D-Day for Gerber (UPDATED)

It's finally here: The day we figure out just what is going to happen to Martin Gerber. He and Sens GM Bryan Murray are expected to sit down today and has out his options, because returning to the Ottawa Senators isn't one of them.

It remains to be seen if playing in the NHL at all is one of them, either. Apparently, as reported in the Calgary Sun, the Calgary Flames may be looking at Gerber as a possible backup and insurance policy for workhorse goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff, but that's certainly not a done deal--and it remains to be seen how it would be done (whether through trade or waiver-wire acquisition) if it is to be done. A few other teams have been rumoured at time to have interest in Gerber, so it's possible that if Calgary GM Darryl Sutter is actually interested, he could make a trade rather than run the risk of another team nabbing Gerber on re-entry waivers before Calgary gets the opportunity. The good thing for another team picking Gerber up on re-entry is that the receiving team would only face a cap hit of one-half of Gerber's remaining salary, an estimated $750k.

If there's not interest from other NHL squads, there's still the possibility of Gerber being 'loaned' to a European squad, which would at least get his salary off the books for the Senators.

And technically the AHL is still an option, but it seems unlikely. Owner Eugene Melnyk has said that he won't play major-league salaries to minor-league pro players, and one assumes the Gerber situation to date has been a one-time, short-term exception to try and get Gerber's salary unloaded. And Sens brass, including Tim Murray, have at least suggested that they wouldn't force Gerber to play in the AHL. Still, with an uncertainty in Binghamton's goaltending situation, fans would likely choose Gerber over their current situation.

Whatever happens, it's finally over. It might seem harsh for Sens fans to be celebrating, but I'd be willing to bet that Martin Gerber is more than ready to end this chapter of his professional hockey career and begin the next one himself.

UPDATE: Listening to Gord Wilson on the Team 1200 this afternoon, it sounds like Gerber is highly unlikely to head to a European team because they are so late in their season. Combined with the apparent fact that a trade with whichever GM is interested would include receiving the same cap hit as we'd be sending away, and the fact that Michael Sharp quoted Ottawa Director of Hockey Operations Brent Flahr as having said that re-entry waivers aren't an option for the Senators right now, maybe it's more likely that Gerber will be headed back to the AHL.

Only one constant in Bingo this year: Success

About a week ago, Bingo beat writer and blogger Michael Sharp documented the adversity through which the Binghamton Senators have, somehow, successfully navigated to get off to their best start in franchise history: Then 21-12-6 (48 points), now 23-13-6 (52 points). He offered a list of some of the things the team has overcome (directly quoting Sharp):

• "Brad Isbister, sold to B-Sens fans as a potential top-six forward here, opts to head to Switzerland, rather than report in training camp.
• "Second-year center Alexander Nikulin, last season's third-leading scorer, and another top-six guy entering the season, threatens to return home to Russia if he is not traded. Eventually, he gets his wish, getting shipped to the Phoenix organization the same day he walks out on the B-Sens.
• "Second-year center Cody Bass, while playing on recall with Ottawa, is lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
• "Rookie forward Kaspars Daugavins chooses to return to juniors in late December. He had just three points in 23 games, but he'd been playing on a line with Josh Hennessy and Ryan Shannon just before his decision.
• "This first half has featured 14 call-ups to Ottawa, most recently goaltender Brian Elliott, an all-star and arguably the team's first-half MVP. It doesn't appear he's returning any time soon.
• "Eight players have missed at least eight straight games with an injury down here. That doesn't include Shannon, who missed time with a concussion while on recall with Ottawa.
• "Brendan Bell and Brian Lee, two top-four defensemen for Binghamton, appear to be sticking in Ottawa. Bell has been there since Nov. 16. Lee has already logged 18 games with the big club.
• "The schedule was ridiculous in November, with two stretches of seven games in 10 days. One stretch included a lengthy trip to Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. And both came amidst a period of heavy injuries and call-ups."

