Senators Retrospective: Chris Campoli

by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 7:00 AM EDT in Opinion

Perhaps one of the more polarizing Senators players in recent years, Chris Campoli's time with the team was probably best summarized by the phrase "unrealized expectations."

Those expectations primarily stemmed from how Campoli was acquired by GM Bryan Murray -- a February 9th, 2009 trade that saw he and forward Mike Comrie come to the Senators in exchange for the first round pick acquired in the Andrej Meszaros trade. As Comrie was a fairly obvious rental, the trade amounted to Campoli for a first; this did not sit well with some Senators fans.

There has been speculation that his was brought in as Murray continued his search for offensively-gifted defensemen -- a reaction to an exposed deficiency in the Stanley Cup Finals not too long in the past. But while Campoli would have fit well on that high-flying team, the 2009 Senators were not the same beast, and his role was nebulous at best. Was he that puck moving guy? If so, why were his minutes limited? Was he a defensive guy? Was he an offensive guy? If so, why didn't he get many power play minutes?

How nebulous was he? His player profile for the team: He grew up playing hockey and he was traded to the Senators. No joke.

Chris Campoli: Player Profile (via senspedia)

An information goldmine right there, but that was the root of the problem: fans didn't know what to expect of him -- just that they expected more, because of the high price paid to acquire him. Of course, those expectations were as nebulous as his role. In that sense, it was a match from the start.

Campoli, similarly to Brian Lee, certainly deserves some blame for not making the most of his opportunities when they arose. What he cannot be blamed for is the state of the team he was on. His style fit an up-tempo, speedy, attacking team, and that's not how the Senators played under Cory Clouston. They didn't have the speed to play that game, and so Campoli hung in limbo.

No one would argue that he didn't have the talent to be an offensive contributor. His three point (1G, 2A), plus-4 night in a 5-7 loss to Detroit earlier this season showed exactly how effective he could be in a fast-paced game. On the nights when there was open ice, Campoli's skills were evident. There just weren't enough of those nights with the Senators. Any doubt of his value should be erased by the haul Murray was able to get for him at the trade deadline this year: a conditional 2011 second-round draft pick and Ryan Potulny

In the end, Chris Campoli was a good teammate, as his fight video against Cody Bass shows. Though his skill made him a tempting piece for Senate Reform, his inability to carve a niche for himself ultimately made him expendable. He was a good player for the Senators. He just wasn't the right player.

Chris Campoli: Training Camp Fight with Cody Bass (via senspedia)

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Comments

haha I love that caption!

Campoli was a decent player, but I am happy we managed to get a 2nd rounder out of him, especially with the log jam at defence.

An Ottawa Senators supporter in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.

by Adnan on Apr 15, 2011 9:51 AM EDT reply actions

Btw

Since you love the Caps so much – Ha!

Also, there was a Fisher article in the Globe and Mail today! Nuggets?

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Ha!

Semin didn’t vote for Ovechkin for the Kharlamov Trophy! (Best Russian NHL player).

Though, you might not be allowed to vote for teammates.

An Ottawa Senators supporter in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.

by Adnan on Apr 15, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions

You get the dirty joke, though, right?

Because that’s the only reason I posted it. Ha Semin is spelled almost like semen! HA! Funny!

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes yes, very clever :p

And for the record, I am not a Capitals fan, I just like a couple players.

The only hockey team I am a fan of are the Ottawa Senators. :D

An Ottawa Senators supporter in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.

by Adnan on Apr 15, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Bryzgalov voted for himself

so I don;t think that’s it.

http://ottawasconsensus.blogspot.com/

by DaveYoung on Apr 15, 2011 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions

That is an excellent caption

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

Campoli remains an enigma, you're right about that

He was, at times, among the Senators best defenders, but when he was, he was little more than a bottom pairing defenceman. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was being asked to play defensive hockey, rather than take offensive chances; the Sens had too many guys taking offensive chances and paying the price for them last season (Kuba, Phillips, Karlsson), so they asked Campoli to play alongside Carkner and just play simple hockey.

He did that well, but it was never going to get him any glory or much respect, and it wasn’t the style he was best-suited to. In Chicago, he’ll get the opportunity to be a little more dynamic.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Apr 15, 2011 10:55 AM EDT reply actions

Spot on

BM has made some moves that were the right thing to do, for a different time/team. While Campoli may have fit in well with speed and talent up front, by the time he played a full season with us, that era was over. Ditto Gonchar.

by Be_rad on Apr 15, 2011 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Not sure I'm in as harmonius agreement as the rest of you

I don’t believe that Campoli’s skill-set made him expendable or his compete-level or team play, rather it was a number of unmovable bloated D-contracts that made him expendable.

You could take a lot of what was written above and (insert Sens D-man name here). The main difference i see is that on a given night Campoli was willing to stand up for his teammates and it looked as though he truely tried to fill whatever role was dumped on him.

I say he was moved because of all our D-men (save Karlsson), there was a market and strong value there. If Kuba or Gonchar could’ve been moved instead (or if there was a willingness to move Phillips), moving one of those and keeping Campoli would have been the better move.

by west-sider on Apr 15, 2011 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

I agree that the biggest reason they moved him was that the other Dmen were either untouchable or unmoveable

But (as much as I liked him) Campoli just isn’t a guy around whom you rebuild a team. He tried to fit in well and he was good here, and obviously I’d rather still have him and move Kuba, but I wasn’t heartbroken over the trade either. Like Peter said above, he should have a chance to play the kind of game that suits him in Chicago and hopefully he’ll do well there. But even if he was playing the kind of game he was suited to here, I don’t think he’s someone you’d call a huge asset to a rebuilding team or someone (like Karlsson) who becomes the cornerstone of the rebuild.

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Ditto

by Be_rad on Apr 15, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually agree with you

When I say his skill set made him expendable, I mean that he was traded because there was a market and strong value for him — and that market existed because of his skill set. Teams don’t trade for crappy defensemen. He was a good piece for a team like Chicago, but not Ottawa, and that’s not a knock on his skills, it’s just the reality of the different makeups of the teams.

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by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Wait, what? Teams don't trade for crappy defensemen?

DAMMIT! How will we ever move Kuba then?

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Tequila

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

"He was a good piece... but not Ottawa"

you lost me on this one Mark. that we had to move him because we couldnt move others doesn’t make him “(not) a good piece” for Ottawa.

You (and AlfieGirl) mean to tell me in one breath that the kind of style we’re likely to build around Karlsson and Gonchar wouldnt have been suited to Campoli?? It just doesn’t make sense. By your logic, Murray would have said “We signed Volchenkov because we don’t foresee a wide-open puck-moving hockey in Ottawa but a D-first approach, grinding out wins.” That’s the opposite of what he said and by my observation, what’s being built.

I think it’s more honest to say (not by Murray, obviously) “because of a bunch of shitty contracts we had to let a good affordable d-man go. Crappy situation but, hey, we move on.” than a treatise that attempts to argue that Campoli didn’t belong because his “fit” wasn’t right.

by west-sider on Apr 15, 2011 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know, I guess I just don't feel that Karlsson and Campoli are that similar

Campoli needs speedy forwards and open ice to be successful. Karlsson clearly does not.

I wouldn’t deny that the contract situation of our other D-men probably had a greater influence in moving him than “fit” did. I’m sure everyone would have preferred to keep Campoli and trade Kuba.

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by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't mean you build around Karlsson's style

The reason I think of Karlsson as a cornerstone of the rebuild is his age and his talent, not his style of play. He’d still probably be a key part of the rebuild (though maybe a bit less key, I grant you) if he was a stay at home defenseman. But it’s not about they type of game he plays, it’s that he’s blossoming right now, he’s very young, and he’s got a lot of talent. That’s the kind of guy you rebuild around, and Campoli’s neither as young nor as promising.

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Apr 15, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Disagree completely.

:There has been speculation that his was brought in as Murray continued his search for offensively-gifted defensemen — a reaction to an exposed deficiency in the Stanley Cup Finals not too long in the past.:

Didn’t the Senators have four 30-40 point defensemen in 2007 in Redden, Corvo, etc?
Just looked it up:

Redden 36 points, Phillips 26 points, Corvo 37 points, Preissing 40 points (!), Meszaros 35 points, Volchhenkov 19 points (not bad for him).

Now, if that were true why did Corvo turn into slow as a plug Commodore (is he a puck mover), why did they sign Jason Smith (puck mover?), let Meszaros go for Kuba (terrible now, ok trade tehn) and so on. Quite to the contrary, Murray took one of the youngest teams in the league, made it grindier and slower under his watch. Years later, he went in another direction and decided “puck movers!” and now has done an about-face.
Now, you can say that team played over its head for a variety of reasons and that’s fair.

As for Campoli, Murray overpaid for him and it’s telling that he could only get a second-rounder for him. I’m somewhat worried about Anderson’s term but that will be for next season to decide.

by Quizzical Quorum on Apr 15, 2011 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

I don't think your examples carry as much weight when the circumstances behind them are considered

The implication is that Murray got rid of all of those players to “get slower” (a highly unlikely goal of any GM), but:

Corvo requested a trade. Murray moved him at his request. Commodore was a rental for the playoffs, and clearly not intended to replace Corvo.

Smith was signed to provide veteran leadership to a defensive corps that lost Chara and Redden not very far apart.

Meszaros was not traded for Kuba. He was traded for Kuba, Picard, and a 1st round pick. it’s trendy to hate Kuba now, but that doesn’t change the fact that he put up 40 points in his first full season, and was on pace for 43 points last year before injury shortened his season. Those are better numbers than Meszaros ever posted, and he was asking for much more money than Kuba cost. Picard, of course, was turned into Matt Cullen, who was tied for the lead in playoff points during Ottawa’s brief run. Regardless, Meszaros wasn’t “let go”, he was traded specifically because Tampa Bay made it clear they were going to make an RFA offer to him that would have been financially impossible for the Senators to match.

So, the trades you cite weren’t made on whims — they were the results of Murray moving people that had to be moved. He probably would have preferred to keep both players, but that wasn’t possible.

Campoli brought the Senators a 2nd round pick and Ryan Potulny, not “only” a second rounder.

This article isn’t for debate on Murray’s managerial decisions, though. It’s a look back at Campoli’s time with the Senators.

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by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Worth Remembering

For all my observations about BM, he was forced to make many moves by malcontents, which severly reduced his ability to maximaize potential value in return, and he inherited hangovers from Muckler.

by Be_rad on Apr 15, 2011 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Good to point this out, Mark

It’s easy to buy into some of the dirt thrown on Murray’s dealings until the full context is considered. Frankly, after some of the crap he’s had to deal with, the guy would probably look like Fabio at his age if he had just settled into retirement instead of coming to Ottawa.

by west-sider on Apr 15, 2011 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

That's not to say that Murray doesn't have dealings that deserve dirt-throwing

Just that I don’t think those two trades, in particular, can be held against him as major faults. The first round pick he gave up in the Campoli deal was, essentially, free money.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Apr 15, 2011 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions