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: Fisher as trade bait?

There is no doubt about the fact that Mike Fisher is and has been one of the all-time favourite Ottawa Senators players. He plays a style people like to watch, works hard, and goes to church. He's wholesome, and most women think he's gorgeous (I think he's alright).

Just as certain, however, is the fact that Fisher is being paid an average of $4.2M in this season and three following to be a second-line scoring centre, and has no points this year. In fact, although he has played his style very well, he has never consistently been a scoring player. He's scored 22, 22, and 23 goals in his last three seasons respectively, and many wonder if he's really got that much more room to grow as an offensive threat. I've said, and heard others say, that Fisher is in the difficult situation of being an overskilled third-liner but an underskilled second-liner.

So does that make him expendable?

According to Allen Panzeri of the National Post (and Ottawa Citizen, I've just linked to the Post story), he might be the most expendable roster player. Panzeri said that GM Bryan Murray is going to have to decide "whether Fisher, 28, is worth keeping or whether it is time to cash in the investment as the down payment on a defenceman." It's not an easy questions to answer.

Obviously, Fisher will need to produce. And it's not like his lack of production is due to a lack of effort; he has had many chances in the past few games, he's just had problems converting them (or even hitting the net with his shots). Goals and points will obviously come, and history has shown that when the first one comes, a bunch will likely follow. But even if Fisher scores around 50 points this year, is it worth $4.2M? Especially considering the money that is already committed to Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, and Dany Heatley, and the lack of a number one defenceman or goaltender?

It's important to remember that Fisher has a no-movement clause this season, next season, and in 2010-11, which turns into a limited no-trade clause (whatever 'limits' that entails) for 2011-12 and 2012-13. So even if Murray decides that a trade is necessary, he's going to have to demonstrate to Fisher that it's in his best interest, as well--something that, given Fisher's interest in the community and established local connections, won't be easy to do.

Personally, I'd love nothing more than to keep Fisher in a Sens uniform, high price tag or not. But sometimes difficult decisions are made in the new NHL.

The Alfredsson deal

Even though it was just a couple of days ago, Daniel Alfredsson's recently-penned contract extension seems like old news now. Alfie is locked up; another quintessential puzzle piece set into place. Very locked, what with that no-trade clause (although if any Senator deserves one it's Alfredsson).

As I said the day of the signing, it took great commitment for Alfredsson to agree to that contract. Although $5.4M a year is nothing to scoff at, many people--myself and the Ottawa Citizen writer Wayne Scanlan included--believe Alfredsson could easily have netted $8M a year on the open market.

But looking at the structure of the contract in more depth, Alfredsson really won't have sacrificed all that much money--especially if, as some folks on the TEAM 1200 have suggested, he is strongly considering retirement after only three of the four contracted years. Take a quick look at the numbers, in terms of actual annual payout (bonuses included):

1. 2009-10: $9.1M
   
2. 2010-11: $7M
   
3. 2011-12: $4.5M
   
4. 2012-13: $1M

Thanks to that final year at $1M, the cap hit--the total salary ($21.6M) divided by the number of years (four)-- is $5.6M. A bargain, considering the 2009-10 cap hit of some other league elites, like Alex Ovechkin ($9.5M), Sidney Crosby ($8.7M), Evgeni Malkin ($8.7M), Eric Staal ($8.25M), Brad Richards ($7.8M), Scott Gomez ($7.357M), Chris Drury ($7.05M), Thomas Vanek ($7.1M), Jarome Iginla ($7M), Wade Redden ($6.5M), or Ryan Smyth ($6.25M). Heck, compare him to Dany Heatley ($7.5M) or Jason Spezza ($7M) and he's re-defined home-town discount.

If that fourth year weren't included in the contract, however, the cap hit rocket up to $6.87M per year--still lower than a lot of those other contracts, but significantly more than the $5.6M hit he's got. About one Jarkko Ruutu (cap hit: $1.3M) lower, in fact.

What it means is clever work by Bryan Murray, who tried to find a way around a tight budget and a difficult-to-predict salary cap, and a willingness to co-operate on Alfredsson's part for the benefit of the franchise. It also means a bunch of other players looking for similar career contracts, including Jason Spezza (who's on his way) and Chris Phillips (who might be next in line).

Alfie: The first career Senator

According to the Ottawa Sun, Daniel Alfredsson is on the verge of signing a four-year contract extension worth $20M (or $5M a year). EDIT: And, according to TSN.ca, the signing has been made official, with a total value of $21.6M for four years ($5.4M cap hit). It's a slight discount from the $5.465M he will be making this season, and a decent raise from the performance-contingent $3.8M team option for next year.

For that amount, Alfredsson has taken a pay cut of 30-50 per cent from market value--which would likely be anywhere from $8M to $10M, considering his recent point totals and comparable players. That is the sign of a player who really wants to take a discount to stay in a city. That is the sign of a player who wants to win, and not just get a big pay day. That is (one of the reasons) why Ben and I are championing the Pretire Daniel Alfredsson campaign.

TSN has the structure as follows:

"The contract, which includes a no-movement clause, pays $4 million in salary in the first year with a $3 million signing bonus, plus $2.1 million for the removal of the option years from his old contract for a total $9.1 million."

I hope that whenever number 11 is raised to the rafters, there is a newly-minted Stanley Cup Champions banner alongside it.

The Rumour Mill: More Canadian teams?

On the same day that economic uncertainty has NHL teams--the Senators included--pondering what a shrinking salary cap might mean for their long-term contracts, Greg Wyshynski blogged on Puck Daddy about three NHL teams (the Nashville Predators, the New York Islanders, and the Phoenix Coyotes) making Forbes Magazine's top-ten sports franchises likely to move.

The Vancouver Sun reported today that the NHL's six Canadian teams accounted for 1/3 of NHL revenues last season. Although that had a lot to do with the strong Canadian dollar, some analysts expect Canada's economy to lead G7 countries with growth of 1.2%.

Do I know what that means? Hardly. But I think it means that Canadian cities--like Hamilton, Quebec City, and Winnipeg--may be better poised to host an NHL franchise than the above-mentioned American cities. Which would be nice.

Imagine Phoenix relocated back to Winnipeg? Shane Doan would be a hero.

The Rumour Mill: Waiver Wire Bonanza

With the deadline for teams to get themselves under the salary cap coming at 3 p.m. today, a lot of players are being run through the waiver wire to shed payroll from their respective NHL teams. Not just lesser-knowns, though, but even some bigger names (with Nikolai Khabibulin being a pretty darn big one). Here is a list tabulated by Chris Wassel of Most Valuable Network, and their statistics, as tabulated by myself:

• Peter Schaefer, LW, Boston Bruins: 556GP, 98G, 161A, 259P
• Kyle McLaren, D, San Jose Sharks: 719GP, 46G, 161A, 207P
• Matt Pettinger, LW, Vancouver Canucks: 354GP, 56G, 49A, 105P
• Jason Krog, C, Vancouver Canucks: 198GP, 21G, 37A, 58P
• Aaron Downey, RW, Detroit Red Wings: 239GP, 7G, 9A, 16P
• Boyd Devereaux, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: 604GP, 61G, 107A, 168P
• Gilbert Brule, C, Edmonton Oilers: 146GP, 12G, 20A, 32P
• Aaron Johnson, D, Chicago Blackhawks: 146GP, 7G, 21A, 28P

I don't really see much help for our NHL squad, but if any of those players were to play in Binghamton that could really help that squad--they're pretty short on defence in Bingo.

Alfie negotiations, sorry Schubie, no Khabi

Lazy post of the biggest Sens' headlines for today begins now:

Negotiations on a contract extension for Daniel Alfredsson should get serious in Sweden during the Sens' raod trip there. Although there are some conditional team-options on the current contract, the team can't be very interested in running the risk of losing Alfie to unrestricted free agency. Bryan Murray said he'd probably just give Alfie what he asks for, and I'm pretty sure Alfie's not the kind of guy who'll ask for a crippling salary. There is no excuse for allowing this guy to finish with any team other than the Sens.

