Nichols states the obvious: Zack Smith won’t maintain this level of production in the future (comparing him to Patrick Eaves).  Nichols follows Sylvain St-Laurent on Twitter (who used to follow me once upon a time) and learned that the Sens are interested in NCAA free agent Drake Caggiula (33-19-23-42) at North Dakota (second on the team in scoring behind Vancouver’s first-round pick Brock Boeser; also teammates with Sens prospect Christian Wolanin).  It would be a shock if the Sens didn’t sign at least one NCAA free agent.

The BSens signed NCAA FA Mike Borkowski to a PO and he’s already suited up for a game.  He’s yet another local boy (Kanata) who had steady numbers at Colgate (his career year was his sophomore season).  This year he was 37-13-9-22, which put him third on the team in scoring.  His numbers are not very remarkable, and although he has better pedigree than (say) Nick Craven from a few years back; his numbers are a lot like Garrett Thompson‘s.

Evansville made a move I wholeheartedly approve of, as they moved out the disappointing defenseman Spencer Humphries for Brendan Ellis (from the South Carolina Stingrays).

Prospect update time, with college and European regular seasons over:

Sweden
Marcus Hogberg (3-78/13, G DOB 94) SHL Linkoping 14-7-5 2.31 .911
He’s split time with David Rautio, with the 30-year old benefiting from some good fortune (he’s GAA is much better at 1.96, but his save percentage is similar at .916); overall his numbers are similar to last season (2.30 and .917); he’s a good prospect and one I’m interested to see in North America
Andreas Englund (2-40/14, D DOB 96) SHL Djurgardens 45-2-4-6
Virtually identical numbers to last year (49-2-3-5); I’m not excited by him at all (his limitations with the puck are a major concern), but the org likes him
Christian Jaros (5-139/15, D 96) SHL Lulea 24-0-4-4
With Asploven in the Allsvenskan he was 25-2-3-5; his numbers are a slight improvement over last year (25-0-1-1); he needs another year before I feel strongly about him one way or another, but he tops out as a depth player
Filip Ahl (4-109/15, LW DOB 97) SuperElit HV71 18-18-13-31
With Sundsvall in the Allsvenskan he put up 16-4-2-6 and with HV71 in the SHL he was 17-0-0-0; overall some improvement with his numbers, but like Jaros he needs another season before I really form a strong opinion

NCAA
Colin White (1-21/15, C DOB 97) Boston College 30-17-22-39
As you’d expect from the first-rounder he leads his team in points-per-game (he’s just behind Ryan Fitzgerald for the scoring lead); a genuinely good prospect to be excited about
Quentin Shore (6-168/13, C DOB 94) U Denver 34-11-9-20
Unremarkable numbers in his final year, behind all three players on the top line; I wouldn’t sign him
Christian Wolanin (4-107/15, D DOB 95) North Dakota 27-4-10-14
Wound up third on the blueline in points-per game (behind Tucker Poolman and Troy Stecher), which is a solid first season at this level
Kelly Summers (7-189/14, D DOB 96) Clarkson 35-3-10-13
Fourth in defensive scoring, with slightly better numbers than the previous season (33-6-4-10); doesn’t blow me out of the water, but there’s still time for him to blossom
Robert Baillargeon (5-136/12, C DOB 93) Boston U 33-6-6-12
An ugly season for him, as he continues to decline from the heights of his rookie season in the NCAA (he’s eighth in scoring among forwards); looks like a bust
Chris Leblanc (6-161/13, RW DOB 93) Merrimack 33-6-6-12
Continues his unremarkable career with his third season identical to all the others (he’s seventh in scoring among forwards); another bust
Shane Eiserman (4-100/14, RW DOB 95) U New Hampshire 32-3-9-12
About the same level of production as last year (seventh among forwards); still too early to call where he’s going, but depth is the best you can hope
Miles Gendron (3-70/14, D DOB 96) Connecticut 28-2-4-6
It still amazes me that he was a third-round pick; regardless, he’s had an adequate rookie campaign (among U Conn’s moribund defensecorps he’s third in production); plenty of time left on this one

Junior
Francis Perron (7-190/14, RW DOB 96) QMJHL Rouyn-Noranda 61-41-66-107
Incredibly productive, so management will hesitate–how good is he in the corners?  He’s well ahead of all his teammates in scoring and a distant second in the league (behind Arizona pick Conor Garland)
Filip Chlapik (2-48/15, C DOB 97) QMJHL Charlottetown 50-12-40-52
These are lower numbers than his draft year (66-33-42-75), but scoring on the team is down and he’s still second on his team in points-per-game behind Pittsburgh pick Daniel Sprong
Thomas Chabot (1-18/15, D DOB 97) QMJHL Saint John 45-10-34-44
The first-rounder comfortably leads the team’s blueline and he sits fifth in the Q in points-per-game by a defenseman; a good prospect, but it’s always hard to translate Q numbers to the pro level
Cody Donaghey (FA Tor 14, D DOB 96) QMJHL Halifax/Moncton 49-10-24-34
Production has exploded since being traded to Moncton; overall he’s fourteenth in blueline scoring in the Q
Gabriel Gagne (2-36/15, RW DOB 96) QMJHL Victoriaville/Shawinigan 40-17-18-35
The Sens did a lot of wheeling and dealing to get him, but the 6’5 power forward has seen his production drop with Shawinigan (he’s fifth on the team in points-per-game); how much his injury problems early in the season have impacted his play remains to be seen
Joel Daccord (7-199/15, G DOB 96) USHL Muskegon 17-18-3 3.16 .901
Much better numbers than his backup, but he’s very far down the list of USHL goaltenders (still far too early to make judgments about him)

Two more free agents were signed by NHL teams: Detroit signed CHL FA defenseman Daniel Renouf, while Edmonton signed former Minnesota draft pick and current mid-tier KHL forward Jere Sallinen, despite the fact his career year in Europe was three years ago (good enough at the time that he was included in my European FA’s of interest).

I’ve wondered for the last few years how healthy the traditional sports scene is–I’ve had a general sense of an aging, declining audience, but gut feelings are pretty useless so I decided to look for numbers related to it, having the pet theory that younger fans were being channeled into eSports.  Here’s a look into the demographics of sport along with the trends (most of the numbers are via ESPN) for the average age of the fanbase:
Golf: old (exact average isn’t given, simply emphasized)
Olympics: 50s
MLB: 55
NCAA: 50ish (40% are 55+)
NFL: 47
NHL: 43
MLS: 39
NBA: 37
Ten years ago the average age for MLB was just 41.  Participation overall in baseball (and other sports) is shrinking.  Looking into the numbers, it wasn’t surprising that the NHL has the wealthiest audience among professional sports (it’s not surprising given the cost of playing hockey), and the second whitest audience behind NASCAR (92% and 94% respectively).  What you can draw in general about these numbers is that those watching professional sports are an aging, gradually shrinking group.  You could try and relate that to an aging population, but as we’ll see below, that’s not enough of an explanation.

Where is the youth going?  One of the places, as I’d surmised, is eSports, which is experiencing exponential growth.  Originally an phenomena restricted to Asia, it experienced 100% growth in the US over the past two years, with 18% of video game players watching  (70% of Americans play video games).  Viewership is fairly diverse, with an estimated audience of about 226 millon (either 38% of 44% female, which is better than traditional sports, perhaps helped by the lack of a barrier to entry on the professional side).

Assuming we are in the midst of a transition (a reasonable assumption, even if it’s not all going to one place), why is it occurring?  I haven’t seen data related to the question (or even seen the question asked), so I’m left to speculate:
1) mainstream sports are anchored in dying mediums (radio and television), with extremely poor streaming options
2) the games are long and (with the exception of basketball) within them not much happens
3) limited content (long off-seasons; long gaps between games; huge gaps between championships and playoffs; even the gaps within games are long)
4) repetitive (there’s limited variety in what you’ll see on the field of play)

None of this is to suggest that sport is going anywhere, but I do think the shrinkage will continue–the hard question is at what state we strike equilibrium and it’s far too early in the process to even hazard a guess.

I was going to call this “Blogger Power Rankings”, but it seemed a little too ridiculous.  Regardless, I was curious which blogs were the most frequented, so I took a look at the numbers via Alexa (red is declining, green is increasing, with a few comparables included):
TSN 4,160
Sportsnet 8,798
Hockey’s Future 13,420
Elite Prospects 24,726
Hockeybuzz 25,311
Hockeydb 25,834
Hockey Writers 47,751
1. The Silver Seven 780,461
2. SensChirp 1,311,595
3. 6th Sens 3,884,315
4. SensNation 7,361,845
5. Welcome to Your Karlsson Years 9,015,235
6. SenShot 15,729,919
7. Eye on the Sens 15,888,297

It’s worth pointing out that only the top two blogs actually post regular, daily content, and that the difference between, say, SenShot and WTYKY (or the latter with SensNation) is very small in terms of actual viewership numbers, despite the millions of places separating them.  The only results which surprised me were #6 and #4, as neither site seems particularly active.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 14, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 11 Comments

Mark Borowiecki tore his MCL too late in the season to help the team (so no repeat of last year’s fortuitous injuries), but in the midst of reaction to that (and Borocop in general), Nichols wrote a long piece holistically describing all the issues surrounding him.  My opinion on it:
1) Should Borowiecki be reading Sens forums and blogs?
Absolutely not.  It’s a waste of his time and there’s always going to be negative things out there (whether they are valid or not)
2) Should Borowiecki be making snide remarks about analytics or bloggers?
No.  It’s self-serving and makes him an even bigger target for criticism
3) Do the criticisms of Borowiecki have anything to do with who he is as a person or how hard he tries on the ice?
No.
4) Is it Borowiecki‘s fault that Dave Cameron and management like him so much?
No, but management and coaching receive more criticism about it than he does, so this doesn’t seem like much of an issue to me
5) Should bloggers/fans criticise Borowiecki?
They can do whatever they want, but it’s only interesting if there’s substance to back it up (which is abundant in this case)

More generally, let me tackle something Nichols said that I think a lot of people (including myself) have said in different ways before (and this isn’t really about Nichols, just the sentiment in general):

The internet is unquestionably a toxic place where criticisms and opinions are streamed in real-time, the medium serves as an echo chamber for vile and repugnant idiocy.

Is it really?  If you want to go slinking around 4chan, sure, there’s plenty of repugnance there, but that’s what that site is for.  If anyone thinks the Internet is somehow worse than their workplace or their neighbourhood they are being cripplingly naive (people online exist in real world too).  If you want to go brawling on forums, people are going to say stupid things, but who cares about what an idiot says?  The inability of such people to articulate anything makes them ridiculous, not scary.  Of course there are genuine cases of harassment, but that’s not where Nichols was going and its not generally what people mean when they make broad statements like this.  For my part, the positives of Internet interaction far outweigh the negatives–it’s a great way to meet people, to learn new things, and continue to evolve as a better person.  Here’s a personal for-instance of Internet “drama”: Nichols has only referred to me once in his blog and that was to criticise something I’d said, but that hasn’t made me (or him) bitter or resentful–I promote his Patreon when I remember and his blog remains a favourite of mine.  You can disagree with someone and still act like an adult about it, and when you find people who can’t do that you ignore them and move on.

Let’s credit Ross A over at The Silver Seven for being right about Chris Driedger.  For those with good memories, I criticised Ross for being positive about him after his disastrous season in Evansville last year, but it seems like the young goaltender simply had a rough year (and let us never forget that goaltenders remain the most difficult prospects to call).  He’s easily out performed Matt O’Connor in Binghamton and looks nothing like the disaster he was in the ECHL.

On the flipside of the above, I was going through the WTYKY archive and came across Luke P. and James discussing the state of the Sens in mid-February; they said some interesting things:

I feel like a lot of the negativity stems primarily from a few well-spoken, high-profile blogger/media figures who have been running with this narrative that the Ottawa Senators have no coherent plan. (Please see this James Gordon article entitled “The Ottawa Senators have no coherent plan”, and this 6th Sens article where Nichols writes of Ottawa’s “whimsical ‘get into the playoffs and anything can happen’ approach to team building.”).

When thoughtful people have opinions like that Luke, there might be some substance to them!  But let’s continue.

I think the Ottawa Senators DO have a plan and that plan is to get better one incremental improvement at a time.

Two problems here: 1) we can accept that they have a plan and still argue that either management has the wrong plan or is making the wrong moves for their plan (in which case having a plan is irrelevant), 2) if he’s going to cite other people’s arguments he needs to at least detail their remarks and break them down rather than posting links no one is going to click to create strawmen for his own.  Now from James:

it’s okay to be skeptical. Who knows how trades and FA signings are going to work out.

We can make very good guesses at how trades/FA signings are going to turn out–one of the joys of statistics (both the usual kind and analytics) is that you can examine trends in player performance and make very reasonable guesses at what will happen.  By throwing up his hands here James is preventing even himself from assessing roster moves (and yes, I realise James is being flippant, but it’s a silly thing to say regardless).  Anyway, no point in beating a dead horse.

I’ve been critical of The Silver Sevens media interviews, but while continuing to throw softballs with James Duthie he at least said a couple of interesting things:

I have gotten much better [at dealing with criticism on social media].  I hit the block button and move on.  I suppose I’m human and occasionally something will bother you.  But I fully realize you are never going to please everyone. Once you embrace that, you’re good.

Amen.  And:

I would love to see that [more women working in hockey media].  It is an old boy’s network.  There is no doubt.  But I think smart, experienced people like Cassie and Tessa Bonhomme are changing attitudes.  But it’s a slow process.  Too slow.

This is particularly interesting as Duthie is openly criticising his own bosses and all the other media outlets (TV, newspapers).  It’s a safe sort of criticism, but nice to hear.

I don’t often cite Jeff Ulmer here, not because of a lack of respect (I remember Jeff fondly from the old days on the HFboards), but because of this:

As usual, I’m shooting from the hip with very little usage of stats in the thought process

Jeff doesn’t attempt to justify this which is a smart choice (what can he say?), but the inherent problem with his gut is that it’s not shared by anyone else.  His grades sadly mean nothing as there’s no criteria for them–they might as well be emojis of peanut butter and puppies.  How does a reader know Mark Fraser is a C?  Why should a reader trust Jeff’s opinion when it’s based on nothing they can tangibly examine?  Jeff’s approach is very common in traditional media, but it’s one I think is outmoded and (unfortunately) almost completely useless.  Jeff doesn’t help his cause by assigning grades and then having his descriptions bare no relation to it (Zack Stortini as an example of that); he makes little effort to show why a player’s grade went up or down.  The worst part for me is this:

with all the changes that have now taken place, that’s not going to happen [the team making the playoffs]

Jeff is referencing his own belief that Luke Richardson and Steve Stirling were going to get the team into the playoffs at the mid-point of the season.  Playoffs?  This team?  And to use the canard that roster moves are somehow at fault is ridiculous.  When you make statements like that and they blow up in your face, it hurts your credibility when your assessments are made via your gut–your gut said playoffs and the team is scrapping the bottom of the league’s barrel.  This is one of the reasons I prefer an analytical approach, because instinct is a poor way to make judgements.  Jeff is following the organisation’s trend of making excuses for what’s happened rather than accepting responsibility for it (which, in order to justify his gut, he has no choice).  I get irritated by his approach because I know how smart Jeff is and I wish he’d embrace better ways to express his opinions.

A few free agents have been signed by NHL teams over the last couple of months: New Jersey signed NCAA free agent forward Nick Lappin (31-17-16-33), Carolina signed NCAA FA forward Andrew Poturalski (37-22-30-52), Florida signed CHL FA forward Dryden Hunt (67-54-56-110), and San Jose signed CHL FA forward Jonathon Martin (60-36-31-67).  For those wondering, the odds of these players panning out is very low (you can see the stats here, albeit I haven’t updated them in awhile), with college typically more successful than the CHL.  The Sens usually sign at least one NCAA free agent before the draft.

A final note: Mikael Wikstrand is having a fine season with Farjestad since being released from Sens prison (17-1-8-9).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 10, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Cracking open the paper this morning…no wait, no one under 40 reads newspapers.  Ahem.  Logging onto the Interwebs this morning I was confronted by a giant wall of text from Nichols explaining the ins and outs of Mike Hoffman and I thought, haven’t we been here before?  Isn’t this deja vu?  It is, twice over!  I can feel his exasperation as he patiently tries to lay things out and it reminds me of trying to explain climate change to my conservative mother-in-law–the lights are on, but no one is home.  It’s not a bad metaphor for Sens management–old and uncomfortable with change.  But hey, there’s always next year, right?

Other tidbits: Jordan Mandy talks about the Sens playoff chances being buried, which seems a bit redundant as those bells were ringing in the pre-season.  Callum Fraser wants to be positive about Scott Gomez because…just because goddamnit! (I love that he used David Legwand as some sort of positive association).  Gomez has bounced through five organisations over the past five seasons, including an extended stay in the AHL this year, but given that this season is going nowhere, why not?  That’s as positive as I can make it.

I wonder if Bryan Murray ever wakes up in a cold sweat and remembers he had Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner in his grasp and got rid of both of them for nothing–sacrificed on the pyre of an aging Craig Anderson because, you know, the Sens were going on a deep playoff run, right?  By the way kids, as Lehner rounds into form in Buffalo, let us recall what I wrote before he was moved.  For those waiting for Matt O’Connor to save the day, see below.

I haven’t posted a Binghamton update since late January and a lot has changed since then, so let’s take a brief look: the team has gone 7-11-1, which is a lower winning percentage than my last look (they are 22-31-4 overall); their 157 GF is also a drop (2.75 from 2.86), and their 190 GA is also worse from last time; the PP is about even (18.2 vs 18.5), as is their PK (81.1 vs 81.5); but the overall picture is a team getting worse and that comes as no surprise.

The team moved their top-three 5-on-5 scorers (Lindberg and O’Dell were traded and Dzingel is in Ottawa), as well as two of their top-three PP producers (Schneider, also traded, and O’Dell).  Collectively five of the team’s top-six scorers are now gone (four via trade) since last time.  Players in italics were either traded or are now in the ECHL, while players in bold are currently on the NHL roster.

Phil Varone 14-4-13-17 (3-1-3-4 with Bingo)
Cole Schneider 18-6-10-16 (16-5-7-13 with Bingo)
Eric O’Dell 18-6-8-14 (16-4-7-11 with Bingo)
Michael Kostka 18-3-11-14
Kyle Flanagan 19-3-7-10
Casey Bailey 18-2-8-10 (11-2-4-6 with Bingo)
Jason Akeson 18-2-7-9 (3-1-2-3 with Bingo)
Michael Keranen 15-2-5-7 (2-0-1-1 with Bingo)
Buddy Robinson 18-5-4-9
Tobias Lindberg 17-4-3-7 (6-1-1-2 with Bingo)
Max McCormick 16-3-4-7
Ryan Dzingel 6-2-4-6
David Dziurzynski 8-1-4-5
Chris Carlisle 18-2-2-4
Nick Paul 8-1-2-3
Michael Sdao 10-0-3-3 (9-0-1-1 with Bingo)
Ryan Rupert 17-1-2-3 (11-1-1-2 with Bingo)
Conor Allen 17-1-2-3 (15-1-2-3 with Bingo)
Travis Ewanyk 15-2-1-3
Zack Stortini 18-1-2-3
Mark Fraser 19-1-2-3
Matt Puempel 2-2-0-0
Danny Hobbs 9-1-1-2
Ben Harpur 12-1-1-2
Jerome Leduc 18-1-1-2 (3-1-0-1 with Bingo)
Fredrik Claesson 19-1-0-1
Guillaume Lepine 19-1-0-1
Ryan Penny 9-0-1-1 (returned to Evansville)
Vincent Dunn 3-0-0-0 (returned to Evansville)
Alex Wideman 3-0-0-0 (returned to Evansville)
Nick Tuzzolino 2-0-0-0

Chris Driedger 5-4-1 2.98 .903
Matt O’Connor 2-7-0 3.50 .882

If O’Connor is the next great goaltender in the NHL I’ll eat my hat.  Otherwise we have the problem Binghamton has had all year: terrible coaching, an awful bottom group of forwards, and a talentless defense.  Trying to project forward to next season there’s nothing to be excited about (except, maybe, Driedger).

