–Tim Murray was on The Team 1200 and Nichols has transcribed the conversation which is worth reading in full.  Murray talked about the team’s development camp, “I don’t have a lot to do with it, so I can’t take any credit for it. But I think that Randy (Lee) and his team, you know, Randy has been through this 100 times. He has had people who have left this organization long before I got here and asked these people if he could help them set up their development camp wherever they have gone. He’s a pro at this and then you add our strength people – Chris (Schwartz) and our skating people and everybody. I’m not naming names but they’ve been around a lot and they’ve fine-tuned it, if you will. There have been mistakes made in the last ten years but I think on every mistake, we’ve tried to learn by that and develop something better. And you’re right, it’s the off-ice stuff as much as the on-ice stuff. We bring in a sleep expert in and some nights, I need that. But we give them all the information and again, when we talk about Cody, it’s what they do with it. We can’t force feed them. We can give them the information. We try to draft the player who will take and use the information, but it’s up to them.”  He also talked about the Sens interest in college free agent Justin Schultz who essentially can pick where he wants to go.  Murray described him this way, “Not many kids do this but you have a Canadian kid who on the surface, it looks to me like he wants to play in Canada and I think he can play now. That’s the message that we’ll be sending to him. He’s an offensive defenceman. He’s a puck-mover. His transition game is outstanding. He’s similar to somebody that we already have and I’m not comparing him to him but he’s just similar to him in style. And how far he gets with that style, we’ll find out.”  Murray says the team has a chance to land him, saying it’s between 3-5 teams and Ottawa is on that list.  Given that salary isn’t an issue (Schultz has to sign an ELC) presumably he wants guarantees that he’ll play on the NHL roster.

–Steffe G:Son writes an excellent article on new Sens prospect Mikael Wikstrand.  The article is worth reading in full, but Steffe says of him “Even  though he didn’t get to show much of his offensive flare and the power play abilities that produced some points at the junior levels in Sweden,  he definitely didn’t look out of place at the senior level. He’s a good bet to make the Swedish WJC team for the tournament in Ufa this winter, and was one of 10 defensemen invited to the summer camp that’s the start of the U20 team’s season, with a camp in Sweden late July followed up by a tournament in Lake Placid. Wikstrand, who likes his name spelled with a “W” despite the passport saying “Vikstrand”, is a decently sized, mobile defenseman that can transport the puck with his skating and easy-solution, crisp passes. As a young  player in a men’s league, he would often opt for the simple play, as we’ve seen so many times with other young defensemen. Smart decisions defensively and while he’s not a physical force by no means, doesn’t shy away from contact and is fairly strong on his skates.”  He’ll play another season with Mora in Sweden and then possibly make the jump to the SEL or perhaps be brought over to play in the AHL (depending on his development).

–Ken Warren reports that the Sens are still in talks with Matt Carkner and Jesse Winchester, but not with Zenon Konopka.  I wonder if the Sens are offering the pair two-way deals with a high AHL salary (that’s the only way I’d keep them), but Warren has no specifics to offer about the negotiation specifics.

–Andy Strickland reports that Ottawa is negotiating for an extension with Chris Neil.  I agree with Nichols that Neil‘s best years are behind him.  There’s a lot of wear and tear on that body and I wonder what kind of extension it would be.

-UFA Corey Locke has signed in Finland.