As reported on Sportsnet, the Senators have no interest in signing the recently-waived Nikolai Khabibulin. Apparently Murray told reporters that he's just too expensive to fit into the Senators' budget. No word on whether he'd pick him up at half-price if he comes through re-entry waivers, but he and Craig Hartsburg seem satisfied with the current duo of Alex Auld and Martin Gerber.

Bad news for Christoph Schubert, as it appears he hasn't made the cut on defence for the Sens. The top-six appear to be Chris Phillips-Anton Volchenkov, Jason Smith-Filip Kuba, and Brian Lee-Alex Picard. The signing of Luke Richardson sets him up as the seventh D, so Schubert will likely be playing forward this season. A likely scenario might see a trade coming soon, though, because the Sens have extra forwards now, too.

Finally, Sens brass were excited to see first-round pick Erik Karlsson play for the Froluna Indians last night, and he didn't disappoint. Karlsson scored the opening goal in the team's 4-1 victory--their first win of the year. It's going to be exciting to see him again on Thursday when the Indians face-off in an exhibition game against the Sens.

The Rumour Mill: More Meszaros offer sheet news

The Andrej Meszaros offer sheet has really picked up steam since yesterday, and has now been reported in the Ottawa Sun by Bruce Garrioch. Garrioch has suggested the team is the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the only thing holding them up is re-acquiring a third-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins to complete the compensation package. (There are rumours that Tampa has re-acquired said third-round pick, but don't bet the house on them.)

Craig Custance of The Sporting News has contacted sources and suggested that Atlanta, Phoenix, and Columbus were not suitors for the Meszaros offer sheet.

The other possibility, as Garrioch (and others) have explored, is that Tampa Bay--or whatever team is involved--is using the offer sheet to force Bryan Murray to trade Meszaros, or face losing him to an offer sheet. I'm not sure what team will put together a better package than a first-, second-, and third-round pick, but I suppose immediate help in the form of a decent defenceman could do the trick.

I suppose we'll have to see. Although only Murray can decide whether or not to match the offer sheet, most fans and bloggers are suggesting there's no way he'll do so. Which means Murray will once again have to use his creativity to solve the Senators' shallow defence, because I don't think Lawrence Nycholat, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell are the puck-moving defencemen this team needs.

EDIT: A bit of clarification from Adam Proteau, who initially broke the Meszaros offer-sheet rumours, suggests that Pens GM Ray Shero is not interested in trading the Lightning's third-round draft pick if it means he's supporting an RFA offer sheet, and Murray is not interested in talking trade for Meszaros. If those two rumours are facts, Tampa Bay is not going to be able to acquire Meszaros directly.

An interesting backstory is that Shero, who must have been scared of RFA offer sheets for many of his young prospects, is working against one happening (a bit of solidarity). Or that some GMs are looking at the aggressive nature of the T-Bay management situation, and aren't liking what they're seeing so they're not playing along. The Meszaros Saga couldn't have been scripted to have more drama.

The Rumour Mill: Meszaros signs an offer sheet

According to a report on The Hockey News' website, Andrej Meszaros has been inked to an offer sheet with an unknown team for an amount in the area of $5M per season. From the THN report:

"Hours after Ottawa GM Bryan Murray held a news conference to announce the team was at a contractual impasse with restricted free agent defenseman Andrej Meszaros, The Hockey News has learned from an NHL source that Meszaros has agreed to a multi-year offer sheet with an average salary in excess of $5 million per season."

Murray has denied the report.

I remember hearing that the period for tendering offer sheets had passed, but I could be wrong on this. Or this could be an offer sheet that Meszaros still had on the table. Or it could be the offer from the KHL team we've heard about. Whatever it is, $5M per year is an amount I doubt Murray will sign. Although the compensation--a first-, second-, and third-round draft pick--will be nice a few years from now, they won't help the 2008-09 team.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this in the coming days.

Sens sign centre Smith

The Sens signed 2008 draft pick Zack Smith to a three-year entry-level deal, according to a press release from the team (read it here).

I think it's a foregone conclusion that he won't be making the Senators, but he's probably got a good chance of playing for the B-Sens after getting some AHL experience with the Manitoba Moose last season. Including Smith, the Sens have the following (natural) centremen on the roster:

1. Jason Spezza
2. Mike Fisher
3. Antoine Vermette
4. Chris Kelly
5. Dean McAmmond
6. Cody Bass
7. Josh Hennessy
8. Justin Mapletoft
9. Ilya Zubov
10. Scott May
11. Alexander Nikulin
12. Peter Regin
13. James O'Brien
14. Zack Smith
15. Igor Mirnov
16. Louie Caporusso
17. Matthew McIlvane
18. Colin Greening

So... yeah. A lot of guys will be playing the wing instead, and a few guys might get bumped.

Easy summer for 2009

Looking back at the summer of 2008, it wa a pretty busy one for Sens GM Bryan Murray. If not for some shrewd mid-season signings, though, it could have been a lot busier.

Each of Mike Fisher, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley had their contracts extended during the season, saving Murray a lot of headaches had the three made it into free agency. It's been bad enough with only Chris Kelly, Antoine Vermette, Shean Donovan, and possibly Andrej Meszaros to re-sign (after a few other potential free agents were either traded or allowed to walk).

Looking forward to the summer of 2009, however, it looks like Murray decided to save himself a few headaches by locking up key players into multi-year deals. Aside from possibly Daniel Alfredsson, whose contract includes team-options if he fails to produce (don't count on it), none of the possible free agents should be difficult to re-sign. Dean McAmmond and Chris Neil are the only two UFAs who see a regular shift, and seem poised to make less than $1M if they are extended. Martin Gerber will also be a UFA, but the idea seems to give the starting role to either of Jeff Glass or Brian Elliott, if they're ready for it for 2009-10.

It seems a lot of the signings Murray has done have been to build a two-year plan, with flexibility afterwards of completely reassembling the team. Contracts that will come up after the 2009-10 season include Vermette, Donovan, Cody Bass, Nick Foligno, Jason Smith, Anton Volchenkov, Christoph Schubert, Brian Lee, and Alex Auld. Certainly not an impossible summer, but it will be difficult--especially considering all those defencemen's contracts.

One would assume that, as long as this upcoming 2008-09 season goes relatively well (better than last season, if not quite as good as 2006-07), then Murray will continue with the current two-year plan. And if not, well, there are a lot of reasonably-priced contracts that should look good at the trade deadline or on July 1, 2009.

The Rumour Mill: How valuable is Andrej Meszaros?

Although it might not seem important at first, the Jay Bouwmeester signing in Florida might prove to be consequential for the Ottawa Senators. First off, it lowers the bar on restricted free agent Andrej Meszaros' contract salary demands, because no one in their right mind would say Meszaros is even close to as important to the Sens' success as Bouwmeester (whose salary will be $4.8M, according to NHLScap.com) is to the Panthers'. And secondly, it removes one huge name from the pool of eligible defencemen, making Meszaros' trade value higher than it was previously.

Various sources have pegged Meszaros' salary demands around $4M per year, which seemed like the market share until Bouwmeester signed for $4.8M; Mesz, although a good player, isn't even 80% the player Bouwmeester is. Despite rumours to the contrary, Meszaros' value doesn't seem that high; Lee Versage made a good point on Team 1200 this morning in stating that if he was highly sought after, someone would have thrown an offer sheet his way. He remains a young, puck-moving defenceman, however, and there are many teams who would be interested in acquiring him if they could sign him to a long-term deal.

Something playing into Meszaros' favour is the rumour (take it for what it's worth), spread by Sens Chirp, that he's got a contract offer with a KHL team for next year that he'll run to if the Sens don't meet his expectations. Even if he does, Bryan Murray doesn't seem like the kind of man who takes very kindly to threats, but I do hope that the Sens don't lose Mesz for nothing.

