The Rumour Mill: So many defencemen...

Although secondary scoring has long been seen as a priority for the Senators, it was generally agreed that a more pressing need going into this season was for a puck-moving defenceman. Although the Senators have a few possible elite puck-movers, they're not there yet, so that need still hasn't been addressed. As it stands now, the Senators are moving into next year with the following corps of defencemen, any of whom has a decent chance to make the Sens' roster:

1. Filip Kuba
2. Chris Phillips
3. Anton Volchenkov
4. Chris Campoli
5. Brian Lee
6. Jason Smith
7. Alex Picard
8. Brendan Bell
9. Christoph Schubert
10. Mattias Karlsson
11. Erik Karlsson
12. Patrick Wiercioch

There are some notes to make here, obviously: The acquisition of Chris Campoli seems to indicate the team will move away from Filip Kuba, hopefully by trade although he may simply walk in the off-season--it seems unlikely that Bryan Murray will re-sign him at the higher salary he will likely demand. Brendan Bell is also a free agent at the end of this season, and--although his contract has been positive for the Senators--he may look to sign somewhere else if he'd get a better shot on their NHL squad. Mattias Karlsson has had an all-star season in the AHL this year, but he may not be NHL ready yet. Finally, although the hopes are high for both Erik Karlsson and Patrick Wiercioch, it's unexpected they'll make the NHL roster next season, and will likely need a year in the AHL before making the big leagues.

That leaves three virtual locks as defensive defenceman on the Sens' blue line next season--Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, and Jason Smith--and four lesser puck-moving defencemen battling for the other three spots--Campoli, Brian Lee, Alex Picard, and Christoph Schubert. But four good puck-movers doesn't make up for the lack of one elite puck-mover.

And even with those four, trade rumours have the Sens looking to pick up more offensively-oriented middle-road defencemen. Bruce Garrioch today said that Schubert is all but traded (about time), with Edmonton and Tampa Bay both interested, and the asking price for the Oilers set at young defenceman Ladislav Smid--yet another young, mobile defencemen not expected to be a top-pairing player. And Eklund (am I actually reporting this?) said today that Vancouver is looking at Antoine Vermette still, and the Sens are asking for--you guessed it--a defenceman in return.

I expect Ottawa to take a good run at finding an elite puck-mover in the off-season, though. They've got both Martin Gerber and Kuba coming off the books for next year, offering $6.7M (before re-signing Brian Elliott) to spend on an overdue replacement. That might not be enough for someone like Jay Bouwmeester, but he sure would look good on a first pairing with Campoli, if you ask me.

Volchenkov's back, and the defence shuffle

Reports abound that Android Volchenkov's shoulder malfunction has been resolved, so he should be back in the Sens lineup on Tuesday against the Devils after missing Ottawa's last eight games.

As a result, there's a bit of a log jam at defence: You can be sure that Volchenkov won't be a healthy scratch, and Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba will both definitely be in the lineup. As Shean Donovan's skills competition-induced injury will likely keep him out for the whole week, Christoph Schubert is expected to suit up as a forward, meaning that one of Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Jason Smith, or Brendan Bell will be a healthy scratch for the game.

It seems doubtful that Lee will be, as he was practicing today in his regular pairing with Phillips, and the two have been playing well together. A good point was raised by Jason York on the Team 1200 this afternoon: Since the quality of Lee's competition has gone up, so has his play and his consistency. With him playing so well, and such high expectations for his development, it would likely be a step backward to bench him or send him to Binghamton right now.

The most likely candidate to be scratched, at first glance, is Bell. He's been scratched a few times recently, including three of the last four games. However, Bell scored the game-winning goal against Washington a week ago, and has three goals in his last five games played (two on the powerplay). With the Senators looking for mobility and offence from the back end, Bell could continue to be a pretty good second-powerplay-unit defenceman.

Then there's Picard. He's had an up-and-down season, but he's still leading Senators defencemen in goals scored with five. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games, though, and doesn't even have a point in nine. All despite an average ice time of around 17-19 minutes played, usually including some powerplay time. It's an easy time to send a message to Picard that more is expected of him, but benching him is not a long-term solution: He's on a one-way contract, unlike Lee or Bell.

Finally, the possibility exists of Smith riding the press-box-pine for a night. Although it's pretty bad that he's only got one point (albeit a game-winning goal) on the year, that's not the chief reason he could be benched, and it's not why he was signed. Scratching Smith would be a tactical decision based on the speed of the Senators' opponents Tuesday, the Devils, and Smith's difficulty in keeping up with smaller, speedier players. Again, Smith wasn't signed to his contract to blow anyone out of the water; all he's got to do is play smart, positional hockey, lay a hit when it's available, kill a penalty when it's necessary, and speak up to or for his teammates. Scratching him wouldn't be a long-term solution, because a dog as old as Smith won't likely learn new tricks.

