Sometimes I wonder if he is not actually a Sens fan playing the role of a goofy Leaf fan trying to make serious Leaf fans appear somewhat limited.
- spatso

He makes all Leaf fans look like idiots, though there's A few that do that. Well, I have seen him have good points and conversations before but he just really loves to troll the Sens I think.

Next year they have 62mil committed to only 17 players

The following year, 60 mil for 14 players.

Yeah, they'll easily fit ryan in.....while re-signing Schenn, Donnie, couturier, etc.
- sensarmy_11

I think it's more like 58 mil, once you count out Pronger on LTIR.

Who knows, they may trade Hartnell or something if they want Ryan. Not really the point. 25 other teams can offer a better group of forwards to play with. Philly is just likely a preferred destination of his. Jersey has lots of room to sign him.

Dont forget about Stone,Puemple. We are letting our kids play and bracing them with quality nhl vets.The defense had 4 out of the 6 with less than 200 games,So i guess Cowen,Ceci ,Gryba and Weircoch cant get better???

As for the comment you made you still didnt answer my question.Do you think Philly should spend more money on scoring up front ??or should they look at signing so defensive help first??The dont really have an issue scoring goals but according to you they need another high priced winger

- top shelf 15

I didn't. LOL.

All for hemmer coming to pitt. I was beyond irate when Shero didnt get him for the same price he got Goc for

but I know he will end up in NJ wit jagr, elias, and if they get sekac from the czech team...

All for hemmer coming to pitt. I was beyond irate when Shero didnt get him for the same price he got Goc for

but I know he will end up in NJ wit jagr, elias, and if they get sekac from the czech team...
- nh4442

My bet is ends up with Spezza in Nashville, Florida, Anahiem or St Louis.

I think it's more like 58 mil, once you count out Pronger on LTIR.

Who knows, they may trade Hartnell or something if they want Ryan. Not really the point. 25 other teams can offer a better group of forwards to play with. Philly is just likely a preferred destination of his. Jersey has lots of room to sign him.
- prock

Pease tell me how NJ has much better forwards than we do, iam dying to know

Oh hush. Don't believe the media, they love having the sky falling. YES Melynk needs to spend $ when Murray NEEDS it but the on ice still has hope; but the next few weeks will show me whether I follow this team or have mild interest...
- AlfieisKing

what hope? Our captain wants out, and there's no hope in sight. Outside of Lazar we dont have one real prospect to truly get excited about, and we have no money to compete with the leagues best.

It's a complete and utter train wreck right now

what hope? Our captain wants out, and there's no hope in sight. Outside of Lazar we dont have one real prospect to truly get excited about, and we have no money to compete with the leagues best.

It's a complete and utter train wreck right now
- skelly96

We don't have a crap ton of A level prospects because we have 7-8 guys, between the age of 19 & 24, playing big minutes and making an impact at the NHL level.

We also have quite a few guys (puempel, prince, claessen, wikstrand, driedger, dzingle, pageau, etc) who while hardly "can't miss" prospects, all have lots of potential and could turn into very good NHL players.

This "sky is falling" attitude by some fans is just ridiculous. You have no idea how this offseason will turn out.

We're trading an aging and often injured player, who's gonna want a big money retirement deal, and we didn't overpay to keep a player we acquired for a 3rd and 5th rd pick.........O M G, let's just tear down CTC and move the team to Seattle.

We don't have a crap ton of A level prospects because we have 7-8 guys, between the age of 19 & 24, playing big minutes and making an impact at the NHL level.

We also have quite a few guys (puempel, prince, claessen, wikstrand, driedger, dzingle, pageau, etc) who while hardly "can't miss" prospects, all have lots of potential and could turn into very good NHL players.

This "sky is falling" attitude by some fans is just ridiculous. You have no idea how this offseason will turn out.

We're trading an aging and often injured player, who's gonna want a big money retirement deal, and we didn't overpay to keep a player we acquired for a 3rd and 5th rd pick.........O M G, let's just tear down CTC and move the team to Seattle.
- sensarmy_11

While some people are overreacting a little, I'd say this is an underreaction. When I look at what's happening here, I see a team that is not prepared to spend enough money to contend. Good players want a chance to play for good teams. Alfie left, and this was one of the reasons. Spezza and Hemsky are doing the same. Who can blame them? Until the organization decides that it wants to be competitive, you can be certain that top players won't want to sign here and we'll be relying primarily on young guys on entry level contracts. I can't see how this can be an attractive team to UFA's right now. Not only that, if they don't get a decent partner for Karlsson, it won't be long until he asks for a trade too.

what hope? Our captain wants out, and there's no hope in sight. Outside of Lazar we dont have one real prospect to truly get excited about, and we have no money to compete with the leagues best.

It's a complete and utter train wreck right now
- skelly96

depressing indeed

those budget woes.

Exactly...thank you. Look at the UFA in 2016...we should be ready to shop these players for contention at that time:

Staal, Eric » C CAR 29 $8,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Stamkos, Steven » C TBL 24 $7,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Campbell, Brian » D FLA 35 $7,142,875 2016 (UFA)
Kopitar, Anze » C LAK 26 $6,800,000 2016 (UFA)
Ward, Cam » G CAR 30 $6,300,000 2016 (UFA)
Lucic, Milan » L BOS 26 $6,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Seabrook, Brent » D CHI 29 $5,800,000 2016 (UFA)
Elias, Patrik » C NJD 38 $5,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Doan, Shane » R PHX 37 $5,300,000 2016 (UFA)
Yandle, Keith » D PHX 27 $5,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Byfuglien, Dustin » R WPG 29 $5,200,000 2016 (UFA)
Plekanec, Tomas » C MTL 31 $5,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Kesler, Ryan » C VAN 29 $5,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Gagner, Sam » C EDM 24 $4,800,000 2016 (UFA)
Ruutu, Tuomo » C NJD 31 $4,750,000 2016 (UFA)
Goligoski, Alex » D DAL 28 $4,600,000 2016 (UFA)
Bieksa, Kevin » D VAN 33 $4,600,000 2016 (UFA)
Purcell, Teddy » R TBL 28 $4,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Coburn, Braydon » D PHI 29 $4,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Backes, David » C STL 30 $4,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Hamhuis, Dan » D VAN 31 $4,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Versteeg, Kris » R CHI 28 $4,400,000 2016 (UFA)
Ladd, Andrew » L WPG 28 $4,400,000 2016 (UFA)
Voracek, Jakub » R PHI 24 $4,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Volchenkov, Anton » D NJD 32 $4,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Eriksson, Loui » L BOS 28 $4,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Giordano, Mark » D CGY 30 $4,020,000 2016 (UFA)
Parenteau, P-A » R COL 31 $4,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Hudler, Jiri » L CGY 30 $4,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Jones, David » R CGY 29 $4,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Gleason, Tim » D TOR 31 $4,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Liles, John-Michael » D CAR 33 $3,875,000 2016 (UFA)
Perron, David » L EDM 26 $3,812,500 2016 (UFA)
Johnson, Erik » D COL 26 $3,750,000 2016 (UFA)
Brouwer, Troy » L WAS 28 $3,666,667 2016 (UFA)
Ohlund, Mattias » D TBL 37 $3,607,143 2016 (UFA)
Schenn, Luke » D PHI 24 $3,600,000 2016 (UFA)
Grossmann, Nicklas » D PHI 29 $3,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Tanguay, Alex » L COL 34 $3,500,000 2016 (UFA)
Backstrom, Niklas » G MIN 36 $3,416,667 2016 (UFA)
Bourque, Rene » L MTL 32 $3,333,333 2016 (UFA)
Anisimov, Artem » C CLB 26 $3,283,333 2016 (UFA)
Gaustad, Paul » C NAS 32 $3,250,000 2016 (UFA)
Gunnarsson, Carl » D TOR 27 $3,150,000 2016 (UFA)
Zubrus, Dainius » C NJD 36 $3,100,000 2016 (UFA)
Grabner, Michael » R NYI 26 $3,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Kelly, Chris » C BOS 33 $3,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Gordon, Boyd » C EDM 30 $3,000,000 2016 (UFA)
Okposo, Kyle » R NYI 26 $2,800,000 2016 (UFA)
Polak, Roman » D STL 28 $2,750,000 2016 (UFA)
Nielsen, Frans » C NYI 30 $2,750,000 2016 (UFA)
Boyes, Brad » R FLA 32 $2,625,000 2016 (UFA)
- SENSpatriot

Yeah cause championship teams are built through free agency

Pease tell me how NJ has much better forwards than we do, iam dying to know
- top shelf 15

I didn’t intend to insinuate they do. They don’t.

I think they’re certainly a highly possible destination for Bobby Ryan though. Close to home, piles of room and budget to sign him, lower tax destination, lots of reasons why.

Even if you don't think Hemsky is "worth" around 5.5 it's still his market value, he's going to get that, or close to that for sure. So I can't even imagine why Ottawa would throw this low ball offer at him, which basically says " hey can you just play for us, on the cheap? Thanks". What an embarassment. If that's all you wanted to commit to the player, why not just indicate you don't want to re-sign him. Save the organization from looking incredibly cheap.

Frustrating day to be a Sens fan, this organization is a mess.

I didn’t intend to insinuate they do. They don’t.

I think they’re certainly a highly possible destination for Bobby Ryan though. Close to home, piles of room and budget to sign him, lower tax destination, lots of reasons why.
- prock

Considering the way his youth played out, I'm not entirely convinced that 'going home' is awfully high on Bobby Ryan's hit list.

Yeah cause championship teams are built through free agency
- Smitty98

did he say anywhere to build the team through free agency?

the core of the team is there, and you add to or compliment through free agency.

can Michalek still play or is he completely broke down?

can Michalek still play or is he completely broke down?
- Jurco_28

he can still play, but doesnt produce with consistency. he also needs to play with high end talent to put up points.........can't put him in the bottom six and expect offense from him

what hope? Our captain wants out, and there's no hope in sight. Outside of Lazar we dont have one real prospect to truly get excited about, and we have no money to compete with the leagues best.

It's a complete and utter train wreck right now
- skelly96

Holy man, does your sense of optimism bleed over into all facets of your life? How do you actually get through the day? Do you feel a constant need to resist the urge to inch up to the ledge?

Your team is YOUNG. The ENTIRE TEAM. You have PLAYERS on the team to get excited about. If you are a fan of the Senators, you cannot honestly tell me that you aren't excited to watch Karlsson and Lehner and Turris and Ryan and Zibanejad night after night after night.

If you can't get excited about the Senators roster, then you're too short sighted. They didn't sign Hemsky. Big f'in deal. EDMONTON didn't want him. Da Costa went to the KHL. Big f'in deal. 29 other teams didn't want him TWICE when he went through waivers on a 2-way deal.

Spezza wants out. Jason Spezza, for all his skill, has never won ANYTHING. He spent four years in the OHL. Played on four different teams. Won a grand total of two first round playoff series in four years. Didn't even play in the Memorial Cup tournament. 2000 WJC, bronze medal. 2001 WJC, bronze medal. 2002 WJC, silver medal. 2003 Calder Cup playoffs, out in ECF. 2005 Calder Cup playoffs, out in 1st round. 2007 SCF, lost to Anaheim. 2008 WC, silver medal. 2009 WC, silver medal.

Bottom line, Spezza has done nothing more than score goals for teams that underachieve, and he's been hard at it for the past 16 years. How anyone can think that a switch is going to flick with this guy and all of a sudden he's going to be something more than a player who puts up great numbers as long as the chips aren't down is beyond me. The Senators lose skill with Spezza moving on, but the team improves. Would you rather watch Spezza roll up 100pts followed by another early exit, or would you rather watch a team show up and play with a fire in their bellies. The last time the team did that, without Spezza, they went further in the playoffs than they had since the 2007 SCF.

The Senators are NOT a trainwreck. The owner is a bankrupt loudmouth a**hole, and that's as far as it goes. The management have held the team together and build a very solid young roster. Keep talking s**t, but come back here a couple months into the season with your tail between your legs to admit that you were wrong.

Even if you don't think Hemsky is "worth" around 5.5 it's still his market value, he's going to get that, or close to that for sure. So I can't even imagine why Ottawa would throw this low ball offer at him, which basically says " hey can you just play for us, on the cheap? Thanks". What an embarassment. If that's all you wanted to commit to the player, why not just indicate you don't want to re-sign him. Save the organization from looking incredibly cheap.

Frustrating day to be a Sens fan, this organization is a mess.
- Talkshowhost

The darkest part of night is just before the break of light.

Last summer it was clear that Melnyk was broke. Some people, many of them here, did not want to acknowledge that simple reality. Murray has done a masterful job of rebuilding this team. They are big, they are very young and they are fast.

Melnyk's financial mess will be resolved soon enough. They are already getting ready to auction off his race horses and breeding stock. Spezza is just another stallion headed to auction.

But, always in this kind of reorganization the team will come out entirely recapitalized, certainly with new ownership and we will be grateful for the changes made over the past year.

This is a very good, young team.

Holy man, does your sense of optimism bleed over into all facets of your life? How do you actually get through the day? Do you feel a constant need to resist the urge to inch up to the ledge?

Your team is YOUNG. The ENTIRE TEAM. You have PLAYERS on the team to get excited about. If you are a fan of the Senators, you cannot honestly tell me that you aren't excited to watch Karlsson and Lehner and Turris and Ryan and Zibanejad night after night after night.

If you can't get excited about the Senators roster, then you're too short sighted. They didn't sign Hemsky. Big f'in deal. EDMONTON didn't want him. Da Costa went to the KHL. Big f'in deal. 29 other teams didn't want him TWICE when he went through waivers on a 2-way deal.

Spezza wants out. Jason Spezza, for all his skill, has never won ANYTHING. He spent four years in the OHL. Played on four different teams. Won a grand total of two first round playoff series in four years. Didn't even play in the Memorial Cup tournament. 2000 WJC, bronze medal. 2001 WJC, bronze medal. 2002 WJC, silver medal. 2003 Calder Cup playoffs, out in ECF. 2005 Calder Cup playoffs, out in 1st round. 2007 SCF, lost to Anaheim. 2008 WC, silver medal. 2009 WC, silver medal.

Bottom line, Spezza has done nothing more than score goals for teams that underachieve, and he's been hard at it for the past 16 years. How anyone can think that a switch is going to flick with this guy and all of a sudden he's going to be something more than a player who puts up great numbers as long as the chips aren't down is beyond me. The Senators lose skill with Spezza moving on, but the team improves. Would you rather watch Spezza roll up 100pts followed by another early exit, or would you rather watch a team show up and play with a fire in their bellies. The last time the team did that, without Spezza, they went further in the playoffs than they had since the 2007 SCF.

The Senators are NOT a trainwreck. The owner is a bankrupt loudmouth a**hole, and that's as far as it goes. The management have held the team together and build a very solid young roster. Keep talking s**t, but come back here a couple months into the season with your tail between your legs to admit that you were wrong.
- the_terror

Are we having a little melt down?

I agree entirely with everything you said. Your a little hard on Spezza, I assume it is from frustration. I just simply say Spezza is not in the right place or time for this team.

I think the fans are going to love this team, this year. It will not matter if they make the playoffs. People will see the depth of talent beginning to emerge.

And, at some point the team will be recapitalized and Melnyk will be gone or moved into the background.

Are we having a little melt down?

I agree entirely with everything you said. Your a little hard on Spezza, I assume it is from frustration. I just simply say Spezza is not in the right place or time for this team.

I think the fans are going to love this team, this year. It will not matter if they make the playoffs. People will see the depth of talent beginning to emerge.

And, at some point the team will be recapitalized and Melnyk will be gone or moved into the background.
- spatso

I'm sure most of us will be pleasantly surprised on where the team is come next season. Whether they bring "pesky" back or they completely tank, the end result is only positive.

I'm sure most of us will be pleasantly surprised on where the team is come next season. Whether they bring "pesky" back or they completely tank, the end result is only positive.
- TheCalSen

Exactly!

Considering the way his youth played out, I'm not entirely convinced that 'going home' is awfully high on Bobby Ryan's hit list.
- the_terror

Considering the way his youth went, staying close to one of the few places he actually managed to grow some roots may be his number one priority.

Holy man, does your sense of optimism bleed over into all facets of your life? How do you actually get through the day? Do you feel a constant need to resist the urge to inch up to the ledge?

Your team is YOUNG. The ENTIRE TEAM. You have PLAYERS on the team to get excited about. If you are a fan of the Senators, you cannot honestly tell me that you aren't excited to watch Karlsson and Lehner and Turris and Ryan and Zibanejad night after night after night.

If you can't get excited about the Senators roster, then you're too short sighted. They didn't sign Hemsky. Big f'in deal. EDMONTON didn't want him. Da Costa went to the KHL. Big f'in deal. 29 other teams didn't want him TWICE when he went through waivers on a 2-way deal.

Spezza wants out. Jason Spezza, for all his skill, has never won ANYTHING. He spent four years in the OHL. Played on four different teams. Won a grand total of two first round playoff series in four years. Didn't even play in the Memorial Cup tournament. 2000 WJC, bronze medal. 2001 WJC, bronze medal. 2002 WJC, silver medal. 2003 Calder Cup playoffs, out in ECF. 2005 Calder Cup playoffs, out in 1st round. 2007 SCF, lost to Anaheim. 2008 WC, silver medal. 2009 WC, silver medal.

Bottom line, Spezza has done nothing more than score goals for teams that underachieve, and he's been hard at it for the past 16 years. How anyone can think that a switch is going to flick with this guy and all of a sudden he's going to be something more than a player who puts up great numbers as long as the chips aren't down is beyond me. The Senators lose skill with Spezza moving on, but the team improves. Would you rather watch Spezza roll up 100pts followed by another early exit, or would you rather watch a team show up and play with a fire in their bellies. The last time the team did that, without Spezza, they went further in the playoffs than they had since the 2007 SCF.

The Senators are NOT a trainwreck. The owner is a bankrupt loudmouth a**hole, and that's as far as it goes. The management have held the team together and build a very solid young roster. Keep talking s**t, but come back here a couple months into the season with your tail between your legs to admit that you were wrong.
- the_terror

It's honestly not looking good from the outside. A bunch of scraps and pieces. 2 captains in 12 calendar months jumping ship because they want a chance to win. You'd think those are two players that would think the team they lead has a chance.

It's honestly not looking good from the outside. A bunch of scraps and pieces.
- prock

Were talking about the Sens here, not the leafs.........go back to your own board