I haven’t updated Evansville in literally forever, so here’s a look: the team is 15-14-7 since my last update, which is a modest improvement over their start to the season.  Their 161 GF is a welcome improvement (from 2.5 to 2.87), while their 190 GA isn’t much of a change (3.39 vs 3.45).  The powerplay has completely collapsed (11.9% from 15.6%), and while their PK improved (79.1% from 75%) it’s still the second worst in the league.  It’s a truism that special teams are an area coaches have the most influence over, so draw your own conclusions.  Here’s a look at player performance since last time (they are organised by points-per-game because of how varied the games played are):

Ryan Penny 6-4-4-8 (1.33)
Danny Hobbs 13-7-5-12 (0.92)
Jordan Sims 34-10-18-28 (0.82)
Nathan Moon 36-12-17-29 (0.80)
Vincent Dunn 29-9-11-20 (0.68)
Alex Guptill 25-9-8-17 (10-4-3-7 with Evansville) (0.68)
Chris Rumble 32-8-13-21 (0.65)
Alex Wideman 26-8-9-17 (0.65)
Tyson Fawcett 36-9-14-23 (0.63)
Daultan Leveille 32-6-14-20 (0.62)
Mike Duco 21-8-5-13 (0.61)
Justin MacDonald 15-2-7-9 (0.60)
Troy Rutkowski 26-3-11-14 (0.53)
Ben Harpur 4-0-2-2 (0.50)
Andrew Himelson 36-2-13-15 (0.41)
Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel 22-5-4-9 (1-0-0-0 with Evansville) (0.41)
Spencer Humphries 33-2-11-13 (0.39)
Andrew Harrison 14-2-3-5 (0.35)
Sebastian Strandberg 23-3-5-8 (0.34)
Matthew Zay 31-4-6-10 (0.32)
Alec Hagaman 9-1-1-2 (0.22)
Jonathan Carlsson 26-1-3-4 (8-0-3-3 with AHL Rockford) (0.15)
Curtis Leonard 29-0-4-4 (23-0-3-3 with Evansville) (0.13)

Scott Greenham 6-3-2 2.62 .922
Christoffer Bengtsberg 6-6-5 2.93 .903
Cody Reichard 2-2-0 3.78 .892 (retired)

The team has been plagued by injury problems, but they also suffer Binghamton’s issue of a poor defensecorps.  Why Al Sims traded away the useful Dieude-Fauval is beyond me, but overall the Evansville group is (at this level) more talented than Binghamton’s.  For those who haven’t paid attention, Strandberg, despite being a forward, continues to play on defense (his numbers hurt more by his injury problems than the position switch).  It’s interesting that Carlsson has been more productive at the AHL level.  Regardless, there’s no real chance the Icemen make the playoffs and in that respect they are an echo of Binghamton.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 7, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

I don’t normally post twice in a day, but the Sens continue to make comical decisions.  Anyone who doesn’t understand why trading Shane Prince for a 3rd-round pick is a bad idea needs their head examined, but for those looking to have it spelled out Nichols is here for you.  Am I surprised by the move?  Absolutely not–it’s completely consistent with how the organisation does things.

As frustrating as the above is (and it’s a terrible move), I was much more amused by the minor league trade that sent Conor Allen to Nashville in exchange for Finnish forward Michael Keranen.  The Finn was a European free agent signed by Minnesota last season after a career year in the Liiga with Ilves.  His offensive numbers didn’t translate as hoped (this season he’s the fourth or fifth most productive forward for Iowa), although they’re certainly good enough to help Binghamton (his contract ends this year and I think there’s no chance he’ll be retained).  My interest is less about Keranen and more about Allen going the other way.

I wasn’t impressed when Allen was acquired from Nashville for Patrick Mullen, and my surmise at the time about his limitations certainly panned out–Pierre Dorian looks a little silly having said this at the time:

In Conor Allen, we’ve added a hard, competitive player who has ability. He’s played NHL games in the past and provides us additional organization depth

Get it?  He was good in the corners–the only criteria that seems to matter.  However, the organisation revised its impression in less than two months and it must have been bad indeed for them to throw him away for a rental like Keranen, particularly given how lousy the BSens blueline is.  In essence the BSens have traded two defensemen in Mullen and Allen for 21 games of Keranen (who himself is a rental).  Utterly bizarre, but fitting for what has been an abominable season (I wonder if the move has something to do with the number of veteran contracts they have, but still, what does adding a bunch of 25-26 year old forwards really do for Binghamton this season?).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 29, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

A lot of Sens fans (myself included) enjoyed a good chuckle when they heard that Jared Cowen was waived by Toronto.  This is the beginning of the end for the former first-round pick, a player we now know was carried by Jared Spurgeon when he was drafted and has ridden his size through his fruitless NHL career.  Rest in peace.

The BSens made a poor trade with Buffalo as Tim Murray happily fleeced them of Cole Schneider (along with Eric O’Dell, Michael Sdao, and Alex Guptill).  In return the BSens get a pair of undersized 25-year old reliable AHL-scorers (Jason Akeson and Phil Varone), along with failed blueline prospect Jerome Gauthier-Leduc.  All three players have their contracts up at the end of the season, but there’s no reason to doubt that local boy Akeson will be kept.  In essence the Sens gave up on Schneider, who is the only real prospect among all this minor league confetti, and in return get a player who maybe is a bit better than O’Dell (maybe)–there’s also a potential 7th-round pick for Ottawa if Schneider plays at least three NHL games.  I agree with Nichols that all-in-all there’s not much to get upset about here, but it bothers me when the team gives up on talented players and gets nothing in return.  With Schneider gone, Nick Paul and Ryan Dzingel in Ottawa, and Tobias Lindberg traded, the cupboard is truly bare.

You know we live in a funny world when we’re worrying about what Mark Borowiecki thinks about Erik Karlsson.  Nichols spends way too much time on this, but the key point is this:

But, is Mark Borowiecki truly held accountable for his play on the ice?  To borrow a phrase from Daniel Alfredsson, probably not.

No he’s not, but the organisation reinforces his delusions.

Regular readers have noticed I haven’t been posting my game-by-game breakdowns for both Binghamton and Evansville and for those who aren’t away I stopped because there’s simply not enough interest for me to invest my time in it (it has been suggested that I set up a patreon to do it, but until I hear from more people I’ll leave it be).  I will continue to post updates on both teams from time-to-time.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 29, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 5 Comments

I’m not a fan of Randy Lee, but he speaks for the organisation and he talked prospects recently, so here’s what he had to say:
–Quentin Shore: it’s decision time to sign him, but he says nothing specific about him (in praise or criticism); his numbers aren’t remarkable (he’s only just above his rookie pace in the NCAA) and he shouldn’t be signed
–Andreas Englund: willing to play in Binghamton and compares him to Fredrik Claesson (from his numbers and my viewings he has less puck skills than Freddy, which is alarming)
–Francis Perron: decision-time without specifics (he has excellent numbers in the Q)
-vaguely praised Matt O’Connor, Chris Driedger, and Marcus Hogberg
–Ben Harpur “is a first year guy”–correct–one year down, two more to the ECHL or oblivion
-“we were pretty high on Tobias Lindberg” – something hard to tell from Lee’s comments earlier in the season (although Pierre Dorian did say: “His skill set and his skating is good NHL, not just NHL, even very good NHL (-calibre)”)
-he makes a long peon for Ryan Dzingel including the usual cliche about how they had to work on on his game before he became this good (which is ridiculous, but as a development guy he has to justify his role; a note to those dismissive about late picks: Dzingel is a 7th-rounder, just like Erik Condra–draft guys with puck skills and you get a useful asset)
-he praised Nick Paul, but because he hasn’t put up good numbers he talked about his defensive play–Lee has realised Paul needs to be stroked after his game fell apart when Luke Richardson randomly scratched him early this season (you’ll see more realistic comments from Pierre Dorian)
-he praised Cole Schneider, but said his skating has kept him from being called up (a poor excuse in my opinion)
He said player development in Binghamton is strong (!), which while self-serving is delusional as there’s no evidence to justify it.  He also came up with this canard:

some teams have a minor league system where they put a lot of proven AHL vets on that team that were never going to play pro games just so that team can win. That’s great and it’s great for the people in that city, but we’ve always had the developmental approach that we want our key guys to play important minutes and be big parts of that team

This is ridiculous and follows a trend of the Binghamton arm of the org making excuses rather than taking responsibility.  The organisation (including Lee himself) have made terrible decisions when it comes to signing veterans for Binghamton (back in December he blamed young players for the team’s performance–another self-serving choice for the guy who signs the veterans); the team’s poor performance is a due to coaching and the non-prospect signings, not due to how many vets they’ve dressed (even Nichols, who pays no attention to such things, was able to pick up on this).

