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Silver Seven 2013 Report Cards: Defencemen

2013-06-19T11:00:07Z

Nine members on staff assigned grades for each player on the Ottawa Senators roster, providing us with aggregate final grades. And yes, playoff performances do factor.

Up today: defencemen.

Coming into this season, Andre Benoit was 28-years old, the captain of an American Hockey League franchise, and had only eight NHL games under his belt. With an injured Jared Cowen, this journeyman defenceman was poised to be this season's Matt Carkner: the overachieving minor league player who finally became an NHL regular. That's exactly what happened.

Benoit had a solid season for a guy expected to play third-pairing minutes. Not many defencemen score four goals (only three of which counted) and ten points on the bottom rung of the roster monkey bars. However, Benoit's offensive numbers don't outwrestle his defensive shortcomings. The coach thought he was a liability at times, and that brings his grade down a bit. Overall, Benoit exceeded expectations.

Highest grade: B
Lowest grade: C

Let's get this out of the way first: Cowen's return from injury is impressive, and it does factor into his grade. But it doesn't exclude the fact that he was downright awful in the playoffs. Look, I know +/- isn't a thing that's really worth paying attention to, but Cowen was a team-worst -6 in their 10 playoff games. It became painful to watch and increasingly more apparent that maybe Cowen came back a little too early.

He only got 17 games out of 58 in this year, so this sophomore season was a bit of a wash for Jared. Next year there will be even greater expectations on him, though, especially without the next guy on the list.

Highest grade: C+
Lowest grade: C

The disparity between Sergei Gonchar's highest and lowest grade highlights the up and down season that he went through. For a brief period in March, Gonchar was an A+ player while posting a ridiculous 15 points in only 10 games. That stretch, which broke a Filip Kuba defensive record for most consecutive games with an assist, also propelled Gonchar to second in team scoring.

Excluding those 10 games, Gonchar only had 12 points in 35 games, which puts him only a little bit ahead of Andre Benoit. He's a player who was buoyed by one hot streak and somehow scored $5-million per season for two more years from Dallas. But you can't exclude that hot streak, and so Gonchar falls in the middle Neither a great season nor an awful one.

Highest grade: A-
Lowest grade: C

A worthwhile question: if not for several injuries to other players, would we have seen Eric Gryba play in the NHL this season?

Gryba stayed in the lineup for most of the season because he was the only right-handed shot left on the backend. He was given often first-pairing minutes right off the hop. To say that Gryba was thrown into the deep end would be an understatement.

He was awful to start. In over his head. It seemed like everything he touched ended up somehow going into his own net. He was a D-level player at best. But then a curious thing happened: Gryba improved. Slowly at first, and then by the end it was significant. And his grade went up. Next year should be interesting. Is there room for him to be a regular?

Highest grade: B-
Lowest grade: D+

It was very nice of P.K. Subban to hold onto that Norris Trophy for Erik Karlsson while his leg recovered. Very kind.

Karlsson's injuries are well-documented, so there's no need to rehash them here. As awful as he was against Pittsburgh, he was excellent in the games prior to that series. Amazingly, his points-per-game were better after his injury (.92) than before (.71). Before getting hurt, Karlsson was also playing better than he had been during his Norris-winning season the year prior. He loses a few marks for his second round, but overall he was unsurprisingly one of the best players on the team.

Oh, and he led the Finnish SM-Liiga in scoring amongst defencemen this year. He only played half the season.

Highest grade: A+
Lowest grade: B

If you blinked and missed Mike Lundin's season, you wouldn't be the only one.

He was picked up in the offseason to be a short-term depth player, and thanks to two injuries of his own (broken finger, concussion) and the recovering from injuries of other players, Lundin barely got into the lineup. In the 11 games he did play, he was underwhelming at best.

Highest grade: D
Lowest grade: F

When Marc Methot (alias Heisenberg) was acquired, it was to be a steady defence partner for Erik Karlsson; a complimentary player. Instead, thanks to a horrible string of injuries to the lineup, he became a steady defence partner for Eric Gryba. Not only did Methot end up playing as the team's top defenceman, but he helped convert a disaster on skates to a reliable NHL defenceman.

Methot turned out to be the steady defenceman he was acquired to be, but he also ended up being so much more. He could hit, fight, skate, and even had some deceptive offensive flashes toward the end of the season. Senators fans thought they were getting another Anton Volchenkov. Instead they got someone considerably better.

Highest grade: A+
Lowest grade: B

After spending the lockout being the Beer Baron of Bytown, Chris Phillips had a decent season. While he'd struggled in recent seasons, Phillips seems to have found his game again under Paul MacLean and has turned into the perfect third-pairing defenceman. Phillips did tend to struggle when presented with more minutes, which is something fans in Ottawa are used to seeing. What they weren't used to was offence: Big Game Chris scored five goals, tying his mark from last year in just over half the number of games.

He was the only defenceman to play every game this season.

Highest grade: B+
Lowest grade: C

Some nights Patrick Wiercioch was invisible. Other nights he was the most dynamic player on the blueline. He had an excellent March when playing alongside Sergei Gonchar, and many advanced stats people will tell you that it was Wiercioch who made Gonchar go and not the other way around. When the season came to an end and players returned to the lineup, Wiercioch became the odd man out in a numbers game. He only played once in the playoffs, skating for just 1:47 before getting hurt and not showing up in the lineup again.

What Wiercioch needs to work on is being more consistent. Now that Gonchar is gone/richer, Wiercioch has a chance to evolve into the dedicated second offensive threat on the blueline not just a fill-in. It will be an excellent opportunity for him.

Highest grade: B+
Lowest grade: C+

Silver Seven owns up to the posts we've deleted over the years

2013-06-18T14:00:06Z

There was a big stir in the blogosphere recently as it came to light that Justin at the Goalie Guild had deleted several old posts that, with the benefit of hindsight, did not look so good (like saying he didn't think future Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky would work out well in Columbus).

Justin apologized, and it's time we did the same ourselves. After all, we've also been guilty of trying to cover up our tracks once or twice, and it's not something we're proud of. But in the interest of transparency, it's only right that we compile a list all of those posts we made over the years that we deleted once it turned out that their basic premise was undeniably false.

1992

Sens get the steal of the expansion draft in Mark Laforest
After inaugural game, we're confident Senators will be a dominant force this season

1993

Daigle is right - no one will remember Chris Pronger

1996

Jacques Martin has the exciting scheme Ottawa needs

1998

Alexei Yashin will go down as the best player in Senators history
Sami Salo: Man or Beast?
Daniel Alfredsson a poor choice to captain this team
Mathieu Chouinard, goalie of the future

2000

Tom Barrasso: The Answer
Why the Maple Leafs won't beat the Senators in the playoffs this year
Mathieu Chouinard, goalie of the future

2001

Why the Maple Leafs won't beat the Senators in the playoffs this year

2002

Rod Bryden has brought stability to a laughingstock franchise
Why the Maple Leafs won't beat the Senators in the playoffs this year

2004

Why the Maple Leafs won't beat the Senators in the playoffs this year
How a salary cap will eliminate bad contracts forever
We guarantee the Sens will win the Cup

2005

Dominik Hasek: The Answer
Brian Lee will be the cornerstone this team needs
Go ahead, buy that Dany Heatley jersey -- he's here for good

2006

Martin Gerber: The Answer
In the new NHL, Wade Redden is more valuable than Zdeno Chara
Scotiabank Place: The name of our arena for the next 15 years!

