ROFL

The Hamonic move sent Ottawa’s fan base reeling on social media (Dorion’s girlfriend told the GM to stay off Twitter), considering the player appeared in just 24 games this season and was previously available on waivers. But Dorion liked the timing of adding Hamonic’s experience.

( from Wayne Scanlan article on sportsnet)
- Mithos

Now that is telling, I saw this too. Thanks for posting! PD should take heat for the pure fact he gave up a 3rd round pick to take on another teams salary dump.

I think it was an okay day. The real test for the management of this team comes on draft day, buyout day and on the first day of free agency. If they can get rid of one of Murray or Zaitsev then they are good. But i would legit keep both of them if they go out and spend this off-season. They need a 2nd line RW for Timmy.
- GrimmdaGoalie

Agreed, Murray and Zaitsev look large for this org! With you of course on 2nd line RW.

Calgary sending goaltender Michael McNiven to the Ottawa Senators for future considerations.

So Gus will be sent back to Belleville
- other_spartacat

I think that is what everyone thought, but instead it was the other way around.

Strange deadline. I'm perplexed at the Harmonic acquisition and getting rid of Brown doesn't really negate that. Not sure why this team continues to get players as if they were playing EA Sports NHL from 3-4 years ago purely for nostalgia. No idea how a 3rd rounder was warranted and he takes up a spot for next year. How is a team supposed to improve their defence when they fill the spots with mediocre players?

I'm on the fence about the Forsberg signing. Nice story, but so were Hammond, Condon, and Nilson. However, may mean something bigger for Matt Murray. Doesn't make sense to have nearly $10 million invested in goaltending where neither one is a true #1.

Paul and Joseph are a bit of a wash to me. I guess Joseph has the Chabot/Seadogs connection. Fits the friends as teenagers narrative. Harmonic fits the played with the coach before narrative. Weird how teams like Tampa , Florida, and Colorado don't do that and just decided to go the "good player" route.

Nothing happened today that made me anymore hopeful for the future.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Teams need to stop the friends crap, as a reason for acquiring OMG! Any NHL front office personnel usually laugh at those type of things, like you said the best teams just get the best player for them. That's the route most pro sports teams go. I forgot about Nilson, he ripped the org for how they handled his injuries and the concussion issues he had.

TOR has to hope they fall to the 4th in the Atlantic and draw Carolina in the 1st round and hope for a little luck against the Canes. Otherwise, they are done in the 1st round.
- Kevin Francis

Eh, they wouldn't be favorites but there's too much talent on that team to say outright they'd be done.

I always love giving the kids a chance to play but we certainly do not want the team to rush anyone. That has turned out poorly for this team in the past. Teams like the Wings had some success in marinating players. I am not saying leave them down unnecessarily, but making sure the players are setup to succeed is key. If having a few verts around facilitates that, I am good with it.
- HoweHatrick

They are lacking any other forwards that are ready to make the jump to Ottawa, so they will need to sign a vet or two on league minimum. Enough of the Gambrell crap, he cant win a faceoff and is invisible most nights.

Eh, they wouldn't be favorites but there's too much talent on that team to say outright they'd be done.
- david22

Matthews should be up for the Hart, so if he actually shows up in the playoffs then the Leafs should push for a long first round as they say.

I tend to agree. The issue right now is there is absolutely awful depth in this lineup. Guys like Sokolov, Jarventie, Kastelic, Greig, etc are nice looking prospects but are likely a ways off to producing 40-50 point seasons, if at all. Only way to truly fix the depth is to add more high-end players and push guys like Brown, White, etc down the depth chart where they belong. The team is trying to add depth by rolling the dice on middling players which just doesn’t work.

While there are some high end pieces on the roster currently, a couple of more will need to be added one way or another, and relatively soon to take advantage of entry level and bridge contracts for a decent run.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Snagging an NHL ready player at the top of the draft this year would be a huge boon for this team.

I think there's a couple outside of Wright?

Very seldom that I acknowledge a Bruce Garrioch point of view, however this morning is an exception. Vegas is trying to tell the world that Ottawa did not tell them Dadanov had a 10 team restricted trade list. Vegas claims they did not know anything.

But, Garrioch points out, the restriction was boldly recorded on Capfreindly which takes their info directly off of a copy of the player contract.

I think Vegas is trying to pull a fast one. They may have moved from playing dumb to actually being dumb. Oh well I sure Eichel will help them.

Very seldom that I acknowledge a Bruce Garrioch point of view, however this morning is an exception. Vegas is trying to tell the world that Ottawa did not tell them Dadanov had a 10 team restricted trade list. Vegas claims they did not know anything.

But, Garrioch points out, the restriction was boldly recorded on Capfreindly which takes their info directly off of a copy of the player contract.

I think Vegas is trying to pull a fast one. They may have moved from playing dumb to actually being dumb. Oh well I sure Eichel will help them.
- spatso

Restricted trade lists also aren't etched in stone... it's quite possible that who Dadonov put on that list back in 2020 when he first signed the contract wouldn't be the same 10 teams he's have picked in March, 2022. Teams often have to request these lists from players they intend to trade, which means it might even be possible that Dadonov hadn't made a list yet, but was open to being traded to Vegas. Regardless, it clearly shows that the Golden Knights didn't bother to discuss the idea of a trade with the player in even the most basic sense. And if you're going to run your business in that manner, then not being aware of something that's published openly on a site like Cap Friendly about the contract of the player you're trying to trade is just incompetent.

I think that is what everyone thought, but instead it was the other way around.
- Kevin Francis

Did someone honestly see that McNiven trade, and think - oh good, they've really stabilized their NHL goaltending for the rest of the year? I think it was pretty clear that was an AHL move, at best.

Did someone honestly see that McNiven trade, and think - oh good, they've really stabilized their NHL goaltending for the rest of the year? I think it was pretty clear that was an AHL move, at best.
- khawk

Actually I was told they wanted to get Gus as many games as possible, so they would get him games in Ottawa, then send him down to Belleville for more games while they call up McNiven to just back up Forsberg for a 3 or 4 game NHL stretch. So once again, this team isn't developing Gus properly by getting him very few games. Total lost year since November for Gus.

They are lacking any other forwards that are ready to make the jump to Ottawa, so they will need to sign a vet or two on league minimum. Enough of the Gambrell crap, he cant win a faceoff and is invisible most nights.
- Kevin Francis

Enough with the vets they have enough 🤦‍♂️ Brown Watson Zeitsev Holden Hamonic Forsberg I know Chabot and Tkachuk knows what it takes to win .. like how many vets they need 😳 time to man up dig in wallet and get that top 6 Forward 🤷‍♂️

Restricted trade lists also aren't etched in stone... it's quite possible that who Dadonov put on that list back in 2020 when he first signed the contract wouldn't be the same 10 teams he's have picked in March, 2022. Teams often have to request these lists from players they intend to trade, which means it might even be possible that Dadonov hadn't made a list yet, but was open to being traded to Vegas. Regardless, it clearly shows that the Golden Knights didn't bother to discuss the idea of a trade with the player in even the most basic sense. And if you're going to run your business in that manner, then not being aware of something that's published openly on a site like Cap Friendly about the contract of the player you're trying to trade is just incompetent.
- khawk

Ya it's pretty wild, I talked to some an Asst GM in the Western Conf. about this last night and they said, when Dadonov was traded he should've had to submit a new update 10 team list as each player does that every summer. Clearly this wasn't done. Bottom line is, if the trade is wiped out, Dadonov will be waived and then sent down to Henderson so they have the 3.375 million cap relief to be able to bring Mark Stone back. Plus state tax in Cali is for more than in Nevada, another reason Dadonov probably had Anaheim on his no trade list. Dont forget his deal escalated too, 4m last year in Ottawa, 5 mil this year and 6 mil in the last year of the deal.

Enough with the vets they have enough 🤦‍♂️ Brown Watson Zeitsev Holden Hamonic Forsberg I know Chabot and Tkachuk knows what it takes to win .. like how many vets they need 😳 time to man up dig in wallet and get that top 6 Forward 🤷‍♂️
- sens4life1971

It'll be interesting to see what they have at forward with real quality NHL exp. come July. That'll be the telling thing.

Snagging an NHL ready player at the top of the draft this year would be a huge boon for this team.

I think there's a couple outside of Wright?
- david22

Well this team doesn't like to rush young guys anymore after they did it with Lazar and White. I truly couldn't tell you if anyone outside of Wright could step in right away. Hard to say. Maybe others on here know more.

OUT
Brown
Paul
Sanford
3rd Round Pick, 2022 (VAN)
7th Round Pick, 2022 (OTT)

IN
Hamonic
Joseph
Senyshyn
4th Round Pick, 2024 (TB)
5th Round Pick, 2022 (BOS)
5th Round Pick, 2022 (WPG)

Plus the extension to Forsberg (3yr/$2.75AAV)
Tierney likely to be traded for something... Del Zotto potentially as well.
- khawk

Those picks in rounds 4-7, 3 in the 5th, 1 in 6th, 1 in 7th and with potential of another 4th and 7th. Depending on Logan Brown for the 4th. Brown has to play 8 games over the Blues final 21 games. But the crazy thing is that STL only dressed 11 forwards last game against CLB, Brown was a healthy scratch! That is pretty telling.

This is the problem when your declared goal is to be "hard to play against", instead of "win games". This is the kind of perverse lens you need in order to rationalize playing guys like Josh Brown/Zach Sanford ahead of guys like Erik Brannstrom/Colin White. Now it's true that the latter have struggled at times, but DJ's job is to try to help these players improve - not just slot in players you can trust to make the same low-probability, minimal-impact plays over and over again. Trying not to lose isn't the same thing as trying to win, and it's pretty damn clear that DJ fails to comprehend the difference on a nightly basis.

Now, in DJ's defence, how many successful NHL teams can you name with only 1 forward who's even close to having a PPG scoring pace? You can't make up goals in the 3rd period with big-body fore-checking, or by clearing the front of the net. Connor Brown is one of just 22 NHL forwards to play over 20min/GP this year, which is a list that includes McDavid, Draisaitl, Kucherov, Ovechkin, MacKinnon, Rantanen, Matthews, Marner, Kane, Barkov, Connor, and Scheifele. Well, I'm sorry but one of those things is not like the others, and it speaks volumes about the lack of roster quality. The rebuild is NOT over, and Dorion needs to process the fact that there's a lot of work still to be done.
- khawk

This is on DJ for a huge part, like you said, this we will be the hardest working team, hard to play against, applies in minor hockey. So when your team plays with zero defensive structure, you will fall behind teams immediately so yes in fact these stats hold a lot of water. What is truly this teams identity?! I wish I could tell you all who I talked to today in the front office and their anger with DJ and his coaching. Example A, they tried to run Chicago out of the rink but what DJ, quoted as saying...."we will run them through the boards" well they got caught running around and Chicago woke up, used their SYSTEMS and had Ottawa chasing the puck all game long. Ottawa had last line change and didn't get a single match up in their favour to get the Tkachuk line away from their checking line, he never changed up the lines and low and behold, Ottawa got owned in the final two periods. There are some on here with their rose coloured glasses when it comes to DJ....oh and this isn't directed at you, please know that....but I hope the DJ apologists realize how he is so in over his head when this kind of crap happens.

It's not impossible that the Game-7 OT loss in the 2017 Conference Finals quite literally broke Dorion's mind, and that out of self-preservation he immediately lapsed into a self-perpetuating Dr. Strange-like time loop.... while his body continues to walk around cautiously in the present 2022 timeline, giving nervous and unsatisfying press conferences. Consider, for instance, the kinds of roster decisions a person might make based exclusively on information from that exact 2016/17 timeframe, when the following were true...

FORWARDS
Dadonov was the biggest KHL free agent of 2017
Galchenyuk had career-high 59pts scoring pace with MTL
Anisimov had career-high 58pts scoring pace with CHI
Stepan had 55Pts in his last season with the NYR
Brown had a 20G rookie season for TOR
Watson was 6th in playoff G for Cup-Finalist NSH
Duchene had a career-worst season (i.e. time to push for a trade)

DEFENCE
Hainsey played top-4D minutes for Cup-champion Penguins
Zaitsev had career-best 36Pts season with TOR
Gudbranson was traded to VAN for 1st Round Pick
Holden had career-best 34Pts season with NYR
Del Zotto played top-4D minutes for PHI
Hamonic was traded to CGY for 1st Round Pick

PROSPECTS
Brannstrom was a top-3 D-prospect in the upcoming 2017 draft
Abramov put up his first 40G/100Pts season in the QMJHL
Gaudette was a red-hot NCAA talent (won the Hobey Baker next year)
Joseph was the leading scorer for QMJHL-champion Saint John

GOALTENDER
And, of course... Murray would have been the reigning NHL Stanley Cup champion goaltender.

It would almost be funny, if it weren't so bizarre just how many of his player acquisitions fall neatly into this paradigm. It would also explain Pierre Maguire's strange lack of communication in recent months.
- khawk

Well, I cant add anything more to this other than to say.....WOW and bang on with your analysis, great post!! I hope everyone reads this.

Looking at some of the other expiring contracts Dorion did not deal and the potential outcomes in the summer, it's clear there was some asset mismanagement:

Tierney - walk
Gambrell - walk
Gaudette - walk
Ennis - Resign
Formenton - Resign
Mete - walk
Brannstrom - walk

Obviously you sign Formenton. I'd sign Ennis as a placeholder for another mediocre season. Surprised you couldn't get a pick for the guy.

After that, Gambrell, Gaudette, and Mete can all walk. All waiver pickups. While there is nothing lost, there was obviously nothing gained. Mete cost you an 1.2 mill for crappy hockey and warm seat in the press box. Might want to toss that as a loss.

Tierney, not surprising no one wanted him. He may hold the record as the longest serving but most forgettable Sens player in franchise history. Never fit on the team or played well. We get to watch him for a few more weeks. Yay. Only resigned to make the Karlsson trade look better. Chalk that up for mismanagement of the player.

Brannstrom, Dorion's most proud asset is now left in the most awkward position. Traded for a player who was named captain of a perennial competitive team, Brannstrom's time as a promising prospect is over. He's a 5/6 d-man who struggles with consistency. The fact he asked for a trade and a deal couldn't be reached, shows you other teams are noticing. You could see the bust from a mile away once there was debate on what side he was to play on. When you have great players, you don't debate what position they play, normally. You have Sanderson coming up to play a similar role. Cut your losses, let him walk. Could likely end up in Europe. Another promising prospect gone to waste and held on for too long before considering a trade.

This does not consider some the existing contracts or the Josh Norris contract negotiations, which will be a mess in their own right.

To me, Dorion has some work to do this summer to make things move in a positive trajectory. That means more than hoping Hamonic regains his form from 5 years ago. Start using quality assets to get quality players. Start fixing the stigma that Ottawa is a sandpit for free agents. Wishful thinking though with Eugene at the helm which is obviously the reason why 95% makes the moves that they make.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

I agree on all 5 that you say to walk away from. Sign Formenton, Ennis I will wait to make a call on, only because we need to see what acquisitions PD makes prior to mapping out what the potential lineup is. But good stuff as always!

Anyone else see this jerseys? Reversible jerseys!

https://twitter.com/Maple...bieber-next-gen-1.1774884

I tend to agree. The issue right now is there is absolutely awful depth in this lineup. Guys like Sokolov, Jarventie, Kastelic, Greig, etc are nice looking prospects but are likely a ways off to producing 40-50 point seasons, if at all. Only way to truly fix the depth is to add more high-end players and push guys like Brown, White, etc down the depth chart where they belong. The team is trying to add depth by rolling the dice on middling players which just doesn’t work.

While there are some high end pieces on the roster currently, a couple of more will need to be added one way or another, and relatively soon to take advantage of entry level and bridge contracts for a decent run.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

The idea of Dorion adding a couple of high end pieces really depresses me. I have zero confidence in his ability as a GM.

Smith, Dorion and Melnyk = Larry, Curly and Moe.

The idea of Dorion adding a couple of high end pieces really depresses me. I have zero confidence in his ability as a GM.

Smith, Dorion and Melnyk = Larry, Curly and Moe.
- Whatisavailable

I have talked to an NHL exec a lot about the state of the Sens, when it comes to DJ and PD. He said if you only knew the nicknames those 2 have in NHL circles. He told, I would never post it here, but man its beyond comical! Nobody in the league takes those 2 seriously!

I hope I got back to most of the comments from the last day or so. Did my best, sorry if I missed any. I will be back at game time tonight, I hope others jump in here to chat during the game. I will have a new piece up tomorrow!

Pain for Shayne.

I'd love to win the lottery. I think Bedard will be better though wont he?