome the return of Stone to add some punch to the lineup.  Here’s the boxscore.

-Here is the latest prospect update (for players with more than 10 games played I’ve indicated where they are in scoring; for blueliners they are compared to other defensemen on the team):

CHL
Cody Ceci (OHL Ottawa/Owen Sound) 67-18-44-62 (1st)
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 50-31-11-43 (3rd)
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 49-23-25-48 (6th)
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 65-6-14-20 (4th)
Jakub Culek (QMJHL Cape Breton) 9-4-3-7 (10th) (injured)
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 35-14-4 2.50 .915
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 31-18-4 2.75 .910

Allsvenskan (Swe)
Mikael Wikstrand (Mora) 45-11-14-25 (1st) WJC 6-0-4-4 (1st)

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 47-10-11-21 (6th)

NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (Ohio) – 36-14-19-33 (2nd)
Max McCormick (Ohio) – 36-12-15-27 (3rd)
Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) – 28-9-17-26 (3rd)
Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha) – 35-5-16-21 (2nd)
Michael Sdao (Princeton) – 31-8-7-15 (1st)
Tim Boyle (Union) – 15-0-2-2 (t-7th)

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana/Omaha) – 54-18-23-41 (1st)

One thing I take away from this is that Jordan Fransoo will not be signed–his development just hasn’t occurred in a way that I can see the team deciding to retain him.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 14, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-The major news for Ottawa is the trade to acquire Matt Kassian.  The pugilist was a 2nd round pick by the Wild back in 2005 whose unremarkable play has him buried in the minors this season.  Why the Sens thought he was worth a 6th round pick is beyond me.  Kassian can’t play (28-2-0-2 -3 67pim [9 fights] career in the NHL), so was clearly picked up for his ability as an enforcer.  I think the addition will be as meaningful as the trade that acquired Joey Tetarenko back in the day.  It’s a move that smacks of desperation that I think is completely unwarranted–don’t be surprised to see Kassian in the minors sooner than later.  I can only echo Chris who writes:

Heavyweights like Kassian, tend to be liabilites opposing player skate circles around, not to mention their propensity for unnecessary minor penalties. By adding Kassian, the Sens might also be taking away a roster spot from useful penalty killers like Daugavins or O’Brien, or maybe Peter Regin will be forced to sit in the press box more. To be honest, I’ll take the 4% at having a good player 5 or so years down the road than having one those guys lose a regular spot in the lineup.

Among those 4% are Sens prospect Mark Stone and Blackhawk regular Ben Smith, whom Murray peddled away for a broken down Martin Lapointe (“toughness” again) back in 2008.  The Raaymaker offers a slightly more positive take on the acquisition, but all the positives are based on hope rather than analysis.

-Ottawa faces Montreal (17-5-4) tonight; the Habs are lead by Michael Ryder (23 points) and backstopped by Carey Price (13-4-3 2.37 .910).  No lineup changes are expected for the Sens.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Boston game 13/13.

-The WTYKY boys talk about the year thus far and the main thing I took away from it that’s worth repeating is that Daniel Alfredsson is having a tough year.  I think the stress of having to be a first line player is too much for him at this stage; he looked fine when Spezza was in the lineup and he played with Turris against slightly weaker opposition.  I don’t think he’s done by any stretch, but it appears as though he just can’t carry the mail for the team anymore.  I also have to echo their sentiments that it might be the end of the line for Peter Regin; he has enough talent to be an NHL regular, but consistency and fragility might see him back in Europe sooner or later.

-Binghamton plays Rochester (31-22-4) tonight; the Amerks are lead by Mark Mancari (52 points) and backstopped by David Leggio (30-17-1 2.60 .922).

–SensProspects suggests Michael Sdao will be signed sometime soon and join Binghamton.  It’s a good guess and he’ll be a welcome addition to the depleted AHL blueline.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 13, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa lost 3-2 in a shootout last night with Robin Lehner making 33 saves in the loss.  Ottawa jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Latendresse and Turris, but could not hang on for the win.  The game featured yet another fight where a Sen jumped to the rescue of a fallen teammate–in this case Patrick Wierioch dropped the gloves after Chris Neil was helped into the boards by Adam McQuaid (it wasn’t a particularly nasty hit, but Neil stayed down for awhile).  Wiercioch‘s 0nly previous career fight was in the AHL back in December of 2010.  Neil later was in the midst of a knee-on-knee hit with Chris Kelly that I think was accidental (Kelly was helped off the ice).  Despite all that it wasn’t a particularly physical or nasty game.  Mark Stone barely played, while Kaspars Daugavins took Peter Regin‘s spot in the lineup and played a bit more than the Dane has recently.  Here’s the boxscore.

–Milan Michalek was a late scratch after suffering a setback with his knee.  It would not surprise me if in the near future he has the surgery on it rather than trying to play through it.

–Scott has the scoring chances for the Ranger game 15/7.

–Chris wonders if the Sens have truly improved defensively this year and digs into stats to make his analysis.  I won’t summate the whole article, but his conclusion is:

While the Sens seem to be pushing shots to the outside more than they were last season (especially on the PK), their improvement in SV% should be attributed mostly to the goaltenders playing at an elite level. The majority of goals are scored in close around the net, and at this distance Ottawa’s goalers have been excellent as compared to a year ago. Obviously these save percentages aren’t sustainable, but with 23 games left there’s a lot less time to regress as compared to a full 82 game season. With a full and healthy defence corps you’d hope going forward next year that MacLean can get the shots against down, as teams don’t always get and shouldn’t bank on .940+ goaltending.

-Binghamton defeated Hershey 3-2 on Sunday, with Marc Cheverie picking up the win (30 saves) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Shane Prince, and Derek Grant scoring the goals.  Binghamton trailed 2-1 with less than five minutes to go, but were able to rally and win before extra time.  Here’s the boxscore.

–Kevin Forbes writes that Sens draft pick Francois Brassard (named QMJHL First Star of the Week for last week) is the best of the goaltending prospects in the Q at the moment.  There’s no real analysis offered, unfortunately, other than their numbers.

–Brian Costello writes about how scouts would rank the 2012 draft if it happened today (which seems a little foolish given that it’s less than a year afterwards), with Sens pick Cody Ceci dropping out of the top-50 (along with five other first round picks).

-I’ve been amused by the constant updates that Erik Karlsson is still leading the Finnish league in scoring by a defenceman, mostly because former Bingo failure Shaun Heshka is the one closest to catching him.  For those who don’t remember, Heshka was an emergency signing in 2011 after the surprise retirement of Lee Sweatt.  Heshka was awful in his ten games with Binghamton and was traded to Peoria for nothing (“future considerations”).  It’s a good illustration of the varied level of talent in European leagues.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 12, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments