Point/Counterpoint: The Comrie/Campoli deal

Peter: Likes the deal

It's difficult for me to say this, but I think it's a pretty good deal for the Ottawa Senators. As much as I enjoyed watching Dean McAmmond play for the Ottawa Senators, and as valuable as he is as a role player, he seemed unlikely to re-sign with the Senators; and is not much less likely now. Mike Comrie is also on an expiring contract, so the Comrie and McAmmond aspects of the deal may turn out to be a wash in the end--especially since the Sens could have re-signed Comrie whether or not they'd acquired him. This does give the Senators some extra time to discuss any possible contract, but unless Comrie is willing to accept a pay cut from his $4M salary from this season (which is possible, considering the off-year he's having), he seems unlikely to stick around. I disagree with those who think this is the desperate actions of a GM needing to make the playoffs to save his job; Bryan Murray is smart enough to know that Comrie is not going to be enough to get the Senators into the dance.

Which leaves us with the other two parts of the deal, San Jose's first-round draft pick from Ottawa and Chris Campoli from the Islanders. Campoli adds another young, quick, offensively-oriented defenceman to Ottawa's quickly-refreshing stable (see also: Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Mattias Karlsson, Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercioch). Although he's young, Campoli has played 228 NHL games over four seasons, which is decent experience, but he's still on a very good contract that will only pay him $625k this year and $675k next. According to Islanders blog Point Blank, Campoli had requested a trade from the Islanders (can you blame him?), which is why the Isles let him go. The San Jose first-round pick will likely be in the range of a 26-30 overall, which--according to TSN's Scott Cullen's draft-position predictor--is likely to be a very good AHL player, or a fringe NHLer. (Even if the Sharks are eliminated from the playoffs quickly and the pick is somewhere from 21-25, Cullen's matrix predicts that player being a full-time NHL fourth-liner. With draft picks it's always possible you find a player who's going to surpass expectations, but that late in the draft, it's often more likely you'll find someone who'll fall below expectations--as Cullen's calculations demonstrate. And even if you're in the minority and actually draft a player of Campoli's calibre at that draft position, you've still got to wait several years for that players to develop, and the Senators aren't looking for a long rebuild (while the Islanders are). Ottawa has to compete next year, and would rather not wait for that prospect to develop.



Ben: Doesn't like the deal

Irresponsible. That’s the word that comes to mind when discussing the McAmmond and 1st rounder for Campoli and Comrie trade. It’s a trade that barely improves the team now and doesn’t seem to have an eye on the future either.

This deal stinks of the one that Bryan Murray made a couple years ago with Joe Corvo. I forget who the Sens got back in that deal because THEY NO LONGER PLAY FOR THE TEAM. What’s the point of trading for Mike Comrie if he can’t help the team now and likely won’t re-sign after this season? Players rarely take pay cuts at the height of their career, and the Sens refused to pay $4M the last time Comrie left the team—why would they agree to pay it now during one of Comrie’s worst seasons? McAmmond’s contract was expiring, so it’s okay to let him go, but he’s the least of this deal. The Senators will not make the playoffs this season, so acquiring Comrie, if they fail to sign him, will be a waste of time, money, and a draft pick.

It really doesn’t matter who the Sens end this season with, it matter what prospects, draft picks, and contracts they have next season. If you like, we can boil the deal down to Campoli for a 1st round pick. This is supposed to be a good draft, and Campoli was selected 227th overall in 2004. The Sharks’ pick will likely land somewhere between 23-28… sooooo a 25th pick for a 227th pick. I understand this is flawed logic because some great players have come out of the late rounds, but the Sens can see what they’ve got… and it’s not a blue-chip prospect like what they could have snatched late in the first round.

So where does this trade leave the Senators? With one less asset and one more overpaid forward, keeping them from building towards next season. This deal goes no where.

Sens acquire Comrie and Campoli for McAmmond and a pick

According to the Team 1200, the Senators made a trade with the New York Islanders to re-acquire centreman Mike Comrie and also pick up defenceman Chris Campoli in exchange for Dean McAmmond and the San Jose Sharks' first-round pick (which was acquired from Tampa Bay in the Andrej Meszaros trade). It is also now posted on TSN.ca.

Sens fans should remember Comrie well from the 2007 playoff run, where he was a big part of the depth that enabled the Senators to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. He was allowed to walk the next season, and is on the last year of the deal he signed with the Islanders that will pay him $4M this year. He's a pending unrestricted free agent, and is having an off-year this season with 7G and 13A in 41GP.

In Campoli, the Senators receive a young mobile defenceman who's signed for a cap hit of $633k for this season as well as next year. According to his scouting report from Sportsnet, he's a very fast and very mobile defenceman who could eventually become a good powerplay quarterback. He's not an elite puck-moving defenceman, but he could very well help the Senators' in building a more effective defensive unit. This season, he's scored 6 goals and 11 assists in 51 games, and has 83P (20G, 63A) in 228 career games with the Islanders.

In exchange, Ottawa is giving up a good veteran player on an expiring contract as well as what would likely be a low first-round pick. McAmmond was never a game-breaker, but he was a veteran who could be relied on regularly to hustle, kill penalties, and could fill in just about any role in a pinch. Unfortunately for me, McAmmond was my favourite non-Daniel Alfredsson Ottawa Senator, which means I'll look like an ass with my McAmmond jersey. But that's fine (maybe we can re-sign him in the off-season; make it happen, Bryan Murray!). The first-round pick appears to be lining up as a very low pick, expectations would indicate somewhere between 25-30 overall, which would mean that the prospect wouldn't be tremendously promising (not likely any better than Campoli already is).

In terms of intangibles, Comrie might bring with him Hilary Duff, who might get along well with Mike Fisher's romantic interest Carrie Underwood. Interesting.

In an interview, Murray denied that he has plans to turn around and sell Comrie to another team; instead, Comrie will likely finish out the season with Ottawa, and both signs sound interested in signing a contract extension at some point. He also hinted that some of the moves he'll be making this season could involve putting players on waivers, perhaps to be dumped to other teams.

Although I'm disappointed to see McAmmond go, he may very well have signed somewhere else in the off-season, anyway. Exchanging him and a low-percentage draft pick for a more offensive player as well as an inexpensive, young, and pormising young defensive prospect seems like a good deal for the present, as well as a look to the future. I don't imagine Murray is done with his deals, though; there are still Filip Kuba and Chris Neil as possibly tradeable assets, and who knows what else.

(EDIT: Interesting note is that we can translate Murray's two biggest trades this season into Meszaros and McAmmond for Kuba, Comrie, Campoli, and Alex Picard. Doesn't look too bad for the time being.)

Isles 4, Sens 2: Someone remind them they're the Islanders

I didn't see the Sens/Isles game on Saturday. Normally I would be disappointed at having to miss the game, but I think I'm glad I didn't have to watch it. You can only see the Sens underperform and lose to the New York Islanders before you want to trade rosters. It must have been the decision not to wear the new black jerseys.

The game started out with some sweet passing that hearkened back to the CASH Line of old, as Dany Heatley scored with assistance from Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. The Islanders replied with three goals, including two from Freddie Meyer, before Alfredsson scored (assisted by Heatley and Filip Kuba) to make it a one-goal game.

The Sens only had 21 shots, including five from Heatley and nine from the CASH Line overall. According to NHL.com, Jesse Winchester led the team in hits with seven (career night!).

It's over now. Just beat the Thrashers on Wednesday, alright Ottawa? Thanks.

Roster note: The B-Sens are getting three regulars back today as forwards Cody Bass and Zack Smith and defenceman Brian Lee were all re-assigned. That probably means that the injuries to Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan, and Alex Picard aren't overly serious (knock on wood).

Too little, too late: Isles 3, Sens 2

Pretty late game review after a second loss in as many games against the New York Islanders, but it was so depressing I didn't really want to talk about it. With the two goals the Sens scored in the third period, the Sens have now scored four goals through their four-game losing skid--not good enough to win many, no matter how well goaltender Alex Auld is playing.

I'm going to keep this short, because the game is old news now. The team played hard, outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the first period and had 40 shots on the night, but had a hard time beating Isles tender Joey MacDonald. Most of the shots weren't great scoring chances, and they made MacDonald looks pretty good. Filip Kuba led the team in shots once again with six, and Dean McAmmond had five shots in only 10:13 played, the same number as Daniel Alfredsson (22:16) and more than Dany Heatley (4 shots in 21:41) and Jason Spezza (2 shots in 19:26).

