Vermette Rumours

Year after year the name of Antoine Vermette pops up at the trade deadline and on July 1st. He is apparently always the coveted and “prized piece” of the trade. My question is why?

It just doesn’t make any sense. Vermette started his career on the 4th line with the Senators and in the next 6 years, he’s played everywhere from 2nd line wingers, 4th line centre. Each and every time that he’s been given an opportunity to take on a larger role with the team, his play proved that he is nothing more than an offensive 3rd line center that can kill penalties. Too often his plays end up in the corner and he rarely finishes off his checks. If the NHL tracked the amount of KM’s skated by each player like FIFA does, I’m sure he would lead both teams in distance skated… however on most nights that’s all he does. Skates around the ice aimlessly.

If a team is willing to offer Vermette (or Andrej Meszaros for that matter) a contract averaging $3.5 million/year, I’d see no point in the Senators matching the offer. Here is the break-down (non-official) for Offer Sheets:

Amount	Compensation Due
$863,156 or less	None
$863,156 – $1,307,811	3rd round pick
$1,307,811 – $2,615,623	2nd round pick
$2,615,623 – $3,923,434	1st and 3rd round pick
$3,923,434 – $5,231,246	1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick
$5,231,246 – $6,539,061	Two 1st’s, one 2nd, one 3rd round pick
$6,539,061 or more	Four 1st round picks

At $3.5 million /year the Sens would stand to receive a 1st and 3rd round pick in next year’s draft. One could only hope that the Offering team finishes poorly so the Sens have an outside shot at landing Tavarez or Hedman.

Brian McGrattan traded to Phoenix

Many Senators appeared to have lost a willingness to play for each last year.  A few of the more common rumours were:

1 – Emery, McGrattan and Spezza have setup a camp in the dressing room and are sticking together
2 – Spezza moved in with his girl friend at the recommendation of the Team to get away from Emery’s party lifestyle
3 – Heatley wanted to show that Spezza sucked by out-shinning and out-classing him at the World Juniors

With the buy-out of Emery’s contract and McGrattan’s trade to Phoenix, Spezza’s supposed “camp” will be short a few members next year.  Bryan Murray alluded many times to a “problem” that existed in the dressing room and he appears to have dealt with it, in Murray-fashion, quietly and internally to the team.

Many people, like myself, invest lots of time and money into the Ottawa Senators.  While everyone enjoys the odd garbage news tid-bit, deep down I don’t want to hear about Emery’s cola problem or Spezza’s wild nights downtown.  It devalues the product on ice and thus cheapens the value I receive for my time and money.

Here’s to hoping the problem was really the negative vibes thrown towards Spezza’s way by these 2 ass-clowns and next year the team will focus more on business as opposed to the extra-curricular activities all too often associated with hockey players.

Big influx of players on waivers

As most readers probably already know, Kyle Wellwood was claimed by the Canucks via the waiver wire this morning.

However 2 other interessing players have also been waived/bought-out by their teams:

1 – Darcy Tucker, Arsehole, Blue Team
2 – Marc Denis – Goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning

With the Senators extremely thing in nets and an apparent unwillingness to build their goaltending corps through the draft, the Senators should tender an offer to Marc Denis come July 1st. He’ll obviously be looking at a pay cutt but if he’s willing to sign a 2-way contract, there is very little risk for the Sens to take a chance on the 30-year old netminder.

He came from the traditional non-hockey market of Columbus and was expected to fill in the shoes of Nikolai Khabibulin in Tampa Bay the year after he won the Stanley Cup. When the expirement flopped and the team’s play went sour, the blame was largely placed on his shoulders. However, Denis was always known as a fundamentally sound, positional goalie. Much like Gerber proved during the first few months of last year, a positional goalie will excel when a team plays sound defensively hockey in front of him.

If signed under $1 million/year on a 2-way contract, Marc Denis could very well provide the Sens with an expirenced option to play behind Martin Gerber and also let Brian Elliot develop in the minors as opposed to sitting on the bench this year.

As for Darcy “Mother” Tucker, as with any other time a gritty player from the Blue Team becomes available, automatic Sens rumours arise. If Tucker is signed to the Sens, it’s a train wreck waiting to happen. Without knowing the guy, he looks like the type of guy that takes up too much place in the dressing and more dissention in the ranks could lead to even more scrutiny of the leader and captain of the Senators, Daniel Alfredsson. Not some punk from T.dot that thinks he has what it takes to win a Cup by diving and giving out cheap shots every shift.

Some people may call that a gamer but I consider it cheating your way through a game that has long since surpassed you. So no Tucker in the Red, Black and Gold!

Ottawa Senators’ Post-draft 2008-09 Projected Lineup

Many readers are looking for answers to the Sens’ lineup next year. With a slew of UFA left to sign and, with all respect to Brian McGrattan, 2 significant RFA signings.

A few caveats before I post my projected lineup.

- Since none of this weekend’s draft picks can seriously be expected to crack the NHL lineup next year, I will base this projected lineup without taken them in consideration

- I read a lot of rumours sites, and I will include the most likely players to be re-signed or signed by the club come July 1st

- Keep in mind that I’m just an average fan and these are my best guesstimates

Here is the most complete list of the Sens’ UFAs and RFAs currently un-signed as of Monday June 23rd (taken from www.hockeybuzz.com with a few edits and my – comments):

COMMODORE, MIKE D OTT UFA – will not be re-signed
DIMITRAKOS, NICHOLAS R OTT UFA – probably re-signed in a 2-way contract
DONOVAN, SHEAN R OTT UFA – probably not re-signed
GLASS, JEFF G OTT RFA – not re-signed
HENNESSY, JOSHUA C OTT RFA – not re-signed
KINCH, MATTHEW D OTT UFA – probably re-signed in a 2-way contract
LAPOINTE, MARTIN R OTT UFA – not re-signed
LUTTINEN, ARTTU L OTT RFA – don’t know
MAPLETOFT, JUSTIN C OTT UFA – don’t know
MCGRATTAN, BRIAN R OTT RFA – probably re-signed in a 2-way contract
(Edit: Traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for a 5th round selection in 2009 draft)
MESZAROS, ANDREJ D OTT RFA – re-signed and possibly trade
REDDEN, WADE D OTT UFA – will not be re-signed
RICHARDSON, LUKE D OTT UFA – will not be re-signed
ROBITAILLE, RANDY C OTT UFA – will not be re-signed
STILLMAN, CORY L OTT UFA – may be re-signed
VERMETTE, ANTOINE C OTT RFA – will be re-signed

So keeping the list above in mind, here a complete list of Senators that are signed or will be under contract with the team next year and the possible line combinations:

Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley
Foligno-Fisher-Nikulin
Kelly-Vermette-Stillman
Neil-McAmmond-Bass

An interesting problem to this lineup is the serious lack, once again, of secondary scoring.

Mike Fisher is a great 3rd line center but goes through long scoring droughts far too often to be a 2nd line talent. With Nikulin and Zubov waiting for a spot in the Minors, could one of them step in like Alexei Kaigorodov was supposed to a few seasons ago? Should one of them firmly take place of the 2nd line position, that would probably leave Antoine Vermette as the odd man out. Would you rather pay Vermette $2.5-$3 million year or pay Nikulin/Zubov a third of that and get the same production. With Cody Bass’ displaying a knack for penalty killing, Vermette’s contract is a lot less warranted.

If Cory Stillman is not re-signed, expect Brian Willsie, a Los Angeles Kings’ UFA or a player similar to Ryan Malone of Pittsburgh to be signed and slotted on the 3rd line with Kelly and Vermette.

As for the defensemen, here are my projected pairings. Matt Carkner was re-signed with the intention of having him play a similar role to that of Luke Richardson’s last year. Therefore I added him as a 7th defenseman on the NHL squad:

Phillips-Volchenkov
Lee-Schubert
Meszaros-
Carkner

With the abundance of forwards, I fully expect Schubert to be returned full-time to the blue line next season. There is a void alongside Andrei Meszaros that has to be filled. An interesting possibility is the signing of Brendan Bell who is a Group 4 UFA this summer. He’s an offensive defensemen that can move the puck but plays much smaller than his 6′1, 205 lbs frame. If he was signed, expect to see the Phillips-Volchenkov pairing split, as the pairings of Meszaros-Bell would lead to a serious lack of defensive zone coverage.

Other possible signings: Alexei Semenov (he’d be cheap)

As for the goalies, Brian Elliot sustained a late season knee injury last year and he will probably be given a few months this season to rehab in the Minors. Thus leaving Martin Gerber as the sole NHL ready goalie in the system.

There are rumbles that Ty Conklin, Curtis Joseph or Dwayne Rolosson may be offered a contract to try and push Gerber for the #1 spot. A reliable backup is a must need for the team and anyone of these goalies fits the bill. If signed to a 1-year contract, it will give the team the flexibility of handing the reigns to Brian Elliot next year and re-signing the goalie as a backup for the following season as well.

Ottawa Senators Draft Results

With the coming and going of the first full-fledge draft held in Ottawa’s modern history, the Senators have added a slew of young talents. As is the case with many of the Senators’ drafts of recent memory, many of the fans are left with a: “Who are these guys?” feeling when discussions arise of the players selected.

However, many locals were probably saying the same thing with the selections of Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Andrei Meszaros. Since the year that they selected Jason Spezza with the 2nd pick overall, only 10 out of around 50 draftees have played an NHL game. The said list includes Nick Foligno, Patrick Eaves (now with Carolina), Brian Elliot (potential backup next year), Brian Lee (3rd or 4th defenseman) and a group of players Alexander Nikulin, Cody Bass, Ilya Zubov that all will have legitemate shots at cracking the big team’s lineup next year.

1st round – 15th – ERIK KARLSSON, 5′ 11″ 165 SWE-JR. FROLUNDA JR. – Defensemen

There are many conflicting reports on the Swedish defenseman billed as the Swedish Brian Rafalski. Some reports also indicate that he loves playing the body, which would be typical of a 5′11 d-man but some scouting reports have Karlsson listed as 5′8.

In any event, the one main point of consistency is that Karlsson is a gifted skill making defenseman that can move the puck well out of the zone. He also has above average speed. He should be playing for the Swedish Junior Team at this WJHC in Ottawa. Hopefully we’ll all get a good look at him alongside of Nicklas Hedman.

2nd round – 42nd – PATRICK WIERCIOCH, 6′ 3″ 178 USHL OMAHA – Defensemen
3rd round – 79th – ZACK SMITH, 6′ 2″ 202 WHL SWIFT CURRENT – Center

With their 2nd and 3rd picks, the Sens went with some size.

The Sens must have an inside because Wiercioch may have fell to the 3rd round, but he’s a big mobile defenseman that move the puck out of the zone. He was only rated 61 by the ISS and failed to make the TSN top-60 prospects in this year’s draft thus he was picked roughly half a round earlier than anticipated.

Zach Smith has averaged over 130 PIMs in his previous 2 years with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL and saw a huge increase in production tallying 70 points in 72 games last year. He may be a steal for the Senators in the 3rd round.

4th round – 109th – ANDRE PETERSSON, 5′ 9″ 169 SWE-JR. HV 71 JR. – Winger
4th round – 119th – DEREK GRANT 6′ 3″ 190 BCHL LANGLEY – Center

With 2 picks in the 4th round, the Sens went back to Sweeden on the advice of their 1st choice this year and grabbed Andre Petersson. Much like Karlsson he’s known to be a gritty, but small forward, that needs to fill out physically before moving over to the North American game.

Derek Grant was a high-scoring rookie in the BCJHL last year tallying 24 goals for 63 points. He has good hands and decent speed for a big guy and will continue to develop with Michigan State in 2009-10.

5th round – 139th – MARK BOROWIECKI, 6′ 1″ 185 CJHL SMITHS FALLS – Defensemen

The Sens went for a local-boy in the 5th round and may have very well taken the sleeper of this year’s strong defensemen heavy draft. As with the previous picks, he’s a big d-man that can move. He will also be giving time to develop at the Junior level before making an impact at the pro-level.

7th round – 199th – EMIL SANDIN, 5′ 10″ 178 SWEDEN BRYNAS – Left Wing

Finally, the Sens returned to Sweeden for another small forward that lines up on the Left-side.

Like in the past years the Senators will continue to allow players time to develop in the AHL and in the Junior ranks before moving them to the Big Club too early. One could easily argue that Marc-Andre Fleury took a few years longer in his development process because he had to learn the pro game at the highest level as opposed to developing in the Minors like the Sens have done with Brian Elliot. Most of these players are at least 2 years away from being NHL ready but with a strong corps already in the AHL, the Sens went for depth to replenish the ranks.

The most surprising thing from the draft is the Sens went against the collective wisdom and elected not to draft a goalie for the 2nd year in a row. With only Elliot in the minors and very little available in the Free-agent market, the Sens will attempt to land a competent backup for Gerber in the hopes of giving Elliot another year of development in the Minors alongside of Ryan Daniels (a 2006 pick).

Countdown to Free-Agency Deadline: 8 days