Although it's not confirmed, it sure looks like Elliott will be in Ottawa for the rest of the season, and one of Bell or Lee will more than likely stick around, as well. Binghamton coach Cory Clouston has taken his fair share of criticism, but he's got to be commended for keeping this team rolling. And Sens GM Bryan Murray and Assistant GM Tim Murray both have to be commended for, at least to date, re-stocking the Senators minor-league pro depth.

Gerber to be waived

According to reports on Bingo blogger Michael Sharp's blog, assistant GM Tim Murray has said that Martin Gerberwill be put on waivers today, available to any teams interested.

"We've sent out a memo to the other teams saying he was available. And he'll go on waivers (Thursday), and then we'll just have to see what happens there. If he doesn't get picked up, he's going to have a meeting with Bryan (on) Monday or so, and then we'll have to make a decision."

This may mean that GM Bryan Murray knows of at least one team that may be interested in picking up Gerber from the waiver wire, but it definitely means that Brian Elliott has passed his first test with the Ottawa Senators in the NHL; Tim Murray said "he's no longer an American Hockey League player as of now" and that Elliott won't be playing in the AHL All-Star Game.

There are a few options right now for Gerber. First, obviously, he could be picked up on waivers, or possibly re-entry waivers, by another NHL team. Alternatively, he could pass through waivers and return to the AHL, but that doesn't seem like a real possibility given Tim Murray's comments on Sharp on the Sens ("Let's worry about that when we get there. There's so many different things that could happen. And that's a very good possibility obviously. Europe's a possibility also. So, I think we just cross that bridge when we get there"). Finally, an arrangement could be made between the Senators and a European team, wherein that team would have the rights to Gerber for the rest of the season in exchange for some compensation, likely just paying the rest of Gerber's contract.

In his three-game AHL "conditioning stint", Gerber allowed seven goals on 108 shots for a goals-against average of 2.37 and a save percentage of 0.935 and had one shutout (a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Phantoms).

With Gerber seemingly gone, the Binghamton Senators will likely move forward with Jeff Glass as the starter and Mitch O'Keefe, recently called up from the ECHL's Elmira Jackals, backing him up.

1. Glass (for Bingo): 13GPI, 3W, 7L, 2OTL, 41GA, 3.63GAA, 348S 0.895SP
2. O'Keefe (for Elmira): 24GP, 13W, 9L, 1OTL, 71GA, 3.09GAA, 579S 0.891SP, 1SO, 2A

Unfortunately for Binghamton fans, neither of the above-mentioned goalies have very impressive statistics. Still, Glass was a third-round pick (89th overall) in 2004 and has won the CHL and WHL goaltender of the year awards in 2004-05, and won the gold medal with Team Canada in the World Junior Championships that same year. I guess you could say he's got a lot or potential to live up to.

(Special thanks to Rob Glass of Binghamton's WHRW-FM 90.5 Radio for bringing this to my attention.)

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.

Senators' prospect rundown

Anyone who hasn't seen the Sens website recently should head over to check out a listing of the Sens' top prospects. It's got the comments of assistant GM Tim Murray on the likes of Ilya Zubov, Jim O'Brien, Alexander Nikulin, Josh Hennessy, Peter Regin, Kaspars Daugavins, Brian Lee, Tomas Kudelka, and Brian Elliott.

Obviously, the story is written on behalf of the Senators so author John McGourty certainly has his rose-coloured glasses on, but it still makes for interesting reading. What interest me most is Nikulin, who, according to the story, is more defensive than I'd given him credit for. He sounds like, if there weren't a log-jam at centre, he could make a solid third-line centreman in the NHL. From the story:

Nikulin was regarded as the fourth-best Russian in his draft year (2004) behind Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. He is a well-built 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, but is not a physical player. He is, however, an excellent defensive centre with great awareness and top-notch passing skills. He has a great understanding of the game and skates well but needed last season in the AHL.

The other pleasant surprise is about Lee; he looks so young that I had no idea he was 6'2" and 205 pounds. He's almost identical to Wade Redden in that sense, and hopefully he can replicate Redden's early success with the Senators (without tailing off after a dozen or so years in the NHL).

Interesting read for those of us thirsting for Sens action to start up.

Sens Army Blog presents: The Elmira Jackals

After the announcement of the Ottawa Senators' (and, by association, the Binghamton Senators') affiliation with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL, I figured I'd look into the history of the team to give members of Sens Army an introduction.

Undoubtedly, this is a move to help GM Bryan Murray and assistant GM Tim Murray continue to build up the team's North American depth. With the B-Sens and the Jackals, there are now two levels of development within the Senators organization for recent draft picks--North American or Europeans--to get used to pro hockey. And Elmira is only a little more than an hour away from Binghamton, so when the B-Sens need a call-up they should be in pretty good shape.

You can read a bit about team history on their Wikipedia page, which is pretty well done. The team made the playoffs for the first time in four years last season, but--just like the Senators--got eliminated in the first round.

The Jackals roster is still taking shape, but the team's first three signings for 2008-09 were made last week. Centre Benoit Doucet, right wing Pierre-Luc Faubert, and defenseman Brandon Roach are the first members of the Senators-era Jackals, and undoubtedly some of the Sens' prospects will find their way onto the Elmira roster. As a rookie last season, Doucet led the team in goals (31), assists (52), and points (83) in 2007-08, and he was fifth in league scoring. Keeping him on the roster must have been a priority. Faubert was second on the team in scoring, and Roach--an Acadia University alumnus--scored 34 points with the Florida Everblades (BWAHAHAHA!) last season.

Even though the affiliation wasn't official, a few Senators prospects played for the Jackals last season, including the likes of Shawn Weller (2004, 77 overall), Jim McKenzie (2004, 141 overall), Tomas Kudelka (2005, 136 overall), Scott May, and Tyler Donati. The latter two (May and Donati) played with Bingo and were loaned to Elmira.

That's probably more than you need to know about the Sens' AA affiliate. But now you know it.

On the farm: weekly Binghamton update

If Alexander Nikulin was angry with being assigned back to the B-Sens of the AHL after a forgettable two-game stint with Ottawa, it sure didn't affect his performance. After missing a game due to visa problems (how do the Sens let that happen? Come on, Tim Murray!), Nikulin scored once and set up three goals in a 4-0 blanking of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Denis Hamel scored twice, while Jeremy Yablonski rounded out the scoring and Ilya Zubov notched two assists. Jeff Glass got the shutout.

The next night must have been an amazing game to watch, and ended with an 8-5 victory over the Norfolk Admirals. After going down 5-4 in the third, the B-Sens rallied to score four unanswered in less than nine minutes to settle the score. Yabo extended what must be a career-high goal-scoring streak to two games. Hamel scored another two goals, giving him an AHL-leading 16 on the year. Larry Nycholat scored once and added three assists, and Niko Dimitrakos assisted on three consecutive goals, including the game-tying and game-winning goals.

As mentioned, Hamel now leads the league in goals, and his five goals over three games earned him AHL player of the week honours.

Binghamton earned 5 of a possible 6 points this past week, and is now 5-0-1-1 in he past seven games. Their record is 11-8-2-1 overall, worth 25 points and good for fourth in the AHL's East Division.

Top five scorers for Bingo, as of Dec. 3:

1. Denis Hamel: 22GP, 16G, 6A, 22P
2. Alexander Nikulin: 16GP, 4G, 11A, 15P
3. Larry Nycholat: 22GP, 2G, 13A, 15P
4. Niko Dimitrakos: 17GP, 8G, 6A, 14P
5. Josh Hennessy: 21GP, 5G, 9A, 14P