-There has been a dearth of Sens news of late–even the blogosphere is quiet.  What’s on everyone’s mind is the CBA and Bob McKenzie has weighed in with his thoughts in a brilliant (albeit long) column.  I can only add what I said months ago–the doom and gloom rhetoric existed in the NBA and NFL stalemates and their seasons happened anyway (a condensed one in the NBA’s case); I don’t see the NHL losing significant time over the negotiations.

-In CBA news, Swedish courts appear to be opening the door to NHL players playing in Sweden (in contrast to what the leagues themselves declared not long ago).

-Here are my profiles of Daniel Alfredsson, Craig Anderson, and the organisation’s fifth goaltender Marc Cheverie.

-Elmira has signed two more players: former Calgary Flames pick Kevin Harvey (LW, 9-270/03), who split his team between Toledo and Elmira last season (34-3-8-11), putting up 139 PIMs; and undrafted CIS grad Jean Bourbeau (RW) who spent last season with Elmira (49-10-16-26).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 11, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Marc Cheverie, G, Contract: AHL, 7-193/06 Mike Keenan
6’2, Catches L, 1987, Cole Harbour, NS
2009-10 NCAA Denver 24-6-3 2.08 .932
2010-11 ECHL Cincinnati 13-9-5 3.11 .896
2010-11 AHL Rochester 2-7-1 3.91 .888
2011-12 ECHL Gwinnett 10-4-8 2.71 .910
2011-12 AHL Portland 4-3-0 3.29 .893

Drafted by Mike Keenan the year after the lockout, Cheverie was a teammate of Patrick Wiercioch‘s for two seasons at the University of Denver.  Cheverie left college early to sign with Florida, but his rookie season was a disaster and he spent most of his time toiling in the ECHL.  He was traded to the Phoenix this past season and spent limited time in Portland (Phoenix’s affiliate), playing behind Jeff Jakaitis in Gwinnett (ECHL).  The Coyotes let him walk at season’s end.  An excellent collegiate player, Cheverie is not yet an established ECHL starter.

There’s no chance that Cheverie will challenge either Robin Lehner or Nathan Lawson for playing time in Binghamton; he lacks the pedigree of former fifth goaltenders like Barry Brust (10-11) and Chris Holt (09-10).

September 7, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–Bryan Murray spoke briefly about the contracts for Kyle Turris and Zack Smith:

These are young men that, under current rules, (would have) become free agents in the not too distant future. We’re trying to draft well, or trade for good young players and trying to keep them. It’s hard to keep them for a long time if you don’t make the commitment.

So as I mentioned previously the extra cash is to buy them out of years of free agency.

-Ottawa has finally signed their fifth goalie in the form of Marc Cheverie, a former 7th round pick (7-193/06) of the Florida Panthers.  He spent three years in the NCAA at the University of Denver before turning pro and most of his time has been in the ECHL (52 games versus 24 in the AHL).  He’ll start for Elmira.  He’s likely on an AHL two-way deal.

-A reader asks Adam Proteau why the Sens bought out Bobby Butler and his answer is 100% accurate:

Sens GM Bryan Murray clearly wanted the cap room created by Butler’s buyout and you can see why: although the salary payout to the player is $200,000 both this and next season, the cap hit (as per the invaluable capgeek.com site) is actually only $50,000 this season and $200,000 next year. In this day and age, that’s a negligible amount of money to spend on opening up a roster spot. Why not trade him for a low pick? First, you have to assume there’s a market for the player. And if other GMs were aware Murray was shopping Butler aggressively (as you’d have to imagine he did), they likely realized they might be able to acquire Butler without giving up any assets whatsoever. You can never assume that, just because something didn’t happen – in this case, a trade – nobody attempted to make it happen.

-There have been several stories of late discussing how players on ELC’s would report to Binghamton if the NHL season doesn’t start on time.  I have no idea why these are stories–the players have to report somewhere and the team who owns their rights wants them in the AHL.  The one piece of information floating around in the context of these articles that’s of interest is that Mika Zibanejad is envisioned as playing left wing as a pro.

