It's been about 3 months since I last wrote a post, and honestly the fact that I haven't vanished for like 9 months is a miracle in itself, but here we are.
We are just about to start the 2020-2021 season... in 2021 itself.
It's going to be a weird season.
Please note: CW/TW in this post for domestic violence and substance abuse. I will try to discuss this as sensitively as possible.
First of all... where were we?
Lets start where we left off last time.
We had just signed Josh Brown and were preparing for the draft. I complained about how we'd let go of Boro, Anderson and Ryan, hadn't signed Chucky, Duclair or Connor Brown yet and I made a loose draft prediction.
Well, currently, our beloved Borocop is now a Nashville Predator, Anderson has just signed with the Capitals, Ryan is a member of the Detroit Red Wings and Anthony Duclair is a Florida Panther. I'm happy all of the guys got deals, and wish them the best of luck with their new teams.
With regards to Chucky and Connor Brown, I'll get to them later.
I was also half right about the draft. I successfully predicted Stuetzle (I don't have a way to get an umlaut on this okay leave me be) at 3rd overall, because I figured that LA would snap up Byfield. I wasn't admittedly expecting Sanderson at 5th, however I don't think anyone was.
Now, before we look at the upcoming season and the current announced roster for training camp, let's review what good old Pierre Dorion (henceforth referred to as Dorion or simply PD) has been doing the past few months.
Heads up... it's quite a lot.
In fact, so much that I don't think I can go into great detail about all of it because it would take too long, so apologies if some of the smaller news stories I only gloss over briefly.
In fact, so much that I don't think I can go into great detail about all of it because it would take too long, so apologies if some of the smaller news stories I only gloss over briefly.
A lot can happen in three months...
October
The second day of the draft it was announced that we had acquired the signing rights for Matt Murray in exchange for Jonathan Gruden and a 2020 2nd round pick that originally belonged to Columbus.
While it was surprising that we went for Murray, we did really need a goalie. With the Sens choosing to part ways with Anderson and Anders Nilsson out with concussion issues, it would've been far too risky to start Hogberg / Gustavsson / Daccord, even in a shortened season. Murray was subsequently signed for 4 years with an AAV of $6.25m.
Next - also the second day of the draft - Dorion decided to shuffle some deck chairs and make a pick trade. We swapped the NY Islanders' 2020 2nd pick and our 2020 3rd for Toronto's 2nd, a slightly higher pick.
Here's a quick recap of our picks from the 2020 draft:
3rd Tim Stuetzle
5th Jake Sanderson
28th Ridly Greig
33rd Roby Jarventie
44th Tyler Kleven
61st Yegor Sokolov
71st Leevi Merilainen
155th Eric Engstrand
158th Phillipe Daoust
181st Cole Reinhardt
As previously stated in other posts, I am by no means your gal for deep dive prospect analysis, so please go check out my friends over at silversevensens for some good analysis.
I will say one thing though- once again, the Sens have drafted players committed to UND. I still joke that my theory is we have such a little scouting budget that we can only afford a few flights a year so we have to take that trip to Grand Forks. However in all seriousness, I don't actually think it's that bad a thing to draft players that will be playing together before they join the Sens. Creating a sense of camaraderie can't hurt.
Very shortly after this, we sent a 2021 5th round pick to Anaheim for Erik Gudbranson. I had my doubts about this trade, but at the same time, I didn't/don't mind it much. While I am concerned that once again the Sens are ruining the whole "the kids are alright" campaign they had going on and that Gudbranson's stats are uh, not the best... Gudbranson is a UFA this year at a $4m cap hit, we only sent over a 5th for him and we at the time of this trade we need more help towards reaching the cap floor than we do on the ice. He's also a local boy. Because of course he is.
Then, we signed Matthew Peca and Logan Shaw to 2-way contracts, the former being for 1 year at $700,000 in the NHL and the latter for 2 with an AAV of $725,00. Peca came to us in a trade from Montreal early last year, and Shaw came to us as a free agent, having previously played for Winnipeg.
In a move that angered many Sens fans, Austin Watson was brought to the Sens from Nashville in exchange for a 2021 4th (belonging to Colorado).
Yes, *that* Austin Watson.
Watson was arrested in 2018 on DV charges against his girlfriend Jenn Guardino and was suspended for 18 games. While at the time, there was outrage, from myself included, the details around the case now are grey and muddy- since the charges Guardino has publicly defended her partner and taken the blame for the incident (https://eu.tennessean.com/story/sports/nhl/predators/2019/11/06/nashville-predators-austin-watson-girlfriend-arrest-domestic-violence-alcoholism-mental-health/2508673001/).
Both have attributed alcohol issues to the events of that day. I would like to think that there was no DV that day, and that indeed both are okay, but I think this tweet from Kevin Lee sums up my thoughts on the situation well:
https://twitter.com/BringBackLee/status/1315032263864844290
I personally am still uncomfortable with the trade, but I understand everyone will have differing opinions and I respect them.
Even with all of the history aside, Watson's on-ice performances leave a lot to be desired, he still has 3 years left on his deal luckily only at $1.5m AAV and again I worry how well "the kids are alright" narrative is going.
Perhaps to save face with fans, it was announced shortly after this that Nick Paul had signed a 2 year contract with an AAV of $1.35m. To my surprise, this was a one-way deal, and I'm actually really happy for Paul. He has often been victim to being sent up and down Highway 7 so I'm glad to see he has a solid place in the NHL group- let's just hope he gets good minutes given to him. Paul was previously a part of the Spezza trade.
Continuing his spending spree, PD decided his next move would be to sign free agent Evgenii Dadonov to a 3 year contract at an AAV of $5m. Maybe we overpaid but again, good old cap floor has to be reached, and I was actually pretty stoked about this. Sens need all the powerplay help they can get and from what I have seen Dadonov is an impressive player. The deal doesn't take him past his prime either. Good job PD.
Also, take a shot every time someone calls him Daddynov this year.
After this, Rudolfs Balcers was signed to a 1 year, 2 way contract for $735,000 in the NHL. We previously acquired Balcers from the Karlsson trade, and he made a bit of a name for himself... because of his name.
Joey Daccord was signed for 3 years- 2 years as a 2 way contract, 1 year as a 1 way for an AAV of $750,000 in the NHL. Daccord was drafted by the Sens back in 2015.
JC Beaudin was signed to a 1 year, 2 way contract for $700,000 in the NHL. Beaudin has been a part of the Sens org since early 2019.
Connor Brown was finally signed to a 3 year deal for an AAV of $3.6m. Since coming to us from Toronto as part of the Ceci/Zaitsev swap/thing/whatever the hell that was, I've been impressed with Brown's play. He put up good points and over the years has been steadily improving, and is a solid player who I'm happy to have around.
Next up, it was Chris Tierney, who was signed for 2 years with an AAV of $3.5m. Tierney also came to us in the Karlsson trade. A decent player who got his career high in points in his first year with the Sens, and put up relatively good numbers last year, who doesn't end up in the box much? I'm okay with this deal.
Next up on PD's to do list was to sign Filip Chlapik to a1 year, 2 way for $735,000 in the NHL. Chlapik was drafted by the Sens in 2015 and has flip-flopped between the AHL and NHL since. We still don't really know what will happen with Chlapik's future, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
To round up October, Dorion chose his reclamation project for this year, choosing to sign Alex Galchenyuk to a 1 year, $1.05m contract. First it was Duclair, who we didn't get anything for via trade, or even sign, now it's Galch.
Jokes aside though, I really hope he does well this season, whether he stays with us or not, he deserves a good season.
November
PD slowed down a bit in November, as hockey headed further into an 'offseason'.
Firstly, d-man Christan Jaros was signed to a 1 year, 2 way contract worth $750,000 in the NHL. Jaros, like Chlapik, was drafted in 2015 and also has been flip-flopping between Ottawa and Belleville.
Next, we signed Michael Haley to a 1 year, 2 way contract also worth $750,000. He signed as a free agent, having most recently played with the New York Rangers.
To round out November, Yegor Sokolov, one of our draft picks this year, was signed to a 3 year ELC.
December-present
Next on PD's to do list was a minor league deal- we sent Michael Carcone to Nashville for Zachary Magwood. Magwood is an RFA at $753,333 AAV.
Then, we sent a 2021 2nd (originally belonging to Columbus) to Arizona for forward Derek Stepan. A former alternate captain for both Arizona and the Rangers, Stepan was brought in to add some veteran presence. At this point, several free agents and trades later I've given given up on "the kids are alright" completely. Let's hope he can bring some good leadership and points to a team that needs it.
Next, in some LTIR shenanigans, we sent Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson to Tampa Bay in exchange for Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette and a 2022 second. I actually like this deal by Dorion- he managed to trade away two players we couldn't play anyway and get back two depth guys to potentially expose for the Seattle draft, and a third round pick?
We didn't see much of Marian Gaborik in his time with the Sens, but we will miss Anders Nilsson. A prominent ally and activist for LGBTQ+ rights and all-round great guy, Nilsson stood on his head for us most games. I hope both him and Gaborik recover soon. In terms of Coburn and Paquette, I really don't know too much about them. Both were depth players for Tampa putting up 15-20 points the last few seasons, and I mean they both have a cup, so maybe we'll get that good old league winning mentality brought across.
We didn't see much of Marian Gaborik in his time with the Sens, but we will miss Anders Nilsson. A prominent ally and activist for LGBTQ+ rights and all-round great guy, Nilsson stood on his head for us most games. I hope both him and Gaborik recover soon. In terms of Coburn and Paquette, I really don't know too much about them. Both were depth players for Tampa putting up 15-20 points the last few seasons, and I mean they both have a cup, so maybe we'll get that good old league winning mentality brought across.
In another ELC deal, we signed draft pick from this year Ridly Greig to a 3 year ELC.
After jumping back on the ELC train, PD decided to stay on it and finally sign our good German boy Tim Stuetzle to a 3 year ELC.
I was so impressed with Stuetzle at the World Juniors. I watched every team Germany game I could (depending on time difference) and basically rooted for them in the tournament. I really think he's going to be a star and I am so excited. Once he finds his feet, I need him on a line with Chucky. Imagine the shithousery. Imagine it.
Also, it's his birthday as I post this (in the UK). Happy Birthday Timmy!
Just when we thought Dorion was done before the season started, he placed half the team on waivers to send them down to the AHL or put them on the taxi squad, as to be expected though. During this however, we lost Rudolfs Balcers, who was scooped back up by the Sharks, the team we acquired him from in the Karlsson trade in the first place.
Then, after clearing waivers, Max Lajoie was traded for Clark Bishop in a deal with the Hurricanes. Bishop's contract is $700,000 in the NHL, however he will suit up for Belleville.
Aaaaaaand, that's it. I think. There's a very high chanced I have missed something, but hey ho, you get the gist.
Well, where are we now?
Well, the season has started, albeit not for the Sens at least, and for all teams this 56 game season is going to be very different.
The divisions have been reshuffled to account for COVID-19, with the Sens joining all other Canadian teams in the Scotia NHL North division (in other words, just the North Division). While I am going to miss seeing the Sens battle teams from across the USA (including the teams that my friends and boyfriend support), I am definitely looking forward to all of these games.
With each team playing each other 9-10 times (see the Sens games here: https://www.nhl.com/senators/news/ottawa-senators-announce-23-player-opening-night-roster/c-320234414 ), the rivalries are really going to heat up (I personally cannot wait for the Battle of Alberta) and I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
That being said, I still don't have hope for the Sens to not finish in last place. I just hope at least I'll enjoy the games, as it's been about 10 months since we last saw our team step onto the ice, and boy have I missed them.
The Sens this year (as you can see by the length of this damn post) are pretty different than last however. Be sure to check the confirmed roster here:
https://www.nhl.com/senators/news/ottawa-senators-announce-23-player-opening-night-roster/c-320234414.
Our alternate captains are going to be Chabot, Gudbranson, and Chucky, although I've also heard rumours Stepan might share with Gudbranson.
I'm going to do a special shout out also to Sens Money on the Board, who this season are raising money for the Canadian Blood Services/Canada's Lifeline in honour of Brian Fraser. See more here:
https://twitter.com/SensMotB/status/1349546579972116481?s=20
If you can share any money to make a pledge, please do so!
Lastly, I'm going to leave you with my final thought.
Where the fuck is the Brady Tkachuk contract?
As always, shout out to Elite Prospects, Capfriendly and the Sens NHL page for some of the information and statistics displayed here. All opinions are my own.
Comments
Post a Comment