June 26, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens have announced their development camp roster: Forwards: Robert Baillargeon, Jeff Costello, Corey Cowick, Jakub Culek, Cameron Darcy*, Ryan Dzingel, David Dziurzynski, Wacey Hamilton, Mike Hoffman, Darren Kramer, Jarrod Maidens, Max McCormick, Stefan Noesen, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Brad Peltz, Shane Prince, Matt Puempel, Cole Schneider, Mark Stone, Mika Zibanejad; Defencemen: Bryce Aneloski, Ben Blood, Mark Borowiecki, Timothy Boyle, Cody Ceci, Fredrik Claesson, Jordan Fransoo, Daniel New*, Michael Sdao, Trevor Van Riemsdyk*, Chris Wideman, Mikael Wikstrand; Goalies: Francois Brassard, Chris Driedger, Robin Lehner.  Those marked with an asterix are FA attendees.  Robert Baillargeon is incorrectly listed as a blueliner.  Daniel New attended the Sens camp a couple of years ago (2010) (this is apparently an error).  Eligible prospects not included are Jakob Silfverberg, Derek Grant, Andre Petersson, Patrick Wiercioch and Louie Caporusso.  Stats for FA’s:
Darcy Cameron (RW, 6’0, DOB 1994, USHL 24-4-2-6)
Daniel New (DL, 6’1, DOB 1989, NCAA 36-2-12-14)
Trevor Van Riemsdyk (DR, 6’2, DOB 1991, NCAA 37-4-15-19)

–Peter Raaymakers collects all the video related to the players drafted and the comments about them (most of which are available on Sens TV), which I reference simply for this comment “Some of Ottawa’s best reporters scrummed around Ceci after the draft, asking him such deep-probing questions as, “Do you live with your parents?” and “What highway exit do you take to get home?”  Gord Wilson should be singled out for inane questions given that he interviews everyone for Sens TV.

–Sam Cosentino gives Ottawa’s draft a B+, saying “Bryan Murray and his staff had a strong draft.  When everyone thought Murray was dead-to-rights in Ottawa, he rebounded with a Calder Cup championship last season, a playoff appearance this season for the big club and an excellent 2012 draft. Cody Ceci is a gem at No. 15. Third-round pick Chris Driedger showed signs of brilliance in the second half of the season between the pipes with the Calgary Hitmen.  Due to concussion issues, Jarrod Maidens slipped to middle of Round 3.  Had he been healthy, he was a surefire first-round pick. Timothy Boyle is the younger brother of the Rangers’ Brian Boyle and will get an extended look playing college hockey at Union. Robert Baillargeon slipped to the fifth round, while the Sens stole goalie Francois Brassard in the sixth. Mikael Wikstrand was ranked 23rd by the European division of NHL Central Scouting.  He slipped all the way to the 196th overall pick in Round 7.  There’s home run potential if Maidens can recover.”

–Craig Schira, the lone RFA released by the Sens, has signed in Norway (following in the footsteps of former Binghamton teammate Mat Robinson who now plays in the SEL).

June 25, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Here’s my look at the draft through the lens of prognostication as well as a look at Ottawa’s draft.  The Sens weren’t able to make any trades during the festivities, but many transactions occurred around the league with more to come.  It’s pretty clear GM’s and owners aren’t concerned about the upcoming CBA given the transactions and re-signings.

-I thought the best reaction to the Sens draft was from Scott when the Sens drafted Cody Ceci, “At the very least the Ottawa Sun will be psyched.”  That goes for most of the selections given the Ottawa media’s proclivities.

-Some trivia about new Sens draft pick Francois Brassard: his father Marc is the sports editor at Le Droit.

–Allen Panzeri stated the obvious regarding the Rick Nash rumours: he does not want to come to Ottawa (something I mentioned back when the rumours started to circulate).  My feeling has been that Columbus GM Scott Howson is using Ottawa to try and jack up the price for Nash, which is going to be relatively low (as Lyle Richardson discusses) given that this is essentially a Dany Heatley situation where the player dictates where he is going.

June 24, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-As expected Erik Karlsson re-signed with Ottawa yesterday.  It’s a seven year contract with a cap hit of 6.5, which is reasonable for both sides.