It's quicker to list positives than negatives, so I will: The Sens were recharged late in the third when the CASH Line was reunited, and Spezza and Heatley scored the Sens' two goals (Heatley also had one assist). I don't know if re-uniting the line will work for next game, but it's about all Craig Hartsburg hasn't tried yet. Ilya Zubov looked really confident and settled, playing well in his 15:19 of ice time, registering two shots and getting some second-unit powerplay time. He hasn't been demoted yet, and will suit up Monday in place of Chris Neil, who injured himself just before fighting Isles tough guy Tim Jackman.

That's that. The almost-comeback was certainly too little, too late for this game, and might have been too little, too late for some players' careers with the Senators--time will tell on the latter front.

Shannon indefinite with concussion, Pock gets five games

A little fallout from the elbow Islanders forward Thomas Pock threw to the head of Senators forward Ryan Shannon came out today. TSN is reporting that Pock has received a five-game suspension for his part, and Michael Sharp has quoted Sens coach Craig Hartsburg in saying that Shannon's status is indefinite with his concussion.

Since Shannon will obviously not be in the lineup tomorrow night, Ilya Zubov has been recalled from Binghamton; no word where he'll fit, but he's an offensive player so he'll likely be placed with other offensive players.

I'm not sure how I feel about the suspension. It depends how much the injury is supposed to weigh in on the final verdict, I suppose. I guess five games is probably fair.

Speechless: Isles 3, Sens 1

Another disheartening loss for Senators and Senators fans. I don't really know what to say... I can't figure out what to attribute this loss to. The best guess I can make is that the Senators were outhustled on the night. The Islanders got to the puck first, won puck battles, made the simple plays and drove to the net. So the Islanders won 3-1, and the Senators continue to search for answers.

On defence, Filip Kuba opened the scoring with a goal on the Senators' first shot of the game, one of only five they had in the period. It wasn't pretty; the Islanders outshot the Sens 16-5 in the period. It doesn't make sense that the Senators, after all that has happened in the last few days, could come out so flat to start the game, but they looked overwhelmed by the Islanders.

Kuba, for one, had a great game offensively. Although he got pick-pocketed on the penalty kill when Trent Hunter scored the game-winning goal, he was all over the place in the offensive zone. I can't count the number of times he jumped into the zone, and he finished with a game-high eight shots on net (!) in 25:35 of ice time. Would have been nice to see another goal, but he--along with a bunch of other Sens players--came up against a pretty solid goaltender in Joey MacDonald.

Kudos also has to go to Shean Donovan, who responded to a promotion by creating some chances, and to Nick Foligno, who responded to a demotion by creating some chances. And to Alex Auld, who once again kept the Senators in the game through the first period.

Two Senators players had particular intensity on the night: Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson. Each were credited with four hits, and Fisher in particular just looked pissed off. They obviously want to break the slump, and want to do what they have to in order to get it done. Midway through the third Fisher ripped a shot that chimed the post, the Sens' best chance of the third. Alfie had five shots for the Sens, second most after Kuba, and had an assist on the goal.

The Sens went 1-for-7 on the powerplay, and are 1-for-16 on their three-game losing streak. After starting the season so hot on the powerplay, you have to wonder what's happened. In the third period, when the Sens were awarded a five-minute powerplay to end the game, the powerplay was so chaotic it was impossible to keep track who was where; four forwards (Fisher, Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza) and Kuba were just all over, trying to power the puck in the net. It didn't work, and there was too much trying to force things, and taking shortcuts instead of following all the necessary steps.

The Sens just had no business in that game. It was a disjointed effort, players seemed to be everywhere and yet nowhere, and the Islanders were able to keep their game simple to win the game. One thing commentator Garry Galley said that stood out was that the Senators are under so much pressure now they're thinking too much, and they can't do the things that should come naturally. I think that's certainly true, to a degree, and a lot of players are holding their sticks too tightly. Something's got to give, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Game day: Sens v Isles

The Senators hope to rebound from their... umm... un-pretty loss to the Montreal Canadiens tonight when they begin a home-and-home series at Scotiabank Place against the Islanders. It's on Sportsnet locally, and the TEAM 1200.