A smooth-skating, puck-moving defenceman who can get the puck out of the defensive zone is arguably the Sens' most pressing need, and--despite the odd giveaway or mistake--Meszaros fits that bill. Brian Lee might do that in the future, or even in this upcoming season, but we have no way of knowing how he'll respond to a full 82-game NHL season--plus playoffs. There are options via trade, but only Murray really knows Meszaros' value, and which defencemen are truly available.

What do you think; is Meszaros in the Sens' future? Should he be, or shouldn't he?

How does Vermette compare to Bouchard?

Today, the Minnesota Wild announced that they'd avoided arbitration with their top-scoring centreman Pierre-Marc Bouchard with a five-year, $20.4M contract (a cap hit of $4.08 per year). This might seem like just another signing to Sens fans, but with Sens' centreman Antoine Vermette's arbitration hearing coming up, how will this signing impact the verdict?

On paper, there isn't really much of a comparison. Bouchard has scored 179 regular-season points over the last three seasons, while Vermette has only put up 125. While Bouchard has less playoff points (7, compared to 8 for Vermette) he has only played 16 playoff games, while Vermette's played 38. There is really no comparison in terms of offensive output, and Bouchard is undoubtedly a more important component of the Wild than Vermette is of the Sens.

Bouchard, however, was given more opportunities to produce offensively than Vermette. He averaged more than one minute more per game than the Verminator (18:50 compared to 17:34), including more than twice as much powerplay time per game (3:35 compared to 1:28). And Vermette had a lot more penalty-killing time (3:39 per game, while Bouchard averaged 0:02 per game); as we all know, his speed makes him a solid penalty killer, so Vermette's value is defensive, as well.

According to newspaper reports, Vermette has been asking for a long-term contract in the range of $4M per year, just like Bouchard's. He might be worth that to another team, but he hasn't proven the Senators that he can justify that kind of dough with consistent, timely offensive production.

Would you sign Vermette for 6 years?

It's an interesting question that GM Bryan Murray is asking himself right now. With NHL teams generally moving towards longer-term contracts for players, Antoine Vermette and his agent may be asking for a deal in the arena of 4-6 years.

When signing a young player for 5, 7, or 11 years, many teams feel that they are paying for the potential that a player will likely realize. To the player in question, I'm sure, that's A-OK with him. In the case of Vermette, the Ottawa Senators are posing the question: What is Antoine's potential? Where will be in 3 or 6 years?

The Edmonton Oilers recently re-signed a player with similar stats to Vermette, Shawn Horcoff, to a 6-year contract worth $33-million. Is Vermette worth this kind of money? Well, that depends on his potential, and as Ray Emery learned just last year, potential is about more than talent.

Sens sign Jason Smith, grittiness goes through the roof

Well, it might not be what the Sens need the most (a puck-moving d-man and some secondary scoring), but GM Bryan Murray signed Jason "Philchenkov" Smith to a two-year, $5.2M contract.

He definitely brings some qualities that Ottawa will need, though, and for that I give this signing half of a Sens Army stamp of approval (the Peter half; Ben will let everyone know if he'll complete the stamp). Smith is the epitome of the 'good guys' that Murray said he's trying to bring in, and although he's not going to score many points (168 points in 945 career games) or wow you with his speed, he'll bring his best effort every game and sacrifice his body (see photo at right) for the team.

I've taken the liberty of assigning Smith the nickname Philchenkov not only because his salary falls between those of Anton Volchenkov ($2.5M per year) and Chris Phillips ($3.5M a year), but also because his playing style is a bit of a synthesis of the two. He can make open-ice hits and block shots like Volchie, but he's also a staunch defender in the way Phillips is.

Say what you will about allowing Mike Commodore to walk for $3.75M a week ago, in my opinion Smith is a better player (if not quite as entertaining off the ice) and he comes at a much cheaper price tag.