–Pierre Dorion was interviewed and had a lot to say.  When asked about Mika Zibanejad he said, “I think we’re okay with his development. I think when we’re realistic about things, I always tell people that it’s not a 100-metre race when you’re developing prospects or putting prospects into your lineup. I think it’s a marathon. Only certain special players can step in at 18 years old and have an impact. We knew with Mika, he played 10 games – he was good for us some games and some games he struggled. We just felt for his development, the best thing would be to go back home. He had a good World Junior. (He) scored the winning goal for Sweden for them to win the gold medal which was something that they hadn’t done in a while. And right now, he’s coming over for our development camp next week. I think he had a much better second half this year for his team and I think we’re going to see him try and play for us next year. Whether he plays or not, whether he goes to the American (Hockey) League, which is an option, is something we’ll look at but I think he’s a prospect that down the road, will contribute again to our team’s success.”  For some reasons Nichols (who transcribed the interview) believes these comments mean he might be traded.  I don’t see it.  Dorion gave the usual speech on Mark Stone, with the most significant part being “I see Mark as a big part of our future.”  He also made a point of bringing up Mark Borowiecki and Zack Smith as players who exceeding expectations based on where they were drafted.  There was nothing new in his comments on Jakob Silfverberg (echoing what’s been said before).  When asked about Ottawa’s draft strategy he said, “We have mentioned to our media and we have mentioned to our people that there are fourteen guys that we like so if Calgary seems to like the same fourteen as us, they’re in a good position. We feel that we’re going to get one of those fourteen guys that we really like. I think there is a certain drop off in the draft. As far as our needs, I know it’s a cliché and our fans don’t really like to hear it, our media don’t really like to hear it, but we’re just going to take the best player available. I know we took three forwards in the first round and our first five picks last year were forwards but you need to fill twelve spots or thirteen spots for your NHL team. Some of our forwards quite a bit older and on defence, we obviously we don’t have the depth in younger prospects. We’d like to add a defenceman but if we feel that a forward is the best possible player, we’d do that. And it could be a goalie also. We have three goalies in our organization and we feel that we have one of the best goalies outside the NHL in Robin Lehner. He won a Calder Cup last year and was the MVP of the Calder Cup at 20 years old, so it might not be a position but he’s the youngest goalie in our organization at 21 years old, so we might feel the need to draft one at a certain point in time in this draft.”  The latter comment should help put to bed Darren Dreger’s rumour that Lehner could be traded.  It seems absurd to give up on a young goalie like that (conversely, I could see the Sens shopping Ben Bishop if the price is high enough).

–Bryan Murray told Renaud P. Lavoie that the Sens are out of the Rich Nash sweepstakes.  I don’t think they were ever really in them, but we can hope that puts an end to the space wasted on speculating about it.

–worsteverything has a meandering article that makes two points (one I agree with, one I don’t): the Sens are better off waiting for their forward prospects to develop than spending on the free agent market.  I agree with him and the comments from the organisation suggests they agree too.  His other suggestion is keeping Matt Carkner (the man with no knees) on the roster, which seems pointless in doing [Correction: worsteverything has reminded me that he thinks the organisation will re-sign them, not offering his opinion on if they should or shouldn’t].

-The NHL has banned players using their hands to win faceoffs, which (as Nichols points out in the above link) takes one of Zenon Konopka‘s two bullets out of his gun.  Staged fighting remains, which is still good enough for Don Brennan.

June 20, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

–Bryan Murray continues to beat the trade drums, “There are people on this team that we’re not really interested in trading. But it may well happen that we would try to do something to either add a player or a higher pick. We’re very open-minded. So if it gets out there that other managers would like to call, I’d be very open to that. We want to be competitive, obviously, and there will be a little more pressure on our team to do better, or at least the same type of thing next year. I’m not adverse to try and hurry it up. If there’s something we could do to make that happen, we’d love to make it happen. But we’re going to also protect as many of our assets as we can, knowing and thinking we have people very close to being NHL players that will compete this year.”

-In the same article, Pierre Dorion confirmed that “We will draft a goalie in this draft. Whether it’s in the first round or seventh round, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”  The lack of goaltending depth has troubled the franchise for quite some time, but I don’t think the Sens will spend a first round pick to select one.

–Nichols transcribes Bryan Murray’s interview with The Team 1200 which is worth reading in full albeit there’s not much new.  The one anecdote I found interesting was regarding Murray’s talks with Islander GM Garth Snow last year, “Garth Snow last year when I talked to him, he was picking I think one spot or two spots ahead of me, and I tried to flip with him to move up a couple of spots and his demand was ‘Tell me who you’re going to pick,’ and I wouldn’t do that, so he wouldn’t move. But if he says no to you, then he takes your guy because there may be some indecision on their part and with our history, our drafting has been good so they can use you as a lever sometimes.”  You have to wonder what Snow was thinking.

–Senschirp points out that the Sens have brought four draft-eligible goalies to Ottawa to have a look at them.  Malcolm Subban‘s visit was well-publicized, but the Sens have also taken a look at Russian Andrei Vasilevski, OHLer Daniel Altshuller and QMJHLer Francois Brassard.  While Subban and Vasilevski are two of the highest ranked goaltenders in the draft (tops in North America and Europe, respectively), the latter two are mid to late round prospects.  I seriously doubt the Sens will pick Vasilevski given their disinclination to draft Russians.

–TSN takes a lengthy look at the Senators prior to the draft and some interesting things to say.  “Since it was supposed to be a re-building year, the Senators’ prospect cupboard is quite well-stocked.  The Sens may be well-served trading their first-round pick for another big veteran voice in the locker room. The good news is that if they choose to keep the pick, Ottawa has the opportunity to select the best available player at the 15 slot and are not boxed in by any pressing immediate needs. Unfortunately, few teams allowed as many goals as the Senators as well. They appear to be set in [net] for both the present and the future, but the defence corps could use an added injection of youth. Since the 2012 draft class appears to be quite deep on the blue line, there is no time like the present to begin the re-stocking process.”  Scott Cullen runs down their prospects and highlights most of the notables.  It’s a good article and worth reading fully.

–John Henkelman previews the draft from an Ottawa perspective.  First he assesses the team and see’s Mika Zibanejad, Jakob Silfverberg, Andre Petersson, Mark Borowiecki, Patrick Wiercioch (calling him a “two-way defenseman”), and Eric Gryba as having the best chance to crack the NHL lineup.  He writes “GM Bryan Murray and his team will target puck-moving defensemen and scoring forwards with size and preferably some tenacity at both of these positions. Their philosophy is to opt for the best player available and will likely angle towards a defenseman over a forward this draft all things being equal. In the past the Senators have targeted specific players based on recommendations and they will continue to do so. The organization does place a high value on character and maturity when looking at potential new additions. The Senators did choose forwards with eight out of their 10 picks in the 2011 draft in order to replenish that position in their system. Look for them to emphasize defense more with this time around.”  I agree with Altenbaugh in terms of how the team will pick.  In Hockey Futures‘ mock draft Ottawa selected Olli Maata.

–Varada argues that there’s no point in picking a goalie in the first round and that it’s better to leave blueliners until late as well (based on an article by Cam Charron).  Both articles are worth reading, with Charron pointing out the low percentage of success for teams who pick goaltenders and blueliners in the first round.  To play devil’s advocate with the idea, Ottawa selected Erik Karlsson with the 15th overall pick and that’s a primary reason their rebuild is ahead of schedule, so is the issue completely tied to position?  What I take away from the analysis is that scouts have a harder time projecting blueliners, so ultimately what NHL teams need is better scouting.

June 16, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

–Bryan Murray is putting the Sens first round pick (#15) up for grabs.  “There are people on this team who we are not really interested in trading. But it may well happen that we would try to do something to either add a player or a higher pick. We’re very open minded. So if it gets out there that other managers would like to call, I’d be very open with that. There aren’t a lot of contracts I’m trying to dump. I think the people that have them, have a chance to play on our hockey team. During the training camp process, or after that, if some young player steps up and is really showing that he is ready to play now, I have to try to look after that at the time.  It’s always been my theory that you pick the best player … at that time. And if you have to move him to get what you need later on, you probably can do that.”  This isn’t an unusual or unexpected sentiment for Murray, who has made trades every single draft as Ottawa’s GM.  Mind you, it’s one thing to be ready to deal and it’s another to find a dance partner.

–Pierre Dorion is also talking about the draft, “With the way the 2010-11 season ended, with us trading away a lot of assets, we approached last year as a very big draft. I think we go into this draft with a different mindset in that we know we’re not going to pick as often as we did last year. But we still go into it with the mindset that you never know what’s going to happen. We’re dealing from a position of power now when it comes to the quality prospects we have. A number of these players won the Calder Cup (in 2011), and a number of them played and contributed on our team this year. I think at every position we have what I would call blue-chip prospects. Some are playing right now, some will be playing down the road. There are some bigger names at the top [of the draft], but I see quite a few good players. Whether they make it next year, or whether it will take them one year or three years to make it will depend on their learning curves, physically and mentally. If you get caught up in drafting by position, you’re not drafting the best asset.”  To me these comments compliment Murray’s desire for wheeling and dealing quite well.

-Not surprisingly Murray doesn’t expect to be very busy when it comes to free agency.  There’s a need to fill a hole on the blueline, but otherwise nothing is certain.

–Alan Panzeri offers the names of six players the Sens might be eyeing for the draft: Sebastien Collberg, Hampus Lindholm, Pontus Aberg, Ollie Maata, Cody Ceci, and Radek Faksa.  It’s an interesting list, but Panzeri doesn’t indicate whether it comes from his best guess or from talking to the organisation, so take it with a grain of salt.

–Sportsnet provides their list of top-five players rising in the draft: Tom Wilson, Derrick Pouliot, Teuvo Teravainen, Cody Ceci, and Lukas Sutter.  The only nonsensical member of this list is Ceci, who was highly regarded at the beginning of the season.

-Mock drafts abound and THN see’s Ottawa selecting Hampus Lindholm.  The NHL website has three mock drafts posted.  Mike G. Morreale has Ottawa picking Matt Finn, Adam Kimelman see’s Ottawa picking Cody Ceci, and Steven Hoffner follows the trend of Ottawa picking Hampus Lindholm.

-The Sens have posted video of their amateur scouting meeting.  The best part of this to me is watching Vaclav Burda’s expressions.

-For those of you who want a refresher on the various draft resources that I’ve looked at, here are the links:
International Scouting Service (ISS)
Red Line Report
Future Considerations
Hockey Prospects
Mckeen’s
The Hockey News
Hockey Prospectus

June 15, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-The Los Angeles Kings put NHL fans out of their misery by winning the Stanley Cup.  The Kings hammered home the point that the regular season means nothing with the victory.  The unwatchable final produced the third lowest ratings since 1995 (dropping 29% from last year) and NHL purists can pat themselves on the back for sucking excitement from the game.  I’m not sure a team has ever won the Cup with less adversity paired with a complete lack of excitement.  Even the 1995 New Jersey Devils, the poster childs for tedium, struggled to win the Cup.  Call me a pessimist, I predict the NHL will make no meaningful changes for fear of “hurting the game” or some similar nonsense.

–Nichols reports that Shane Prince has been signed, although official word has yet to confirm it.

–Scott reminds us that Filip Kuba could be retained, although he points to Corsi numbers to show that Erik Karlsson was more important for Kuba‘s performance than the other way around.

–Bruce Garrioch speculates that the Sens are interested in retaining Matt Carkner and Jesse Winchester.  I can imagine how difficult it would be to find replacements for a fourth-line center with concussion problems who can’t score and a seventh defenseman with two bad knees who couldn’t keep up with the pace before his injury problems.  Garrioch can’t offer the same assurance for Zenon Konopka, which is about as clear a sign as you could ask for that he won’t be retained.

–Wayne Scanlan wonders how close the Sens are to the Kings (assuming that’s the pattern to follow), but doesn’t really spend much time breaking down the comparison other than to say the Sens need internal growth to match them.

–Rob Brodie runs down Ottawa’s first round picks throughout the organisations history (including Kyle Turris for no particular reason), which is fun only in that you can remember that Pierre Gauthier and Marshall Johnston thought Mathieu Chouinard was worth selecting twice.

–Bob McKenzie confirms that Chris Kelly has re-signed with Boston which mercifully ends the pointless speculation about a return to Ottawa.

June 13, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment