*-> Jon Sim has officially signed with Gotteron of the Swiss Elite Liga and will join fellow NHK cast off Cristobal Huet.
*-> Ray Emery is a few weeks away from being able to return to action TSN has reported, he is currently a free agent and is looking to return to the NHL this season and if not then next season. Not too sure if there will be a shot for him as theres a far more capable goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov out there. Michael Leighton is another name avaliable.
*-> The New York Islanders GM Garth Snow is refusing to say the Isle's are once again out of the playoff picture. It's believed he'd like to add another goalie to help ease the load on Kevin Poulin and the often injured Rick DiPietro with Roloson gone. Kevin Poulin is believed by the club to be almost ready for full time backup duty but would like him to finish the season in the AHL. The Isles were linked to Evgeni Nabokov but one wonders if maybe Ray Emery could be a cheap short term solution for the club. On Evgeni Nabokov, I'm hearing Ottawa is interested but are waiting to hear back on Pascal Leclaire's current injury. It's believed he'll be out for the rest of this season and has played his last game as a Sen. The Senators want young Robin Lehner in the AHL for the rest of the season as he's yet to play over 10 games due to injuries and the World Juniors. Nabokov would be a perfect affordable fit till Lehner was ready for prime time with Brian Elliott or Mike Broduer as backup,
*-> The San Jose Sharks is also looking at adding a goalie but I'd count out Sugar Ray Emery as they have already taken a risk on Anti Neimi and would like a for sure thing this time around. Evgeni Nabokov could be an option but the Sharks have already been there but there is a history between the two; atleast the Sharks would know what their in for. I am hearing J.S Giguere is high on their wish list as he's proven, experienced and has leadership abilities something the Sharks are looking for.
*-> Mike Commodorehas till Monday to be claimed on re-entry waivers and no update yet. Some pundits are saying the Phoenix Coyotes and the Washington Capitols both have interest.
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3 comments:
Why would the Sens want to sign Nabokov at this point? So they can make an improbable run at 9th or tenth place like in 2009? Face it, Ottawa would need to go MINIMUM 26-10 over their last 36 games to have a prayer of making the post-season. Has this lineup given any indication that they are capable of doing that? The best actions for the whole franchise are:
a) Trade Phillips, Ruutu and any other players with trade value for picks, prospects or bags of pucks.
b) Get Butler, Locke, O'Brien and Lehner some decent NHL playing time so they can compete next season for lineup spots straight out of camp.
c) Trade Regin while his some teams still remember his playoff run last year. The guy is soft, takes too long with the puck, and is hopeless unless Spezza is there to give him chances. Could fetch a 2nd, in an ideal world.
d) Send Kovalev home the minute the trade deadline passes. Negative influence on the room.
e) Cut Gonchar's minutes played and give them to younger defencemen. His body can't take this much playing time, plus we're stuck with him 2 more years. Rest him up and try to salvage something.
f) Focus your scouting on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog and Sean Couturier... We need a dynamic forward to revitalize the offence and we can't afford another Daigle situation. Figure out who has the most upside between these evenly matched players and hope he's still around at #3 or 4 come June.
g) Let Clouston work out his issues until the end of the season and re-evaluate. There have been too many coaching changes in recent years for that to be the problem here. Let him figure out what is wrong, and don't panic him by dangling the pink slip.
CA
Signing Nabokov now makes no sense whatsoever. Wouldn't he need to clear waivers anyway? Not that it even matters....
The Sens plan from now until the draft should be as follows:
PART I:
1. Retain Clouston for the balance of the season. I agree with CA, too many recent coaching changes. And the team's problems this year have been largely: goaltending, an inability to finish scoring chances, and bad decision making with the puck, particularly in their own end. None of these are the result of Clouston's system. If he's to be credibly blamed for anything, it should be handling of his goaltenders early in the year. And frankly, I like the fact that some of the players don't seem to like him.
2. Retain Murray until his contract expires. The exercise facing the Sens from now to the draft is largely a sale process, not a current rebuild, and Murray has shown he's a capable evaluator of prospect talent.
3. In addition to the "players with trade value" that CA refers to, I'd add a couple of players that aren't worth their cap hit. I know the upcoming free agent crop is weak, but cap flexibility will be important in the coming two years to make trades and take advantage of other teams' cap issues, more likely scenarios than attracting quality free agents anyway. And spending to less than the cap, for at least part of the year, will be necessary for Melnyk as attendance suffers until the team is turned around.
- Jalen
PART II:
4. I'd like to see the following players moved out: Phillips (if he agrees to waive), Kuba, Ruutu, Neil, Shannon, Kovalev and Regin. Ditto to CA's evaluation of Regin, he will not be an impact player in this league on a consistent basis (but unless Milbury or D. Sutter get another GM job, there's no way he returns a second). I believe there's a chance someone will take a chance on Kovie, and I'd take nothing more than payroll relief to move him. The desired overall returns are simply: forward scoring prospects, draft picks and payroll and cap relief.
5. If anyone is interested in Gonchar and he can be convinced to go, I'll drive him to the airport. No disrespect to a formerly outstanding player, but he cannot help this team (as predicted by anyone that actually watched him play and didn't relay on hockeydb.com to evaluate his signing) and his contract will be an albatross going forward.
6. If he gets healthy, I'd play Leclaire every game until the trade deadline. While I believe he has the skills to be an excellent number 1 in this league, his injury troubles likely preclude a re-signing in this city. I think he could play well enough to induce a team to acquire him for a play off run. He could even play well enough to force the team to reconisder bringing him back on a one year deal.
7. Under no circumstances call up Robyn Lehner. Anyone (Don Brennan included) that thinks the kid is ready to play at this level should have their head read and given accomodations in a round room. He's two years away. Look at the history of young goaltenders (Fleury, Lehtonen, Bernier, Crawfor, Schneider), they all needed time to develop in the minors. Even Price only truly shined in this, his third year, and both he and Fleury would've been better off to have spent two full seasons in the A. Look at the history of goaltenders that were rushed and you'll see that Fleury and Price are among the few to recover from the damage.
8. In addition to the other Bingo Sens that CA highlights, I'd give Gryba and Wiercioche a half dozen games up here near the end of the season, not because I think they're ready, but because I think a half dozen games would help their development and help them process what they need to do to compete at this level.
9. Do whatever it takes to lose enough games to ensure the team picks in the top 4 in June. Larsson is the best player available and should definitely go in the top two, ensuring the Sens get one of Couturier, Landeskog or Nugent-Hopkins (my current preference would be Landeskog or Couturier, but that may change by June). As an aside, I think some team is gonna get very lucky to get Ryan Murphy somewhere in picks 5-10.
- Jalen
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