-On the random side of things, in the midst of a straightforward article Nichols decides that Andre Petersson‘s future in Binghamton would somehow be jeopardized by the flood of players (Jared Cowen and Jakob Silfverberg) who would play there instead of Ottawa.  This is based on…well, it’s just speculation, but even that comes from nowhere.  Petersson, who is coming off an excellent rookie season, might have to play behind Silfverberg if he plays on the right side, but otherwise there’s no discernible impact.

–James offers this chestnut:

Sure there are a couple of big strapping dudes like Ben Blood kicking around but speaking frankly, he was drafted in 2007 and Blood probably would have made the team by now if he was going to

James hasn’t made the connection that Blood just graduated from college–this upcoming season is his rookie year, rather like Colin Greening in 10-11, so no one knows if he has NHL potential or not.  Varada, in the same article, thinks players like Zack Smith are readably available and so he doesn’t like the term of the contract.  I don’t think that’s the case–physical players who can do other things are not common (if they were no one would offer Matt Carkner and his two bad knees 3 years/1.5).

–ESPN Magazine has picked the Toronto Maple Leafs as the worst team in all the North American pro leagues.  This isn’t an all-time ranking (the Chicago Cubs presumably win that title easily) and frankly doesn’t mean much of anything, but it does give hockey fans something to talk about.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 7, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Chuck Gormley gives the Sens a C grade for their off-season.  He includes Mathieu Darche and Brad Staubitz among the departures from the roster (!), while his projected lineup has been lifted directly from Corey Masisak‘s article (from which, it appears, most of the content of his piece is derived).  Gormley should be embarrassed.  It’s bad enough that he lifted Masisak’s work without attribution, but his roster errors are absurd.

-I still don’t believe the NHL will lose much (if any) of its regular season due to the CBA negotiations, but for those of you who are trying to fill out your Binghamton/Elmira depth charts with Sens prospects keep in mind that both Shane Prince and Jean-Gabriel Pageau will undoubtedly be returned to their junior teams if the NHL season does not start on time.

-I’ve been writing this blog for awhile now and some elements of reader reaction still surprise me.  In terms of content, my blogs about prospects and the draft garner the most attention–this makes sense, as those were two of the major reasons I started Eye on the Sens.  The particular oddity I have in mind is how referencing other blogs/bloggers impacts the number of people who visit here.  When I mention Senshot, The Black Aces, The 6th Sens, WTYKY, etc, there’s no discernible increase in random traffic.  However, if I mention Eklund from Hockeybuzz (such as here), casual readers suddenly appear.  What’s the fascination?  Eklund’s constant rumours can be fun I suppose, but Spector offers a sensible alternative and for Sens fans there are much better choices.  I wonder if it’s the wild speculation itself that creates the interest.

-On the Elmira (ECHL) front the team has signed blueliner (and former Buffalo draft pick, 4-104/08) Jordan Southorn); he spent last year splitting his time between Trenton and Wheeling (50-8-13-21).

–Boston University‘s hockey program (Eric Gryba‘s alma mater) is in trouble due to a culture of “sexual entitlement” and changes are supposedly sweeping through the program.  One can only hope the attention does improve the situation there.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 6, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Senators have announced a four-year contract extension for Zack Smith for with a cap hit of 1.887,500.  It’s a big increase on his current salary (700k), but the organisation has been a fan of his since they drafted him and he’s the type of player every team wants.  The team paid a little extra to buy out some of his time as a free agent (the deal will end when Smith is 29).  Nichols and the Raaymaker have mixed feelings on the extension, but physical players can always be traded and at less than 2 million per season finding a dance partner wouldn’t be difficult.

–Mike Johnston picks Kyle Turris and Marc Methot (!) as his breakout players for the Sens this season.  At age 27 Methot isn’t someone I’d expect to radically improve.

–Nichols offers this about the upcoming season:

When your favorite hockey team is not in a position to be contending for a Stanley Cup, there is only one thing that organization can sell you on as a fan: hope.

He goes on to talk about the basis of that hope and I agree wholeheartedly with him on the general point.  Ottawa is not going to challenge for the Cup and is touch and go to make the playoffs, but the on-ice product should be entertaining and there are good players in the pipeline.  The main point of concern is that virtually none of the prospects are puck-moving defensemen (Cody Ceci being the exception).  Puck control begins at the back end and the team might find themselves sorely pressed with their current blueline.

-I finish off my look at undrafted success stories in the post-lockout NHL.

–Adam Proteau offers his opinion on the best hockey to watch if the NHL season does not start on time:
1. AHL
2. CHL
3. KHL
4. NCAA
5. CWHL (women’s hockey)
6. SEL
7. DEL
8. Junior B
9. ECHL
10. SM-Liiga
The decision really depends on the kind of hockey you want to watch.  If it’s based on the most talented league available then you’ll watch the KHL.  If it’s based on style of play, none comes closer than the AHL.  If it’s pure entertainment it’s much more a matter of personal taste.  For me, my eye will be on the AHL and on Europe–I like watching hockey I wouldn’t normally see in these circumstances.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 5, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–Pierre Dorion talks about his views on scouting and on Stefan Noesen:

It [scouting] still comes down to having a really good group of scouts, whether it’s on the amateur side or the pro side. It’s still about putting good lists together and still having that gut feeling — I think this player will play (in the NHL) because of his hockey sense. Player Y will play because of his desire or character, or maybe Player Z will play because of his skating ability. Maybe he won’t score like he did in junior, but his skating ability will allow him to be a third- or fourth-line player. Those things haven’t really changed. I must have seen 10 scouts with iPads [at the Ivan Hlinka tournament], and I don’t think I saw any last year. So I think it’s just another direction teams are going. A guy who gets overlooked because we had three first-round picks a year ago is Stefan Noesen. He’s made really big strides. He’s the type of guy who plays the game the right way. He goes to the net, he gets dirty goals and can shoot the puck. He makes plays in the offensive zone. He competes in both ends of the rink. Where he was a year ago to where he was at the end of the year … he’s made huge progress.

All I can draw from this in regards to scouting is that Dorion likes a consensus of opinions when it comes to making his draft lists.

-Motivated by the Kyle Turris signing, Varada offers the following:

The only scenario in which I care if an owner is getting value for his money is one in which he intends to spend as much as he is allowed, and the value of his contracts will help the team compete against other cap spenders. If Turris ends up being worth, say $5MM, why would I, as a fan, care that the team has to spend that? When we talk about the fan experience of watching a hockey game, one factor–money–is abstract, and doesn’t really impact how entertaining the game is. The other–term–isn’t abstract because we watch these players for the years of their contract. It seems logical to me that we should have a greater investment in the quality of the product on the ice than in the owner getting value for his money. These things are related, of course, but less so when you have a team spending so little in any case. What should terrify fans more is term. If this 23 year old incurs an injury or mental block or simply fails to perform without the motivation of needing a contract for five more years, then it affects me as a fan. Simply put, I’m stunned that this management was willing to give out a contract of that length after such a short audition. Erik Karlsson only got two more years than Turris.

I don’t fully agree with Varada, as when a fan watches a game a player’s performance is frequently referenced to how much they earn (a low salaried player who delivers is a great bargain, a high salaried player who doesn’t deliver is a bad signing and needs to be moved).  Money gets brought up all the time by the media and fans (Varada’s view of Turris henceforth is going to be affected by his deal), so I think it does impact how fans watch the game.  It’s an interesting point nonetheless.  I’ll also quibble with one part of his “what if” scenarios for players on long-term deals–if they suffer a serious injury they became cap irrelevant as they get put on LTIR.  Long term injuries are much less frightening than a highly paid player who underperforms.