We like Mark Frasers, we like Zach Stortinis and we like Eric O’Dells

Commiserations BSens fans! (With an exception for O’Dell).
Finally, we learned Lee is one of the reasons the awful Danny Hobbs is sometimes in the Binghamton lineup.

This kind of nonsense has made it clear to me there’s no way forward for this team until there’s an overhaul of the organisation.  Lee needs to go, Richardson needs to go, Murray needs to go–I’d keep Dorian and move on from there.  If there’s a silver lining for fans it’s that occasionally the team drafts a good player (I say “occasionally” now that Tim Murray is gone–he was clearly the impetus for drafting smaller, skilled players).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 15, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

It’s always interesting to me to see what drives people to this site.  I haven’t posted in… almost three weeks?  But with the Dion Phaneuf trade there was a sudden flood of people looking for Tobias Lindberg information–it’s gratifying to know there’s a slice of the fandom that appreciates the work I do on prospects.

What do I think of the trade?  It’s typical of Bryan Murray–trade away the future for the now (the usual 2nd round pick along with a prospect, the aforementioned Lindberg) for an aging player in Phaneuf.  Nichols has already explored the limited savings the deal accomplishes in jettisoning the useless Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, and Milan Michalek, as well as how shortsighted the move is, but it’s exactly what you’d expect from the organisation at this stage.  Is Phaneuf the best player in the deal?  Sure he is.  Does acquiring him help the Sens moving forward?  No.  Not unless maybe getting crushed in the first round is your goal.

As for the assorted confetti Toronto threw in with the blueliner, it’s a smorgasbord of minor league garbage.  28-year old NCAA free agent bust Matt Frattin leads the crowd (he can play minutes in Binghamton), followed by another NCAA free agent in Casey Bailey (probably a bust, but at 24 you can’t be absolutely sure), QMJHL free agent Cody Donaghey, and sixth-round pick (6-157/12) Ryan Rupert (who may or may not have AHL-chops).  Frattin and Bailey are off the books at the end of the season, while Rupert is signed through next year and Donaghey through 2017-18.  Maybe Donaghey is a diamond in the rough, but CHL FA success stories are extremely rare so the odds are he’ll spend a few years in the AHL or ECHL and then disappear into the night.  This is basically the Leafs clearing a bunch of dead weight.

I’ve seen a lot of dumb things written about Lindberg by Binghamton fans this year–along with even dumber things from the coaching staff–but he was the only prospect of any note in the minors for Ottawa and now he’s gone.  The talented Swede may or may not be able to develop into an NHL regular (for my part I believe he’ll play, it’s just a question of where his ceiling is–third or fourth line), but the organisation’s inability to do anything with skilled players continues to hamper their ability to assess players or develop them.  Even “good in the corners” Jeff Ulmer noted the BSens were 1-14 without him in the lineup and while the team won’t have a .066 winning percentage with him gone those who think those numbers are a coincidence just haven’t been paying attention to what he brings to game (possession play, basically).  He’s a great pick-up for the Leafs and the trade is ultimate better for them in the long term (with both Lindberg and the pick).

It’s now old news, but speaking of talented Swedes, one of the dumber episodes in Sens history came to a close when the Sens loaned Mikael Wikstrand back to Farjestad.  Did they bow to public pressure?  Murray’s press release indicated he released Wikstrand  because he wasn’t interested in playing in North America, but that’s something we knew a long time ago.  It’s difficult to see any other reason for the curmudgeonly Murray to give up on his policy other than pressure (public and private), especially after all the ridiculous rhetoric about Wikstrand.  I’m happy the Swede is free to play for his team, but you have to wonder what the Senators thought they were accomplishing with their nonsensical approach.  By loaning Wikstrand they’ve denuded their previous refusal of any and all meaning–now it appears to be nothing more than a petty temper tantrum from management which has achieved absolutely nothing.  The door remains open for Wikstrand to play somewhere in the future, but it won’t be for Ottawa.  Tying this to moving Lindberg along and I can now sadly agree with Nichols long held opinion that there’s almost nothing in Ottawa’s cupboard anymore.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 10, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 7 Comments

Since my last update Binghamton has gone 8-3-1 (their hot streak is 9-3-1), an amazing run which has them…last in their division and the conference.  It’s worth noting the win streak coincides exactly with the decision to demote Stortini to the fourth line.  Let’s look at the big numbers:
15-20-3 (last in the conference, 27th overall)
109 GF (9th in the conference and 16th overall)
123 GA (11th in the conference and 23rd overall)
18.5% PP (10th overall)
81.5% PK (tied for 20th overall)
8 games with a significant positive shot differential (5-2-1)
10 games with a significant negative shot differential (5-6-0)
Record when giving up a PP goal 5-15-1
Record when scoring a PP goal 10-6-1

Scoring is close to where it was in my first recap (tied for 7th in the conference); goals against has risen from last in the league to 23rd; their hapless powerplay has recovered; their PK remains in the bottom third of the AHL.  Other notes of interest:
-In 9 of their 15 wins the BSens have given up 1 goal or less
-Team GAA when Harpur is out of the lineup is 3.00 (vs 3.76 when he plays)

Before we get to player-by-player breakdowns, here are individual stat leaders by a few different categories:

Even Strength Point Leaders (by points-per-game)
Dzingel 27 (0.71)
Lindberg 16 (0.57)
O’Dell 18 (0.52)
Puempel 14 (0.48)
Dziurzynski 12 (0.46)
Schneider 15 (0.39)
McCormick 8 (0.36)
Robinson 10 (0.33)
Kostka 10 (0.31)
Paul 11 (0.29)
Mullen 10 (0.27)
Lepine 8 (0.25)
Claesson 7 (0.24)
Stortini 8 (0.22)
Flanagan 4 (0.21)
Allen 7 (0.21)
Penny 3 (0.20)
Greening 7 (0.20)
Carlisle 4 (0.14)
Sdao 1 (0.12)
Ewanyk 4 (0.12)
Fraser 3 (0.08)
Harpur 1 (0.04)
Rutkowski 0 (3 GP)
Tuzzolino 0 (9 GP)

Powerplay Point Leaders (bracketed: on-ice for PP goals)
Schneider 13 (18)
Puempel 10 (14)
O’Dell 8 (14)
Mullen 6 (10)
Kostka 5 (10)
Dzingel 3 (14)
Lindberg 4 (5)
Stortini 4 (5)
Paul 3 (5)
Greening 3 (5)
Carlisle 1 (3)
Claesson 1 (2)
Allen 1 (1)
Ewanyk 1 (1)

On-Ice for powerplay goals against
Claesson 20
Kostka 15
Dziurzynski 11
Ewanyk 10
Schneider 9
Fraser 9
Mullen 8
Greening 8
McCormick 7
Lepine 6
Robinson 6
Hobbs 3
Penny 2
Allen 2
5 players tied at 1

I’m not a huge fan of using grades to assess players, but it’s a simple way to reflect how they’ve played.  I previously spent a lot of time breaking down performance by line combination, but for the most part the lines have been steady so I’ll only note it where relevant.  A=above and beyond expectations, B=exceeds expectations, C=meets expectations, D=below expectations, F=god awful; other acronyms: PPG = points-per-game, ESP=even-strength points PPP=powerplay points, SOG=shots on goal:

Cole Schneider 38-12-18-30 PPG 0.78 ESP 15 PPP 13 SOG 107 Grade C
His 5-on-5 production isn’t where you’d want it, but he’s been the main cog on the powerplay.  He’s spent the last 13 games playing with Paul and Lindberg and while he technically has good numbers, most of those have been generated with the man advantage (10 of his 13 points).  Randy Lee says his skating is keeping him from his NHL debut.