2008

Karlsson's a 'garbage pick'

2009

Pascal Leclaire: The Answer (oops, we forgot to delete this one...)
Cory Clouston, visionary coach
Alexei Kovalev will be a fan-favourite
Mike Comrie: Second time's the charm

2010

Free Agent Frenzy: The Senators should acquire Matt Cooke

2011

Craig Anderson: Not The Answer

2012

Paul MacLean's system will never work in Ottawa

2013

Lockout won't end; season cannot be saved
Canadiens should give Senators all they can handle thanks to calm, collected coach and great goaltending

UPDATE: One of our keen readers tracked down a screenshot from an old article written by none other than Peter himself. Looks like Peter was into Geocities.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Calder Trophy...

2013-06-18T11:00:07Z

Jakob Silfverberg was going to win it.

Mika Zibanejad was going to win it.

Remember all of that during the dog days of the lockout? (DAMN YOU, BETTMAN!) Remember how Silfverberg was coming off of a dominant season in the Elitserien, and had the advantage of adjusting to the North American game in the AHL while the millionaires and billionaires fought their latest pointless squabble?

Well... that didn't happen. Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau won the trophy, beating out fellow finalists Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens and Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks. Good year to be named some variation of Brendan, I guess, as Brenden Dillon of the Dallas Stars also got votes.

So, the vaunted talents from Sweden didn't get it done. Or did they?

While we don't get to see who voted for which player on the ballots, we do get to see how the votes went, and in looking through the voting, a really interesting tidbit came up. See if you can spot it:

How about that? While the Senators didn't have a finalist, they did have more players in the voting than any other team. Here's the breakdown if you're too lazy to count:

Team	Players
Ottawa	4
Florida	3
Edmonton	2
Minnesota	2
Montreal	2
St. Louis	2
Boston	1
Chicago	1
Dallas	1
LA	1
Tampa Bay	1

Over the past few days we've obviously talked a lot about Zibanejad, but it's still encouraging to see other names on this list. After all, most of our excitement comes from the prospect of, well, prospects. The Senators have very few cornerstone players in place, and barring a blockbuster trade, don't really have any on the horizon. The franchise's future success hinges on the development of its prospects into not just NHL players, but good NHL players.

Newly-minted Jack Adams winner Paul MacLean intimated as much when asked about the award and the adversity his team faced this year:

As it turned out, our scouting staff has done a good job of identifying young players. The fact we were forced to play them was a big part of it. But I think the quality of the players allowed us to play them. That was really a bigger part of it than anything I did or anyone else did, was the quality of our players that we could put in.

In fact, much of the praise we have given to general manager Bryan Murray since the start of Senate Reform has been over the ability of he and his staff to restock the cupboards. The hope of a brighter future has been what he's been trading on--and what the fanbase has been buying into--since it became obvious changes on the team were needed. The Calder voting would seem to validate those hopes, if only a little bit.

Now, most of Cory Conacher's votes probably came from the stats generated by his stint in Tampa Bay, where he was tearing it up alongside some guy named Steven Stamkos. And it's not like Silfverberg, Lehner, and Wiercioch amassed a ton of votes here. It's very possible that this is just a reflection of home-team bias from local Ottawa media. However, each of those three got one third-place vote, which means at least three media members cast separate votes. Without knowing who cast the votes, we can only speculate. Still, looking at the vote breakdown, either Ottawa is the only city with shameless media or those players caught the eye of at least one of the other 180 members of the Professional Hockey Writer's Association. Either one is possible.

However the votes wound up happening, they don't really diminish the fact that four of Ottawa's young players had noteworthy seasons. Robin Lehner displayed such dominance that he forced his way on to the NHL roster. Patrick Wiercioch was second among rookie defensemen in scoring, and first among them in overcoming career-threatening injuries. Concher cooled off while adjusting to a new team but still showed some flashes of clutch ability. And Silfverberg showed he has a shot that can beat any goalie in the league.

And though a Calder vote doesn't guarantee future success, it does add a note of hope to the career path of Ottawa's prospects--a simple validation that they can play and succeed at the NHL level. After all, that's probably the first step towards becoming the good NHL players the Senators project--and need--them to be.

