I'm still convinced the new coach for Ottawa will be John Gruden. Perhaps Kevin Dineen or Jay McKee (Gruden as coach, and one of McKee or Dineen as assistants).

As for how everything could shake out in trades ... I'd look at these.

Florida .... I read this trade somewhere and really liked it ..... gets Chychrun (they have 4 main d-men as UFA's at end of season). Chych could be in top 4 for a lengthy playoff run. Ottawa gets back Anton Lundell and a 2nd round pick.

LA Kings ...... get Korpisalo (Ottawa retains half of salary), Tarasenko (Ottawa retains half of salary), Brannstrom (for d-man depth). Ottawa gets Brandt Clark (Right d-man).

In summer when Norris is recovered, plus Boston's first round pick ... trade him for a starting goalie. .... Ullmark, Markstrom, Saros/Askarov. ??????

Buyouts to Hamonic. McKewen to Belleville for future callups.
Sign Pinto to a 4 or 5 year contract. Maybe $5 million (similar to Batherson).

Leaves room for 2 free agents (bigger, tougher, older but still with good game). Promote from within ... Crookshank, Ostapchuk, etc.

Tkachuk/Stutzle/Lundell
Batherson/Pinto/Giroux
Joseph/Greig/???
Kelly/Kastelik/???

Chabot/Clark
Sanderson/Zub
Klevin/JBD or bring in another RD from free agency

New Goalie from trade/Sogaard ......... buy out Forsberg

I'm still convinced the new coach for Ottawa will be John Gruden. Perhaps Kevin Dineen or Jay McKee (Gruden as coach, and one of McKee or Dineen as assistants).

As for how everything could shake out in trades ... I'd look at these.

Florida .... I read this trade somewhere and really liked it ..... gets Chychrun (they have 4 main d-men as UFA's at end of season). Chych could be in top 4 for a lengthy playoff run. Ottawa gets back Anton Lundell and a 2nd round pick.

LA Kings ...... get Korpisalo (Ottawa retains half of salary), Tarasenko (Ottawa retains half of salary), Brannstrom (for d-man depth). Ottawa gets Brandt Clark (Right d-man).

In summer when Norris is recovered, plus Boston's first round pick ... trade him for a starting goalie. .... Ullmark, Markstrom, Saros/Askarov. ??????

Buyouts to Hamonic. McKewen to Belleville for future callups.
Sign Pinto to a 4 or 5 year contract. Maybe $5 million (similar to Batherson).

Leaves room for 2 free agents (bigger, tougher, older but still with good game). Promote from within ... Crookshank, Ostapchuk, etc.

Tkachuk/Stutzle/Lundell
Batherson/Pinto/Giroux
Joseph/Greig/???
Kelly/Kastelik/???

Chabot/Clark
Sanderson/Zub
Klevin/JBD or bring in another RD from free agency

New Goalie from trade/Sogaard ......... buy out Forsberg
- OttawaB

I would accept all of this. Rittich would have to come back.

Garrioch reporting Tarasenko will pick and choose where he goes.

He has a full NMC.

This also in....water is wet....

Garrioch reporting Tarasenko will pick and choose where he goes.

He has a full NMC.

This also in....water is wet....
- GrimmdaGoalie

poor Bruce. Still trying to be relevant. Never met a buffet he didn't like.

Garrioch reporting Tarasenko will pick and choose where he goes.

He has a full NMC.

This also in....water is wet....
- GrimmdaGoalie

Does anyone have legitimate insight on how Bruce continues to stick around? His “insider” knowledge is not significant, and he randomly has outlandish takes without any merit (like saying Pinto’s career was basically over with the betting scandal and would be lucky to get AHL games this year). I assumed he was a Melnyk brown noser and thought he would be axed with new ownership. Maybe that is coming. I’m shocked he still gets airtime on TSN still. Never seen someone so uncomfortable on camera. Would much rather see Methot more regularly.

It's an excellent question considering how unimportant sports journalism has become as a whole

I don't mind Methot. I liked how he played. He's a good guy. He tries to be impartial which I like. He isn't always successful. What I mean by that is----often people new to the business want to quickly make a name for themselves and their hot takes. Agreeing with the masses is sometimes a good way to do it. He needs to remember that.

Example: Sean Simpson arriving around the time when the new whipping boy was Spezza. Wonderful talent. And a bit of a turn over machine like superstars are. But while Simmer lit the torches for the public - the roars overshadowed the truth that the kid never asked for a trade, had just bought/built a six figure home off Island Park. And once he was gone the pp stank and we were all bemoaning the lack of a center who could run the power play off the wall down low. Well we had one and we ran him out of town...for alex chiasson

Garrioch reporting Tarasenko will pick and choose where he goes.

He has a full NMC.

This also in....water is wet....
- GrimmdaGoalie

Be curious to see what the end return is for him.

While he has a full NTC, several teams are calling.

Mayne he'll have a shortlist which will help, but sens fans should certainly never get their hopes up.

Should Brannstrom be re-signed, traded? We've talked a lot about the LHD on this team.

If one of Chych or Chabot are traded, would you feel OK with him on the bottom pairing? While very different players, Kleven could fit that role much better.

I feel Branny has run his course here. He's never going to be what Pierre thought he'd be. I guess the weird part is, he might end up playing longer than Stone will given Marks' injury history.

I also think that Branstrom is never going to embarrass us somewhere else by suddenly being amazing.

I would not resign him.

Should Brannstrom be re-signed, traded? We've talked a lot about the LHD on this team.

If one of Chych or Chabot are traded, would you feel OK with him on the bottom pairing? While very different players, Kleven could fit that role much better.
- david22

Brannstrom should be traded. If not at the deadline, then in the off-season. He will never be capable of boxing out the larger forwards and fully compete for the puck along the boards.

Our defence is soft and needs more size and nastiness.

Brannstrom is the 4th best LHD on the team. He's got to go.

It's an excellent question considering how unimportant sports journalism has become as a whole

I don't mind Methot. I liked how he played. He's a good guy. He tries to be impartial which I like. He isn't always successful. What I mean by that is----often people new to the business want to quickly make a name for themselves and their hot takes. Agreeing with the masses is sometimes a good way to do it. He needs to remember that.

Example: Sean Simpson arriving around the time when the new whipping boy was Spezza. Wonderful talent. And a bit of a turn over machine like superstars are. But while Simmer lit the torches for the public - the roars overshadowed the truth that the kid never asked for a trade, had just bought/built a six figure home off Island Park. And once he was gone the pp stank and we were all bemoaning the lack of a center who could run the power play off the wall down low. Well we had one and we ran him out of town...for Alex chiasson
- Octavarium

A+. I think you have described the situation with Spezza really well. It is hard for NHL players to play in Canadian markets. Fans are highly knowledgeable. But they can also be wickedly critical.

We also seem to have this need for a designated whipping boy that a large number of fans choose not to like. A good example, in Toronto, is Marner. A fabulous talent. But, if he has one bad shift the negative trolls are fast on his case.

In Ottawa we tend to find a Dman we don't like and pile on whenever he makes a perceived error. Ceci was always being thrown under the bus. Today, we have a bunch of folks now who watch Chabot and Chychrun trying to figure out which one is the real problem.

I wish fans were more self aware of their negative impact on the fragile egos of elite young players.

I would like to see some positive changes in the attitude of the Sens fans base.

Should Brannstrom be re-signed, traded? We've talked a lot about the LHD on this team.

If one of Chych or Chabot are traded, would you feel OK with him on the bottom pairing? While very different players, Kleven could fit that role much better.
- david22

For reference, I didn't include Brannstrom in the trade deadline blog posting because I don't regard him as a legitimate trade deadline target. The litmus test for that being that a playoff-bound team would be calling about him in order to add blueline depth for a deep playoff run. But I don't know any NHL team that's one under-sized, butter-soft, under-producing D-man away from a Stanley Cup run. Now, he may very well get traded, but I can't see it as more than a potential swap with a non-playoff team, or part of a larger deal where he's a secondary asset.

Regardless, I agree that it's time to move on from Brannstrom. For a supposed offensive D-man, there's just no production, and on this team zero opportunity to be more than a 5/6D player. It's also pretty telling that he plays a regular PK shift, given the extent to which he's just absolutely not suited at all to playing an effective PK role. Kleven, on the other hand, is a near-perfect 3rd pairing D-man with size, and all kinds of defensive potential. Time to start letting him learn at the NHL and become as significant a player as possible.

Does anyone have legitimate insight on how Bruce continues to stick around? His “insider” knowledge is not significant, and he randomly has outlandish takes without any merit (like saying Pinto’s career was basically over with the betting scandal and would be lucky to get AHL games this year). I assumed he was a Melnyk brown noser and thought he would be axed with new ownership. Maybe that is coming. I’m shocked he still gets airtime on TSN still. Never seen someone so uncomfortable on camera. Would much rather see Methot more regularly.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Garrioch was absolutely Eugene's yes man - never had a bad thing to say about previous ownership (until the guy died that is - talk about allegiance). Kissing ass and stroking ego were sadly the only ways to get access to this team in the past, which is why brilliant local minds like Ian Mendes had to skulk around the periphery when subpar journalistic talent got to ride shotgun. Integrity in media isn't a given.

Melnyk liked to surround himself with confirmation bias - I don't get the sense that new ownership is as cozy to the sycophant approach. That said, BG has been running this routine for decades now, he likely doesn't know how to do it differently and needs his carbs, so you flog the dead horse as long as the horse will let you.

Garrioch was absolutely Eugene's yes man - never had a bad thing to say about previous ownership (until the guy died that is - talk about allegiance). Kissing ass and stroking ego were sadly the only ways to get access to this team in the past, which is why brilliant local minds like Ian Mendes had to skulk around the periphery when subpar journalistic talent got to ride shotgun. Integrity in media isn't a given.

Melnyk liked to surround himself with confirmation bias - I don't get the sense that new ownership is as cozy to the sycophant approach. That said, BG has been running this routine for decades now, he likely doesn't know how to do it differently and needs his carbs, so you flog the dead horse as long as the horse will let you.
- Bartacus

Hard to disagree here!

Brannstrom is the 4th best LHD on the team. He's got to go.
- PogBoi

Agree

Agree
- AlfieisKing

Addition by Subtraction, both he and Hamonic.

If the Sens put either on waivers (I know, I know....the NMC on Hamonic)....does any team in the league take them for free.

Sens should put Korpo on waivers, dare someone to take him, and completely devalue the goaltending market in one fell swoop.

Addition by Subtraction, both he and Hamonic.

If the Sens put either on waivers (I know, I know....the NMC on Hamonic)....does any team in the league take them for free.

Sens should put Korpo on waivers, dare someone to take him, and completely devalue the goaltending market in one fell swoop.
- GrimmdaGoalie

Harmonic would clear.

Brannstrom I think yes, some team would take a flyer on him for free.

I read that some teams were enquiring about trading for him, but I doubt the return would be substantial.

Harmonic would clear.

Brannstrom I think yes, some team would take a flyer on him for free.

I read that some teams were enquiring about trading for him, but I doubt the return would be substantial.
- david22

It is unfortunate that Hamonic can't be that defensively oriented RD he was always touted to be as an Islander. Ham is only 33, it's not like he's a fossil, but he's had such a mid career. Food for thought: we all anoint Kleven to be the 3LD next year - if he's playing beside JBD or Hamonic - he may be the one counted on most zone exits. I like those two probable bottom pairings - it would be good for Kleven to adapt a stronger two way game early on.

And for that top 4D we need? Dylan Demelo FTW UFA day one. 4*3. do it.

It is unfortunate that Hamonic can't be that defensively oriented RD he was always touted to be as an Islander. Ham is only 33, it's not like he's a fossil, but he's had such a mid career. Food for thought: we all anoint Kleven to be the 3LD next year - if he's playing beside JBD or Hamonic - he may be the one counted on most zone exits. I like those two probable bottom pairings - it would be good for Kleven to adapt a stronger two way game early on.

And for that top 4D we need? Dylan Demelo FTW UFA day one. 4*3. do it.
- Bartacus

Should never have let him go. And for so cheaply.

Shocked at how badly the sens prospect pool is ranked by the athletic. 31 out of 32 and nobody in top 75.

Should never have let him go. And for so cheaply.

Shocked at how badly the sens prospect pool is ranked by the athletic. 31 out of 32 and nobody in top 75.
- GrimmdaGoalie

For those who forgot .... the Sens traded Demelo for a 3rd round pick. They used that pick to select Levi Merilainen. Before we pronounce this a lousy trade, let's see how Merilainen rounds out. He is a 6ft 3in goalie who is only 21 years old and currently has a .929 in his last 10 games with Belleville (.933 last season with Belleville).


As for trading Tarasenko, looks like the market is dictating what Ottawa may get for him. Washington got a 2nd and a 3rd round pick for Mantha. While Tarasenko has experience and slightly better numbers (but Mantha at $2.8 million not the $5 million we pay Tarasenko). So realistically I think we can expect maybe 2 second round picks, or a second and a mid-level prospect. Or just a higher grade prospect who will play in the NHL. Lundell from Florida could be a possibility if we eat half the contract and throw in a sweetener of some sort.

Where does Guenette fit in all these moves. He's NHL ready.

Where does Guenette fit in all these moves. He's NHL ready.
- granpa

I've not been following Belleville very closely at all, but a quick google search says it looks like playoffs are a good possibility.

I imagine leave him there to develop / help out and avoid burning a year of his ELC, and then let him make his case at camp next season.

Where does Guenette fit in all these moves. He's NHL ready.
- granpa

He shoots Right, so he's GOLD

Seems like Ottawa has ALL the LD.

Next year:
Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - UFA or Acquired RD (DeMelo, Walker, Roy...someone under $5mill)
Chychrun - Guenette
Kleven - JBD

If chychrun still here, I mean, and not used to acquire that RD.

Tarasenko is apparently a panther now, one Tkachuk to another lol, picks in return, not revealed yet