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.

Senators in the All-Star Games

Given that there were two Ottawa Senators-system players combined in the NHL and AHL All-Star Games (Dany Heatley and Mattias Karlsson, respectively), it should be pretty easy to give you a run-down of their play so far in the combined All-Star Weekend for the two leagues.

First off is the Ottawa Senators representative, Heatley. He was in two events in the SuperSkills event, Accuracy Shooting and the Elimination Shoot-Out. Although he was about as successful in the Elimination Shoot-Out as he is in regular-season shootouts (that is to say, not very), he did much better in the Accuracy Shooting event: He went 4-for-4 on the first series of shots, good enough to bring him into overtime against Evgeni Malkin (who Tim Thomas still claims didn't hit all four targets in the first round), but Malkin won it in the end.

As for the actual All-Star Game, Heatley was on a line with Marc Savard and Alex Ovechkin--pretty good pedigree. (I thought that Savard would end up with about 40 assists playing with those two shooters, but he only got three on the night.) Heatley had one of the Eastern Conference's 11 goals on the night, and no assists. Nothing like his first-ever All-Star Game, but Heater still has 6G, 3A, 9P in three all-star games--and, more than likely, more to come.

Down in Worcester, MA, the AHL All-Star Game had its Skills Competition today, and will have the actual All-Star Game tomorrow. Karlsson also played in two events, the Hardest Shot and Breakaway Relay competitions. Again, not much luck on the breakaway, but Karlsson did have the hardest shot on the PlanetUSA Squad at 94.5MPH, but two players from Canadian squad had harder ones (Cody Franson of the Milwaukee Admirals at 95.4MPH and Derek Joslin of the Worcester Sharks at 98.6MPH) so he lost the event. Still, the PlanetUSA squad won the Skills Competition (should I be happy about that?) and awaits the All-Star Game tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. (which Canadians can watch on TSN and Americans on... well... various networks).

Elliott, Karlsson named to AHL All-Star squads

According to Binghamton Senators beat writer Michael Sharp, goaltender Brian Elliott and defenceman Mattias Karlsson will take part in the AHL All-Star Game. Elliott was named starter of the Canadian squad, while Mattias Karlsson (not to be confused with Erik Karlsson, who's back playing in Sweden) will play defence for the PlanetUSA squad.

Another question: Will any Ottawa Senators play in the NHL All-Star game? I'd say the best chances are for Daniel Alfredsson and Filip Kuba, but we'll see soon enough.

On the farm: B-Sens roll on

After a tough four-game losing streak to end October/start November, the B-Sens got back to their winning ways with victories over Syracuse (Nov. 7, 4-1) and Worcester (Nov. 8, 5-4).

Recently-acquired defenceman Drew Fata proved his mettle in his first game for Bingo, scoring a goal and taking nine minutes in penalties including a fight against the Crunch's Craig MacDonald. If history serves, don't count on many more goals from Fata, but look forward to a lot more fights, and even more penalty minutes. I'll let Binghamton blogger/beat writer Michael Sharp give you a game recap:

"They avoided that first-period hole, re-established themselves on the penalty kill, kept those first-line guys ([Zack] Smith, [Ryan] Shannon, [Ilya] Zubov) rolling, struck quickly in the second after Syracuse rallied to tie the game (Zubov and Fata scored 48 seconds apart), and then they kept pushing in the third, with Brendan Bell getting that all-important insurance goal on the power play."

That line of Smith-Shannon-Zubov combined for four points (2G, 2A) and are in the top-four in team scoring.

For the win against Worcester, it was a different story. The B-Sens got out to a 5-0 win on four power-play goals, and then let the Sharks back into it, and almost blew the lead. Again, here's Sharp's post-game synopsis, from his blog:

"Overall, Binghamton owned a 5-0 lead and a 15-13 advantage in shots at that 4:23 mark of the second. From there, though, Worcester outscored the B-Sens 4-0 and outshot them 39-7."

So... yeah, holy shit, 39 shots in less than two periods for the Sharks. Worcester outshot Binghamton 52-21 overall, so goaltender Brian Elliott has to get a lot of the credit for the win. Zubov had a goal and two assists, Shannon had three assists, and defencemen Brendan Bell and Mattias Karlsson each had a goal and an assist.

The B-Sens are fourth in the East Division, and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Zubov is 11th in league scoring with 14 points (7G, 7A) and Elliott is eighth in save percentage and tied for 13th in GAA. Here's the B-Sens top-five scorers:

1. Zubov: 14P (7G, 7A)
   
2. Shannon: 14P (5G, 9A)
   
3. Bell: 11P (4G, 7A)
   
4. Smith: 10P (8G, 2A)
   
5. Karlsson: 8P (1G, 7A)
   

Sens beat Panthers, Leafs in rookie tournament

Anyone who hasn't seen can check out highlights of the Sens' rookie camp victories on TSN.ca, 4-2 over the Florida Panthers rookies and 7-5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies. (Despite finishing so much worse than Ottawa so many years, the Leafs are apparently still unable to assemble any young talent.) The Panthers highlights are up now, and I'm sure the Leafs ones will be up soon.

Against Florida, undrafted rookie tryout candidate Mick Lawrence (who?) scored two goals and an assist, while Shawn Weller added a goal and two assists and Ilya Zubov scored the Sens' other goal. Since the Senators' official press release is seriously lacking, and I can't find a stats sheet anywhere, I turned to the Ottawa Sun, who filled out a bit more scoring details: Jesse Winchester also added two assists, and Bruce Garrioch said he looked "strong". About Lawrence, he seems to have found his game at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in his final year, scoring NCAA career-highs in goals (21), assists (19), and points (it's basic math, come on; 21+19=40 points). If the highlights on TSN were typical, then Winchester, Zubov, and Lawrence were on a line together. Brian Elliott was tending nets for the Sens.

Against Toronto, all I know now is what the Sens' press release says. Forwards Winchester (2G), Zubov (1G, 1A), Alexander Nikulin (2A), and Peter Regin (2A), as well as defenceman Mattias Karlsson (1G, 1A), each had two points. The Leafs were up 2-0 at one point, but the Sens rallied and eventually took the lead. Two goals on three shots in the first period; Leafs goaltending prospect Michael Ouzas must have had a rough game. Jim O'Brien, Benoit Doucet, and Zach Smith also scored for the Senators, while Mitch O'Keefe played in goal.

The Sens' final round-robin game of the tournament is tomorrow at 2 p.m. I wish it was on TV... and that I didn't have to work so I could watch it live.

(P.S. If you're wondering what my player-name tagging technique is, I've only tagged the names of players who are on contracts with the Sens. That's why someone like Mitch O'Keefe is tagged, while Mick Lawrence isn't. Not that anyone cares at all.)

The Rumour Mill: The most pressing need?

Rumours abound in the blogosphere, but they remain rumours. Typically, they include the much-reported requirements for the 2008-09 Sens team to fill itself out; a top-six forward, and a top-four defenceman. But which one does the team need more?

Top-six forward

The Sens have needed another top-six forward for the last two seasons. The firepower of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley is nothing to scoff at, but if a team is able to shut that line down--as has happened (most notably in the the 2007 Stanly Cup Final against Anaheim), there is no fall back plan. Mike Fisher is intense, but he can't be counted on for offensive production. Antoine Vermette has gotten his opportunities, but failed to make them count. After them, there's really no option, unless prospects like Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, or Alexander Nikulin surprise a lot of people. The Sens have acquired the likes of Mike Comrie and Cory Stillman to try and fill the void, but for various reasons they didn't work out as long-term solutions.

If the Sens fail to acquire more scoring depth, the onus once again falls entirely on Spezzalfredheat. And the team, more likely than not, remains as vulnerable to a good shut-down defensive tandem as they have been in past years. We'd heard that Jason Williams was (apparently) close to becoming a Senator, but that proved incorrect. There aren't many offensive forwards remaining on the free agent market, so the only avenue the Sens really have is through a trade, and, with 13 NHL-calibre forwards plus several potential prospects, there are tradeable assets on the team right now.

Top-four defenceman

In the past three seasons, the Sens have lost Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Joe Corvo, Tom Preissing, Brian Pothier, and Mike Commodore, and the only new faces are Lawrence Nycholat, Brian Lee, and Jason Smith (and possibly Mattias Karlsson). There is an obvious problem with this picture. As good as Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov are, they can't do everything. Andrej Meszaros isn't even signed yet, but if he is signed most don't think he's ready to be the Sens go-to guy on the powerplay. The Sens desperately need some help on the blue line.

All sorts of names have been mentioned. The Sens were apparently in the Dan Boyle and Brian Campbell sweepstakes, but couldn't match market offers. Trade rumours have included the likes of Jay Bouwmeester (fat chance) and Cam Barker, but those are just rumours and are probably built on blind hope. Ottawa's goaltending tandem of Martin Gerber and Alex Auld makes the defensive needs more evident; although both are capable NHL goaltenders, neither is good enough to regularly steal games.

Verdict

Man, this is a tough choice. Both are pressing needs, but if I had to choose one or another, I'd say that a top-four defenceman is more important at this point. What do you think?

Karlsson could be the answer for open D spot

The Sens Army Blog's recently recruited European Bureau Chief, Kent Dahlberg, has this report on the "other" Karlsson straight outta Sweden.

Even though Erik Karlsson is probably staying in Sweden another couple of years, there could still be a Karlsson in the Sens lineup this year. Defenceman Mattias Karlsson spent the 2006-2007 season with Bofors of the Swedish second-tier league, racking up 32 points (11+21) in 44 games. (Profile)

At the end of the season, the Stora native signed an entry-level deal with the Sens with the intention to play with the Binghamton Senators. However, while preparing for camp back home in Sweden, he and a teammate hit the ice. The other player fell and the blade of his skate tore the tendom in Karlsson’s knee so bad that he couldn’t do much good at camp. Karlsson was sent to Bingo, but struggled with his knee and only suited up for two games before he went home to Bofors.

His solid play in Sweden’s second league then earned him a promotion to Bofors’ affiliate, Farjestads BK, arguably the most successful team in Sweden over the last decade. He was brought in late in the season to help Farjestad in their playoff run, and only played 13 regular season games, but still managed to score a couple of goals with a plus/minus of +10.

In the playoffs, Mattias Karlsson was one of their best players, leading the team in ice time. Despite Karlssons’ strong performance, his team was eliminated by the runner-up Linkoping.

Karlsson has told Farjestad that he’s going overseas to attend training camp and hopefully make the roster. If he doesn’t, he’ll return to Sweden for another season in the SEL. But the real question is, what could the larger one (6”3, 215 pounds) of our Karlssons bring to the Sens roster? Well, despite his size he has pretty good mobility; he does not pass with countryman Nick Lidstrom’s precision, although he can make a good first pass. Karlsson's also got a decent shot from the point, even though he will never become a big point-producer at the highest level.

He plays very simple, making a quick pass to get out of his own end quick to start the attack. If I had to compare him to anyone on the current Sens roster, I would say he is a poor man’s Chris Phillips. I can without a doubt see this guy playing in the NHL already, but his unwillingness to adjust in Binghamton might be a problem. I hope Murray, Hartsburg and the rest of the guys give this guy a long look during training camp because this could be the cheapest and best solution for the Sens' defensive gap.

Binghamton, AHL, 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PIM

Bofors, Swe-2, 24 GP, 7 G, 10 A, 17 P, 60 PIM
Farjestad, Swe, 13 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PIM
*Farjestad, Swe, 12 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 20 PIM

*Playoffs

I’m Kent Dahlberg, your Sens voice from across the pond