-Here’s my profile of Jason Spezza.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 4, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Adam Proteau doesn’t like the idea of parity in the NHL and asks this question:

Why shouldn’t teams that have the most fans and interest and are the primary fillers of the league’s coffers also have at least a modicum of ability to benefit on the playing field for their success?

There are a number of answers to this but first let’s consider the logic of it: the implication is that money earned should form the basis for determining the outcomes.  If that’s the case, why not have the playoffs determined by the top-sixteen money earners?  Proteau doesn’t seem to understand that fan interest is not based on the profits of a team, but on a variety of factors that all boil down to historical success on the ice which ebbs and flows (just as Chicago or Pittsburgh).  To answer his question more directly: 1) by enabling big market teams to have a competitive advantage they will have more success on the ice, this will make smaller markets less attractive to free agents, less competitive, hurt their fanbase, hurt the competitive quality of the league, and ultimately damage the product (consider the tedious reality of the pre-lockout NHL); 2) if degrading the calibre of play isn’t enough of a problem, we can add that the most successful league in North America is the NFL, whose parity helps create one of the most fervent fanbase’s imaginable.  Proteau has heard the NFL argument before and offers this limp rejoinder:

Now, some of you will attempt to counter this argument by pointing to the NFL, which is the closest thing professional North American sports has to complete parity. I will counter that counter by pointing to (a) the NFL’s gargantuan TV deal that goes a long ways toward making all owners happy; and (b) its non-guaranteed contracts

It never seems to occur to Proteau that the gargantuan TV deals he’s talking about are that big because of the appeal parity engenders.  Fans like the uncertainty of outcomes.  Proteau thinks that the NFL always been this way, but there was a time where professional football was not the king of sports in America (not surprisingly, that was before giant TV revenue and before parity)–the competitive balance is what creates popularity.  Non-guaranteed contracts are an unrelated straw man.   Another way to understand how flawed this idea is to think about MLB (formerly the #1 sport in the US) and consider how far it has fallen.  Baseball has an increasingly older fanbase with a narrowing appeal (restricted to big markets), while the NFL simply gets bigger and bigger and bigger.  Why Proteau (and others) want to emulate a failing model is beyond me.

-Here’s my look at ECHL success stories post lockout, which continues my look at where diamonds in the rough are found in the NHL (having already looked at college and Europe).

-For a detailed preview of the upcoming SM-Liiga season check out Tony Piscotta‘s very detailed article.  His comments on Sakari Salminen suggest that his NHL potential is limited (“he is a bit light and his game may be more suited for European hockey“), which runs against my hunch that a team might make him an offer.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 3, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Reactions to the Kyle Turris deal have varied, but I thought James offered the most salient comment about the extension:

If things were to go South and Turris were to end up a 3^rd line centre, he’d be making 500K more than our beloved Chris Kelly currently is and for just one more year….except Turris is 23 to Kelly’s 31.

–Megan Robinson talked to Sens prospect Chris Driedger, who talks about this upcoming season where he’ll his first chance to be the starting goaltender for the Calgary Hitman:

Right now it’s just prep, getting back into game mode and working towards a big season. You know, during that stretch [last fall when he struggled], I went back to Winnipeg and just thought about things and I realized that if I keep playing like that, I’m not going to get drafted at all, so I tried to pick it up and I kind of got more hopeful. It was great for my confidence [getting drafted],  just knowing that Ottawa wanted to me and to take me in the third was pretty huge. It’s given me a new motivation to do better and make it further because the WHL cannot be the end of the road for me. It’s nice for me because it’s not going to be me constantly worrying about ice time with [Brandon] Glover like last year, it’s just a new focus on the game. [Mack] Shields is going to be a really good back-up and I think he’s going to be a really good goalie so it’s nice to have him. It’s going to be cool mentoring him and showing him what I can. I just wanted to make sure that I could capitalize on the opportunity because nothing is worse than having the job and losing it when you’re expected to take it. So, I made sure I was mentally and physically ready to take this job. It’s one of the best groups I’ve seen in front of me in a while. I think we’re going to have a lot of good veterans and the young guys coming up are going to contribute a lot too, so I think it’s going to be nothing but good things this year.

