For the record, I want it noted that Murray should have moved Spezza at the trade deadline last year or long before. Hemsky complicated what was already a complex issue and caused everyone to lose sight of the long term game plan.

Chiasson appears to be a nice acquisition and a really good fit. He is a big body and that appears to be the overriding requirement of the Murray rebuild. He likes big players.

Murray is trying to do a trade for another player. Apparently, it will include picks and prospects. Going into this week, I thought if Murray could role over all the return for Spezza (Chiasson, 2 prospects and a second) and, then, added a couple of his own prospects (Stone and Ceci), he might be able to do the deal for Evander Kane. Obviously, I would have been pleased. But, maybe that is now too much and I have to give up on the hope of getting Kane.

I will be disappointed if he is trading for Stewart.

But you cannot close the books on the Spezza deal until we see Murray's next trade.
- spatso

For the record I bet there was a push from EM to trade for Hemsky

For the record I bet there was a push from EM to trade for Hemsky
- monkhouse

i doubt it. melnyk is too dumb to realize that hemsky was a good player.

what i do believe is that after murray told him he was going to acquire him, melnyk pushed hard to get the oilers to keep some salary.

i think those 3 are important.

the teams that were worse than ottawa last year got better, and ottawa...in the short term....got significantly worse
- sensarmy_11

Just heard post analysis on the team 1200 this morning. Thinking when you combine losses and gains over last week that other than for Dallas, St. Louis and Tampa very few teams improved and some may have gone backwards. The Pittsburgh signing of Ehrhoff was far and away the best (1 yr $4m).

Guy doing analysis (forget his name, he is the former Goalie and Asst Gm) said Ottawa is in good shape, young team in the middle of the pack. Wait to see the piece that Murray plans on adding.

He thought worst moves were Florida signings. Big difference between media response and the insider response to what happened. Pouliotte was judged worst signing if the day. Fans in Edmonton already complaining about false expectations driven by excessive salary.

Just heard post analysis on the team 1200 this morning. Thinking when you combine losses and gains over last week that other than for Dallas, St. Louis and Tampa very few teams improved and some may have gone backwards. The Pittsburgh signing of Ehrhoff was far and away the best (1 yr $4m).

Guy doing analysis (forget his name, he is the former Goalie and Asst Gm) said Ottawa is in good shape, young team in the middle of the pack. Wait to see the piece that Murray plans on adding.
He thought worst moves were Florida signings. Big difference between media response and the insider response to what happened. Pouliotte was judged worst signing if the day. Fans in Edmonton already complaining about false expectations driven by excessive salary.
- spatso

i agree that murray can still make this team better..............but at this point i'm skeptical.

i'm terrrified............like can't sleep at night terrified.......that he's gonna trade weircioch for stewart. if he does that, then i'm onboard with tuna and flo, in that murray should get his ass fired.

if that's the move he's almost ready to make, added to what ottawa lost/added yesterday, i'm fairly certain that ottawa is the worst team in the NHL next year.

Oh, like the Blues? But I will leave that on another thread...I like to talk hockey in general, and the Sens as a team are an interesting case, IMO.

The Sens do seem to have a fair amount of young talent, spread throughout the roster. Maybe not the best, but certainly enough to be competitive in the weaker Eastern Conference. There does seem to be a huge problem in retaining the young through experienced vets to help integrate the really young guys into the NHL, show them the way. By contrast, Buffalo is addressing that with their trades/signings, even though many of their best prospects will be in the AHL or lower next year. Still, they are building that framework to support the young guys taking on more responsibility as the next few years pass. Super-smart, if you ask me.

If Ryan can't be signed to be a main bridge guy, who takes pressure off the younger guys, you need to trade him and consider a larger rebuild. I would say a re-tooling, but IMO, a retooling means some vets are staying around to be a part of it (i.e. Canucks), and that doesn't seem to be the case there for the most part, esp. if Ryan departs. Your vets are currently mostly leaving when they can, and you need to accept that fact (temporarily) and adjust your expectations accordingly. I realize your owner may suck and be a big part of the problem, but allowing young players to stumble around, hoping they find their way to the promised land sounds like the Oilers or Islanders model the past few years.

Good news is the turnover can be relatively quick. Who would have thought the Sabres could have attracted the players they did this July 1st with such a new GM doing his thing? And to not wildly overpay on any of the contracts to boot. I have no doubt they'll add a few more good, if older, apples next off-season to help speed things along.
- Firebrand

Yep you added a turris yesterday ,to a mike fisher style second line center,in Backes.Your first two lines seems ok ,but in the end you guys are counting on kids just as we are .How much Schwartz and Tesaernko produce is how far you guys will go

Yep you added a turris yesterday ,to a mike fisher style second line center,in Backes.Your first two lines seems ok ,but in the end you guys are counting on kids just as we are .How much Schwartz and Tesaernko produce is how far you guys will go

- top shelf 15

Damn

what i would love to see from murray today is:

trade z. smith, greening, and boro to chicago for leddy

sign vrbata and mueller

next season:

mac - turris - ryan
chiasson - zibby - vrbata
michalek - mueller - stone
hoffman - pageau - lazar
neil

karlsson - methot
cowen - leddy
wericioch - phillips
gryba

Damn
- Not_Yan

i know right...........his name is obviously Toyotaplinko

that's debatable. some younger players might look and see that they're surrounded by good young players like themselves, and realize that it could grow into something special.

i think the idea of getting a big group of young guys together, and allowing them to grow and develop together, could be something that young guys enjoy.

it's obviously not gonna be an attractive situation for veteran players...but i could see the lure for the younger guys.
- sensarmy_11

Spezza is a lot different than Alfredsson. Alfredsson played an amazing 200' game. I have seen Alfredsson get a standing ovation for his work on the back check. Spezza was a great offensive player. But, all the players understood that he had to be carried as he only played a 125' game. Just does not work in a captain. Ovechkin is similar. Every player in the room understood the situation. My guess, the players will be glad to get back to the physical team they were the year before.

Damn
- Not_Yan

Meh iam not sold on the blues ,i dont see a championship team there tbh .Even with Statsny or spezza,i dont think they have the depth up front to win in the west

Meh iam not sold on the blues ,i dont see a championship team there tbh .Even with Statsny or spezza,i dont think they have the depth up front to win in the west
- top shelf 15

Good depth as shown last season
Added Statsny, a very good 2-way centre who fit perfectly with Hitchcock
Very strong d-core
I would say the "?" is in net

For the record I bet there was a push from EM to trade for Hemsky
- monkhouse

I don't know but Murray was shifting between trading Spezza at the deadline or being a buyer (Hemsky). My guess is he would have been better to have sold high.

No doubt Melnyk is problematic. But, we are beyond that now, the real problem was last summer. I was certain the team would be sold before the season started. Clearly Melnyk's creditors are setting the internal budget. It is forcing Murray to get very lean. It makes the team incredibly attractive to an outside buyer. The market will dictate when the team is finally sold. But, when it is recapitalized it will be in fantastic shape.

I am no longer angry with Melnyk. No doubt he is struggling and doing his best. But, his finances have fallen apart and I don't like beating on a man when he is down.

i doubt it. melnyk is too dumb to realize that hemsky was a good player.

what i do believe is that after murray told him he was going to acquire him, melnyk pushed hard to get the oilers to keep some salary.
- sensarmy_11

Ok. Easy. He might be cheap but I'm sure he could tell he was a good player.

My point was that melyk wanted to get players at the deadline to make a push for playoffs. Ie. Playoff $

Spezza is a lot different than Alfredsson. Alfredsson played an amazing 200' game. I have seen Alfredsson get a standing ovation for his work on the back check. Spezza was a great offensive player. But, all the players understood that he had to be carried as he only played a 125' game. Just does not work in a captain. Ovechkin is similar. Every player in the room understood the situation. My guess, the players will be glad to get back to the physical team they were the year before.
- spatso

Yep iam ok with spezza being gone ,our defensive game should improve just by him not being on the ice so much.I like our kids and think we are getting closer,but in the end its really on EM how far our team will go .

Good depth as shown last season
Added Statsny, a very good 2-way centre who fit perfectly with Hitchcock
Very strong d-core
I would say the "?" is in net
- Not_Yan

I think you have got it exactly right. I believe there is a goalie move still to come from the Blues.

Good depth as shown last season
Added Statsny, a very good 2-way centre who fit perfectly with Hitchcock
Very strong d-core
I would say the "?" is in net
- Not_Yan

Yep sure ,they have some pretty big holes for ,what some believe to be a top contender.Thats what i was getting at

I think you have got it exactly right. I believe there is a goalie move still to come from the Blues.
- spatso

Gunner and shattenkirk as the second pair ,i dont know it sounds ok i guess .But other teams have better

I've had some time to marinate the everything that went down yesterday. I still don't like the Spezza trade. We definitely did not get full value, however, the return is pretty similar to what we gave up for Ryan. I think Chaisson is the better NHL player, but it would have been nice to snag a 1st rounder for next year. Dallas will really make a step forward next year with Spezza at the helm. Going to be hard to see him light up the score sheet for another team.

The way the Spezza trade went down was all too predictable. Murray had sort of an auction going, but quickly lost suitors because they weren't going to pay the price. In the end Murray dealt Spezza to the last place he could. The posters who were posting about trade negotiations and throwing out economic terms to sound smart should feel a little bit silly. I'm glad the Spezza saga is over, but am bummed to see such a great player leave, again.

Murray needs to make a positive move or two or this summer will be seen as a failure. I get the logic of resigning Michalek, but of all of the "older", "run down guys" to move on from, he would be at the top of my list. Behind Phillips. It's frustrating to see a team with so little money to spend, spending it on subpar players.

The Murray press conference was a joke. He should have skipped it. I am not even going to address what he said. I like the guy as a GM, but sometimes he acts senile.

Regarding the posts that we are "continuing" the rebuild process is comically inaccurate. I don't know how long people think 3 years is, but we are past that point now and were supposed to be starting to compete. This is a new rebuild. Nothing wrong with that I guess, just be willing to admit the initial 3 year rebuild was a bit of a flop.

Hard to be a Sens fan right now with what's going on. We are going with a youth movement purely because it's what our owner can afford. We aren't going to get better if we can't spend, not even top dollars, but middle of the pack dollars.

Let's hope the next couple of weeks see some positive moves made.

I think you have got it exactly right. I believe there is a goalie move still to come from the Blues.
- spatso

i actually think they're gonna roll the dice with allen....the guy has been a brick wall at every level, i think they believe he's ready, which is why they didn't even try to re-up miller.

I've had some time to marinate the everything that went down yesterday. I still don't like the Spezza trade. We definitely did not get full value, however, the return is pretty similar to what we gave up for Ryan. I think Chaisson is the better NHL player, but it would have been nice to snag a 1st rounder for next year. Dallas will really make a step forward next year with Spezza at the helm. Going to be hard to see him light up the score sheet for another team.

The way the Spezza trade went down was all too predictable. Murray had sort of an auction going, but quickly lost suitors because they weren't going to pay the price. In the end Murray dealt Spezza to the last place he could. The posters who were posting about trade negotiations and throwing out economic terms to sound smart should feel a little bit silly. I'm glad the Spezza saga is over, but am bummed to see such a great player leave, again.

Murray needs to make a positive move or two or this summer will be seen as a failure. I get the logic of resigning Michalek, but of all of the "older", "run down guys" to move on from, he would be at the top of my list. Behind Phillips. It's frustrating to see a team with so little money to spend, spending it on subpar players.

The Murray press conference was a joke. He should have skipped it. I am not even going to address what he said. I like the guy as a GM, but sometimes he acts senile.

Regarding the posts that we are "continuing" the rebuild process is comically inaccurate. I don't know how long people think 3 years is, but we are past that point now and were supposed to be starting to compete. This is a new rebuild. Nothing wrong with that I guess, just be willing to admit the initial 3 year rebuild was a bit of a flop.

Hard to be a Sens fan right now with what's going on. We are going with a youth movement purely because it's what our owner can afford. We aren't going to get better if we can't spend, not even top dollars, but middle of the pack dollars.

Let's hope the next couple of weeks see some positive moves made.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

i think the bolded is key. until melnyk either finds some more money, or sells the team, ottawa is gonna be stuck in a continuous "3 year rebuild"

Ok. Easy. He might be cheap but I'm sure he could tell he was a good player.

My point was that melyk wanted to get players at the deadline to make a push for playoffs. Ie. Playoff $
- monkhouse

i agree that he probably pushed murray to get a player..........i just don't think it was his idea to go after hemsky. he was probably pushing for cheaper guys (in terms of salary), and when murray insisted that hemsky should be the guy, told him to get the oil to keep some salary.

i don't believe that melnyk has anymore hockey smarts than the average fan on this site, and in fact, probably has a lot less than most. that, combined with his lack of money, makes him a terrible owner for a team to have.

A good article by Ian Mendes about Spezza's departure up on the TSN site.

I think it is more clear that both Spezza and Alfredsson left because ownership is not going to do everything it takes to win a Stanley Cup. Translation - spend the money you need to spend to be a winning franchise.

As a long-suffering Montreal Expos fan I am starting to get a very familiar feeling. I think the Senators are going to be a team that drafts and develops great young players but unless everything lines up in a given year will never really have any hope of winning a Cup because of their budget.

That is....unless there is a change in ownership that brings deeper pockets to the team.

garrioch FINALLY blocked me on twitter. i've been ripping him (deservedly, IMO) for months, and i could never understand why i never got blocked.

he wrote his hatchet piece on spezza yesterday...i asked him if he'd had the article written since he requested the trade, and just needed the name of the team he was moved to.....i guess that was the straw that broke the fat asses back.

Look, just don't put yourself in the firing line again today. Your not that important. This is a great thread and people talk hockey in a respectful way. Your welcome to share with everyone as long as your respectful. But, if you disrespect the people here, you will, most certainly, be responded to in a similar manner.
- spatso

I think you should take your own advice, champ. Respectful? You called a number of persons idiot/stupid/dumb and demand others to post with respect? What is wrong with you? systemtool quoted you being disrespectful with half a page of quotes.

You might want to dial back on the "I am smarter than everyone else" routine - with the substance of your posts it is clearly not the case.

A good article by Ian Mendes about Spezza's departure up on the TSN site.

I think it is more clear that both Spezza and Alfredsson left because ownership is not going to do everything it takes to win a Stanley Cup. Translation - spend the money you need to spend to be a winning franchise.

As a long-suffering Montreal Expos fan I am starting to get a very familiar feeling. I think the Senators are going to be a team that drafts and develops great young players but unless everything lines up in a given year will never really have any hope of winning a Cup because of their budget.

That is....unless there is a change in ownership that brings deeper pockets to the team.
- maaddmike

that's funny, i was thinking of comparing them to the expos too.....that's EXACTLY what it reminds me of.