This likely means that , even if Luke Richardson isn't ready to retire, he's not going to find a spot with the Senators. With Phillips, Volchenkov, and Philchenkov playing the gritty, stay-at-home style, the final three of the Sens' top six will likely be faster-skating puck-movers (I'm talking about Brian Lee, Larry Nycholat, and maybe Andrej Meszaros, or someone acquired through trade).

The Meszaros Dilemma

Bryan Murray's decisions regarding yound defenceman Andrej Meszaros are not going to come easy. After losing Wade Redden and Mike Commodore from last season's d-corps, the Sens are very thin on defence, especially ones of the puck-moving variety (think Redden, Joe Corvo, Tom Preissing, and Brian Pothier in recent history). The numbers aren't going to be easy.

I wrote a little while ago about what other signings, such as the Matt Carle contract in San Jose, meant for the Senators and Meszaros. The recent Mike Green signing, a four-year deal worth $21M, does not make things easier for the Senators, either. The numbers Meszaros are rumoured to be looking for, around $3.5M a year, don't seem unreasonable given the market. He hasn't played as well in the last two seasons as he did in his rookie season, but he's still a good player and he'll be in the league a long time. And, as shallow as this team looks on D right now, it would be a lot worse without Meszaros.

One distinct possibility, should the Sens not sign Meszaros soon, is that he'll get an offer sheet from one of the teams who've lost out on the Redden or Brian Campbell sweepstakes. The Senators should be able to match an offer of $3.5M or so a year, but if they elected not to the compensation would be a 1st and 3rd round draft pick for the 2009 entry draft. A richer contract, such as an 8-year, $40M deal (sounds crazy, but Kevin Lowe has done crazier things) would get the Sens a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick for the 2009 entry draft. Which is alright, but that does nothing to help the Sens' current situation.

There's also the trade route, and Meszaros' value has got to be pretty high right now. But the Sens' biggest need right now is for top-flite defence, so unless another team wanted to go D-for-D, then the deal wouldn't make sense for Murray.

I wonder if he'll sign 20 minutes after I post this... I kind of hope so.

Salary cap goes up $6.4M

Photo from sxc.hu

Apparently league revenues went up again last season, and the new salary cap is $56.7M, and the new salary floor is $40.7M. Funny note: after only four years, the salary floor is now higher than the salary cap was in its first year. Take that, small-market teams.

This is good for the on-ice product of teams like the Senators, where the owner(s) (Eugene Melnyk, in our case) have vowed to spend the maximum in order to ice the best roster possible. Teams such as Nashville, who set their own salary caps which are below the league cap, become the have-nots as the franchise disparity-gap grows wider.

If the league is making too much money, I have an idea: How about the Canadian teams, like our Senators, lower ticket prices a bit? It was a comment on the CBC article, and I have to say, it's a pretty good point.

I also have to wonder whether, as it becomes more apparent that the players may have won the most recent CBA dispute with the league, will we see yet another lockout, in this CBA negotiation or the next? I hope not.

Sens trade up to draft Karlsson, re-sign Kelly

It was a busy Friday for Sens fans. After the buyout process of Ray Emery began friday afternoon, the Sens went into the draft looking to make a splash and made one (although it was minor), and re-signed utility forward Chris Kelly to a four-year, $8.5M contract.

Beginning with the draft, Ottawa was slotted to pick eighteenth overall, but decided that when Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson--who was the fourth-ranked European skater--was still available when the fifteenth pick, the Sens traded picks eighteen and a third-rounder for the 2009 draft to get Nashville's first-round pick in order to draft Karlsson.

Said GM Bryan Murray of Karlsson:

"We had Erik (rated) ninth overall, I think," said Murray of a player who was named the top defenceman at the Under-18 IIHF World Championship earlier this season. "Very definitely, we're happy we could add him. I like big, strong guys but I also like high-end skill people that do things with the puck and create offence on the back end, and it helps our forwards a great deal. I think he brings that for us."

As for Kelly, the deal was made public while I was at the draft (more on that below), but it's pretty exciting after many reports suggested that Kelly and the Senators were far apart in contract talks, and that Kelly was likely to test the free-agent market. And the deal, which works out to a cap hit of $2.125M per season, seems like a reasonable one for a flexible defensive specialist whose role on the team seems certain to increase this season.

As for the draft, it was cool for a bit, but it got old fast. You know how long it seems when you're watching on TV? Well, imagine that without interludes of intense prognosis from Pierre McGuire and Bob McKenzie, and just sitting waiting. But still, it was neat to hear the many trades that were made over the course of the draft. What surprised me was how many decent players were moved (including Mike Cammalleri, R.J. Umberger, Alex Tanguay, and Olli Jokinen). Other than Jokinen (who was traded for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a pick), all the players were traded for draft picks.

Now it's off to the second round! I'm probably only going to stay for the next Sens pick, but I'll be back with a report later.

Emery buyout officially begins

We all knew it was just a matter of time, but it looks like the Ray Emery chapter of the Ottawa Senators history book is over. According to reports on TSN.ca, the Sens have put Emery on waivers, the first step in the buyout process.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little surprised the Sens couldn't trade Emery. Say what you will about his behaviour or approach, he's a good goalie, and he's got a level of athleticism that can't be taught. I suppose that other teams felt his price tag was too hefty to gamble on.

Although, with Emery on waivers, another team could still pick him up and relieve the Senators of his entire salary. If not, expect the buyout to proceed, and the Sens will be on the hook for a cap hit of about $500k a season to Emery. Then expect some team, perhaps the Los Angeles Kings or Detroit Red Wings, to take a chance on Emery and sign him to a deal.

Anyone know of a good moving company that can deal with boa constrictors, Ferraris, Hummers, and several goalie masks?

The Rumour Mill: Free agency preview

This might be a premature free-agency preview with July 1st more than two weeks away, but I figured I'd give my take on the current Sens' roster, the holes that need to be filled, and some players I'd like to see be signed to fill them.

I'm looking mostly at free agents in this preview, but with rumours in the Ottawa Sun suggesting the Senators might be wheeling-and-dealing on draft day, there might be some established NHLers or young prospects coming in to fill some of the spots I'm going to go over.

Here's a projected lineup for the start of the season, based on players currently under contract:

Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - _____
McAmmond - _____ - Winchester
Schubert - Bass - Neil

Phillips - Volchenkov
_____ - _____
Nycholat - Lee

Gerber
Emery

And now, to get in to the needs:

FORWARDS

1. Second-line winger: GM Bryan Murray has been looking for a second-line winger for two years, going through Mike Comrie and Cory Stillman while looking. It would be great to sign Marian Hossa, but I don't think that will work if the Sens want to stay under the salary cap. Stillman was a pretty good success, aside from an injury that slowed him down, and he demonstrated a good rapport with second-line centre Mike Fisher, which is a great sign.
   Even with Stillman, however, there is still a weakness on that line, and I'm sure Murray would like to upgrade from Nick Foligno to find a better scoring forward for the line. I think the hope is that newly-signed college prospect Jesse Winchester, with his size and offensive abilities, can step up and produce with Fisher and whoever else is on that line. Markus Naslund would be great to see--he'd probably love to play with Alfie--but he's very expensive, so the Sens might be looking for a cheaper alternative, like David Vyborny, Mark Recchi, or Mike Johnson. And I might be alone in this, but I'd love it if the Sens to could sign Sean Avery. He can take an internship at Ottawa Living magazine.
   
2. Third-line centre: Obviously, Antoine Vermette is technically still an Ottawa Senators' asset, and could very well be re-signed for a pretty good price. I don't think Murray is ready to give up on the Vermette Experiment, especially considering his special-teams ability.
   If Vermette isn't back, the Senators have a few prospects in Ilya Zubov, Alexander Nikulin, and Peter Regin who I'm sure will get long looks and good opportunities to step up and fill this roster spot. Zubov and SputNik are older and now have a year of AHL experience and at least one NHL game under their respective belts, so one of them could very well get in. If so, Ottawa would have a finesse third-line after a pretty hard-checking second line, which is an interesting swap, but it could very well work with the speed that would be involved from Dean McAmmond and Jesse Winchester. If neither of these three are able to crack the big team's lineup, I would imagine one would be traded to get some more asset(s) on the farm team, rather than three skilled centremen.

Overall, I think the forward corps looks pretty good, but there's definitely room for improvement. I think Murray would like to pick up depth, especially enough to allow him to bump Christoph Schubert back to defence, where he's desperately needed.

DEFENCE

1. Two defencemen: I'm not even going to try to classify the Sens' needs as for a 'number three' defenceman or a 'number five' defenceman or whatever. I think it's pretty obvious that Brian Lee will be back on the Senators blueline after an impressive showing in the playoffs, and Larry Nycholat has a one-way contract and has earned a spot on the big Sens after an all-star worthy performance in the AHL.
   Andrej Meszaros is still around, and the Sens would be in the wrong if this blue-chip prospect was allowed to walk. I do believe that Murray will bring Meszaros back, even if it's just for a one- or two-year contract. And, although he had a tough go at the start, I think Mike Commodore is worth bringing back.
   I think every GM in the league is looking to sign Brian Campbell in the off-season, and Murray is certainly no exception. Reports are that he's going to throw everything he can at Campbell, but I'm not optimistic that's going to be enough, considering the salary pressures the Senators are currently under.
   After Campbell, there isn't much in the way of puck-moving defencemen. Rob Blake would be awesome, but I don't think he's leaving Los Angeles unless it's for Colorado. Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit are two names that come up as next-best-behind-Campbell conversations, so they'll be given looks. I think the Sens should take a look at Dick Tarnstrom; although he's soft, he can quarterback a powerplay, and he led the Penguins in scoring in the year 1 B.C. (Before Crosby, that is). Karel Rachunek was good while he was here, as well, and I don't try to hide the fact that I'm a Rachunek fan. I'm not sure how much he likes the idea of coming back to Ottawa, though.
   
2. Defensive depth: This isn't a hole that shows up on the depth chart above, but the Sens are seriously lacking in defense in Binghamton if Nycholat and Lee are both on the big team. Tarnstrom could be signed as depth, if he's willing to accept a two-way contract. No matter what, assistant GM Tim Murray is going to have a lot of work in signing young or middling defencemen. I won't go over names, but it'll be a task of the younger Murray to find needs and ways to address them.

The Sens are in decent shape defensively, but definitely need depth to fill out the D corps. Thank goodness Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov are such bargains, because it's great to have their steadying presence on the roster and on the ice.

GOALTENDING

According to the depth chart, the Sens have two NHL goalies. But Ray Emery will not be back next season, and I think that there are a lot of ways to upgrade Martin Gerber, even. I'm far from certain the answer lies in either Jeff Glass or Brian Elliott, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Nor do I think a goaltender that may be drafted this year could step in right away.
The free agent goaltender crop is slim pickings. Olaf Kolzig, Jose Theodore, and Cristobal Huet are all out there, and any one could be good, but they could also be abysmal failures. There's the prospect of running with an all-Swiss duo of Gerber and David Aebischer, which would be hilarious if nothing else, and would make a huge fan club amongst the hockey circles in Switzerland (especially if Streit was brought in on defence). I like both of Johan Hedberg and Alex Auld, but neither of them could be starters, and would at best be tandem-starters.

COACHING

Hello, assistant coach? We need one. These rumours of bringing John Paddock back are hopefully hogwash. Nothing personal, but I think we need to move on. I have a feeling that Peter DeBoer's trip to Barbados was a last-ditch effort to talk him into accepting an assistant coaching role, but that's just a personal inkling. I'm anxious to see the other names, though, and whether the successful candidate is one of Craig Hartsburg's people or someone Murray wants to bring in.

That article really made itself grow quickly. Congratulations on making it to the end. Let me know if there are names out there you think warrant a good look from Murray, or who you'd sign were you in his place.