Ottawa Senators

According to Hockey Break, the Ottawa Senators have placed centre Jason Spezza on the trade block.

The Senators originally wanted to keep Spezza but then decided dealing him to help the rebuilding effort. This seems like they have realized the rebuild will take a bit longer and unlike Brian Burke, they don't plan on having a rebuild on the fly. They want draft picks, prospects and young roster players for him.

So who are the teams interested? Originally it was said to be Buffalo, St. Louis, Columbus and of course Toronto. However, Hockey Break has further reported that a scout in St. Louis said that Spezza does not fit in with what St. Louis is trying to do.

So that leaves us with Buffalo, Columbus and Toronto.

Buffalo, ever since new owner Terry Pegula stepped in, has been prepared to spend to win. As a result, the Sabres have acquired Brad Boyes and are prepared to make a run at more talented players.

The question is what will they give up.

For starters, I think they're prepared to give up a first-round pick, and maybe their top prospect in Zack Kassian. It may take more, but the Sabres don't really have a lot they can afford to give up, as a lot of the players have shown they should be built around.

However, they may have to give up a decent roster player like Drew Stafford, because Spezza is still elite. I don't expect the Sabres to pay this price, though.

The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are much more prepared to move players. They have needed a centre for Rick Nash for forever. The poor fellow has scored a lot of goals, and yet has never had an elite centre to play with him. Alexander Ovechkin has Nicklas Backstrom, Steven Stamkos has a playmaker in Martin St. Louis, and so they would really welcome a playmaking centre like Jason Spezza.

To get him, they may have to give up a player like Derick Brassard and a first-round pick. Again, I have no idea what the price for Spezza is, but these are just speculations.

Columbus, I think, has a better chance to get Spezza than Buffalo.

Toronto most definitely wants a top-line centre. All you have to do to figure that out is look at the last several press conferences from Brian Burke. In fact, I think he mentioned Brayden Schenn in the Tomas Kaberle conference.

What he said was actually quite strange.

He was asked what happens to Nazem Kadri now that the Leafs have acquired Joe Colborne, and he said he's in a tougher battle. Same with Brayden Schenn, he's in a tougher battle.

This could have been a Freudian slip, which shows how badly he wants a top-line centre, preferably Brayden Schenn.

Either way, he intends to acquire a top-line centre for Phil Kessel. Same as Columbus. Toronto may have a few more assets, but it is hard to say who will get Spezza, assuming he is traded. Toronto may have to sacrifice Tyler Bozak, Nikolai Kulemin and more. It is tough to say.

In conclusion, I think Spezza will be traded. However, I have no idea where he'll be traded to. It could be to Toronto; heck, even Dallas might target him to replace Brad Richards.

However, for now it seems he is on the trading block, and Toronto and Columbus are the best bets.

From the moment the Ottawa Senators acquired Craig Anderson from the Colorado Avalanche, Senators' fans have been under the impression that it was a great pickup.

“What a steal!”

"Great move!"

“Bryan Murray stole Craig Anderson!”

Well fans, once again, it was a terrible move.

Why?

Let me spell this out in plain English—the Ottawa Senators got played.

They got absolutely played.

Does anyone seriously believe for a moment that the Avalanche think Brian Elliott is, or will ever be, a legitimate starting goalie? The Avalanche did not acquire Brian Elliott. They purposely upgraded the goaltending situation of a team below them in the standings—a team that has now passed them in the standings.

Good on them. That’s exactly the type of aggressive attitude towards collecting top draft picks the Senators need.

Anderson has already cost the Senators at least one position in this year’s draft lottery—probably more if you consider they would be neck and neck with the Oilers if he hadn’t stolen four or five games.

How many draft positions is he now going to cost them over a full season?

What the Senators need to do at this point is stockpile lottery picks. They will gain absolutely nothing from an ill-conceived push for the playoffs.

Just ask the Avalanche.

They finished 28th in the league in 2009, the very same position the Senators currently hold, only to have Anderson put together a Vezina-caliber season in 2010. And as a result, they missed out on acquiring a top prospect. The next season, Anderson comes back down to Earth, and all of a sudden everybody realizes the Avalanche are more than a few pieces away from competing for the Stanley Cup.

Is this what Bryan Murray wants to happen in Ottawa?

Think about how much further along in their development the Avalanche would be if they picked up Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin or Jeff Skinner.

In the salary cap era, when franchise players no longer reach unrestricted free agency, you need to lose before you win.

Which is why the Senators should never have traded Brian Elliott.

While he may not be a legitimate No. 1 starter, his mediocre play makes him the perfect fit for a rebuilding franchise. He’s good enough to justify putting between the pipes, but nowhere near good enough to carry a team out of the basement and into playoff contention, which is exactly what the Senators need.

Guaranteed lottery pick.

Does Anderson have more potential than Elliott?

Absolutely.

But what will the Senators gain if Anderson wins the Vezina Trophy next season? They’re not going to win the Stanley Cup, so what's the point?

Who cares if you win an extra ten games next season, or squeak into the playoffs and get bounced in the first round? If you’re not going to win the Stanley Cup, at least try and acquire new assets that will help you do so in the future.

This team is about three lottery picks away from being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Yet they go out and sign a guy who, only a year ago, prematurely lifted a rebuilding franchise out of a lottery position.

Wow, really?

Ask yourself this: Are the Senators trying to build a Stanley Cup favorite, or win a few games in 2011?

Does anybody remember how many points the Blackhawks finished with in 2006? No, they remember Jonathan Toews lifting the Stanley Cup above his head.

Craig Anderson is a streaky goalie, so hopefully he’ll have another terrible season next year and the Senators will be able to collect their lottery pick. But just the fact that the Senators are willing to put that pick in jeopardy shows us that they are not committed to a serious rebuild.

This deal could still work out for the Senators. If they can manage to collect high draft picks in the next few seasons, or draft a franchise player out of the middle of the first round, having Anderson three and four years down the road could be helpful.

Then again, it could also be another $3 million a year disaster.

The guy is 29-years-old and has one good season behind him.

Haven’t we seen this movie before? Oh yeah, it’s called Martin Gerber—playing in a minor league arena near you.

The $3 million a year is not the problem. Nor is the length of the contract. If Anderson falls off the map, they can just bury him in the minors.

But it's Anderson's potential to lift a rebuilding franchise out of a lottery pick that makes this deal absolutely nonsensical.

The Senators had a decision to make heading into this offseason.

They could try to become the next Chicago Blackhawks or Pittsburgh Penguins—stocking up on multiple lottery picks and becoming perennial Stanley Cup contenders.

Or they could be the next Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, or St. Louis Blues—clawing for a playoff spot every March.

Sadly, it appears that decision has been made.

Here we go again.

The Ottawa Senators signed impending free-agent goaltender Craig Anderson to a four-year deal today. The deal is worth $12.75 million dollars.

The extension may come as a surprise, since Anderson has never really been a standout in net. Sure, he's been a solid goaltender in his career, but never anything spectacular really.

However, so far in 10 games in net for the Senators, Anderson has better numbers than he has had all year. In Colorado, before being traded, Anderson was 13-15.

Since joining Ottawa, Anderson has been 6-4. That's with a Senators team that has been struggling through injuries and a transition period.

During those 10 games, Anderson also boasts a 2.11 goals against average, the lowest in his career, and a .938 save percentage, the highest of his career.

Under Brian Elliott, whom the Sens exchanged for Anderson, the team was 13-19. Elliott had a 3.19 GAA and a .894 save percentage. Clearly, the Senators traded up.

When crunching the numbers, it shouldn't be surprising to see Anderson locked down. Even though it is early in Anderson's time with Ottawa, he's already performed better than his predecessor.

Before the extension, Anderson was set to become a free agent. Teams in need of goaltending may have made a bid for Anderson, seeing the improvement in his and Ottawa's numbers. This way, the Senators circumvent that scenario and keep Anderson.

Of course, the plan could backfire if Anderson is out long term with an injury or his numbers go down, but for now it seems like a good move.

Psychologists say positive reinforcement is the best way to get the behavior you expect. Since the Senators expect to win, and Anderson so far has helped deliver that, it only seems natural to reward him with a contract extension.

No one ever wants to get branded as the worst of their profession but it is inevitable that in every job, some are very good and others, well, not so much.  In the midst of one of their worst seasons in franchise history, Bryan Murray, GM of the Ottawa Senators, has to wear the dunce cap as the worst General Manager in the National Hockey League.  Not even Mad Mike Milbury could top what Murray has done to Senators Nation.  

This title comes to Murray based much on the value he received for his once prized free agency reward Alexei Kovalev.  We all know Kovalev has been a disappointment with Ottawa, and is on pace for 37 points this season after just 49 last season.  We also know that he isn't exactly known for giving it the ol' 110 percent on the ice either.  But even a man on pace for a 19 goal season is worth more than a conditional 7th round draft pick.

If I told you right now that Aaron Voros is a better National hockey League player than Alexei Kovalev, would you believe me?  After asking me who on earth Aaron Voros was, and after I explained that he was in fact a pro hockey player, you would probably say that you thought Kovalev was the better player.

 Kovalev has 426 career goals and 1,017 career points, and has averaged about 0.84 points per game during his NHL career.  Voros has exactly 37 points in 162 NHL games. In other words, what Kovalev is on pace to produce this year (19 goals, 18 assists, 37 points) is what Voros has accomplished in his entire career.  Voros has scored about .23 points per game, or less than 1/3 of Kovalev's points per game.  It's a no brainer that Kovalev is a better player, a much better player than Voros.  

Yet according to Bryan Murray, Kovalev is not a better player than Voros.  The reason being that on February 15 2011, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Aaron Voros from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a conditional 7th round draft pick which happens to be the return Murray received for Kovalev.  Voros isn't even in the NHL right now, and yet he was traded for the same thing as Kovalev.  

Is Colin Fraser a better player than Kovalev?  If we break it down, we will clearly see that Kovalev has more skill and production than Fraser.  But the Edmonton Oilers, when trading for him, gave up a 6th round draft pick.  This set of events again shows that technically, a team was willing to pay a higher price for Fraser than Kovalev meaning that the market valued Fraser more than it did Kovalev.  

Based on these two examples, something clearly seems skewed in Murray's way of thinking when he made this trade.  Did he forget that his owner had already invested over $7 million in Kovalev?  Did he realize that between 2005 and 2008, only 19/120 players drafted in the 7th round have played a single game in the NHL?  That's less than 10 percent and Murray traded a 1,000 point player for the chance to select a player who theoretically has a 10 percent chance of playing a single game in the NHL.  

The idea that the Penguins were the only team interested in Kovalev is laughable.  Every team gearing up for the playoffs is looking to solidify its top six and the fact that there are only a handful of bona fide sellers this year means that Kovalev's value would have increased based on supply and demand laws alone.

Bryan Murray should have easily received, at the very least, a 3rd round draft pick for a player with Kovalev's credentials and Ray Shero, GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, pulled of a major heist here.  However, based on the methodology Murray uses on the trade market, it's only a matter of time before he offers two 5th round picks for Alex Ovechkin. Who knows Sens fans, maybe there won't be a rebuild after all.  

The Ottawa Senators have made their second deal in as many days, sending goaltender Brian Elliott to the Colorado Avalanche in return for goaltender Craig Anderson.

This deal is rather confusing as the Sens are now rebuilding, having sent a young goaltender who has been rather good in times away, receiving a goaltender that is going to be an unrestricted free agent at year's end.

Both goalies have struggled this year; Elliott posting a 13-19-8 record with Anderson's record 13-15-3.

I guess with Robin Lehner being the Senators goaltender of the future, then that would make Elliott or Pascal Leclaire expendable. There is no guarantee that Anderson will re-sign with the Senators which would leave injury-plagued Leclaire behind Lehner.

In Colorado, Elliott will now presumably share duties with Peter Budaj for the rest of the season. Elliott is only a restricted free agent, so he will most likely stick around after this season.

Now, if I were Anderson, I do not like this trade. He is leaving a place where he was the unquestioned starting goalie and going to a place where he will most likely play half of the remaining games. That is why I believe Anderson will leave for greener pastures July 1st.

If the Sens do manage to re-sign Anderson, then this trade is a good one. However, if Anderson leaves and Elliott goes on to have a pretty good career in Denver, then the Avalanche will be just one of the teams laughing as the Sens continue to rebuild.

Shortly after a high-profile wedding last year, Mike Fisher was interviewed in the Ottawa Sun regarding married life and such:

"Mike Fisher plans on being a Nashville resident some day, but he has no interest in giving up his Ottawa address any time soon.

"'I definitely love it here. I don’t see that happening,' the Senators centre said in an exclusive interview with the Sun when asked about any desire of finishing his career as a Predator, a little more than two weeks after being wed to country singing superstar Carrie Underwood.

"When I’m done hockey, she’ll still be working. I’m sure she can always work. We’ll settle in Nashville. I love it there. I’ve got lots of friends there now, I love the area. I like a lot of things about it. There’s a nice church that we love, that we go to...that being said, it’s a little ways away. I want to obviously play a few years, a bunch of years here yet.'"

Just imagine the look on Gomer's face when, "surprise, surprise", the Fishers are here for choir practice! "Golly gee!" All right Nashville, ease up. We know Gomer is from Mayberry.

As Puck Daddy mentioned..."There had been some debate about whether Mike Fisher did or did not have a no-movement clause in his contract, but the Ottawa Sun reported last week that he had no control over his next destination if he was traded this season."

Since he wasn't going to finish his playing career in Ottawa, we get the feeling that the Sens shopped around and figured that Fisher would be least disappointed going to a place that was convenient for the wife.

The Senators lose one of their most popular players, one of the few guys that play hard in every zone. As Predators GM David Poile put it:

"He plays playoff-style hockey all season long. He plays on the power play, kills penalties, is strong on draws and can match up against any opposing line."

The Sens gain Nashville's first-round selection in the 2011 draft and a conditional 2012 selection that can range from the second to third round.

However, Nashville gets Carrie Underwood's husband! From a regional PR perspective, it seems a little unfair.

For Senators fans, this has to smack of a certain je ne sais quoi! Does it seem a little too "storybook ending"?

The Senators were forced into rebuild mode when Sergei Gonchar failed to transform into a reincarnated Bobby Orr. Trade talk has swirled around the franchise regarding Jason Spezza and free agents-to-be Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Phillips and Alexei Kovalev for months.

Yet moving one of them would be a welcome sight, as aside from Ruutu, the aforementioned players have underperformed lately. 

Trading one of the few guys (Fisher) who gives an honest effort every night has to sting, regardless of whether it was an expected move or not.

The only salve that can heal a wound like this would be for those draft picks to turn into something far better than a Mike Fisher, but hopes can't be all that high right now. 

Sounds a bit like the makings of a country song, no?

According to numerous media outlets, the Nashville Predators have added some offensive depth to their team, acquiring veteran center Mike Fisher from the Ottawa Senators.

The deal will see the Senators land the Preds' first-round draft choice in 2011, as well as a conditional draft choice, perhaps as high as a second rounder, in 2013.

Originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the second round (44^th overall), Fisher, like many Senators, had been struggling this season, registering 14 goals and 24 points through 55 games played.

Fisher (who carries a $4.2 million cap hit both this year and 2011-12 as well) also carried with him a nasty minus-19 rating, the worst of his NHL career.

Fisher was coming off a career year in 2009-10 where he amassed a total of 25 goals and 53 points, both career highs.

For Nashville, they have acquired a legitimate top-six forward who brings plenty of playoff experience and a little moxie as well.

The Preds currently sit fifth in the Western Conference standings, but with just two points between fifth and eighth place there was a real need to bring in some offensive depth.

Look for Senators general manager Bryan Murray to be extremely busy as the trade deadline gets closer and he attempts to rebuild his struggling franchise.

There are no untouchables in Ottawa, with the likes of Alexei Kovalev (who has been rumored to be headed to Pittsburgh), Chris Phillips (who has been linked to a number of Boston rumors) and perhaps even Jason Spezza garnering some interest from opposing teams.

Check out my website at www.theslapshot.com for more NHL news. For Maple Leafs news, click here.

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Until next time,

Peace!