The only roster change is Ryan Shannon joining the big team after Jarkko Ruutu was suspended, and reports are that Shannon will play alongside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley on the top line (was I the first to predict this?). I think it's a good move; you've got to put players, especially younger ones, in situations where they will fit and where they can excel, and Shannon is definitely a scorer. It also means the line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jesse Winchester, and Mike Fisher, which has been playing well, is preserved. That leaves, in all likelihood, Chris Kelly centring Antoine Vermette and Nick Foligno on the third line, which has the potential to be dynamic and defensively responsible, and a fourth line of Dean McAmmond and Shean Donovan with Chris Neil (although Foligno and Neil might be swapped).

Alex Auld is in nets, as it should be. Martin Gerber will get his chances later on, but there's no sense screwing with goaltending when there are other problems which are more pressing.

Keep an eye on the powerplay tonight. I have a feeling that Shannon will be on the second unit, at least, but there are more problems with that line--and especially with the defensive pairing of Chris Phillips and Christoph Schubert, who don't look at all comfortable together on the point. With a much weaker penalty-killing unit on Long Island, though, the Sens might have a bit more luck. Just watch out for Dick Park, who is awesome.

It should be interesting to watch the game tonight. Hard work wasn't the issue against Montreal, the players just weren't on the same page. With a bit more intensity (the kind we heard about in practice yesterday) as well as some more systemic play and solid defence, there's no reason Ottawa can't manhandle New York (who are the worst team in team in the league, statistically speaking, even if they're only four points behind Ottawa).

And, just to update any interested parties on Binghamton, captain Denis Hamel and enforcer Jeremy Yablonski should return to the lineup, according to Bingo blogger Michael Sharp. So, although they'll miss Shannon's offence, they'll get a boost from a couple of veterans.

Another loss

Fourth in a row, fifth in six games. This time it was to the New York Islanders, a 3-2 final in a shootout. So... a black-cloud of a loss with the silver lining of still getting a point. The Sens still haven't lost two consecutive games in regulation time. That's something, right? Right?

Andrej Meszaros scored two goals, including one with less than two minutes left to tie the game and send it to extra time. Samson is having a great year, thanks to those curly locks of hair he's allowed to grow back.

The big reason for the Isles win was their suffocating trap play. But that's not an excuse; the Sens have enough firepower to break through the trap.

Ray Emery had an average to poor game, and will not play tonight against the Predators. Looks for Martin Gerber to step up and regain the starting job.

What a terrible shootout. No dekes, only one goal for the Sens, and I'm pretty sure three shooters missed the net completely. When will Joe Corvo get a shot in one of these?

One note that makes it almost bearable is that the lovable one-time Senator Mike Sillinger scored the shootout winner.

Hopefully the Sens don't hit the low-point of their season against Nashville tonight. That's what happened in a 6-0 loss to the Preds last year.

I'm not watching enough hockey - sorry Satan

I admit it. I haven't been holding up my end of the bargain I made with Satan. I promised that if the Prince of Darkness helped the Senators win the Cup this year then I would watch all the Senators games that were on TV this year, thus ruining my social life, making me a fat alcoholic and thus leaving me in a state of hell-on-earth.

I watched last night's game between glass dividers at downtown Ottawa's Lone Star Texas restaurant - where anything can be Texas-sized!

I'm sorry Beelzebub, I just couldn't do it. I've missed the last couple games due to... well... life, and I've been blogging postmortem, once the game has long been put into the books. So if the sens don't pull it off this year, you'll know who to blame.

On the plus side, someone else must have made a deal with the devil recently because Mike Comrie is tearing up the ice these days with 5 points in his last 2 games - I think 4 of those are goals! Mikey scored a wicked one last night putting the puck to the outside of the defender then picking it up after passing him to the inside, AND THEN putting the puck past the Islanders' nobody goaltender.

The sens' next game is Tuesday against the New Jersey, Devils and I'm sure much will be made of this game as a possible playoff preview. Then, the Senators will play the Pittsburgh Penguins - but by then we'll probably know who we're playing. Look out for a LIVE BLOG that night on this very page.