Jared Crozier: Game Day: Sabres @ Senators - Anderson's last one for a while?

All eyes will be on Jack Eichel, as the phenom is expected to make his first appearance of the season following a broken leg in practice on the eve of the opener

High ankle sprain.

All eyes will be on Jack Eichel, as the phenom is expected to make his first appearance of the season following a broken leg in practice on the eve of the opener

High ankle sprain.
- cabin

Perhaps jared was thinking about Zibanijad.
Hopefully he comes back tonight. For the league and my fantasy team.

His first game was against the Sens last season I think?

Perhaps jared was thinking about Zibanijad.
Hopefully he comes back tonight. For the league and my fantasy team.

His first game was against the Sens last season I think?
- david22

Yes it was his first . And odd that after all the talk about the sprain. Seemed odd and could have been just a brain fart .

Can't wait for the game tonight. and...

F the Sens

Agreed. It's only been listed as a high ankle sprain for how long now!?

Thoughts and prayers for the Anderson family..

Best wishes to the Andersons during a difficult time.

All eyes will be on Jack Eichel, as the phenom is expected to make his first appearance of the season following a broken leg in practice on the eve of the opener

High ankle sprain.
- cabin

The way it bent, there was a microfracture in there somewhere

The way it bent, there was a microfracture in there somewhere
- JaredCrozier

Well he is in for tonight as confirmed by the coach and him. Should be a great game

Microfracture good cover up

This may have already been discussed at length on here, but after watching some of the more recent games I'm wondering if Ottawa isn't one of the few teams in the league that would opt for the "8 players + 1 goalie" option of expansion draft protection, as opposed to "7 forwards/3 d-men + 1 goalie".

The only 2 players on the roster with NTC/NMC are Phaneuf and MacArthur, and I don't think it would be too hard to convince MacArthur to waive that given the extremely remote chance that he would be selected (though the NHL rules don't specify the need to account for more than NMC). Factor in that Ryan could probably be safely left unprotected due to his contract and Dzingel is exempt due to it only being his 2nd season, that means they could functionally protect 7 forwards while also keeping their top-4 defence intact.

F - Stone, Hoffman, Turris, Brassard (Ryan, MacArthur, Dzingel)
D - Karlsson, Ceci, Phaneuf, Methot
G - Anderson

Given that all of Smith, Pyatt, Kelly, Neil, and Condon are UFA at the end of the year, it would basically mean that either a) one of Pageau, Lazar, Wideman, or Borowiecki is selected, which isn't exactly the end of the world given the prospects that will be vying for some of those positions next season, or b) Ryan is selected, and they would then have over $7M/yr to work with in terms of trying to re-sign Karlsson, Stone, and Turris long-term.

This may have already been discussed at length on here, but after watching some of the more recent games I'm wondering if Ottawa isn't one of the few teams in the league that would opt for the "8 players + 1 goalie" option of expansion draft protection, as opposed to "7 forwards/3 d-men + 1 goalie".

The only 2 players on the roster with NTC/NMC are Phaneuf and MacArthur, and I don't think it would be too hard to convince MacArthur to waive that given the extremely remote chance that he would be selected. Factor in that Ryan could probably be safely left unprotected due to his contract and Dzingel is exempt due to it only being his 2nd season, that means they could functionally protect 7 forwards while also keeping their top-4 defence intact.

F - Stone, Hoffman, Turris, Brassard (Ryan, MacArthur, Dzingel)
D - Karlsson, Ceci, Phaneuf, Methot
G - Anderson

Given that all of Smith, Pyatt, Kelly, Neil, and Condon are UFA at the end of the year, it would basically mean that either a) one of Pageau, Lazar, Wideman, or Borowiecki is selected, which isn't exactly the end of the world given the prospects that will be vying for some of those positions next season, or b) Ryan is selected, and they would then have over $7M/yr to work with in terms of trying to re-sign Karlsson, Stone, and Turris long-term.
- khawk

Dzingel isn't exempt if I recall correctly...3rd year pro

Dzingel isn't exempt if I recall correctly...3rd year pro
- JaredCrozier

That would be unfortunate, but even if it became a choice between Pageau, Dzingel, Lazar, Wideman, and Borowiecki, they would only lose one of those players - all of which are considerably easier to replace than the top-4 defenceman they have regularly paired with their franchise player.

Phaneuf will waive, we leave Ryan and Phaneuf unprotected, and it will solve all of our problems.

No way in hell Vegas takes on Phaneuf's contract. Slight chance they decide to take on Ryan (so they can have a name 'star', if you want to call him that) and if so, whatever.. good riddance.

I don't hate Ryan at all, and I have actually started to see his value more and more...he's just not worth what he makes on a budget team.

Phaneuf will waive, we leave Ryan and Phaneuf unprotected, and it will solve all of our problems.

No way in hell Vegas takes on Phaneuf's contract. Slight chance they decide to take on Ryan (so they can have a name 'star', if you want to call him that) and if so, whatever.. good riddance.

I don't hate Ryan at all, and I have actually started to see his value more and more...he's just not worth what he makes on a budget team.
- Charliebox

There you go.
I think Ryan's contract works out well for us ... Phaneuf won't get picked up but what if Vegas had to hit the floor or something? But I doubt it with free agency and vegas being a possible destination.

Phaneuf will waive, we leave Ryan and Phaneuf unprotected, and it will solve all of our problems.
- Charliebox

Asking a player to waive their NMC twice in ~16 months is a pretty tall order... particularly when they specifically waived it to join the Senators. I'm also not convinced that risking losing a top-4 defenceman is a good idea. People can crap on Phaneuf if they want to, but with a stable top-4 and a bit of coaching attention this team is back to being top-5 in the league in both GA/GP and PK% and have the best 1-goal game record in the NHL.

Put another way, look at the prices teams are paying to acquire top-4 d-men either in terms of trade assets or UFA dollars... compare that with what it would cost to replace the likes of Pageau, Lazar, or Dzingel, especially when they might not be so affordable on their next RFA contracts. I just don't see the objective value of protecting mediocre forwards ahead of 20min/gp players.

Man, Jack has really come back from that microfracture....

Stone picking up where he left off after that slow start

Stone picking up where he left off after that slow start
- david22

Glad I had him going in my fantasy league. The Sabres were lucky to skate away with 2 points tonight. Ottawa picked them apart in the 2nd period and good portions of the 3rd.

What happened w his wife's family?....couldn't find it in the piece.