Throw in Sanford, Zaitsev, and Murray.
- khawk

Zaitsev for anything, please!!!

Jonathan Dahlen scored twice tonight for SJ, Sens former 2nd round pick that they traded to Van for Burrows.
Karlsson 1G, 2A tonight too in Montreal.

Habs have scored 3 goals in their first 4 games! 0-4 on the season

Joey Daccord got the start in goal tonight for Seattle, stopped 29 of 32 shots!

Jonathan Dahlen scored twice tonight for SJ, Sens former 2nd round pick that they traded to Van for Burrows.
Karlsson 1G, 2A tonight too in Montreal.

Habs have scored 3 goals in their first 4 games! 0-4 on the season
- Kevin Francis

This is clearly Karlsson’s long term plan for unparalleled success and limitless Stanley Cups coming to fruition….

This is clearly Karlsson’s long term plan for unparalleled success and limitless Stanley Cups coming to fruition….
- ahjnkn

You might be onto something!

Zaitsev for anything, please!!!
- Kevin Francis

Lol. Zaitsev has never been NHL quality. Remember the gifts Dorion was granted to take Zaitsev off Toronto's roster.

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players. The talk above Zaitsev and Formenton serve as prime examples. Zaitsev is a KHL level defender and Formenton will develop into a weak third liner if the Sens are lucky. Worrying about these players is time wasted.

Mistakes and poor play by such players guarantee better drafts picks while prospects continue to develop. Fortunately, if all goes well, in 3 years the Sens will be ready to compete while teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will be starting to decline. Players like Formenton and Zaitsev will hopefully only be memories when this occurs.

Lol. Zaitsev has never been NHL quality. Remember the gifts Dorion was granted to take Zaitsev off Toronto's roster.

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players. The talk above Zaitsev and Formenton serve as prime examples. Zaitsev is a KHL level defender and Formenton will develop into a weak third liner if the Sens are lucky. Worrying about these players is time wasted.

Mistakes and poor play by such players guarantee better drafts picks while prospects continue to develop. Fortunately, if all goes well, in 3 years the Sens will be ready to compete while teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will be starting to decline. Players like Formenton and Zaitsev will hopefully only be memories when this occurs.
- Jackie Daytona

Just like Brady will be signing in STL for a max term extension, right?

Lol. Zaitsev has never been NHL quality. Remember the gifts Dorion was granted to take Zaitsev off Toronto's roster.

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players. The talk above Zaitsev and Formenton serve as prime examples. Zaitsev is a KHL level defender and Formenton will develop into a weak third liner if the Sens are lucky. Worrying about these players is time wasted.

Mistakes and poor play by such players guarantee better drafts picks while prospects continue to develop. Fortunately, if all goes well, in 3 years the Sens will be ready to compete while teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will be starting to decline. Players like Formenton and Zaitsev will hopefully only be memories when this occurs.
- Jackie Daytona

You couldn't be more wrong on Formenton, but then again you said Brady was as good as gone, that Ottawa would either trade him or sign him to a bridge deal then he would leave for STL. But I do agree with you on Zaitsev, but Ottawa got Connor Brown in the deal, Toronto would love to have him now. I am in no way an Ottawa Sens fan but I follow the Canadian teams extensively and if you have watched Formenton through junior and his days in Belleville, this kid is legit and is still only 22 or 23, he will be just fine. Don't forget Guy Boucher wanted Dorion to keep Alex as an 18 year old out of camp when he was coaching Ottawa.

Jonathan Dahlen scored twice tonight for SJ, Sens former 2nd round pick that they traded to Van for Burrows.
Karlsson 1G, 2A tonight too in Montreal.

Habs have scored 3 goals in their first 4 games! 0-4 on the season
- Kevin Francis

Haha. yea I saw I'm like damn did we give up on him too soon..

I'm going to make an early prediction right now that Zaitsev will be bought out next summer, with 2yrs left on his contract.

Rationale:
- Zaitsev will turn 30 later this month, and has already shown that he's not really capable of the top-4 role being asked of him
- Bernard-Docker and Thomson are RHD who are probably already NHL-ready, and they'll be wasting low-cost ELC years if they don't make room for them
- Senators have never paid any signing bonus $$$ for Zaitsev, as they even waited until July 1st to complete the Ceci trade so that the Leafs would pay his $3M signing bonus in 2019/20
- the last 2 years of Zaitsev's contract have a $2.0M signing bonus vs. $2.5M salary payment structure
- a buyout would only cost them $0.8M x4yrs, and save them $1.7M/yr of cap space in the first 2yrs vs. costing them $0.8M/yr of cap space in the last 2yrs
- most important of all, it saves them ~$5.8M in actual paid dollars, including a total of $4.0M in signing bonus $$$,of which $2.0M would have to be paid just a couple of weeks after the June 2022 buyout window

Now, I think you'll see them try to shop Zaitsev at the trade deadline, but I can't see that going anywhere. After which, I really have trouble believing that Melnyk would prefer the option of paying Zaitsev $9M to play another 2 years of bad 2nd pairing defence, especially with so many high-quality and affordable young D-man options developing in the system.
- khawk

Master piece! This is so correct on Zaitsev!

Haha. yea I saw I'm like damn did we give up on him too soon..
- SENS-sational

Dorion going all in on that playoff run, then Dahlen wouldn't report to the Canucks at one point. They traded him to SJ, look at him go now as they say!

I think that would be a great idea to write a letter to melnyk with fans opinions so he can address some issues. Would defintely like to hear what he would say.
- SENS-sational

It is a bigger task than I thought! Keep the ideas and posts coming!

Contest idea: first person to comment on the blog post wins the tickets!!
- rebekahkeefe

If I had a few pairs of tics, yes I like that!

Unless the tickets are for an OCD seminar, I would tend to disagree with rewarding that kind of thing.
- khawk

Really happy to see line combos at practice today:

Norris with Batherson and Tkachuk
Pinto with Brown and Paul
Tierney with Steutzel and Formenton
the best of the rest

Love that third line. I want to see Stuetzle and Formenton play together. Tierney may surprise. He may not keep up but he could do a great job in getting the puck to two of the top burners in the league,
- spatso

Will DJ actually do this come game time?????

Lol. Zaitsev has never been NHL quality. Remember the gifts Dorion was granted to take Zaitsev off Toronto's roster.

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players. The talk above Zaitsev and Formenton serve as prime examples. Zaitsev is a KHL level defender and Formenton will develop into a weak third liner if the Sens are lucky. Worrying about these players is time wasted.

Mistakes and poor play by such players guarantee better drafts picks while prospects continue to develop. Fortunately, if all goes well, in 3 years the Sens will be ready to compete while teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will be starting to decline. Players like Formenton and Zaitsev will hopefully only be memories when this occurs.
- Jackie Daytona

Oh Jackie!

We have missed you.

So glad you have come to pay us another visit.

We benefit so much from your wise insight and guidance.

Will this be as accurate as your predictions on Brady's contract? You nailed that one...

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players.
- Jackie Daytona

Lol. Zaitsev has never been NHL quality. Remember the gifts Dorion was granted to take Zaitsev off Toronto's roster.

As the Sens improve it will soon become apparent that many fans have vastly over-rated many sub-marginal players. The talk above Zaitsev and Formenton serve as prime examples. Zaitsev is a KHL level defender and Formenton will develop into a weak third liner if the Sens are lucky. Worrying about these players is time wasted.

Mistakes and poor play by such players guarantee better drafts picks while prospects continue to develop. Fortunately, if all goes well, in 3 years the Sens will be ready to compete while teams like the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will be starting to decline. Players like Formenton and Zaitsev will hopefully only be memories when this occurs.
- Jackie Daytona

I’m not sure how Zaitsev (30 years old in a week or so) and Formenton (turned 22 a month ago) are in the same thought. Two vastly different players in vastly different points in their career.

Zaitsev is a place holder for a younger d-man to come up. Formenton is a young player looking to earn their role on this team. While Formenton may not be a star, he has all the tools to be a very effective player. I watch him play and he reminds me of Mason Raymond. Not elite caliber but a guy that can play up and down the lineup that many teams would like to have.

The centre position could really use some insulation. Norris is ok for the top 6 right now but Pinto and Tierney are 3, 4 options. Pinto may move up, but not anytime soon. Some may say “White is out of the lineup” but I am not sure he would add much.

Dorion’s season goal should be adding a quality centre and a legitimate bottom 4 d-man.

The team’s wingers are coming together alright, especially if some can play on off wings.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Yeah he should just go do that you know... go get assets that literally no team in the league is willing to part with without receiving a King's ransom that the Sens cannot offer.

The assets that the Sens do have are the very defense prospects that will fill the void you are looking for him to solve via a trade... And as far as the Centre position is concerned you are never going to be able to get a team to part with someone better than Pinto or Norris right now and have it be worthwhile. Last time Ottawa went to get a major centreman they got burned badly.

Yeah he should just go do that you know... go get assets that literally no team in the league is willing to part with without receiving a King's ransom that the Sens cannot offer.

The assets that the Sens do have are the very defense prospects that will fill the void you are looking for him to solve via a trade... And as far as the Centre position is concerned you are never going to be able to get a team to part with someone better than Pinto or Norris right now and have it be worthwhile. Last time Ottawa went to get a major centreman they got burned badly.
- TDBSenatoR

Didn't know this was such a touchy issue...

Hope it's true but havent seen it promoted much on broadcasts of Sens games..so far. The size of the jackpots for the Blue Jays pools got crazy by the end of the season, over $1 million for some series by the end of the season.
- ahjnkn

Now a million bucks will stir up interest. Didnt know that . But thats awesome. Yeh Sens dont do a very good job advertising. The reality is they should be doing more then anyone.. it works. The biggest product sellers go overboard and make sure you know their product. And see it so much you want to try it or have it.

I’m not sure how Zaitsev (30 years old in a week or so) and Formenton (turned 22 a month ago) are in the same thought. Two vastly different players in vastly different points in their career.

Zaitsev is a place holder for a younger d-man to come up. Formenton is a young player looking to earn their role on this team. While Formenton may not be a star, he has all the tools to be a very effective player. I watch him play and he reminds me of Mason Raymond. Not elite caliber but a guy that can play up and down the lineup that many teams would like to have.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Very good!

My favourite player have always been second or third line players that became more to the team as their careers evolved. (two of my favourites were Mike Fisher and JG Pageau). They were great team players when they played within their skill set. I see Formenton in a similar light. He is big, he is fast, he plays physical and, most important, he can play a superior, tenacious, defensive game.

When someone suggests that Formenton will be merely a third liner (perhaps like Fisher and JPG) my first thought is about the great play of Tampa's third line in their run to the Cup. Or, Pageau's strong performance for the Islanders last year.

When Smith sits Formenton down for a period because of a defensive lapse, I am disappointed. But then I think maybe he sees what I see. A kid who has the potential to be a dominant defensive forward and play head to head against the elite offensive stars on the opposing team.

Now a million bucks will stir up interest. Didnt know that . But thats awesome. Yeh Sens dont do a very good job advertising. The reality is they should be doing more then anyone.. it works. The biggest product sellers go overboard and make sure you know their product.
- spazzbot

There is a serious lack of innovation with advertising. In today's social media age where advertising pops up for products and services you merely just thinking about, my feed should be littered with advertising for tickets to Sens games. I only get merchandise ads that I assume are fuelled by the NHL and not the organization.

You walk around Ottawa and surrounding areas and you'd be hard pressed to know this team has an NHL team.

^^^100% agree^^^

...but really it's not that surprising is it? He has no money to advertise. And nobody is giving him anything for free in this city anymore.


Also. Ugh....my pics. I got smoked on Monday, and did "ok" on Tuesday. Congrats to whomever won.

Very good!

My favourite player have always been second or third line players that became more to the team as their careers evolved. (two of my favourites were Mike Fisher and JG Pageau). They were great team players when they played within their skill set. I see Formenton in a similar light. He is big, he is fast, he plays physical and, most important, he can play a superior, tenacious, defensive game.

When someone suggests that Formenton will be merely a third liner (perhaps like Fisher and JPG) my first thought is about the great play of Tampa's third line in their run to the Cup. Or, Pageau's strong performance for the Islanders last year.

When Smith sits Formenton down for a period because of a defensive lapse, I am disappointed. But then I think maybe he sees what I see. A kid who has the potential to be a dominant defensive forward and play head to head against the elite offensive stars on the opposing team.
- spatso

The benching of Formenton was overblown. Happens to all players at some point early in their career. Formenton will be fine. Biggest issue is waiting until Thursday to play again after a late Sunday afternoon game that most players and fans have a hard time getting excited for.

Fisher and JPG comparisons are fair. He should become a fan favourite soon enough.