Ideally, I think that Picard could use a rest in the press box for one night or so, until the Sens decide whether to send Bell or Lee down to Binghamton. In the end, though, one of those two guys on two-way contracts will be don in Binghamton relatively soon. The Senators' don't need to be spending more money than they need to be spending at this point in the season.

Richardson retires, will likely move into coaching

After going unclaimed on waivers, Luke Richardson has decided that it's time to hang up the skates for good, and is expected to move forward in some coaching capacity with the Ottawa Senators. Although nothing has been confirmed, Richardson has had conversation with Sens GM Bryan Murray about the move, and it seems like a certainty that he'll get some bench-boss job with Ottawa. (I called it.)

I'm certain there are going to be fans who think that Richardson should have called it a career before this season started--and even those who thing last year was one too many--but he's done well for the Senators. He did more than was expected last season, and the Sens had nothing to lose when they invited for a tryout and then, after a solid tryout (he outplayed Alex Picard, Brian Lee, Brendan Bell, and Christoph Schubert in training camp) re-signed him to a two-way contract. It's not even like he cost the Sens very much, as his cap hit will come down from the $500k NHL salary he signed, and it gave the Senators the opportunity to bring a knowledgeable long-time NHL veteran into the organization, possibly for years to come.

I can see Richardson stepping into one of two roles: Either as an 'eye-in-the-sky', watching the game from the press box and calling down with things he's noticed from above. Or he'll be a defensive coach with developing defensive prospects, which the Senators suddenly have quite a few of--Picard, Lee, Tomas Kudelka, Mattias Karlsson, Ben Blood, Eric Gryba, Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercoch, and Mark Borowiecki. Sure, some of those projects are probably finished (cough*KUDELKA*cough) and some won't work out, but having someone with the experience Richardson has sure won't hurt their development.

Jeremy Milks over at Black Aces was the first to ask what would happen to Richardson's moustache, grown in solidarity with his fellow players to ease the tension during their losing streak, now that he's retired. I, for one, think he should keep it. Not only because he looks awesome (read: hilarious), but also because he's expected to be a player's coach, so it's only fitting that he acts like on of the players.

Whatever happens to Richardson or the Richardstache, I wish him (and it) the best of luck.

Richardson placed on waivers

According to an official Sens press release, veteran defenceman Luke Richardson was put on waivers today. Should Big Luke clear waivers, he will likely be assigned to Binghamton.

If I had to bet, I'd suggest that this is a housekeeping move to clear cap space. Given that Brendan Bell has given every appearance of being a capable NHL defenceman, and that both Christoph Schubert and Brian Lee are likely ahead of Richardson on the depth chart (and there may be other defenceman that are ahead of him, as well), the Sens are looking to take advantage of the two-way contract they have Richardson on.

Although this is conjecture, I doubt Richardson will get picked up by any teams, nor will he report to Bingo. He may simply retire, and the Sens will pay him his AHL salary and give him a front-office job as the eye-in-the-sky or defensive coach. But that's pure speculation at this point.

Is this a sign of an impending trade? Maybe, but time will tell. It appears just to be housekeeping at this point.

The Rumour Mill: A puck-moving defenceman

We've heard all off-season that Sens' GM Bryan Murray is looking for a mobile, puck-moving defenceman to help get the team out of trouble in the defensive end, and to add a little bit to the powerplay. So far this season, Filip Kuba has done a noble job stepping up, but most people believe Murray's hunt is still on. And late last week, the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch reported that Murray has ramped up his efforts to land that elusive puck-mover, and is now willing (not not anxious) to get rid of a roster player to do so. With that in mind, here are a few possible candidates, some of whom have been reported/rumoured, and some who haven't.

• Cam Barker, CHI: Barker hasn't quite panned out for the Blackhawks, and that's why rumours are circulating that he might be on the market. At only 22, he's still got potential, but the Hawks seemed to have moved on to bigger and better things: Brian Campbell (think they'll consider trading him?). Depending on Chicago's position at the time of the trade, they might consider a role-player (like Chris Neil, if he's on the market), prospect, or draft pick in exchange for Barker.
  
• Jay Bouwmeester, FLA: It sure doesn't look like Bouwmeester is very excited at the prospect of another season with the Florida Panthers. Although he might be happier under new head coach Peter DeBoer, J-Bo might be on the move. On the TEAM 1200 Monday morning, Pierre McGuire suggested the Sens look into the availability of Bouwmeester, because the Panthers certainly can't lose him to free agency for nothing. If the Cats make the playoffs--or appear poised to-- all bets are off. The asking price wouldn't be cheap; looking at last year's Marian Hossa trade, the Panthers would likely be looking for a roster player, decent prospect, and pick. Is he worth it? Well, he skates really well, but his point totals aren't great: 38G, 126A, 164P in 400 career games played.
  
• Trevor Daley, DAL: This name comes from HockeyBuzz, that ever-reliable source of hockey rumours. Due to Daley's relative anonymity, though, I have a feeling this rumour might be based on actual information. Personally, I'd never really heard of Daley before; he's certainly not a proven commodity. And he's not going to shoot the lights out, either, with 15G, 45A, 60P in 276 career GP. Doesn't really seem like the player who would fill the Sens' void, but maybe Murray sees something there. He just signed a three-year extension with Dallas at a cap hit of $2.3M per season, which is decent, but who knows what Dallas' asking price is. With Sergei Zubov's health in question, I doubt Dallas is in any hurry to get rid off a defenceman.
  
• Pavel Kubina, TOR: I'm not sure if Kubina is any more likely to be traded than Tomas Kaberle (who is much more of a powerplay specialist) or any of the other Leafs' defencemen, but Cliff Fletcher isn't hiding the fact that the Leafs are rebuilding. If he can get a solid asset--say, a high draft pick or prospect--for Kubina, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, then he will likely do so. And with Luke Schenn staying with the Leafs this year, they definitely have room to move. It remains to be seen if Fletcher would deal with a divisional and provincial rival, however.
  
• Mattias Ohlund, VAN: Ohlund's been in the rumours for a while, I believe his name surfaced initially in the Sun. He is actually a top-flite defenceman, which is positive. He's scored 89G and 216A for 305P in 700GP. He's got one year of $3.5M left on his contract, and rumours are that discussions with the Canucks aren't progressing. The Canucks need offence, so the asking price would likely be roster player in the mould of Antoine Vermette. I doubt they'd give up Ohlund for anything less than a roster player unless they're obviously out of the running for a playoff spot. (EDIT: It's worth noting that Ohlund has a no-trade clause, and that the Canucks GM has said he's not interested in trading him.)
  
• Darryl Sydor, PIT: Not right now, obviously, but when (if?) Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney return from their injuries, the Pens will have nine NHL defencemen. With younger players like Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski poised to step up, and Sydor on the last year onf a $2.5M contract, he might be on his way out. Hard to say what the Penguins would want in return, but it would have to be something to help the team out right away, like a roster player--a draft pick isn't likely to cut it.

I'm not sure how likely any of these acquisitions are; some of them I made up, and some were based on rumours from other sources--which were probably made up by someone else. There really aren't (m)any upper-echelon offensive defencemen available at the moment, so if the Sens do pick someone up, it might have to wait a little while. Any moves coming soon will probably be for B-list offensive defencemen.

Lee sent to Binghamton, Richardson draws in

The Senators' announced today that Brian Lee is headed back to Binghamton. As a result, Luke Richardson will be the Sens' sixth defenceman.

While I am a little surprised by the move, I don't think it's a bad one. Lee hasn't looked quite as comfortable this season as he was at the end of last year, and there is little doubt that he will benefit from some more seasoning in the AHL. It's also a huge boon for the B-Sens, who were already benefitting from tremendous goaltending and will now get a solid mobile defenceman to add to their corps.

Lee may have been a victim of his two-way contract, because every other Senators has an NHL deal. He did look out of place at times, and Alex Picard was slightly more impressive, but the Sens have a lot more invested in Lee.

I'm curious to see how this affects the makeup of the defence corps. The Sens will now have four defenceman who are seriously limited in their offensive abilities--Richardson, Chris Phillips, Anton Volcehnkov, and Jason Smith, and only two reasonably mobile, puck-moving defenceman--Picard and Filip Kuba. What the heck will our second powerplay unit look like?

EDIT: What the shit? Turns out that I missed something in the same release from the Sens: Shean Donovan is sitting out, and Christoph Schubert is in on the fourth line. I guess that a goal and two assists in barely five minutes a night for Donovan isn't good enough, while Chris Neil can dance around doing nothing and stay in the lineup.

Sens re-sign Richardson

The Sens' also signed D Luke Richardson to a one-year, two-way contract on Saturday, according to CBC. I thought Richardson looked alright during his tryout in training camp, although not tremendous. He is not the kind of defenceman Ottawa needs, though, and I don't think he'll actually be heading to Binghamton at any point this year.

Although I don't want to predict anything untoward, I think this signing might mean there's a move coming soon. The Sens, with Richardson, have eight NHL defencemen: Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Jason Smith, Filip Kuba, Alex Picard, Brian Lee, Christoph Schubert, and Richardson. It's unlikely either Lee or Richardson will be sent to Binghamton. Keep in mind that, as versatile as Schubert is, GM Bryan Murray told him he'd be getting a good chance at playing defence this season. I'd like to see him stay, but I didn't see enough from Schubert to believe he could crack the top-six on defence.

EDIT: The Sens' also sent surprise forward Zack Smith bown to Binghamton. Apparently it wasn't because Smith didn't make the cut, but because his development would require more ice time than he would be getting on the Senators' roster. He'll most certainly help the B-Sens out this season.

Sens still looking for at least one more D

I was reading my favourite (and possibly the only) Binghamton Senators blog today, Michael Sharp's Sharp on the Sens, and Sharp noted that not only is Bryan Murray looking for that ever-elusive powerplay quarterback, but assistant GM (and B-Sens' GM) Tim Murray is looking for another good defenceman to play in Bingo, too.

The Sens had three defencemen who could lead the powerplay at this time last season: Wade Redden, Joe Corvo, and Andrej Meszaros. Now we have none? I understand how nice acquiring someone like Brian Campbell would have been, but I think the older Murray (that's Bryan) could give Brian Lee and Filip Kuba a little more credit. They may not be proven commodities, so it appears Murray is going to give them some time in the pre-season before deciding just how desperate the Senators are to acquire an elite offensive defenceman.

One of the names that continually pops up is Mathieu Schneider, despite his $5.5M price tag. Anaheim is looking to dump his salary in order to sign Teemu Selanne, and have done everything--including putting him on waivers--to get rid of Schneider (it remains to be seen if they'll let him play in the AHL or buy him out to get his salary off the books). On Tuesday, however, the Citizen printed a story stating the Sens' chances of being able to pick up Schneider are slim to nil. And today, the Ottawa Sun said that he's just to expensive for Murray to take on. The Sens would have to dump salary in order to pick Schneider up, and Anaheim is not looking to pick any salary up in return. If the Ducks are prepared to pay half of Schneider's salary by allowing someone to pick him up on re-entry waivers, there are a few teams that would get a chance to pick him up first--and there is a good chance they'd take him at half-price.

So that leaves the Sens with their current d-corps. With regards to the younger Murray's plans, he's mentioned the possibility to sign a free agent to fill out the Binghamton d-corps, but didn't rule out the possibility of a trade.

The Senators' current depth chart at defence probably looks a little something like this, with the players' ranking more discretionary as you go down the list:

1. Chris Phillips
2. Anton Volchenkov
3. Filip Kuba
4. Jason Smith
5. Brian Lee
6. Christoph Schubert*
7. Alex Picard
8. Brendan Bell
9. Luke Richardson**
10. Mattias Karlsson
11. Matt Carkner***
12. Tomas Kudelka
13. Derek Smith
14. Geoff Waugh
15. Ben Wright**

* - Schubert could probably play forward this season.
** - Richardson is on a tryout, and is not expected by many to make the team. I think Wright is on a tryout contract, because I can't see any releases about him being signed by the Sens (please correct me if I'm wrong).
*** - Carkner is trying out as a right winger for the Sens, but would go back to defence if sent to the AHL.

In all honesty, that looks like a pretty good top-twelve defencemen in the system. If Ottawa acquired that puck-mover without losing a defenceman, however, one of Lee of Alex Picard would probably be sent to Binghamton, and would solve the B-Sens problems. As it stands, Brendan Bell is apparently in great shape and has good AHL numbers, and Mattias Karlsson--although a rookie--impressed in the rookie tournament and has good size; they would likely form the top pairing, at least on the powerplay. All of Matt Carkner, Tomas Kudelka, and Derek Smith played for the B-Sens last season (the latter two are returning rookies), and are expected to have even better seasons in 2008-09. That leaves Geoff Waugh (who is also a sophomore pro) as the B-Sens sixth d-man, and I suppose that given he only scored 6 points in 71 games last season, there may be room for improvement. But Waugh was only -2 on a team that was heavily on the minus side of the ledger, and--although I can't say from experience--I don't think he's typically looked at as an offensive defenceman (he accumulated 139 PIM with eleven fighting majors).

Obviously, time will tell for the Senators' defence corps. It looks pretty good on paper, but looks can certainly be deceiving. Time will tell.

Richardson gets a tryout

Don Brennan published a story in the Sun today stating that Luke Richardson has been invited to the Senators training camp. Got to give the 39-year-old credit, he might be in better shape than he was last year and certainly earned a look after how much he did for the team in 2007-08. The story went on to say that if he didn't make the Ottawa squad, it is unlikely that the Sens would ask him to go down to Binghamton--more likely he'd be hired to work in a coaching role. A quote from GM Bryan Murray from the Sun story:

"I don't think I want to do that with him," said Murray. "I think we want to have younger guys down there at this point. If he can't (play in Ottawa), we'll probably have something for him in the organization. He'd be around the coaches. I don't know that he'll have a title like that, but kind of an eye-in-the-sky deal."

You've got to give Richardson all sorts of credit for approaching this situation with such professionalism. Some veterans would be insulted to be invited to camp without a contract, but he's looking at it as the opportunity that it is.

As much as I like Richardson, I don't think there's a spot for him on the blue line this season. The top four positions are all but guaranteed to Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Filip Kuba, and Jason Smith, but Richardson wouldn't fit in the top-four anyway. Another year in the AHL might be good for Brian Lee's development, but I would think he would be better served playing in the NHL--especially since he did so well last year. And Murray has said he expects Alexandre Picard to be a virtual walk-on through camp, because of his potential and his one-way contract. And there's still Christoph Schubert, who's salivating at the prospect of playing a full year on defence. Oh yeah, and Brendan Bell could make a good impression. Then again, I didn't think Richardson was going to make the team last season, either, so I've been wrong about him before.

But Richardson's got a chance, at any rate. I'm glad that he'll continue in the franchise, in whatever capacity.

Are the Sens that bad? Part two: Defence

The Sens had a few problems--to put it nicely--last season, and defence was a huge one. Not just the team's defencemen, although many of them had their problems, but also a team-defence philosophy that would allow defencemen to have mistakes mitigated by backchecking forwards.

This year, with the acquisitions and hirings, should be different.

DEFENCE

Defensively, the Sens' defence will definitely be better. Offensively, it might be a different story. The Sens' d-corps has changed significantly since last season, and only two players who started the year--Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips--remain from that top-six. And they remain for good reason; defensive responsibility. The newly-signed Jason Smith is in the same mould, and should fit into a defensive system very well. And, although one knock on Filip Kuba is that he can commit defensive gaffes, he led the Lightning with 131 blocked shots last year. Combining the shot-blocking abilities of those four, you've got to wonder if the goaltenders will see any rubber by year's end.

When looking for production for the defence, though, the Sens might have to look pretty far. A lot of hopes are going to be placed on Kuba to lead the Sens' offensive rush, at least on the powerplay. Rookie Brian Lee will also be given a lot of rope, and the hopes will be that he can lead the Sens' second powerplay unit and play as well as he did at the end of last season. In the sixth spot will be one of Christoph Schubert (a natural defenceman who's been playing forward [quite effectively] against his wishes for the last two seasons), Alex Picard (a relatively unseasoned defenceman with some offensive potential), or Brendan Bell (a successful AHLer who's had limited NHL success).

It may turn out that the biggest acquisition for the defence was actually behind the bench rather than on it. Craig Hartsburg had a ten-year career as a defenceman for the Minnesota North Stars, and the belief is that he will be preaching a defence-first system, and demanding (here's that all-important idea in Senators' circles again) accountability and responsibility from his players. It might mean a few less creative offensive plays, and hopefully it means Jason Spezza won't be among the league-leaders in giveaways, but it will certainly mean a bigger emphasis on team defence for 2008-09.

Defensive renaissance

Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen wrote a pretty good column yesterday (Sunday) about the incredible changes that have gradually changed the Sens' defensive corps since last season.

At the start of 2007-08:

1. Redden
2. Phillips
3. Volchenkov
4. Meszaros
5. Corvo
6. Richardson

And now, 2008-09, pending further movement:

1. Phillips
2. Volchenkov
3. Kuba
4. Smith
5. Lee
6. Picard

You'll notice only two common names between the two seasons, a 67 per cent turnover. Other changes for 2008-09 include defensive depth, signing Brendan Bell and drafting Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercoch, and Mark Borowiecki.

Solid story, and highly recommended to anyone who hasn't yet read it.