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Welcome home Comrie: full blog |
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It's a 100% official
Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli are now Sens in-exchange for Dean McAmmond and SJ's 1st round pick.
It's crazy because I recevied a msg from a friend/contact saying the Sens have offered a the 1st rounder for Comrie + and to be honest I didn't think to much of it, as Murray was the GM that let Comrie walk. Well showed me for doubting him.
Anyways,
Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, this is a great move by Ottawa. Mike Comrie came up huge during his first stint with the Sens, amassing 25 points in 41 games where he had a different line combo every 3rd game it seemed, and he spent the majority of his time against the top-lines of other teams.
For those that don't remember his previous run as a Sen, Comrie was a key PK player with Chris Kelly, ran the 2nd powerplay unit and was used to shutdown the top-lines of the opposing teams.
He did it all, then Murray let him walk, even after Comrie said he'd take a cut to stay in Ottawa, aslong as it was 3-5 year deal. Comrie only wanted somewhere around 3-3.5 million a season to play in Ottawa, which is a steal considering how much he did for the Sens on ice.
You can quote me in the off-season on this, all Comrie wants is to play for a Canadian team where he can be a top-six forward and have job security i.e. multi-year deal. Ottawa can and should give him it, unless of course he becomes a different player for us this time around.
Welcome back Comrie, and congrats to Bryan Murray for fixing a mistake he made 2 years ago.
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Chris Campoli, now I've already seen alot of you are unfamiliar with him, well most NY Isle fans will tell you they hate to see him go.
The only knock on Campoli is his numbers haven't been as good as his rookie season, but that is obviously due to a lackluster Ilse squad and an injury that shelved him for awhile,
At 24 he is just hitting the average age for a defensemen to hit his stride and is a great puck-mover. With a cap hit $633,333 till the end of next season, he is easily affordable and should be really easy to resign as an RFA.
Trading what will be roughlt 26th-30th pick of the draft, for Mike Comrie and a young puck-moving defense is a great trade as far as I'm concerned. I don't even count McAmmond as a piece of the trade, as I'm sure he was nothing more that a roster filler for the Ilse and maybe some veteran experience for the younger guys.
Update: For more info about Campoli an Isle fan has given us this
[quote=islanders571]For any sens fans looking to get a idea on what Campoli is like, i recommend checking out islanderspointblank.com later tonight as Chris Botta is doing a blog dedicated to him. Chris worked as a PR for the islanders for many years and it's definitely worth a read for those unsure about what Campoli brings.
Also, according to CB, Campoli asked to be traded. Seems like a okay deal for both teams. I hope the best for Campoli, I always liked him on the island and wish him the best of luck with Ottawa now.[/quote]
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Now what I believe is the biggest factor of this trade, is that it sets up the Sens for atleast 2 of the big rumored trades they've been attached to.
With Campoli in the mix now, Kuba, Smith or Phillips (if Murray still is considering moving him) becomes expendable. But of the 3, Filip Kuba has been rumored more often to be available for weeks now, as there hasn't been any attempt by the Sens to resign Filip Kuba beyond this season.
Kuba is a cheaper, 2nd-tier defensemen that quite a few teams are looking to secure for their respective playoff runs. Possible destinations for Kuba have been rumored as Calgary, New Jersey (most likely), Columbus, Dallas, Florida and supposedly Pittsburgh.
The 2nd trade that opens up is the once heavily rumored Fisher to Columbus or Edmonton deal. I will say his play as of late may have pulled him off the market, but with Mike Comrie back the Sens get a cheaper and at times grittier version of Fisher.
The potential return on Fisher (Schremp, a young d-man and a pick from edm. or Russel + a pick from CLB) would go a long way to adding depth to the Sens organization, and with-out taking on any significant salary would benefit Ottawa over the next two seasons.
Now don't get me wrong I think Fisher is good player, and is a great guy in general, I haven't heard of any other sports figure who REGULARLY visits a hospital/charity as much as Fisher visits CHEO and Roger's House. But it truley is hard to swallow his large contract, considering is on ice performance. I think market value has gone too high for players like Fisher, Malone etc. and in this cap-world, when you have 3 other guys making 5 mil+ a season on your team, you can't afford to over pay a 3rd line center that much.
If there is one player that has stood out in my mind as a guy who could replace Fisher's on-ice presences it has been Mike Comrie. I know the arguement about heart is coming, and I agree Comrie doesn't have the same kinda heart that Fisher plays with, but I do think Comrie's attitude makes up for it. I will say bringing up Comrie's attitude in edmonton as a young player is pointless as he as matured greatly since then and Edmonton has a bad history of trashing their own players who won't sign. Ask Pronger and Smith about that.
All and all I think this was a great move by a GM has been relatively ineffective until the last few weeks.
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Also for those in Canada, all Wal-marts will be giving away a "special edition" pack of Upper Deck Hockey Cards in celebration of Hockey Day in Canada.
There are 15 cards in total spread out between 3 packs-
(In order)
Steve Stamkos, Kyle Turris, Josh Bailey, Colton Gillies, Derick Brassard, Sydney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier, Jarome Iginla, Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mr. Hockey, Bobby Orr, and Don Cherry.
I have an extra full-set of the cards to give away, so if any of you are big collectors and can't get to wal-mart for them, just send me a msg through Hockeybuzz, If there is a big demand for them, I'll figure out a way to fairly decide who to give them to.
Also if you go out and get a bunch and are missing some let me know as I have an extra pack with 5 cards.
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And as usual guys cast your vote for promising Sens prospect Louie Caparusso to win the Hobey Baker award, he is our lone representative, as Erik Condra was not elected by his school. (Not sure why)
http://www.hobeybaker.com/ballot/
He's behind by a wide margin, but hey if the Canadiens can get Mike Komisarek in the starting line-up of an All-Star game, we should be able to bring Louie closer to the Hobey Baker.
So again go to link and vote, vote, vote.
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Also this Saturday at 5pm (tentatively) will be a special Hockey Day in Canada Buzzcast with (hopefully) all of the Canadian Team Bloggers, so listen in, share your opinions and enjoy Hockey Day in Canada.
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