Ryan Dzingel 38-10-20-30 PPG 0.78 ESP 27 PPP 3 SOG 100 Grade A
It’s been a fantastic season for him , but his point totals have slipped during the win streak–his line hasn’t scored much 5-on-5 (7 of his 9 points that way) and as that’s where most of Dzingel’s points come from it has seen his points-per-game start to slip. Robinson is the problem on the line (while a solid top-9 forward, he doesn’t produce enough to play on the first line).

Eric O’Dell 34-14-12-26 PPG 0.76 ESP 18 PPP 8 SOG 67 Grade C
Has seen a similar even strength drop as Dzingel above (7 of 12 points are at even strength).  He’s played well, but not above expectations.

Matt Puempel 29-13-11-24 PPG 0.82 ESP 14 PPP 10 SOG 81 Grade B
Has spent the entire streak playing with offensive non-entities Greening and Flanagan, but due to prodigious powerplay production he’s continued to produce (8 of 12 point on the powerplay; apparently enough to earn a call-up).  He currently leads the BSens on a points-per-game basis, but that’s simply a quirk of a hot powerplay (while I credit him for it, it’s not sustainable)–at even strength he’s largely non-existent (something exasperated by his linemates).

Tobias Lindberg 28-4-16-20 PPG 0.71 ESP 16 PPP 4 SOG 59 Grade B
Has spent the streak with Nick Paul and Cole Schneider; it’s odd to say that Schneider is the weak link offensively on the line, but that could simply be matter of sample size.  As for the Swede, he’s continued to produce (9 points, with 3 coming from the punchless second unit powerplay).  In watching Lindberg I think he’s still suffering somewhat from his injury earlier in the season, but there’s a ton of offensive brilliance and he’s very much responsible for getting Paul’s season back on track.

Patrick Mullen 36-1-15-16 PPG 0.44 ESP 10 PPP 6 SOG 41 Grade C
The unpopular defensemen was peddled away to Milwaukee not long ago for Conor Allen; his performance had slipped a little since my last update, although he was still better than most of the other blueliners.

Michael Kostka 32-2-13-15 PPG 0.46 ESP 10 PPP 5 SOG 84 Grade C
His promotion to the first unit powerplay has helped his production considerably (5 points of late, to which he’s added 2 at even strength).  He’s spent all his time carrying Lepine.  A steady if unremarkable player, his defensive prowess is overblown by the local coverage, but he’s the best blueliner on the team now.

David Dziurzynski 26-6-8-14 PPG 0.53 ESP 12 SOG 32 Grade C
I predicted awhile ago that Dizzy’s production would slip and that began to happen until he was called up to Ottawa.  Upon his return, despite being on the fourth line (with Stortini and Penny), he’s actually back at a career clip (3 points in 6 games).  It will likely drop, but he clearly benefits from having someone with decent hands (Penny) playing with him.  On the flip side, he regularly takes dumb penalties and at this point in his career it’s clearly a problem that’s not going to be solved.

Nick Paul 37-5-9-14 PPG 0.37 ESP 11 PPP 3 SOG 67 Grade D
After flailing for a lengthy period of time after he was benched early in the season, Paul has finally found a home playing with Lindberg and Schneider.  He’s in the midst of his most consistent production (7 points, all at even strength) and this has helped his confidence.  The real test will be continuing at this pace for the remainder of the season.

Buddy Robinson 30-8-4-12 PPG 0.40 ESP 10 SOG 54 Grade C
His production has taken the expected leap since being put on the first line (7 points), but while that’s excellent for Buddy he’s a drag on his linemates (O’Dell and Dzingel).  I like Robinson and thought having him on the fourth line was ridiculous, but he’s much better suited to third line (or, perhaps, second line) duty.

Zach Stortini 36-6-6-12 PPG 0.33 ESP 8 PPP 4 SOG 42 Grade F
He just as terrible as he was at the start of the season–he can’t skate, can’t pass, can’t shoot, rarely fights, and takes a ton of bad penalties.  He lumbers around on the fourth line or the powerplay and occasionally a puck bounces in off him.  For those impressed by his numbers you need to realise he’s been afforded offensive opportunities far above and beyond his skill level.

Colin Greening 35-6-5-11 PPG 0.31 ESP 7 PPP 3 SOG 78 Grade D
Has spent his time on the third line and looked less and less impressive as the season has gone on (he’s had 1 point during the streak).  Not a great passer, he’s Mike Fisher-like in skating into the zone and just firing the puck.  The only time he’s looked semi-decent this season was a brief period when he was playing with Dziurzynski, but frankly, Greening needs a fresh start somewhere else.

Max McCormick 22-7-3-10 PPG 0.45 ESP 8 SOG 54 Grade C
In the NHL for no real reason, he’s been unremarkable despite being afforded fantastic opportunities.  Just before his recall (and early into the streak) Richardson came to his senses and took him off the first line, but Max is a third line player and when he returns to Binghamton that (or the fourth line) is where I want to see him.

Fredrik Claesson 29-2-6-8 PPG 0.27 ESP 7 PPP 1 SOG 26 Grade C
Summoned up to Ottawa where he wasn’t very good (he’s just been returned).  He was with the team at the start of their winning streak playing with Harpur, Rutkowski, and Carlisle on the third pairing.  He’s been solid but not remarkable for the team, with his bizarre and worrying on-ice stat for powerplay goals against raising potential red flags for me.  I’ll be interested to see who he bumps out of the lineup.

Guillaume Lepine 31-2-6-8 PPG 0.25 ESP 8 SOG 34 Grade C
A player with a lot of limitations (most of his points came in one game against Utica), he’s basically built his season off Kostka’s play.  He regularly makes poor decisions defensively, but he’s less prone to dumb penalties than other players on the team.

Conor Allen 33-1-7-8 PPG 0.24 ESP 7 PPP 1 SOG 31 Grade incomplete
Acquired via the Mullen trade, in coming to Binghamton he had no powerplay or shorthanded points with Milwaukee–limited production in general.  I haven’t been impressed by him yet, but it’s far too early to pass judgement.

