Ottawa’s two-game winning streak came to an end in Anaheim yesterday as the Ducks were able to slow down the pace of the game and minimize the Sens chances.  It was not a great night for the officials (Dan O’Rourke and Greg Kimmerly–the latter was also brutal in San Jose as well as in Dallas back on December 2nd).  Andre Petersson‘s debut was wasted as he was given just 5 minutes of ice time–what Paul MacLean could have learned from that is beyond me.  Matt Carkner continued his trend of barely playing when he’s in the lineup.  Click here for the box score.  A look at the goals:
1. Anaheim, Perry
Karlsson leaves the front of the net to help Kuba in the corner and Spezza doesn’t react to it, leaving Perry wide open (reading Karlsson comments after the game it’s clear Spezza should have rotated down to cover for him, link)
2. Anaheim, Visnovsky
Karlsson tips the puck into his own net
3. Neil (Foligno, Karlsson)
Neil bangs in his own rebound

Top-performers:
Craig Anderson – no soft goals and kept the team in it
Chris Neil – threw a couple of big hits and scored

Players Who Struggled:
Chris Phillips – the unforced mental errors in his own zone continue
Erik Karlsson – he wasn’t terrible, but his mistakes contributed to both goals
Jason Spezza – had more than 24 minutes of ice time but was unable to generate offense

-Referee Dan O’Rourke told Paul MacLean that Erik Karlsson is considered a diver.  I haven’t noticed that myself, but it does explain why there was no call when he was elbowed in the face by Patrick Marleau and went down.  That reputation (even unwarranted) is extremely hard to shake so I feel for Karlsson.

-Sens players weren’t happy with their game with Chris Neil saying, “It’s definitely disappointing. We obviously let down in the second period and they took advantage of it. You can’t just expect to play 20 minutes in the third and win a hockey game” and Daniel Alfredsson simply, “I don’t think we were at our best“.

–Andre Petersson had a great quote when asked if he was nervous about his NHL debut, “Not much. It’s just hockey. Played the same way as down there in Binghamton. So no, not nervous.”

-Elmira won last night, with Maxime Gratchev scoring twice (his first points since being re-assigned five games ago) and Louie Caporusso adding a single.  Brian Stewart sat as the back-up.

-It’s probably a waste of time correcting Don Brennan‘s errors, but Luca Sbisa is Swiss, not Italian.

January 22, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–Andre Petersson will play tonight while Bobby Butler sits; Mark Borowiecki will sit in favour of Matt Carkner.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan looks at why the Sens are fifth in the league on the road and provides five reasons: 1. Goaltending, 2. Coaching, 3. Strength down the middle, 4. Penalty-killing, 5. Team comaraderie.  Brennan has a short memory when it comes to goaltending, as early in the season the team was winning despite their goaltending.  I agree with #2 and #5, but the team’s penalty-killing has spent most of the season at the bottom of the league while the parade of different centerman belies strength throughout the season.

-The Binghamton Senators halted their losing streak with a 4-3 win over Hershey.  They blew a 3-0 lead, but Jim O’Brien gave them the game with a late short-handed goal.  Robin Lehner got the win, making 42 saves.  O’Brien scored twice while Corey Locke and Pat Cannone added the other goals.  Click here for the box score and here for Joy Lindsay’s game summary.

-Elmira won last night, with Louie Caporusso picking up a goal and an assist and Brian Stewart getting the win.  Maxime Gratchev was held off the score sheet.

January 21, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens have recalled Stephane Da Costa

–Colin Greening talked about last night’s win, “We’re very confident right now. This shows that we’re a very good road team. You’ve got to be able to get points on the road, especially when we’re coming on the west coast and we have a three hour time change … I’ve never experienced it before, but talking to the veteran guys this is a very tough place to play. Coming in here and being able to win, especially 4-1, is a testament to how resilient we are.”  One of the things I like about Greening is his willingness to shoot–something many of Ottawa’s veteran players are reluctant to do consistently.

–Mark Borowiecki wasn’t nervous in his first game, getting the nerves out in warmup (Ottawa Senators.com). “I’m definitely very excited. It’s something you work all your life toward and it’s just nice to get a chance now. I’m excited to get out there. I got them all out in the pre-game skate. The first strides around the rink were pretty wobbly, but I’m feeling good now … I’m just (going to) keep it simple. Get the puck, move it to my first option and don’t try to play outside myself.”  Borowiecki plays a mature game and could easily replace Brian Lee on the team.

–Steve Lloyd speculates that Andre Petersson will play on Jason Spezza‘s right wing against Anaheim tomorrow.  This may be based on a conversation Denis Potvin had with Bryan Murray which was referenced on last night’s Sportsnet‘s broadcast (where Murray said he expects Petersson to be Spezza‘s future right-winger).  I’ll be interested to see how Petersson handles the physical play in the NHL–the AHL is physical, but not at the same pace.

–Joy Lindsay reports that Robin Lehner will get the start tonight against Hershey, looking for his first win since December 4th (he’s on a five-game losing streak).

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

–Jason Spezza‘s comments about last night’s game make for an interesting brain-twister: “We worked hard. I don’t think we had a letdown. They played well. They didn’t give us much and we didn’t do enough to generate our own chances. I think we were ready.”  Unpacking that statement is difficult–they were ready and didn’t have a letdown, but they didn’t do enough to create chances?  I’d be very concerned if Spezza really thinks the team played well.  Erik Karlsson had more realistic comments, “We didn’t play as planned and they did a good job in the neutral zone and they limited us to only a few scoring chances and their goalie played great. We didn’t come up to our normal standard.”

–TSN and The Hockey News have their power rankings out, with Ottawa 11th and 10th.

–Andre Petersson has been called up to join the team on their road trip.  Given that there are no injuries among Ottawa’s forwards (Brian Lee is hurt) he’s going to be taking someone’s place and I’m interested to see both how many games he plays and how much he plays in those games.  At a guess I’d think either Kaspars Daugavins or Bobby Butler will sit when he plays.

-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence; I’ve also indicated if the player’s scoring position has change (with a + for up, – for down, and = for unchanged):
CHL
Mark Stone (RW, Brandon, WHL) 39-30-43-73 (1st=)
Shane Prince (C/LW, Ottawa 67s, OHL) 33-22-28-50 (3rd=)
Stefan Noesen (C/RW, Plymouth, OHL) 38-19-29-48 (1st=)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (RW, Chicoutimi, QMJHL) 26-26-20-46 (3rd+)
Matt Puempel (LW, Peterborough, OHL) 30-17-16-33 (4th=)
Darren Kramer (C/LW, Spokane, WHL) 41-15-10-25 (5th+)
Jakub Culek (C/LW, Rimouski, QMJHL) 34-8-15-23 (6th-)
Jordan Fransoo (D, Victoria, WHL) 43-2-10-12 (2nd+)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (C/RW, Brynas) 32-13-17-30 (1st=)
Mika Zibanejad (C/RW, Djurgarden) 14-3-4-7 (15th=)
Fredrik Claesson (D, Djurgarden) 31-1-4-5 (5th-)
Allsvenskan
Marcus Sorensen (RW, Boras) 21-7-5-12 (6th=)
NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (C, CCHA-Ohio State) 21-5-12-17 (3rd=)
Michael Sdao (D, ECAC-Princeton) 20-6-9-15 (1st=)
Chris Wideman (D, CCHA-Miami) 24-1-11-12 (1st=)
Ben Blood (D, WCHA-North Dakota) 23-2-9-11 (t-2nd+)
Bryce Aneloski (D, WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 24-1-10-11 (t-2nd+)
Max McCormick (LW, CCHA-Ohio State) 15-3-7-10 (7th+)
Jeff Costello (LW, CCHA-Notre Dame) 19-3-6-9 (9th=)
Brad Peltz (LW, ECAC-Yale) 6-1-0-1 (20th=)

January 17, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Tonight’s coma-inducing game was one of Ottawa’s worst (the only excitement was the retribution Chris Neil got against Evander Kane after a questionable hit on Erik Karlsson).  In fairness, the Sens poor play over the last few games simply caught up to them.  Other than a brief flurry at the end they were unable to generate any offense.  Oddly enough, if Craig Anderson hadn’t let in two soft goals they might have stolen a point.  Click here for the box score.  A look at the goals:
1. Winnipeg, Slater
Spezza turns it over and Anderson lets a soft tip from Slater go between the wickets
2. Winnipeg, Enstrom
Spezza gets confused in coverage leaving Enstrom wide open; he fires a shot that somehow goes through Anderson

Top-performers: None.  No one excelled tonight.

Players Who Struggled:
Craig Anderson – he was great after it was 2-0, but two soft goals is too many
Jason Spezza – the goat on both goals
Chris Phillips – too many mental errors leading to turnovers (he was tied with the team lead)

The entire team was bad–unable to generate any offence until the final minutes and sloppy in their own zone.  It will be interesting to see who sits for Andre Petersson (who was just called up from Binghamton).

January 16, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-No changes are expected to the Sens roster tonight

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch is beating the drum for Paul MacLean to get Jack Adams consideration.  MacLean talked about his goals, “Our goal is to build a foundation here. Right now, we still have a long, long way to go. We just want to be consistent on a nightly basis.  I still think we have a long way to go. We’re happy with where we are and we’re pleased that our fans are happy with the way the team is playing, but we understand that there are a lot of games left to play and an awful lot can still happen.  We’re trying to make sure we keep the finger on the pulse of our team and what we need to do get better, but by no means are we anywhere close to where we feel we need to be.”  I admire MacLean’s restraint, although how the Sens have played the last couple of games would give anyone pause.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri reminds us that the Sens have played more games than any other team they are competing against, making their position in the standings a bit tenuous.

–ESPN‘s power rankings are out with Ottawa 8th

-Binghamton lost 3-2 yesterday, their fourth loss in a row.  Mike McKenna took the loss while Da Costa and Klinkhammer scored the goals.  Eric Gryba was -3 on the night.  Click here for the box score and Joy Lindsay’s game summary.

-Elmira won last night, with Jack Downing scoring twice and Louie Caporusso picked up an assist.  Maxime Gratchev went pointless and Brian Stewart served as the backup.

January 16, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-I missed last night’s game so I’m reliant on reports (certainly the highlight package was not flattering to the team), but everyone seems to agree that Craig Anderson stole the game for them.  Here’s The Silver Sevens‘ write-up of the game.  Speaking of Anderson, he stated the obvious in the post-game, “I don’t think we brought our best game, but in the third period, we found a way to win. That’s how this game goes. You’re not going to play or feel your best, but if keep getting points, everything gets washed under the rug.”  Matt Carkner played under ten minutes last night, but I’m not sure if that was related to his play.

-Binghamton gave up a 4-2 lead in the third period to lose 6-4 to Hershey.  Robin Lehner took the loss, while Da Costa had a pair of goals with Petersson and Gryba adding the others.  Tim Conboy and David Dziurzynski were both -4.  Click here for the box score and here for Joy Lindsay’s game summary.  I can’t think Kurt Kleinendorst is very happy with the result, but post-game comments haven’t been posted yet.

-Joy Tweets that Josh Godfrey is nursing an injury

-Elmira lost 2-1 last night with Brian Stewart taking the loss and Caporusso, Downing, and Gratchev held off the score sheet.

January 15, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

The Ottawa Senators under Bryan Murray have rarely dipped into European leagues except to draft players out of Sweden (the last player drafted by Ottawa outside of Sweden was Kaspars Daugavins in 2006).  They have brought in veterans to play in Binghamton (such as Justin Mapletoft from the DEL in 2007-08) and I think it’s worth looking at the top-performers in the leagues and the undrafted young players who are older than the usual draft age.

While there’s debate over which European league is the best outside the NHL, most opinions I’ve read settle on the SEL (the Swedish league).  The KHL is usually next, but I’ve listed it at the end of this both because of the difficulty in getting players to come to North America and Ottawa’s particular problem in attracting Russian players.  As I go through the leagues I’ll list the top-scorers and then the most interesting prospects (if any).  The most intriguing players are highlighted and I delve more into them at the end of the article.  I’ve indicated where prospects were ranked by Central Scouting where applicable.

Here’s a glance at the SEL (in terms of prospects I’ve also looked at the Allsvenskan, the Swedish second-tier pro league).

Nicklas Danielsson, RW, MODO, 35-15-21-36 (2003 Vancouver pick who was never signed)
Mike Iggulden, C/W, Vaxjo, 34-13-19-32 (unsigned out of college he spent 4 years in the AHL)
Mikael Johansson, C/W, Farjestad, 36-6-25-31 (2003 Detroit pick spent part of one season in the AHL)
Jakob Silfverberg, C/W, Brynas, 32-13-17-30 (Ottawa’s 2009 draft pick)
Per-Age Skroder, LW, MODO, 35-13-17-30 (undrafted Norwegian has spent his career in Europe)
Richard Gynge, RW, AIK, 36-18-11-29 (undrafted 24-year old)
Jason Krog, C, HV71, 33-10-19-29 (career AHLer)
Bud Holloway, RW, Skelleftea, 37-11-17-28 (2006 LA pick spent 3 years in the AHL)
Johan Davidsson, C, HV71, 37-6-21-27 (1994 Anaheim pick spent 2 years in North America)
Calle Jarnkrok, C, Bryas, 38-11-15-26 (2010 Detroit pick)

John Norman, LW, Djurgarden, 37-4-9-13 (21-year old; #174 CSE 2009)
Niclas Burstrom, D, Skelleftea, 34-5-4-9 (20-year old undersized blueliner; #153 CSE 2009)
Oscar Fantenberg, D, HV71, 35-3-4-7 (20-year old defenseman)
Nils Andersson, D, Vaxjo, 34-1-6-7 (20-year old defenseman; #72 CSE 2010)
Frederik Styrman, D, Skelleftea, 17-1-3-4 (20-year old undersized blueliner; #46 CSE 2009)
Adam Pettersson, C/RW, Sundsvall (Allsvenskan), 36-9-12-21 (20-year old; #9 CSE 2010)
Victor Backman, LW/RW, Boras (Allsvenskan), 30-7-9-16 (20-year old; #39 CSE 2011)
Jesper B. Jensen, D, Rogle (Allsvenskan), 34-4-10-14 (20-year old; #84 CSE 2010)

The Finnish league (SM-Liiga) is the European league considered to be closest to the North-Amerian-style of play.  The Mestis the Finnish second-tier pro league.

Tomas Zaborsky, LW/RW, Assat, 38-28-15-43 (2006 Ranger pick spent a couple of years in the ECHL)
Stephen Dixon, C, Assat, 38-12-28-40 (2003 Pittsburgh pick spent 3 years in the AHL)
Mikael Granlund, C, HIFK, 31-16-23-39 (2010 first-rounder for Minnesota)
Ryan Lasch, RW, Pelicans, 36-13-22-35 (undrafted undersized college player is in his second year in Europe)
Matti Kuparinen, C, KalPa, 37-10-21-31 (undrafted European vet has never come over)
Eric Perrin, C/LW, JYP, 36-7-24-31 (36-year old won a Cup with Tampa Bay)
Sakari Salminen, RW/LW, KalPa, 34-16-14-30 (undrafted 23-year old)
Ville Vahalahti, LW, TPS, 37-14-15-29 (undrafted European vet has never come over)
Tuomas Kiiskinen, RW, KalPa, 38-10-19-29 (undersized foward was never drafted)
Ville Peltonen, LW, HIFK, 31-14-14-28 (1993 San Jose pick played nearly 400 games in the NHL)

Julius Junttila, LW/RW, Karpat, 33-8-9-17 (20-year old undersized winger; #41 CSE 2010)
Jesse Mankinen, LW/RW, SaiPa, 37-7-8-15 (20-year old undersized winger; #182 CSE 2009)
Charles Bertrand, LW, Lukko, 35-7-6-13 (20-year old; #104 CSE 2010)
Juha-Pekka Pietila, D, Pelicans, 7-0-5-5 (20-year old blueliner with good size)
Olavi Vauhkonen, RW, Jokipojat (Mestis), 31-18-11-29 (big 22-year old; #159 CSE 2008)
Toni Jalo, C/LW, TuTo (Mestis), 34-5-23-28 (22-year old)
Samuli Virkkunen, C/RW, Sport (Mestis), 31-8-17-25 (21-year old)

The Swiss league (NLA) has been a steadily improving league and probably features more overall talent than the Finnish league, but plays the distinctively European-style of hockey.  The NLB is the second-tier pro league.

Damien Brunner, RW, Zug, 35-19-29-48 (25-year old was never drafted)
Julien Sprunger, RW, Gotteron, 37-23-17-40 (2004 Minnesota pick never come over to North America)
Pavel Rosa, RW/LW, Gotteron, 35-16-23-39 (1995 LA pick spent five years playing pro in North America)
Jaroslav Bednar, RW/LW, Lugano, 34-13-26-39 (2001 LA pick spent parts of three season playing in North America)
Tommi Santala, C/W, Kloten, 35-8-31-39 (1999 Atlanta pick spent three years in North America)
Petr Sykora, C, Davos, 34-19-17-36 (1997 Detroit pick spent parts of three seasons in North America)
Simon Gamache, LW/C, Gotteron, 37-17-19-36 (2000 Atlanta pick played over 300 games in the AHL)
Jeff Tambellini, LW, ZSC, 37-19-16-35 (2003 LA pick spent last year with Vancouver)
Micki DuPont, D, Kloten, 38-4-31-35 (2000 Calgary pick played over 300 games in the AHL)
Bjorn Christen, RW, Zug, 36-13-20-33 (undrafted long-time European player)

Simon Moser, LW/RW, Langnau, 38-15-16-31 (22-year old; #154 CSE 2009)
Ronalds Kenins, LW, ZSC, 37-4-11-15 (20-year old)
Anthony Huguenin, D, Biel, 37-0-13-13 (20-year old undersized blueliner)
Jeremie Kamerzin, D, Lausanne (NLB), 34-6-19-25 (23-year old blueliner)
Marco Pedretti, C/LW, Ajoie (NLB), 28-10-14-24 (20-year old)

The German league (DEL) is not a great development league, as its dominated by imports (typcally former AHL-players).  Regardless, I think it’s the next best among the European leagues.  I haven’t included any players from the tier-two league (Bundesliga).

Derek Hahn, C, ERC, 34-16-23-39 (undrafted college-grad is a long-time European player)
Daniel Pietta, LW, Krefeld, 35-13-23-36 (undrafted 25-year old)
Kai Hospelt, C, Grizzly Adams, 34-14-19-33 (2003 San Jose pick never played in North America)
Eric Schneider, C/LW, EHC, 35-10-23-33 (undrafted CIAU-grad is a long-time European player)
Daniel Kreutzer, RW, DEG, 34-6-26-32 (undrafted 32-year old is a career DEL player)
Adam Mitchell, RW, Adler, 34-9-22-31 (undrafted college-grad has spent his career in Germany)
Chris Lee, D, Adler, 35-6-22-31 (undrafted college-grad was a long-time minor-leaguer)
Robert Hock, C, Iserlohn, 35-5-26-31 (undrafted 39-year old is a career European player)
Patrick Reimer, RW, DEG, 35-16-14-30 (undrafted 29-year is a career DEL player)
Laurent Meunier, C/RW, Straubing, 34-13-17-30 (undrafted 32-year old spent a year in the ECHL)

David Wolf, LW, Hamburg, 30-9-17-26 (big 22-year old)
Laurin Braun, RW, Eisbaren, 32-7-11-18 (20-year old undersized forward; #109 CSE 2009)

The Czech league (Extraliga) is not what it used to be, but it’s still a professional and competitive league.  From here on out I’ll only include the top-five scorers; there are no young intriguing prospects to include.

Petr Ton, RW/LW, HC Sparta, 36-19-19-38 (undrafted 38-year has spent his career in Europe)
Petr Nedved, C, Liberec, 33-16-21-37 (1990 Vancouver draft pick played close to 1,000 games in the NHL)
Petr Koukal, C, Pardubice, 35-15-20-35 (undrafted 29-year old has spent his career in Europe)
Jiri Burger, C, Vitkovice, 33-12-23-35 (undrafted 34-year old has spent his career in Europe)
Radek Duda, RW/LW, Plzen, 35-17-17-34 (1998 Calgary draft pick never played pro in North America)

The Austrian league (Erste Bank Liga) is very similar to the DEL in being dominated by imports (former AHL-players primarily).

John Hughes, C, Olimpija, 35-15-32-47 (undrafted 24-year old has spent his career in Europe)
Mike Ouellette, C, EHC, 36-15-30-45 (undrafted 29-year old spent two years in the minors)
Brett Lysak, RW/C, Graz, 36-16-27-43 (1999 Carolina draft pick played less than 200 AHL games)
Benoit Gratton, C, Vienna, 34-17-24-41 (1995 Washington draft pick played over 400 games in the AHL)
Zdenek Blatny, LW, Graz, 35-16-24-40 (1999 Atlanta draft pick played over 200 games in the AHL)
Istvan Sofron, RW, Szekesfehervar, 37-24-15-39 (23-year old)

The Slovakian league (Extraliga) has suffered even more than the Czech league since the break-up of Czechoslovakia, but still produces players taken in the draft.

Zigmund Palffy, RW, HK 36, 36-20-45-65 (1991 NYI draft pick played close to 700 games in the NHL)
Rene Skoliak, C, HK 36, 39-14-35-49 (undrafted 32-year old career European player)
Martin Kulha, RW, SKP, 39-27-19-46 (undrafted 35-year old career European player)
Miroslav Satan, RW/LW, Bratislava, 35-17-22-39 (1993 Edmonton draft pick played over 1,000 NHL games)
Tomas Bulik, C, Bratislava, 39-19-19-38 (undrafted 26-year old has spent his career in Europe)

Michael Vandas, C, SKP, 33-8-23-31 (20-year old)
Martin Bakos, LW, Bratislava, 38-10-19-29 (21-year old; #148 CSE 2008)
Andrej Stastny, C, Trencin, 36-7-15-22 (big 20-year old; #42 CSE 2009)

The Danish and Norwegian leagues are the only other ones (besides the KHL) which receive some attention.  Typically good prospects graduate to the Swedish junior leagues before putting themselves on the map, but it’s not always the case.  Given that, here are the leaders in the Norwegian league (Get Ligaen) and Danish league (AL-Bank Ligaen):

Martin Strandfeldt, LW, Stavanger, 31-28-27-55 (undrafted 30-year old career European player)
Ryan MacMurchy, RW, Stavanger, 30-30-24-54 (2002 St. Louis pick spent five years in the minors)
Justin Donati, C, Valerenga, 21-14-37-51 (undrafted 25-year spent three years in the minors)
Shay Stephenson, LW, Valerenga, 30-15-33-48 (2003 Carolina pick spent parts of three years in the minors)
Knut Henrik Spets, C/RW, Lorenskog, 31-14-33-47 (undrafted 29-year old has spent his career in Norway)

Mats Rosseli Olsen, LW, Valerenga, 30-14-26-40 (20-year old)
Fredrik Killi Csisar, C, Valerenga, 30-11-26-37 (21-year old)
Andreas Martinsen, C/RW, Lillehammer, 31-15-19-34 (21-year old)

Christoffer Kjaergaard, LW, Sonderjyske, 31-23-20-43 (undrafted 31-year career European player)
Jordan Smotherman, LW, Esbjerg, 30-22-19-41 (2005 Atlanta draft pick played nearly 400 games in the AHL)
Jannik Karvinen, RW, Rodovre, 30-25-14-39 (undrafted 25-year old career European player)
Kim Lykkeskov, RW, Sonderjyske, 31-14-25-39 (undrafted 28-year old has spent his career in Europe)
Quinn Hancock, C/LW, Sonderjyske, 31-14-25-39 (undrafted 34-year old spent three years in the minors)

Finally there’s the KHL. One of the best league’s outside the NHL, high payrolls retain many players who would otherwise play in North America.

Alexander Radulov, RW, Salavat, 35-20-29-49 (2004 Nashville pick left while still signed by the Predators)
Vadim Shipachyov, C, Severstal, 39-16-31-47 (undrafted 24-year old)
Tony Martensson, C, St. Petersburg, 35-13-27-40 (2001 Anaheim pick spent two years in North America)
Petr Vrana, C, Amur, 37-18-19-37 (2003 New Jersey pick spent four years in North America)
Mikelis Redlihs, RW, Riga, 38-9-28-37 (undrafted 27 year-old spent one year in the EJHL)

The highlighted players:
Richard Gynge, RW, AIK, 36-18-11-29 +9; DOB 1987, 6’1, 196 lbs
He leads his team in goals and is second in team scoring.  He lead the Swedish junior league in scoring (05-06) and was part of Sweden’s WJC (06-07).  This is his third season with AIK, which was promoted from the Allsvenskan two years ago.  His contract expires this year.  Elite Prospects writes, “A technically skilled player with a good scoring touch. Gynge is skilled offensively, but lacks some defensive skills. His skating could use some improvement as well.”  I have no idea when that description of Gynge was written, so keep that in mind.  Players his age are rarely signed and even more rarely have success, but Ville Leino is a comparable in that sense.
Vadim Shipachyov, C, Severstal, 39-16-31-47 +13; DOB 1987, 6’0, 178 lbs
He leads Severstal in scoring and has consistently been a top scorer for the team for the past three seasons.  He’s never played for Russia on an international level.  His contract extends through next season (it may or may not have an opt-out clause).  I suspect interest in Shipachyov is limited both due to the lack of exposure and whatever he makes in the KHL.  He’s clearly talented enough to dominate in that league, so it would be a matter of him wanting to make the leap to come to North America.
Sakari Salminen, RW/LW, KalPa, 34-16-14-30 +12; DOB 1988, 5’11, 159 lbs
He leads the team in goals and is second in points.  He played in the WJC (07-08) and has been a full-time player in the SM-Liiga for the past five seasons.  His contract extends to 2013/14.  He was ranked #135 by Central Scouting in 2008.  Elite Prospects writes, “A talented, left-handed winger who skates well. Not very large or physical.”  I’m not sure how accurate his weight is, but clearly he couldn’t survive across the Atlantic without bulking up.
Simon Moser, LW/RW, Langnau, 38-15-16-31; DOB 1989, 6’2, 207 lbs
He leads his team in goals and points.  He’s never represented Switzerland internationally.  His contract runs through 2013/14.  He was ranked #154 by Central Scouting for the 2009 draft.  With his size I’d have to guess a lack of exposure is what kept anyone from taking a flyer on him.  The more time you spend studying the draft since it was reduced to seven rounds the more dependent on international events you realise scouts are when it comes to drafting out of Europe.
David Wolf, LW, Hamburg, 30-9-17-26 +12; DOB 1989, 6’3, 216 lbs
He’s second in points (first in points-per-game).  He played in the WJC (08-09) and was awarded one of the top-three players on his team.  His contract runs through 2012/13.  With good size it might be his skating that’s kept him off the radar.  Results in the DEL aren’t a great indicator for the NHL (think of Marcel Mueller), but I still wouldn’t be surprised if someone invites him to camp to at least assess what he can offer.

January 15, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 5 Comments