That was some serious stink eye!
- SensFan25

It was wild....he didn't leave the stage right away....I tweeted it out on my Twitter feed.

It was wild....he didn't leave the stage right away....I tweeted it out on my Twitter feed.
- Kevin Francis

Lol did anybody else get flashbacks of Kevin Costner's Draft Day? He looked pissed. Possibly an attitude issue steered folks away?

Lol did anybody else get flashbacks of Kevin Costner's Draft Day? He looked pissed. Possibly an attitude issue steered folks away?
- Bartacus

Great analogy!

I see the last blog had 317 comments, great discussion again Sens fans for the draft blog, fast approaching 250!

I wonder which American city they are planning to move the franchise to. My guess would be Houston.

Sens fans what do you think of Cam Fowler of the Ducks?

I wonder which American city they are planning to move the franchise to. My guess would be Houston.
- Whatisavailable

The Sens arent going anywhere. If there is one thing we have learned with Bettman, he will do anything to keep a team in their current city. Look no further than the Coyotes. The next 3 years they will play in a 5k arena at ASU! Plus it would take 24 of 32 votes from the board of Governors.

But I do see the NHL expanding after the NBA and MLB do so in 2 years. The NBA TV deal is up in 2024, they will expand to Vegas and Seattle. MLB will expand to Nashville and hopefully Montreal. Both leagues figure what better way to recover from covid for the owners and players than to have crazy expansion fees split amongst the owners.

I could see the NHL expanding to Houston for sure down the road. Quebec City was promised an expansion if they built an arena.....lets see if they get a team soon.

A roll? Did you see how Dorion messed up the Murray thing so bad, that now every GM in the league knows he wants him gone, he will have to eat half of his salary to unload him!
- Kevin Francis

So only now the GMs know this? Before we would've gotten actual value for Murray? Your dislike for Dorion blinds you, even when he does something good.

Not his brother play hockey junior in Ottawa area. He said, you would like the city
- Crosside

Many knew that, it was years ago with the Cumberland Grads. But it will be up to Alex to see if he likes the city or not. Winning can cure a lot too....lets see how the season plays out.

It seems the trade is (almost) universally viewed as a home run for the Senators. That is everyone but a few people on this board seem to think it is a home run.
- HoweHatrick

I think fans are just skeptical as there was no extension in place, hence why the Hawks didn't get a big return. With Fiala they had an extension and Kings fans were fine. PD's track record signing RFA's after trades or signing UFA's for that matter has been abysmal. If he can show some results this year, it will swing those on the fence, off the fence. Sens will need to re-sign Stutzle and DeBrincat next summer, unless they just give Alex his qualifying offer of 9M, but then you are in a spot like the Flames are with Matthew Tkachuk. Time will tell.

If there was a year to bomb, it may as well be a year where a guy like Bedard is up for grabs.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

It will be a battle with AZ and Chicago for the worst tank job this season!

that does not bode well...7th OA+ for 1.5 years of cat....seems many players do not wish to play in canada.
- Mithos

Sens fans have a reason to be nervous until DeBrincat is signed to an extension. They don't want a repeat of the Duchene trade where they gave up the farm for him only to have to trade him just over a year later before he became a UFA.

Sens fans have a reason to be nervous until DeBrincat is signed to an extension. They don't want a repeat of the Duchene trade where they gave up the farm for him only to have to trade him just over a year later before he became a UFA.
- Kevin Francis

They should be, from what I could.find the last time a top 10 pick was.traded.was.2013, and since 2005 almost every top 10 pick traded, the player drafted ended up better than the player traded, btw in 2013 it was 9th OA ( bo horvat) for Shneider.

They should be, from what I could.find the last time a top 10 pick was.traded.was.2013, and since 2005 almost every top 10 pick traded, the player drafted ended up better than the player traded, btw in 2013 it was 9th OA ( bo horvat) for Shneider.
- Mithos

But this is unlike any hockey trade market any of us have ever seen before. This summer and the next two years is cap hell for most teams.

Dorion is not a hockey genius, he is a gambler. But make no mistake he has lucked out. Fate has allowed him to be a buyer in a flat, dead market. He is a carpetbagger who is able to buy real estate when the market has collapsed. Nobody else wants to be or cannot afford to be a buyer this summer.

Listen to me on this, the next two years are only going to get worse for players becoming UFAs and RFAs. There will be a few exceptions (like Ottawa this summer). Most teams will be facing really hard choices as they struggle to sign their own players.

There will be more teams trying to move quality assets like (Fiala and JT Miller....Nylander, Panarin) because teams need the space to sign their own young assets. Player agents see what is coming. Two years out, multiple teams will have guys like Matthews, Laine, Dubois becoming UFAs. Players will still want substantial increases despite teams struggling through the final stages of the frozen cap era.

The following year (3 years out), there will be cap relief when the 17.5% escrow shortfall has been repaid by the players. A smart GM will want to be able to sell assets into that market.

The Sens can still afford to add Chychrun. Giroux would be wickedly risky as Stutzle needs to be signed next summer and Sanderson the following summer.