Chris Carlisle 28-2-3-5 PPG 0.17 ESP 4 PPP 1 SOG 29 Grade C
Has spent the last 8 games paired with Fraser which is a strange combination (the team is 4-4 since they became a pairing).  Carlisle is a decent puck-mover, but he’s run very dry of late (1 point in his last 15 games), and playing with Fraser puts a great deal of pressure on him defensively to make up for his partners foibles.

Travis Ewanyk 32-2-3-5 PPG 0.15 ESP 4 PPP 1 SOG 40 Grade F
It took longer than it should, but he was finally taken out of the lineup (not sent to Evansville yet, alas).  The team is 4-2 since he was scratched and my hope is we’ll never see him in the lineup again.  He’s a bad player who takes bad penalties.

Ryan Penny 15-2-2-4 PPG 0.26 ESP 3 SOG 17 Grade B
Brought up from Evansville prior to the team heating up; after initial struggles (no points in his first 7 games), he’s found a home on the fourth line with Dziurzynski and Stortini; he also has been used killing penalties.  He’s a good soldier for the team and unlike former regulars like Hobbs and Ewanyk he has actual puck skills.

Kyle Flanagan 19-2-2-4 PPG 0.21 ESP 4 SOG 21 Grade C
An unremarkable player signed out of the ECHL awhile ago; he’s spent most of his time on the third line with Greening and Puempel and that combination hasn’t worked at all.  Flanagan is a better player than (say) Hobbs or Ewanyk, but clearly he needs a different linemate (or mates) to do anything–perhaps the call-up of Puempel creates that opportunity.

Mark Fraser 34-0-3-3 PPG 0.08 ESP 3 SOG 22 Grade F
He continues to be terrible.  He can’t pass, can’t shoot, can’t play defense, and takes a ton of bad penalties.  He had Mullen to clean up his mess most of the season, but now it’s Carlisle’s turn and I’m not sure the rookie is really up to it.

Danny Hobbs 22-1-1-2 PPG 0.09 ESP 2 SOG 31 Grade F
I have no idea why the ECHL forward was so beloved by the coaching staff, but at long last they came to their senses and sent him down to Evansville.

Michael Sdao 8-0-1-1 PPG 0.12 ESP 1 SOG 7 Grade C
Since returning from injury he’s played with Mullen (5 games), Allen (2 games), and once with Carlisle.  I haven’t been impressed, although I wasn’t expecting much.  He hasn’t had a goal-causing gaffe yet and he handles the puck better than (say) Ben Harpur or Tuzzolino, but that’s not saying much.  I’ll be interested to see how he does assuming he stays in the lineup now that Claesson is back.

Troy Rutkowski 3-0-0-0 PPG 0.00 ESP 0 SOG 5 Grade incomplete
Only played a few times when called up (twice with Claesson, once with Mullen); has decent hands and can move the puck, but his skating is iffy.  Richardson clearly isn’t a fan so there really wasn’t enough of a sample size to judge him.

Scott Greenham 3-1-0 2.19 .928 Grade B
Has played well in all four starts he’s had during the streak (3-1-0), seemingly fully recovered from his early season injury.

Chris Driedger 9-8-1 2.99 .904 Grade B
His overall play has been solid, but not as spectacular as Greenham above (4-2-1 on the streak).  There’s been a bit more inconsistency in his play of late.

Matt O’Connor 3-9-2 3.44 .886 Grade D
Was finally putting up the performances expected when he was signed (2-0) when he fell to injury.  The jury is still out on him, but there’s at least been some sunshine.

Overall the improved results are a mix of fixing the first unit powerplay, demoting Stortini, sending Hobbs (and now Harpur) to Evansville, scratching Ewanyk, dressing Carlisle consistently (as a defenseman), an improved penalty killing unit (removal of Ewanyk the primary fix), and better goaltending.  The coaching staff is stubborn and conservative however, so they could very easily reverse the changes.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

January 22, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 7 Comments

Ottawa beat San Jose 4-3 despite being outplayed and losing Mike Hoffman during the game (which presumably means we’ll get a steady diet of Curtis Lazar accomplishing nothing in a scoring role).  Ross A provides the blow-by-blow for those who missed it.

Speaking of Ross A, he interviewed moribund Ottawa Citizen journalist Ken Warren who, not surprisingly, simply echoed management’s opinions when relevant.  Inexplicably Ross did not ask Ken about analytics, although I’d be shocked if Ken was anymore open to it than Bruce Garrioch.  There’s no need for fans to be alarmed by Warren’s unimpressive efforts because Ottawa is blessed with excellent coverage from fans (something that won’t really change so long as the newspapers here prefer and can afford their management-friendly coverage).

I don’t care about the NHL All-Star game and I certainly don’t watch it, but it is interesting to see the blustery, conservative NHL fold to public pressure to put John Scott back into the game after indicating repeatedly they would not.  There was an enormous amount of pushback by the league and its various shills in the media against his selection; the narrative spun was that those clammering for Scott were a small number of trolls of no consequence and there was a great deal of glad-handing when Scott was banished to the AHL.  Clearly that was all bluster from the league as the lumbering goon will captain the Pacific Division.  Seeing the NHL actually bow to something so trivial gives me hopes that on more serious issues when the league drags its heels we could also change with enough public pressure.

[A lot roster update: Troy Rutkowski and Ben Harpur were sent down to Evansville.]

Binghamton lost it’s rematch with the Amerks 2-1 on Saturday where the identical lineup couldn’t score enough to overcome Rochester’s limited pop on the powerplay (despite badly outshooting them and limited the Amerks offensive opportunities).  Here’s the play-by-play:
–Schneider with a steal and Lindberg has a great chance in front
–Allen turns it over behind the net, but the Amerk pass in front misses the target
1. PP goal (looked like it went off an Amerk, which makes it Allen‘s goal, but Stortini was given credit)
–Lindberg just misses the net with a backhand all alone in front
–Dzingel with the dangle and Robinson has a great chance between the circles
–Paul hits the post with a deflection
Second
–Penny with a good defensive play in front (deflecting away a centering pass)
2. On the PK neither Fraser nor Allen can wrangle the puck and the Amerks bang home the rebound
–Sdao throws it up the gut and is very fortunate it doesn’t wind up back in the net (O’Dell bails him out)
-Great back-to-back saves by Greenham off Amerks in front
–Robinson with a chance below the dot
–Dziurzynski takes a dumb crosschecking penalty
3. One-timer from the top of the circle beats Greenham on the PP
–Lindberg with a great pass to Puempel who can’t put it past the Amerk ‘tender
–Lepine takes a dumb holding call in the offensive zone
Third
–Lepine passes to the wrong team, but nothing comes of it
–Schneider tries to go five-hole on a one-on-one rush
–Greening with a great chance off a rebound in front
–Dzingel rushes up the gut but runs out of room
-Despite getting a late powerplay with just under 4o seconds to go, the Sens don’t get a shot on goal

This was one of Binghamton’s better games, but their habitual march to the penalty box finally caught up to them (along with an inspired performance for the Amerk’s goaltender).  Scott Greenham wasn’t particularly busy, which is pretty rare for goaltenders in Senators games.  The loss basically comes down to discipline, which has been a problem all season.

The IceMen haven’t played since my last post, but they did make one roster move, releasing unimpressive SPHL defenseman Nicholas Kuqali.  This means the team is getting healthier and should help them going forward.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

January 19, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Since my last post the Sens got rolled by Anaheim (nice to see Jakob Silverberg again).  Curtis Lazar scored, which is a bit like a solar eclipse so I hope everyone enjoyed it, otherwise the game was very much the same-old, same-old (Prince played 5 minutes).  Always worth mentioning that Ottawa took Chris Driedger ahead of Frederik Andersen in the 2012 draft, but mid-round picks don’t matter, right?  RIGHT?!?

After the win against Syracuse (see below) the BSens made a major trade, moving unpopular veteran Patrick Mullen to Nashville for Conor Allen; the move clears a veteran contract off the books, while Binghamton is only committed to Allen for the rest of this season (Milwaukee signed him a one-year deal).  What limited scouting that’s available on Allen emphasizes his physicality, something Binghamton already has in abundance.  The 25-year old was an NCAA free agent signing by the Rangers a few years ago (he posted decent numbers at UMass), but after two seemingly solid seasons in Hartford he was allowed to walk and got picked up by Milwaukee.  His AHL stat lines:
2013-14 72-6-25-31
2014-15 72-11-23-34
2015-16 31-1-5-6
In Allen‘s rookie year he had Aaron Johnson to help him out, while the next year Mat Bodie was there.  With the Admirals he’s fourth in scoring on the blueline, so it’s clear he was given less of an opportunity there than he was with Hartford (or failed to live up to that opportunity, there was certainly hype when he was signed and even the mid-season report card for him is kind).  Without having seen him play much I can only surmise that his offensive numbers were boosted in Hartford by the aforementioned players, so it’s difficult to say how well he moves the puck (time will tell).

Binghamton beat Syracuse (the second worst team in their division) 4-3 in overtime earlier this week; Greenham got the start, while Sdao was scratched in favour of Rutkowski.  The play-by-play:
-Richardson opened with the fourth line and they spent their shift chasing the puck
–Fraser panics under pressure and takes a delay of game penalty
-Off a rebound O’Dell shoots it over a half-open net (he wasn’t at a great angle)
-Great chance for Lindberg in the slot off a steal
–Fraser with a terrible pass up the gut lucks out as the return shot goes high and wide
1. Mullen steals the puck and then flubs his pass and on the turnover Greenham is beaten five-hole on a stuff play (Mullen watching the puck instead of taking the man)
-Great save by Greenham off a deflection in front
–Puempel with a great chance in the slot
–Dziurznyski takes yet another delay of game penalty
–Greenham with a solid save from right in front while shorthanded
2. Dzingel wins a foot race and makes a nice backhand saucer pass to Puempel who makes no mistake
-After ignoring a couple of blatant hooks the Sens finally go to the powerplay
Second
3. Robinson gets caught puck watching and let’s an untouched Crunch player bang in a cross-crease pass
–Dziurzynski takes a lazy holding penalty
4. On the PP Paul scores from the point through a screen (far side just off the post)
–Stortini and a Crunch player engage in a tickle-fight and get five minute penalties
-Nice rush by Rutkowski, but with his teammates making a full line change nothing comes of it
–O’Dell with a terrible turnover at the offensive blueline requires a great save from Greenham
-Dzingel makes a steel but tries to pass on the break and flubs it
–Fraser takes an idiotic boarding penalty
-Great save by Greenham on a stuff play while shorthanded
Third
–Greening with a great chance in front but shoots wide
–Lindberg off for hooking (he negated a scoring chance so I’m fine with it)
–Schneider stoned on a shorthanded breakaway
5. Great steal by O’Dell and Robinson cleans up the rebound
6. You put Stortini on the ice late in the game and you pay the price–the lumbering enforcer makes a late shot-blocking slide and Greenham is beat by a deflection in front
-The last few minutes of the game Dziurzynski was put on every line in an attempt to preserve the tie, which is just bad strategy–it sends the wrong message
OT
–Greening with a good chance from the dot
–Mullen hits Greening in the head with a 2-on-1 chance
-Crunch breakaway misses the net
7. O’Dell passes on a 2-on-1 and Dzingel finishes

Last night Binghamton beat slumping Rochester 4-0 (the Amerks hadn’t scored in seven periods coming into the game), with Greenham earning the shutout.  Allen dressed for his first game while Rutkowski was scratched in favour of Sdao.  The goals:
1. Paul bangs in Allen‘s pass after it deflects off an Amerk defenseman’s foot
2. Off the next faceoff Dziurzynski steals for a 2-on-1 and then bangs in Penny‘s rebound (the goals were eight seconds apart)
3. On the PP Dzingel puts home Puempel‘s rebound
4. On the PP Schneider is stick-checked in front and the puck goes to an open O’Dell who scores on an unprepared Ullmark

The BSens spent a ton of the game shorthanded and were outshot as well, but a hot goaltender and opportunistic scoring won them a game.

For fans looking for a brief explanation for the team’s turn around (9-2-1) there are a number of reasons: 1) a much-improved penalty kill, which is largely related to 2) much-improved goaltending, 3) an improved powerplay (only the first unit), 4) the team was never that bad in the first place (the 6-17-2 start was below their talent-level), 5) playing against weaker teams and/or backup goaltenders, 6) putting a puck-moving defenseman on each pairing, 7) Stortini on the fourth line, 8) absence of Harpur, 9) fixing the forward lines in general.  I’ll go into it in more detail in my next Binghamton season review.

Evansville beat Rapid City 4-2 on Wednesday (Reichard, back from injury, earning the win).  The goals:
1. Leveille decides to chase the puck leaving a Rapid player all alone in front
2. About a minute later Strandberg is stick-checked just inside the Rapid blueline and Humphries can’t defend the other way and Reichard is beaten on a fanned shot on the semi-breakaway
3. Moon deflects Wideman‘s shot through the Rapid goaltender
4. Moon fakes the pass from behind the net and instead stuffs it in
5. Guptill dekes through the defender and beats the Rapid ‘tender
6. Leveille tips in Wideman‘s centering pass

The IceMen got crushed by Toledo 5-1 (Bengtsberg took the loss in which he was pulled after the fourth goal).  Carlsson returned from injury and re-joined the blueline.  The goals:
1. Strandberg goes coast-to-coast and beats the Toledo ‘tender top shelf, short side
2. Bengtsberg loses control of the puck behind the net and can’t get set back in front as he’s beaten off the turnover
3. On the PP Bengtsberg is beaten off a cross-crease one-timer
4. Moon puck-watches and ignores his check (second-leading scorer in the ECHL) who, left all alone, beats Bengtsberg from right in front
5. Kuqali passes to the wrong team and Hobbs is lazy on the backcheck to the unopposed Toledo forward (the same second-leading scorer in the ECHL) bangs in the accidental one-timer unopposed; Bengtsberg is pulled
6. Just after Reichard stops a breakaway, Himelson gives the puck away behind his own net and on the subsequent possession Reichard is beat on a wraparound

The IceMen were badly outshot and outplayed by Toledo and certainly deserved the loss.  Somehow Evansville still hasn’t scored a powerplay goal (ten straight games now, 0-36), which must be approaching ECHL record territory.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

January 16, 2016
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment