The Rebuild Starts Here

Brian Murray's first move in the rebuild effort happened today, when Mike Fisher was traded to Nashville in exchange for a 1st round pick and a conditional pick.

Ottawa gets in return:

• a first round pick, value to be determined later;
• possibly a second pick, depending on how far through the playoffs Nashville goes (meaning Nashville is Ottawa's favorite playoff team this year), value to be determined later;
• cap space savings to the tune of $4.2 million per year; and
• real money savings to the tune of $4 million this year and $3.2 million next.

All together it means that there is real money savings in the future, plus it gives Murray room to take on more short-term salary in trades from other teams in order to make other deals work.

All in all, a solid rebuilding move.

Since Fisher is popular with the local fan base, I wonder how popular this move will be.

Despite not playing up to his salary level, he was still an asset who could make things happen. Fisher had some good years here, and he will be missed both on the ice and in the stands.

Best of luck down the road, Mike. I hope the fans give you the love you deserve when you visit us back here.

(That darned modern logo is everywhere, it seems -- do you have any idea how hard it was to find a picture of Mike Fisher stylin' the classic jersey?)

Leafs Lose, All Is Right With The World

You know what I thought the highlight of Saturday night was? In the second. The hometown Leafs fans started a "Go Leafs Go" chant -- and it got drowned out by a "Go Sens Go" chant.

The other random thought I had was that the hometown Leafs fans really gave the team that home-style welcome, right down to booing them in the third.

Classy.

Overall I thought that Ottawa deserved to win. Maybe Toronto didn't deserve to get shut out, but more than a goal would have been flattering to both the Leaf effort and discipline. Both Khadri and Kessel whiffed on open net opportunities, but that's what happens to most players most of the time.

For once it wasn't Ottawa making stupid defensive lapses. For once it wasn't Ottawa making turnovers on botched outlet passes. For once it wasn't the LeClaire facing odd-man rushes.

Fisher was on, collecting two pretty goals, an assist on Kovalev's marker, plus a post.

It wasn't the prettiest game, but at least the hometown Leafs fans were shut up a bit, and that's never a bad thing.

5 Things To Be Happy About From 2009-2010

Well summer has come to Ottawa. The weather is nice and my kids have a brand new play structure in the back yard to play on. Sure, it might be nicer to be continuing down the playoffs towards a Stanley Cup, but really I don't mind so much. In any case, here's my list of things to be happy about from this just finished season.

Playoffs

This team wasn't supposed to make the playoffs at all, or at the most, scrabble in at the tail end of the position 6-7-8 logjam of mediocrity that the East features so much of. Instead, we finished 5th, and made the defending Stanley Cup champions earn their round 1 victory.

As for the round 1 itself, considering that we were running without minute-munching defenseman Kuba, defense-coverage-magnet Kovalev, or either of the "parts" we got in exchange for Heatley -- the fact that we still made Pittsburgh earn their round 1 victory is an achievement in itself. And standing tall, fighting through to a triple-overtime win in game 5 to bring the series back home for game 6, granting team owner Melnyk an unexpected playoff gate -- I think that put this all together and this year was a definite success.

Secondary Scoring

...as in, we had plenty this year.

This year the team had credible threats on all four lines most of the year. Instead of past years where the top line had to do it all, we got a good year from Fisher, quality production from Michalek, and a streaky set of performances from Kovalev.

And I forget how many times the grinder line of Neil-Kelly-Rutuu came up with a big goal to either take the game or to swing the momentum back in Ottawa's favor.

Having such productive lines gave opposing coaches fits, as they'd have to pick which lines to cover closely and which to risk against.

Jason Spezza's New-Found Defensive Discipline

Spezza has shown more willingness to get back after the opposition gets going. He's more willing to get in and grind in his own zone, rather than just floating around waiting for the outlet pass to happen (since lets face it we pay Kovalev a lot of money to do that). I like this new Spezza, and I hope that it continues.

Overall it would be nice if there was more in terms of point production, but lets face it we as fans will always say that. Rumor is that the no-trade clause kicks in this July 1st, and I sincerely hope he isn't traded ahead of that.

Erik Karlsson

At the beginning of the year I said I would like to see him sent down to Bingo in order to get his game together. Turns out that the braintrust at the team came to the same conclusion, and down he went, where he played very good hockey, ending up running the power play down there. Having proved he had the basic hockey skills to do the job, the time came for him to get his NHL-level experience and make his NHL-level rookie mistakes.

Which he did, costing the team several goals at times; but his offensive senses are wonderful, and once he has settled in through the next year or two we can hope that he can develop into something special.

Daniel Alfredsson

What more can be said of Alfredsson that hasn't already been said before? He played his 1000th game as an Ottawa Senator. He brought his A-game every night, playing at both ends. He played top line or shut down. He ran the power play and penalty kill special teams. He played hurt, he played hard, he played with heart.

He is without a doubt the heart and soul of this team.

The one thing I want to mention specifically is his comments after he was injured in Pittsburgh earlier in the year. While the commentators were on the TV baying for blood (followed by much of the blog-o-sphere the next time the two teams met), Alfredsson himself said that the play was a clean, legal hit and it was his own fault for putting himself in a vulnerable position. Now that's class.

Unfortunately the clock is running down on Alfredsson. We say this every year, but it is a fact of life that years of playing hockey will eventually catch up with him and he will have to stop. No one, not even Alfredsson, can continue to do this forever. We can only hope that before that happens the team can get him the Stanley Cup ring he so richly deserves. (And hey, it'd be nice for the rest of us to have the Stanley Cup here in Ottawa.)

Bonus: The Continuing Disaster That Is The Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs continue to suck, and that's never a bad thing. What's so bewildering is that given the brain trust in charge of them, why are they so bad? It boggles the mind.

I would still like to see the Leafs and the Senators fighting for top spot in the conference -- or even the Leafs-Senators games being competitive affairs -- but in the absence of that I'll settle for the status quo.

#1000

I only saw the game from about half-way through the 2nd. But some quick impressions:

• What did I tell you about Alfredsson? Effort at both ends, PK and PP time, and a point. Too bad he couldn't grab a goal, but a win for his 1000th game is what he said he wanted. Class act all the way. The Ottawa Senators will definitely be retiring his #11 once he's done with it.
• LeClaire gave up two goals, one on a bad play by Karlsson, one on a bad line change by the on-ice players. I don't blame him for either of those. He didn't have to make any circus stops, which means that in general the team was playing well in front of him.
• Mike Fisher was on. Two goals and a couple of posts, with another half-dozen quality chances. I give full credit to his linemates for helping to make this happen.
• Karlsson made some excellent plays to compensate for the brain fart that led to the first goal. This kid will be an excellent player one day.
• The own-goal on Florida credited to Neil shows what kind of night it was. The Senators were going to get the bounces, and the Panthers were not.

It was a good game for Ottawa, a nice steady game where the outcome was never really in doubt. This is a good foundation to look to the post-season from.

OMFG

Sens beat Chicago, possibly the best team in hockey.

Elliot makes the highlight reel in a good way.

Fisher scores a goal that isn't an empty net.

The powerplay converts on an opportunity.

Unbelievable.

Of course, since I have tickets to Thursday's tilt against the Blues, I'm sure the magic will be gone.

Return Of The King II

Alfredsson continued to make his mark on the Senators today with a hat trick. This led the team to a 5-1 romp over arch-nemesis Boston, a game which also featured previously invincible Tim Thomas getting pulled mid way through the second period.

Chronic underproducers Kovalev and Cheechoo provided the other two goals, and Mike Fisher had three assists.

With "No Relation" Brodeur fighting a flu, Brian Elliot got the call.

This again shows the effect a quality player like Alfredsson can have on the rest of the team. Alfredsson has six points in his two games back.

You gotta love it.

Slim Down, Not Bulk Up

Silver Seven Sens wants to know who you would trade for Ilya Kovalchuk from the Atlanta Thrashers.

My answer? No one.

Look, Kovalchuk is a talented player, of that there is no doubt. He even isn't "enigmatic" like Alex Kovalev is.

There are three problems with this idea. The first problem is he is in a contract year and he is going UFA over the summer. He is the very definition of the word "rental". In the unlikely event he does sign with Ottawa, it will be for big bucks, which will come at the cost of someone else.

The second is that right now Atlanta is very much the definition of the term "blow up your team" and so won't be looking for short-term skilled acquisitions -- they want more picks and prospects, something to rebuild around for longer term success.

The third is that such a trade does absolutely nothing to solve the issues in the defense corps.

The real question is: why are you considering this? Do you seriously think that adding Kovalchuk to the team, with the resulting immediate team loss of some kind of talent going the other way plus the inevitable combination of picks and prospects, is going to make this team go deep this post season? Because if you are not, you are wasting your time.

The time to sell your long term future to rent some additional skill is when you are making a run.

The Citizen has an article detailing an allegedly sorry state of Ottawa's farm system, dumping responsibility for the whole mess on previous GM John Muckler. Basically the conclusion is the larder is bare. If the future of the hockey club is in the farm team, then the Senators are still looking down, not up.

The Senators are still struggling a bit with high-priced talent that they can't use. This is the same generalized argument I made when I first proposed trading Dany Heatly. These players -- I am thinking of Kovalev, Spezza, Fisher, Michalek, and yes even his amazingness Daniel Alfredsson -- are assets that we can't leverage properly. As amazing as all these guys can be are can be, the Senators are not in a position to challenge this year.

I know I've been beating the drum about this less this year. That's been a deliberate choice. I've decided that even if Brian Murray doesn't know what he's doing, he's the man in charge and we should let him do his job.

Look at the state of the league right now. It is rare to see repeat contenders. (OK, last year was a bad example.) The consensus is that there are two teams which have to succeed this year if they are going to -- I am thinking of Chicago and San Jose here.

Chicago especially is going to be in a bad way because they have been blessed with three highly talented players all at the same time, all of which will be expecting big bucks next year at contract time. Once they lose some of these guys, and/or have to gut the rest of the team to keep these three guys, they are going to be rebuilding, no question about it.

See also Montreal, which was set up to peak last year for their centennial. This year, where are they? Nowhere. OK Montreal blew up prematurely for reasons nobody really understands, but this team now is going back to basics, back to rebuilding.

This I think is the reality that Senators fans have to face. Unless you can find a lot of guys who will play over their pay grades, or a lot of fresh young (cheap) talent, you won't have a solid chance because there will always some other team which either does have a lot of guys who play over their pay grades or a lot of fresh young (cheap) talent.

Our eyes should be on eventual success, not just passing some arbitrary bar this year. Trading for Kovalchuk now would give us a definite edge while chasing a playoff spot this year. However, it would cost us even more from our already depleted future.

300

Two players notched their 300th career point this weekend.

Mike Fisher did it on 143 goals and 157 assists over 574 games.

Jonathan Cheechoo did it on 168 goals and 132 assists over 475 games.

Congratulations to both players, and we all sincerely hope that their production on the ice only get better.

Secondary Scoring

So Alex Kovalev bagged his 400th career goal on Saturday night... well and his 399th and 401st too. His 11th career hat-trick too, since we are pilling on statistics. I think that I like Alex Kovalev. I like his skill, his flair with the puck, his play-making ability. However I think I am beginning to think that the actual amount of production he is getting is somewhat less than we would expect given his rather generous salary.

I remember two or three years ago, the complaint about the team was that there was no secondary scoring. The Pizza Line did the business, and everyone else had poor output showing.

This year it seems like we are all secondary scoring. Fisher and Michalek are perhaps the closest thing we have to primary scoring. And it is good to see the scoring threat spread around a bit more than in previous years. However with most games being one-goal games, I think the team would be in a much better position if the top-compensated guys started producing more. Kovalev and Spezza should be our top producers. (Let's face it, we've all given up on Cheechoo, so anything we get out of him is a bonus.) Super Alfie is the gift that keeps on giving, and today he has the most points on the team.

The team as a whole has to get it done more.

As Predicted

Listened to the third and OT on the radio. It sounded like Washington just ran out of gas in the third, and the Senators closed in, worked hard, and made the chances count when they had to. The shot count in the third was 18-3 for Ottawa, and 4-0 in OT. Even if they had fallen in OT I think the single point would have been a worthy reward of the comeback effort. However, the team got the goal in OT, so two points it is.

Caught the highlight reel on Sportsnet and that OT goal was something else -- Fisher redirecting the puck in the air into the net. But we'll take it.

Here's hoping LeClaire isn't hurt too badly from either the Saturday incident or the puck tonight. LeClaire can't buy himself any good luck, can he?

Next up: some well-rested New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, Columbus the night after that, and then Boston on Saturday. The Senators will roll into Boston in the same boat that the Capitals were in tonight -- the third game in four nights, and the fourth game in six. Given this schedule, it would be foolish to expect that this winning streak will continue. If the team can keep their heads down, play some simple hockey, they should be able to steal some points by the time the week is done.

Preseason Jitters

Random, disconnected thoughts about the pre-season:

First, I'm not too excited about the results. With the exception of the second loss to the Panthers, I think the results on the scoreboard have more to do with the preseason rosters being iced against the Senators, and the preseason roster the Senators are icing. So while the win against Montreal was fun, it doesn't mean anything except maybe that Carey Price is still not back on top of his game.

Second. I like the look of Peter Regin. His solid, diciplined play would definitely be an asset on the team. Besides, thanks to his work Mike Fisher now has more goals in this season than he did in all of last season. (I jest. But not by much.) Anything that boosts Fisher's production can only be a good thing.

Third. I would like to see Erik Karlsson sent to Bingo for this year. While he's shown some flashes of skill, I think his game needs another year in the somewhat easier environment of the AHL. Right now the Senators are choking in mediocre blue-liners, and I think we will get a better look at Karlsson's potential either later in the year as an injury-replacement call up, or next year in camp again. The last thing we want to do is try to bring Karlsson along too quickly and ruin him.

Fourth. The top line of Michalek, Spezza and Alfredsson was disturbingly quiet when we've seen them go. While it will be nice to get three lines with scoring potential, the top line has to get it done.

Fifth: I don't buy that Leclaire is all that and a bag of chips. Why? I can't really say, it's just a feeling. Right now I'd take him over Brian Elliot, but I'm a bit worried about the goaltending at this point.

Finally: Thank god we don't have to play the Leafs six million times this pre-season.

Overall, though, as I have said -- nothing to get excited about. We'll have a much better picture as November rolls around.