The big winner yesterday was the Ottawa fans.

We have our team back.

Sens fans have a reason to be nervous until DeBrincat is signed to an extension. They don't want a repeat of the Duchene trade where they gave up the farm for him only to have to trade him just over a year later before he became a UFA.
- Kevin Francis

Maybe.

Dorion is going to have to be very skillful.

I think the Brady cap will become something that gets challenged soon enough.

If both Dibrincat and Stutzle buy into an $8m number the Sens will be in great shape for multiple years. But, if they try to push the number higher it gets complicated.

On LeBreton announcement day Anthony LeBlanc, President, Ottawa Senators Business Ops was asked a simple question about the Ottawa Senators going forward. I don't even remember the exact nature of the question. It was, essentially, a simple, unimportant question intended as filler for a journalist trying to meet a deadline. LeBlanc's answer was hesitating but very revealing. He said something along the lines, "that decision will need to be made by our equity partners."

I don't think Debrincat happens and, certainly Chychrun or Giroux will not happen unless the trustee board is confident the equity partners would be content with the direction.

I wonder who the bean counters on the trustee board talked to before they authorized the Sens moving the salary budget upward.

Maybe.

Dorion is going to have to be very skillful.

I think the Brady cap will become something that gets challenged soon enough.

If both Dibrincat and Stutzle buy into an $8m number the Sens will be in great shape for multiple years. But, if they try to push the number higher it gets complicated.
- spatso

Again, let’s see how Cat does with this team before we start throwing $$ around.

And Stutzle at 8? I mean I think he’ll be a star but that’s essentially Jack Hughes numbers for a guy we don’t even know will play on the wing/center yet.

We’re already paying 8m to a guy that brings a lot of “intangibles” so let’s not blow the bank just yet.

The last thing you want is a White situation on your hands (and not comparing white to Stutzle) and having it throw off your entire cap situation. And this team has issues involving money, so everything’s gotta be right.

Again, let’s see how Cat does with this team before we start throwing $$ around.

And Stutzle at 8? I mean I think he’ll be a star but that’s essentially Jack Hughes numbers for a guy we don’t even know will play on the wing/center yet.

We’re already paying 8m to a guy that brings a lot of “intangibles” so let’s not blow the bank just yet.

The last thing you want is a White situation on your hands (and not comparing white to Stutzle) and having it throw off your entire cap situation. And this team has issues involving money, so everything’s gotta be right.
- Trilla

Travis Yost wrote this morning on TSN

"In a league that’s increasingly youthful, the days of extensive, multi-year development cycles are long gone. Teams are aggressively injecting young players into the lineup – if not because they are friendlier to the salary cap rules, then because they are the ones generally driving the performance bus. "

The NHL has always lived for a very long time with a retroactive performance based model. Typically, if you perform at an outstanding level we will pay you with the best contract you have ever had. This was done despite the fact the player was well beyond his best performance years So, the Leafs pay John Tavares over $11m for what he was able to achieve playing for the NY Islanders.

You and I want for the Sens to be forced to pay Stutzle $8m per year starting next summer. It will mean that he has gone out and proven himself as an elite talent and worthy of being paid top money.

So, the Hawks already paid Patrick Kane his bonus of $4m for the coming season. His remaining salary is $2.9m. The cap hit is $10.5m... but the Hawks can easily eat half the cap. Would anybody give up a 2nd to acquire Patrick Kane?

A line of Stuzle, Kane and Debrincat sounds like a good fit behind Norris, Tkachuk and Batherson. Still would have the assets and cap space to do the deal with Arizona for Jakob Chychrun.

dp

dp

dp

On XM/Sirius tonight, one of the hosts had a quote from Alex D from last year in which he said he didn't want to play in Canada....should be interesting!
- Kevin Francis

It may have been covid related seeing canada in lockdown while the US was open.

Bruce Garrioch
@SunGarrioch
·
35m
My two cents: I’d try to trade Connor Brown today and make room for Claude Giroux. #Sens
20
16
175

Rather have Patrick Kane on a 1 year deal.

But, if Bruce posted it you know that Dorion probably wrote it for him.

Travis Yost wrote this morning on TSN

"In a league that’s increasingly youthful, the days of extensive, multi-year development cycles are long gone. Teams are aggressively injecting young players into the lineup – if not because they are friendlier to the salary cap rules, then because they are the ones generally driving the performance bus. "

The NHL has always lived for a very long time with a retroactive performance based model. Typically, if you perform at an outstanding level we will pay you with the best contract you have ever had. This was done despite the fact the player was well beyond his best performance years So, the Leafs pay John Tavares over $11m for what he was able to achieve playing for the NY Islanders.

You and I want for the Sens to be forced to pay Stutzle $8m per year starting next summer. It will mean that he has gone out and proven himself as an elite talent and worthy of being paid top money.
- spatso

I want every guy to get paid, including Stutzle. Problem is we live in a salary cap world where the guys who make a little less than their worth, give an edge to their teams long term success:

We got that with Chabot and Batherson.
We need that from others like Stutzle (if he truly blossoms this season), as well as Cat if it all works out.