-Here are my thoughts on NHL play-by-play and colour commentators.

-The Elmira (ECHL) roster remains pretty vague at this stage, as the Sens have yet to sign their fifth goaltender and could theoretically send a platoon of prospects to join the roster.  There are currently six players signed (three forwards and three defensemen): Matt Campanale (DL, 66-7-16-23, 6 AHL games to his credit, including one with Binghamton last season), Jimmy Martin (DR, 70-7-27-34, entering his sophomore season as a pro), Kyle Bushee (DL, 57-4-15-19, 13 AHL games to his credit; spent most of last year with Wheeling), Dustin Gazley (LW/RW, 72-25-60-85, lead Elmira in scoring last season, he’s entering his sophomore year as a pro), Chaz Johnson (RW, 64-20-15-35, 70 AHL games to his credit, including a half season with Binghamton in 08-09), and Jordan Pietrus (RW, 65-13-27-40, entering his third year in the ECHL).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

August 31, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The big news of the day is that the Sens have signed Kyle Turris to a five year extension with a 3.5 million cap hit.  This is a contract based on potential, as Turris‘ has yet to crest the 30-point plateau in three NHL seasons (he spent one full year in the AHL).  It’s a reasonable risk for the third overall pick in the 2007 draft; if it doesn’t work out the amount isn’t so high that he couldn’t be moved.  The other thing it confirms is that the Sens don’t see Mika Zibanejad playing center in the NHL or that someone like Stephane Da Costa could fill that role.

–Allan Muir doesn’t like Ottawa’s off season moves (giving them a “D” grade) because…they let Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner walk!  Yikes!  Muir also makes the oft-debunked assertion that the Sens are in trouble of being below the cap floor.  Nichols deconstructs the player-by-player criticisms provided, but to me the article smells of lazy journalism–the comments are straight out of Don Brennan’s columns where undoubtedly his ideas originate (especially here).

–Patrick Wiercioch talks about improving his strength and conditioning this summer:

Working with Schwarzy [Chris Schwartz] and retooling, it’s been huge. It’s a considerable amount of weight to put on over the course of the summer … but it’s been progressive. It’s been one or two pounds a week or every two weeks. It hasn’t been a jump from one period or another. It’s been slow, it’s been progressive, it’s been a process since the end of May. That’s something (the Senators) wanted me to do, to put in the time, put in the effort and I think it’s been really good. Both Kyle and I have really benefited from working with Schwarzy in the weight room and off the ice, too.

He also talked about the injury that derailed his sophomore season in Binghamton:

[It was] a pretty serious fracture in the back of my neck with a lot of internal bleeding that was cause for a lot of panic and concern. It was a while [before it improved]. When you’re living it, you don’t really think about how serious it was. But once you can move a step past it and reflect on it, and you see how serious it was and what could have happened from it … there’s definitely things that you struggle with daily. You’re still at that point where you feel lucky to be alive. Hopefully, something like this doesn’t ever happen to me again, yet alone anyone else. I think you always appreciate the game because it’s fun and it’s something that you love to do. But when something like that happens and it could be taken away from you that quickly, then you realize how fragile you are.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

August 29, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-For those of you who have spent the summer wondering why I didn’t include my point projections for Sens players in my regular season review, your wait is over as I’ve added them into the article.  My two biggest errors from last summer were my point projections for Bobby Butler and my expectation that Jared Cowen would need time in Binghamton.  Overall however, my prognostication was solid.

-Here are my profiles of Sergei Gonchar, Chris Phillips, and Chris Neil.

–Peter Raaymakers looks at the Sens blueline and I recommend reading it in full.  Here are my thoughts:

Other than Methot and Cowen, no blueliner is capable of playing the kind of ice time Karlsson carries each game.

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment and I think Raaymakers is right that Paul MacLean will certainly aim for a Methot–Karlsson pairing.  If Methot can’t handle the role and Cowen suffers from a sophomore slump, it will hurt Karlsson a great deal as he’ll have to change his game for a weaker partner.

Gonchar will certainly be used on the powerplay, and he may be moved down the lineup at even strength to decrease the amount of ice time he plays–pretty much the opposite of Cowen, who will be used on the penalty kill, and may be bumped up in the depth chart since he can definitely gobble up minutes. Cowen may also see a bit of powerplay time this season, depending on whether or not Paul MacLean wants to use a forward on the blue line with the man advantage.

I have little doubt that Gonchar and Cowen will start the season together.  Given the limited offensive talent on the blueline Gonchar and Karlsson will get the majority of the powerplay minutes.  It will be interesting to see if MacLean went with a forward option on the second unit, although I think Alfredsson‘s days of walking the blueline are over and I’m not sure who among the forwards could play that role.

Lundin‘s not exactly an offensive powerhouse, but he looks like a capable puck-mover, and Phillips has a tendency to get trapped in his own zone if his partner isn’t able to move the puck out (or forwards aren’t willing to get deep in the zone and carry the puck out on their own). Against fast, offensive teams, Lundin may draw in to the lineup to allow MacLean’s system to work most effectively.

If Lundin has a good first pass it must be the only good pass he makes, as he’s never had more than 11 assists in an NHL season.  I agree wholeheartedly that Phillips needs someone to bail him out and Lundin‘s skating ability should help.  I think Raaymakers’ distinction between playing a fast versus a physical team is a good one for where Borowiecki (or Gryba) could slide into the lineup.

The article goes on to exclude Ceci, Wiercioch, Benoit, and Eckford from the lineup and I believe that’s likely.  What interests me is that he excludes Gryba who, prior to Borowiecki‘s ascendance last year, was the next in line to add a physical element to the blueline.  What’s concerning in looking at Ottawa’s blueline is how few players offer anything offensively.

–Corey Pronman provides his list of the Sens top-ten prospect:
1. Mika Zibanejad – could be a top line forward
2. Cody Ceci – either a top two or top four blueliner
3. Jakob Silfverberg – could be an above-average second liner
4. Mark Stone – could be an above-average second liner
5. Shane Prince – could be a good second liner
6. Stephane Da Costa – could be an average second liner
7. Stefan Noesen – could be a decent second liner
8. Patrick Wiercioch – could be a top four blueliner
9. Matt Puempel – could be an average second liner
10. Andre Petersson – could be a below-average second liner
The Next Five
11. Mike Hoffman – may push for an NHL spot
12. Robin Lehner – he’s “way ahead of the curve”
13. Jean-Gabriel Pageau – no specific projection given
14. Mark Borowiecki – on the cusp of NHL time
15. Derek Grant – no specific projection
Sleeper
Robbie Baillargeon – no specific projection

Pronman joins the horde of Ottawa locals who love Shane Prince and while I could quibble with the positioning of the other players that’s the one selection that puzzles me the most.  Notably low in his rankings is Robin Lehner, but Pronman isn’t fond of goaltenders as prospects.  I have no idea how Pronman distinguishes between “average” and “decent” (Noesen).  He writes:

This [Ottawa] is a ridiculously deep system. Players like Jarrod Maidens, Ben Blood, and Fredrik Claesson, who would all be in just about any team’s top 15 prospects, end up off Ottawa’s top 15. They lack the multiple star prospects outside of Mika Zibanejad, but there are still so many quality youngsters in this organization.

Pronman’s sentiment is pretty common–the Sens have stockpiled a great deal of depth, but like most teams they have a limited number of top end players.

–Stu Hackel takes a look at the NHL’s interest in cutting back on diving and obstruction, spending most of his time writing about the former.  I don’t think diving is a big problem in the league and the emphasis on it seems like a lot of wasted effort given the larger problems the NHL has with its officiating.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

August 27, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment