Kevin Francis: Sens trade for forward Dylan Gambrell from San Jose

Nothing to discuss

Well, there's the #4C issue resolved... Gambrell isn't great, but he at least can play a bit of PK, and has some experience taking 500+ face-offs (even if he tends to only win ~44%). Glad to see they didn't give up any kind of major assets... trading 1 of their 3 7th round picks in the coming 2022 draft is about as small a price as they could have made. Plus, it's handy that he's a natural RH shot, as he could also chip in at RW where they're also very thin.

In other news, Lucas Raymond now with 7pts in 6GP., including a hat trick tonight.. amazing what can happen when you play a talented young winger with a legitimate C/W combination (i.e. Larkin/Bertuzzi), instead of just a grab-bag of random players.

Nothing to discuss
- themaynia

My issue is with asset management. We had Mike Amadio here and let him walk for less money.

Don't worry this is just a small favor sens did for sharks to give back 2022 7th rounder, sharks will then give us a great deal on hertl soon.🤭🤫🤔

Well, there's the #4C issue resolved... Gambrell isn't great, but he at least can play a bit of PK, and has some experience taking 500+ face-offs (even if he tends to only win ~44%). Glad to see they didn't give up any kind of major assets... trading 1 of their 3 7th round picks in the coming 2022 draft is about as small a price as they could have made. Plus, it's handy that he's a natural RH shot, as he could also chip in at RW where they're also very thin.

In other news, Lucas Raymond now with 7pts in 6GP., including a hat trick tonight.. amazing what can happen when you play a talented young winger with a legitimate C/W combination (i.e. Larkin/Bertuzzi), instead of just a grab-bag of random players.
- khawk

I just updated my blog with the Amadio info. Yes, they give up nothing really for him, but we had a guy in Amadio, similar stats etc....but let him walk.

Yes, I watched a good chunk of that Wings game. Raymond looked awesome!!!!

Don't worry this is just a small favor sens did for sharks to give back 2022 7th rounder, sharks will then give us a great deal on hertl soon.🤭🤫🤔
- SENS-sational

True they are getting back the pick they gave Ottawa for Jarros.

Well, there's the #4C issue resolved... Gambrell isn't great, but he at least can play a bit of PK, and has some experience taking 500+ face-offs (even if he tends to only win ~44%). Glad to see they didn't give up any kind of major assets... trading 1 of their 3 7th round picks in the coming 2022 draft is about as small a price as they could have made. Plus, it's handy that he's a natural RH shot, as he could also chip in at RW where they're also very thin.

In other news, Lucas Raymond now with 7pts in 6GP., including a hat trick tonight.. amazing what can happen when you play a talented young winger with a legitimate C/W combination (i.e. Larkin/Bertuzzi), instead of just a grab-bag of random players.
- khawk

Dorion has now acquired Sanford and Gambrell, to go with Ennis off the PTO! Man, he keeps blowing away Sens fans with upgrading the roster! Please add another 4th line player to the mix.

Don't worry this is just a small favor sens did for sharks to give back 2022 7th rounder, sharks will then give us a great deal on hertl soon.🤭🤫🤔
- SENS-sational

Given that he was the Sharks' 2nd round pick in 2016, there's a fairly good chance that Gambrell was scouted pretty thoroughly by the Senators as a possible inclusion in the Karlsson trade. At this point, he's a decent #4C option, and has >100GP of NHL experience. The 7th round pick won't really be missed... though he was waived just 2 weeks ago. So it was probably something they could have been more proactive about, but at least it helps fill the immediate need.

Now if they'd just find a f$%#ing half-decent C to help Stutzle, that would be a peach.

Comments so far don't register the main problem here: injuries. Sens mgt predicted a fully healthy roster for the whole year, and thus didn't spend more. Now, major injuries for extended periods necessitates moves that costs them *a touch* more real money. 'Could've qualified Amadio' people say. 400k in the minors is big minors money for a cash poor team folks. Preseason and pre-injuries, if Sens brass assumed before start of season that, if signed, Amadio would be sent down to play in Belleville, I guarantee Melnyk'd never pay a contract giving the guy more than 200kpy downstairs, or closer to whatever the minor minimum is. It's a calculated gamble (or 'Gambrell', dare I say), but it shows one thing and one thing only to be true: real money is an issue for this team as we continue to ride the cap floor. Period. With his one way contract, like it or not, Gambrell is with the team for the year, and at 1.1M, he ain't getting sent down for anything.

Consider Ladd being waived at almost 5M for the NYI - that would *never* happen here in Ottawa. A Melnyk team will *not*, period *not*, eat real salary (which I'll qualify as over 1M for the sake of discussion) in the minors. They may have ten years ago, but now, not so much. You can stuff all those trade rumours that show the Sens retaining salary or taking on a bad contract for picks - that just won't happen, clear as day, *unless* it helps them reach the floor.

The sad thing is, as minor as this deal is, if Gambrell severely underperforms, Melnyk will probably be legit upset with Dorion for costing him that extra 350-400k. It might mean switching from prosciutto to ham for a year. Goose foie to duck for Melnyk. Pierre Dorion's free sandwiches degraded from albacore to skipjack.

Such is the way of this team, as it struggles to find ways to ride the floor while being competitive. It's Billy Beane hockey, minus the analytics. But that said, I'm an optimist and I hope Gambrell kills it and is our 2C by end of year - it is not out of the realm of possibility given the player's past profile, maybe he's rad and can be flipped for a second at the deadline. Go Sens.

I don't even like Dorion but I'm happy to see he's not panicking because of some bad injury luck.

There are some who are like those spoiled brats rolling around on the floor in Walmarts throwing a fit and screaming "Wah!!! Wah!!! Playoffs now!!! We've got prospects and picks so let's trade them away and we've got cap space so let's use it up and worry about signing our good young players when the time comes. Wah!!! Wah!!!" but fortunately cooler heads are prevailing and the team is not getting sucked into short sighted moves that will damage the future of the franchise.

Also Stutzle should be on the first line with Norris and Batherson and Tkachuk should be on the second line except he's probably not good enough to make that work. Maybe when Pinto gets back?

I don't even like Dorion but I'm happy to see he's not panicking because of some bad injury luck.

There are some who are like those spoiled brats rolling around on the floor in Walmarts throwing a fit and screaming "Wah!!! Wah!!! Playoffs now!!!" but fortunately cooler heads are prevailing and the team is not getting sucked into short sighted moves that will damage the future of the franchise.

Also Stutzle should be on the first line with Norris and Batherson and Tkachuk should be on the second line except he's probably not good enough to make that work. Maybe when Pinto gets back?
- Whatisavailable

I don't think anybody, even those of us who are optimistic, see this as a playoff team just yet. Ottawa fans don't even show up during the playoffs when they somewhat believe in the team (see 2017 attendance for early playoff games). Even if we make the playoffs this year, I doubt we'll get full attendance.

That said, I 100% agree with Stützle being our full time #1 LW. In an ideal world, Brady should play on the second at 5.5*6, but now we are paying him 8M+, you can forget about it. Bobby Ryan looks OK on a 3rd line. Shoehorn him into a first line and get ready to deal with issues. In its current manifestation, if the Ottawa Senators pay out real $ to a player, you can expect said player on the first line for the first year(s) of that contract, whether or not they belong there. See: Bobby Ryan. See: Colin White.

Should note though that Tkachuk and Norris are big time friends and love playing together - I wouldn't mind seeing Stützle tried at RW (or switched with Tkachuk LW/RW) to see if he gels better than Batherson, because I think Bath might be a player that can drive a 2 line on his own, à la Mark Stone.

I don't think anybody, even those of us who are optimistic, see this as a playoff team just yet. Ottawa fans don't even show up during the playoffs when they don't believe in the team (see 2017 attendance for early playoff games). Even if we make the playoffs this year, I doubt we'll get full attendance.

That said, I 100% agree with Stützle being our full time #1 LW. In an ideal world, Brady should play on the second at 5.5*6, but now we are paying him 8M+, you can forget about it. Bobby Ryan looks great on a 3rd line. Shoehorn him into a first line and get ready to deal with issues. In its current manifestation, if the Ottawa Senators pay out real $ to a player, you can expect said player on the first line for the first years of that contract, whether or not they belong there. See: Bobby Ryan. See: Colin White.

Should note though that Tkachuk and Norris are big time friends and love playing together - I wouldn't mind seeing Stützle tried at RW to see if he gelled better than Batherson, because I think Bath might be a player that can drive a 2 line on his own, à la Mark Stone.
- Bartacus

The Tkachuk problem and his eight million dollar salary is going to become a really big problem in the not too distant future. He's just not good enough to be your first line LW and I can't see a second line guy making eight million unless those intangibles somehow make it make sense. I sure hope he hasn't peaked in his development. I guess we'll find out this year.

PS: Keeping a legitimate first line LW off of that line qualifies as a negative intangible.

Excited to have won the ticket contest! Thanks for the opportunities, Kevin. You've done a good job keeping these blogs engaging.

The trade is meh. I think Dorion is probably still looking for help at centre.

Bartacus pretty much nailed it.

Eugene is the poorest "billionaire" you'll ever meet. The Barbados properties are gone, the horses are gone, biovale stock and ownership gone. His only asset IS the building and the team. And it's all heavily leveraged\financed.

Such is the way of this team, as it struggles to find ways to ride the floor while being competitive. It's Billy Beane hockey, minus the analytics. But that said, I'm an optimist and I hope Gambrell kills it and is our 2C by end of year - it is not out of the realm of possibility given the player's past profile, maybe he's rad and can be flipped for a second at the deadline. Go Sens.
- Bartacus

That would be an ambitious trajectory for Gambrell... personally, I'll be happy if he just plays well enough to be a #3/4C stop-gap for the next couple of months until White returns to the lineup. Maybe more importantly, his addition plus having Paul move to C also creates some space for Pinto to maybe play down in the AHL for a while. Nobody will ever question his work ethic, but there's more than one concerning trend developing...

2020/21 - 12GP, 7Pts, +6, 10PIM, 12:31/GP, 11 H, 9 BS, 3 GA, 40.9% FO
2021/22 - 4GP, 1Pts, even, 2PIM, 14:59/GP, 0 H, 0 BS, 5 GA 34.0% FO

It's not an overly huge sample size, but when a young player's scoring is down, hitting is down, blocked shots are down, faceoffs are down, giveaways are up, +/- is down, and they get injured... you maybe have to consider whether that player is being rushed a bit. Pinto came into the NHL on fire after a near-Hobey Baker quality season... I really hope they aren't rushing him because they're too cheap to fill the #2C gap, right to the point where he'll never develop the scoring confidence to be more than a #3C.

That would be an ambitious trajectory for Gambrell... personally, I'll be happy if he just plays well enough to be a #3/4C stop-gap for the next couple of months until White returns to the lineup. Maybe more importantly, his addition plus having Paul move to C also creates some space for Pinto to maybe play down in the AHL for a while. Nobody will ever question his work ethic, but there's more than one concerning trend developing...

2020/21 - 12GP, 7Pts, +6, 10PIM, 12:31/GP, 11 H, 9 BS, 3 GA, 40.9% FO
2021/22 - 4GP, 1Pts, even, 2PIM, 14:59/GP, 0 H, 0 BS, 5 GA 34.0% FO

It's not an overly huge sample size, but when a young player's scoring is down, hitting is down, blocked shots are down, faceoffs are down, giveaways are up, +/- is down, and they get injured... you maybe have to consider whether that player is being rushed a bit. Pinto came into the NHL on fire after a near-Hobey Baker quality season... I really hope they aren't rushing him because they're too cheap to fill the #2C gap, right to the point where he'll never develop the scoring confidence to be more than a #3C.
- khawk

I totally agree. I don't think Pinto is ready to be a number 2 C. Either move him down the lineup or give him some time in Belleville. Take care of this guy.

Mannnnn.... I like Jake Sanderson but wish Lucas Raymond fell to Ottawa


My top 5 from that Draft (at that time):

1. Tim Stutzle
2. Quinton Byfield (only because he's center)
3. Lucas Raymond
4. Alexis Lafrienere
5. Jamie Drysdale/Jake Sanderson toss up

Excited to have won the ticket contest! Thanks for the opportunities, Kevin. You've done a good job keeping these blogs engaging.

The trade is meh. I think Dorion is probably still looking for help at centre.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

congrats gord ... I was close but think I lost picking Seattle over Vancouver. Damn Kraken gave up the lead

Essentially we traded Jaros for Gambrell…. I’m ok with that.

I get your point on Amadio. But when we let him go, we weren’t down all these guys to injury. And hind sight is always 20/20.

Given that he was the Sharks' 2nd round pick in 2016, there's a fairly good chance that Gambrell was scouted pretty thoroughly by the Senators as a possible inclusion in the Karlsson trade. At this point, he's a decent #4C option, and has >100GP of NHL experience. The 7th round pick won't really be missed... though he was waived just 2 weeks ago. So it was probably something they could have been more proactive about, but at least it helps fill the immediate need.

Now if they'd just find a f$%#ing half-decent C to help Stutzle, that would be a peach.
- khawk

Pinto wasn’t injured 2 weeks ago. I’m not even sure if Bishop was injured 2 weeks ago. I don’t know why everyone is having such a hard time understanding that this is a move directly related to the recent injuries. We weren’t looking to keep Amadio or add depth players a couple weeks ago.

I am unable to go to the game tonight. There is a ticket up for grabs if someone wants to sit in the nosebleeds with my Dad and Uncle.

As far as I know, my ticket is still available. Hit me up if you wanna go. You can car pool with Gord. Lol

Realistically, why the fetch is josh brown in the lineup.

Realistically, why the fetch is josh brown in the lineup.
- TDBSenatoR

Josh pylon Brown… On the ice for both goals against. Maybe he’s here to ensure we are in the lottery running for Shane Wright? It’s the only sense I can make of it.

I'm watching the game and I've seen 3rd and 4th line on the ice more than 1 and 2. Are we scared to play our top guys in case they get injured?😑😑😑