Sens Signings

Sens have signed a few more players.  Luke Richardson and Jim O'Brien.  Richardson is older than dirt and clearly at the end of his career.  I think this is the "Rob Blake" signing; which is having a veteran mentor your young defensemen and he gets to play near home.  At least the Sens aren't really paying Richardson anything and aren't counting on him to actually play big minutes in games.  O'Brien was this year's late first round pick.  I was surprised that they signed him so soon.  But I guess he was a very young 18 year old playing 4th line duty in college.  At least this way he can play minutes at a pro level, probably ECHL.

New Uni's

I went to the Sharks website the other night for a reason I have long since forgotten, but noticed that the Shark logo looks better than ever.  After a little research, I've found out that several teams are changing or 'refreshing' their logos.  Its a good time to do it, since next season is the start of the form fitting Reebok jerseys.  Which brings me to the Senators.  They have applied for logo patents in Canada, to revise their logo.  I really do not care for the Senators jerseys or logo.  And the new changes are pretty minor, better, but still minor.  I don't like the 3/4 profile senator face that was on the 3rd jerseys; and I understand that it will be the main logo.  Too bad.  At least I don't have to rush out and buy a new jersey.

Kings

I guess Mike Cammalleri went through with his arbitration hearing.  I have to believe that there will be lingering hard feelings.  On the one hand, he was the leading scorer and has steadily increased his production each year without much of a team around him.  I would think that warrants a raise.  But I think it is hard for most teams to give big money to small sized players unless they are Kariya or St. Louis.  I'm wondering just where he fits in the rebuilding process, in Lombardi's eyes.  I also see him as a player that eventually gets away, and has success elsewhere.  (That sounds like the Dave Taylor era Kings....)

 

Was talking to a definite Kings fan on 4th of July.  He liked the signings that Lombardi made.  I do too, but don't put a whole lot of hope on them either.  I  mostly liked the short length of the deals.  If they all come together, he will look like a genius.  But if nothing happens, these guys' tryout is over and time to move on; without a lasting salary cap problem.  Kinda win-win.  Calder-Handzus-Nagy will help take the stress off Frolov and Kopitar.  And that seems to be the main point, getting some "mature" players that are still under 30, to add stability to the team without making it "old".  All of these forwards have question marks in their games, whether injury or consistency, so let's roll the dice and see what we get.  On defense, Preissing is highly under-rated in my mind and surprisingly versatile (on a very good Senators team).  Stuart is a little over-rated, but having two mobile defensemen is a big addition.  One of the better moves was the subtraction of Mathieu "Off Angle" Garon.  I wish him well, but don't mind seeing him leave LA.

 

I'm excited to see how the rookie players develop most of all.  It will be great to see Jason LaBarbera in net again.  He will be a definite wild card for next season; but he absolutlely tore-up the AHL last year, which will be great for his confidence.  I am still waiting for Dustin Brown to take the next step as a power forward, but I said that this time last year; and he seemed to take a step backward last season.  Jack Johnson will most likely get a year of mentoring from Rob Blake.  I've been waiting to see if the huge, Brian Boyle makes the team this year.  O'Sullivan will probably get his shot at full time NHL duty.  Tukonen will hopefully "pull a Kopitar" and impress right out of the gate, continuing the successful draft of relatively unknown euros.

 

Lots of unknowns.  Which is fun now.  But I didn't make it through December last year; before I was not watching the Kings games regularly.  PLEASE give me a reason to watch for the whole season. 

Ready?

Well, the Sens managed to avoid arbitration with Emery, Schubert and Kelly.  That's probably a good thing.  There tend to be hard feelings after an arbitration hearing; as it's hard for players to hear team management and coaching staff tear down their ability.  Which brings me to Sean Avery.  I guess he was 'shocked' that the Rangers called him out as a selfish player.  What did he think an arbitration hearing was about?  At least they didn't say "media hog" or "cancer to the team".

 

Anyway, the Sens roster appears to be set.  There's some room for a rookie to make the team, but no clear intention of bringing anyone up like with Kaigorodov last year.  I wish him well with the Coyotes, but he seemed far from ready to play North American style hockey.  Giving away Comrie and trading Schaefer will open up some premium ice time.  I'm hoping that Eaves, Kelly and Vermette are given a chance for quality ice time.  Eaves has a ton of heart and plays a nice power forward game in high traffic areas.  Kelly has solid game, and put up points when playing with Heater and Spezza for a limited time last year.  Vermette has a ton of skill, i think he lead the team in shorthanded goals, but can be more than a PK specialist. Time to see what these guys can do. I think at least two of them will be on the 1st or 2nd line by mid-season.  Donovan and Dimitrakos are new additions.  I think Donovan is a good checker, which is what the team needs.  Dimitrakos is probably more of an experiment?

 

Now it will be pretty slow until training camp.  Most of the free agents have been signed.  August is a slow month. 

Show me the money

Well, the Sens managed to avoid arbitration with Emery and Schubert. I was pretty sure that Ray was getting a fat arbitration award. After the NY Insangers signed Lundqvist to $4.25MM, that meant a big payday for Ray-Ray. But Emery signed for 3 years @ $3.2MM/per which is reasonable. The bottom line is that the Sens don't have much cap room, and having Emery take on a huge contract makes signing Heatley and Fisher for next year that much more difficult. I'm a big fan of Emery, but had he been awarded $4.5MM it was time to walk away. Meanwhile, Schubert signed for 3-years at slightly more than an entry level contract. This was surprising. The guy was near the top of the league in hits, can play checking winger or defense. A lot of intangibles. Sens are lucky to sign him for cheap. All that's left is for Kelly to sign. And the Sens probably have the cap room if he wins an arbitration case. Not a lot of changes in the roster from last year, but not a lot is necessary.