Silver Nuggets: Some Much Deserved Recognition

2013-06-17T17:00:03Z

I must say, it feels really good to get some individual accolades for good people in the Ottawa Senators organization. Sure, any hockey player or coach will tell you that they would prefer team awards (namely the Stanley Cup) over an individual award any day of the week (unless they are heading to pay day of course...). The fact is, however, that it is certainly nice to see people who represent the Senators getting league-wide recognition, something that has been unfamiliar to the franchise.

Daniel Alfredsson won the Calder Trophy in 1996, the team's first individual award. Those early years were lean, so that was understandably a unique achievement. The next award didn't come until 1999, when Jaques Martin took home Jack Adams honours for the miracles he was working behind the Ottawa bench (while putting the league to sleep).

After that? You have to wait a looooong time. Sure, Mike Fisher was nominated for a Selke, and Zdeno Chara was a finalist for the Norris Trophy. I wrote the other day that I thought Alfie should have won the Conn Smythe in the Finals year, but alas, nothing from Jaques Martin all the way until little Erik Karlsson won himself a Norris Trophy last season.

Since then? Floodgates are open! It is now in vogue for the Sens to get awards. Alfie picked up the King Clancy last year and the Mark Messier this year, and Paul MacLean won his Jack Adams that he so rightly deserved.

With Erik Karlsson young, healthy and playing at his peak, Paul MacLean working miracles, and strong goaltending, we could see a few more slide the Sens way, and I think that is long overdue, and very cool.

What do you predict the next award won by a Senator will be? And when?

Sens Links

Alfie wins his leadership award. [SSS]
Paulrus wins his Adams. [SSS] [6thSens]
Mark looks at St. Louis like a low hanging fruit. [SSS]
This article proposes that the Senators try to acquire Kris Letang. No thanks! [SS]
Murray giving Alfie all the time he needs (this could be an article from last summer and you'd have no idea) [SE]
Eugene Melnyk with some love for his award winners. [Sens]
Transcript of Alfie's post-"award" interview. "Uh" count: zero. [SE]
Transcript of MacLean's post-award interview. If you read one link today, make it this one. [SE]

League Links

Cool insight to what its like to play with a Brad Marchand or an Alex Burrows or Andrew Shaw on your own team. [TBHS]
Neither the Bruins nor the Blackhawks are particularly young. They need the rest between games after all this extra time. [NHL]
Best pick ever at #15 in the draft? This may someday say Erik Karlsson. For now? Legend Mike Bossy. Who knew he fell to 15?! [NHL]

Senators by the Numbers: #26

2013-06-17T14:00:03Z

Bob Kudelski RW 1992-1993. 1993-1994

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1964, Kudelski was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1986 Supplemental Draft. He completed four successful seasons at Yale University and made his NHL debut in 1987-88 for the Kings. Traded to Ottawa midway through the inaugural season, Kudelski brought scoring flare to the dismal Senators and finished the season just four goals behind Sylvain Turgeon for the team lead. His scoring abilities improved the following year, and with 26 goals in 42 games for the Senators, Kudelski was on pace to become the franchise's first 50-goal scorer. However, Sens management had other plans, and he was traded mid-season to the Florida Panthers for Evgeny Davydov, Scott Levins, Florida's 6^th round choice (Mike Gaffney) in the 1994 Draft and Dallas' previously acquired 4^th round pick (Kevin Bolibruck) in the 1995 draft. Because the Panthers had played fewer games than the Senators, Kudelski tied Jimmy Carson's NHL record for most games played in a single season (86). Stifled in Florida's defensive system, he retired having played just thirteen games in the 1995-1996 season. Kudelski is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Florida Panthers Alumni Association.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
1992-93	48	21	14	35	-22	22
1993-94	42	26	15	41	-25	14

Scott Levins C/RW 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 1995-1996

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1970, Levins was drafted 75^th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1990. A grinder, he was dealt to Ottawa in 1994 as part of the Bob Kudelski deal. Levins spent the bulk of his NHL career in Ottawa before finishing the rest of his playing days in the minors (UHL, IHL, AHL) and Europe (Germany and Britain).

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
1993-94	33	3	5	8	-26	93
1994-95	24	5	6	11	4	51
1995-96	27	0	2	2	-3	80

Phil Crowe RW 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999

Born in Nanton, Alberta in 1970, Crowe was undrafted and signed with the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. An enforcer, Crowe spent parts of three seasons with Ottawa before being claimed by the Thrashers in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
1996-97	26	0	1	1	0	30
1997-98	9	3	0	3	3	24
1998-99	8	0	1	1	1	4

Andre Roy RW 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002

Born in Port Chester, New York in 1975, Roy was drafted by the Boston Bruins 151^st overall in 1994. An enforcer, he played for five teams during his 11-year NHL career. Signed as a free agent by Ottawa in the spring of 1999, Roy spent three seasons with the Sens before he was traded to Tampa Bay for Juha Ylonen in March, 2002. Roy won the Stanley Cup while in Tampa and was popular with his teammates. To change the mood after a devastating loss during Tampa's 2004 run, Roy served his teammates cookies wearing only an apron on a flight home at Martin St. Louis' suggestion. However, his second stint with the Lightning was less successful. After two infamous fights with Riley Cote, Roy made a throat-slitting gesture while on the bench before being restrained by John Tortorella. Tortorella refused to play Roy for the rest of the season and Andre signed with the Flames in the offseason. After one season in Calgary, Roy retired. Despite some difficulty adjusting to retirement, Roy now works as a commentator for RDS and for the Blaineville Armada in the QMJHL.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
1999-00	73	4	3	7	3	145
2000-01	64	3	5	8	1	169
2001-02	56	6	8	14	3	148

Benoit Brunet LW 2001-2002

Born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec in 1968, Brunet was drafted 27^th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1986. A fixture on Montreal's wing for more than a decade, Brunet was a defensive-minded forward and skilled penalty-killer. In his final NHL season in 2001-02, he was traded to the Dallas Stars with Martin Rucinsky for Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen. He played 32 games in Dallas and was traded again, this time to the Senators in exchange for a draft pick. Brunet retired after the season. Since retiring, he has worked as a colour commentator for RDS.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2001-02	13	5	3	8	-4	0

Vaclav Varada LW 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2005-2006

Born in Vsetin, Czechoslovakia in 1976, Varada was drafted 89^th overall by the San Jose Sharks in 1994. Varada played seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded to the Sens at the deadline in 2003 for Jakub Klepis. In the summer of 2006 Varada signed with HC Davos of the Swiss League. Varada currently plays for HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech League.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2002-03	11	2	6	8	3	8
2003-04	30	5	5	10	2	26
2005-06	76	5	16	21	2	50

Ryan Shannon C 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011

Born in Darren, Connecticut in 1983, Shannon went undrafted after a successful four-year college career with Boston College. Signed by the Anaheim Ducks, Shannon won the Stanley Cup in 2007. Traded to the Senators by the Vancouver Canucks for Lawrence Nycholat, Shannon played three seasons in Ottawa. In Ottawa, Shannon's fate was tied to Cory Clouston; when the AHL coach won the team's NHL job, he promoted Shannon. Ryan had his greatest success in the NHL while with Ottawa, but was not re-signed in 2011. He spent one year in Tampa Bay and played 45 games. Not offered a contract by an NHL team after the 2011-2012 season, Shannon agreed to a three-year deal with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland.

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2008-09	35	8	12	20	-1	2
2009-10	66	5	11	16	-12	20
2010-11	79	11	16	27	3	24

Best #26: Bob Kudelski

One of the few offensive bright spots during Ottawa's first two seasons, Kudelski was the most productive #26.

Worst #26: Phil Crowe

While Levins was a possibility, Crowe gets the nod. A little used enforcer, Crowe had trouble cracking the line-up and making an impact.

Poll

Who is Ottawa's best #26?

Silver Seven 2013 Report Cards: Goalies

2013-06-17T11:00:04Z

Now that enough time has passed that we at Silver Seven can reflect on the season without the bitterness of defeat fresh in our minds, it's time for 2013 report cards.

Nine members on staff assigned grades for each player on the Ottawa Senators roster, providing us with aggregate final grades. And yes, playoff performances do factor.

Up first: goaltenders.

The only former Ottawa Senator to get a report card, Bishop receives special recognition because he played a much more significant role than Kaspars Daugavins and the 6th-round draft pick traded to Minnesota.

Bishop was on a one-way contract, making him the default backup for Craig Anderson despite being third on the depth chart. After a horrible start against (of all teams) Tampa Bay, Bishop appeared to settle down, letting in only two goals in his next two games (but going 1-1, because goal support isn't important). After Anderson's injury, he was thrown into the spotlight. With so many injuries already, at that point Craig Anderson was the Senators. How would Bishop fare when suddenly under intense pressure? A 6-2 record highlighted by a ridiculous 44-save performance against Montreal on February 25.

Bishop's only failing was that he was the weakest of Ottawa's three goaltenders. He played well enough that Tampa Bay traded Cory Conacher and a draft pick for the Senators third-string goalie. Without Bishop's contributions this season, it's likely the Senators would not have made the playoffs. Good luck in Tampa Bay, Ben.

Highest grade: A-
Lowest grade: B

Robin Lehner posted a 2.20 GAA and a .936 save percentage, the latter putting him second in the NHL and, if not for games played minimums, would be the 6th-best season in NHL history. Very impressive numbers, especially for someone in his first full season in the league. He dominated the AHL, matching his NHL statistics despite a second half where his top defencemen kept ending up in the league above him. When Craig Anderson went down with an injury, Lehner got the call-up. He never went back down.

Lehner's one real flaw was his record: 5-3-4. Despite only allowing 27 goals in his 12 appearances, he couldn't put together many wins, largely because the depleted team in front of him could only score 32 goals. In his first five games, he didn't put up a save percentage lower than .933, yet suffered four overtime losses. A 4-2 loss to Buffalo was the only game he had a save percentage lower than .900 all season, as much a testament to Lehner's performance as to the lack of depth on Ottawa's defence.

He finished the season 13th in Calder Trophy voting with a third and a fourth-place vote, the highest ranking of any goaltender.

Bonus Classic Stat: Lehner played all five games against the Bruins (a whopping 42% of his starts), going 1-2-2. He was 4-1-2 against non-Boston teams. Of his 22 career NHL starts, 7 have been against the Bruins.

Highest grade: A+
Lowest grade: B+

If these grades were based on the regular season alone, this grade would easily be an A+. Unfortunately for Craig Anderson, we take playoffs into consideration. Let's compare:

Regular season: 12-9-2, 1.69 GAA, .941 SV%
Round 1 vs. Montreal: 4-1, 1.79 GAA, .950 SV%
Round 2 vs. Pittsburgh: 1-4, 4.32 GAA, .884 SV%

Notice an outlier?

But let's be honest for a moment. If not for Craig Anderson, the Ottawa Senators don't have a hope at making the playoffs. There wouldn't have been a season for Ben Bishop to keep afloat. Anderson was the most valuable player on the team and it isn't even close. As Anderson went, so went the Senators, and there is nothing more indicative of that than the second round against Pittsburgh.

Not only did Craig Anderson finish first in the NHL in GAA and save percentage, he had one of the best seasons in the history of the league. His GAA of 1.69 ties Miikka Kiprusoff's 2003-04 for second all-time and puts him only behind Brian Elliott's (!) 1.56 last season as the best in the last 70 years. Meanwhile, his save percentage of .941 is the new NHL record, usurping incumbent Brian Elliott's (!!) .940 from 2011-12.

If not for his midseason injury, Anderson would likely be a shoe-in for the Vezina Trophy. He ended up 4th in the voting, earning 3 first-place votes from the 30 NHL general managers. Anderson also finished 12th for the Hart Trophy as league MVP with a second-place vote and a fourth-place vote. Interestingly, that was actually Anderson's second-best finish for the award. He was 9th in 2009-10 while with the Colorado Avalanche.

It's doubtful "Andy Ice" will ever match this year's numbers, but his lockout season will go down as one for the ages and will never be forgotten by Senators fans.

Highest grade: A+
Lowest grade: A

Trade targets: St. Louis Blues

2013-06-15T11:00:05Z

Some interesting news came out of St. Louis recently, as one of their prospects, center Jori Lehtera, opted to take a two-year deal to play in the KHL. He had spent the past three years there, and at the age of 25, it doesn't look like Lehetra is going to be part of the Blues' future. According to their general manager, Doug Armstrong:

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained.He didn’t want to play in the NHL. We offered him a seven-figure, one-way deal but his comfort level is in the KHL. I’m glad that if he doesn’t want to be here, he’s not here. We offered to bring him over here when his KHL season was over. He was coming off a head injury, I understood that. He didn’t think his conditioning was there, I understood that. (But) he had given me every indication that he wanted to play in the NHL. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if we were just a bargaining chip for him to use with the KHL and he never wanted to come over. But I was under the impression from he and his agent that the NHL is where he wanted to be. Something happened where it’s not where he wanted to be."

That's interesting because, according to Armstrong, Lehtera was part of the team's future plans:

"Yeah, he was a playmaking centerman that we thought would add to our team. If we could have improved with him, we would have. We can’t, so now we’ve got to find out if there’s a way to improve with a player like that. If not, we’ve got to put the feet to the fire of the guys that are coming back."

The Blues also have four very tantalizing players hitting restricted free agency at the same time: Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart and Patrik Berglund. Armstrong has already made it clear that the Blues will match any offer sheets they get for each player.

The real question, though, is whether they would be willing to move one of them for the playmaking center they're looking to add. Say, perhaps, Mika Zibanejad?

Zibanejad presents an interesting problem for the Senators, as he began to show flashes of the center he could be when an injury to Jason Spezza opened up minutes for Zibanejad on the second line--Kyle Turris moved up to take Spezza's spot.

However, when Spezza returned in the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Turris flourished in the best spot on the team while Zibanejad struggled centering a third line alongside Z. Smith and Chris Neil. Things did not improve when Neil was swapped out for shooter Jakob Silfverberg in game 5, and Zibanejad ultimately finished with no points in five games. Ultimately, despite his size and good defensive awareness, Zibanejad is probably not suited for a checking role--he needs to be playing in the top six.

Except this isn't an option in Ottawa right now. Zibanejad is not going to oust Spezza or Turris for one of the top two center positions, and that means if he's going to play those minutes, it's going to be on the wing. This suits the Senators just fine, as Z. Smith has already demonstrated he is a fine bottom-six center, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau appears poised to make the leap to the NHL next year--he already beat out Peter Regin and Jim O`Brien to take the fourth center position after almost starting the year in the ECHL. A good offseason (combined with this year's good audition) should give him inside track on that role next season, and it's not inconceivable that he could supplant Z. Smith on the third line.

So, at the moment, it's the wing or nothing for Zibanejad, which means he could be made available to a team looking for a playmaking center. Could he be a good enough chip to get the Blues to move a player? If so, who?

Patrik Berglund

#21 / Center / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-3

Weight: 217

Born: Jun 02, 1988

SCOUTING REPORT

Assets:	Has a huge frame, outstanding offensive instincts and game-changing ability. Is a wizard with the puck. His wrister is top-notch. Also owns plenty of two-way upside.
Flaws:	Doesn't use his big frame enough to win puck battles or finish checks consistently. Could stand to shoot the puck a little more. Needs to be better from game to game.
Career Potential:	Slick, talented center with upside.

via The Hockey News

In 48 games this year, Berglund had 17 goals and 8 assists. He is a big center but not terribly physical despite his size. But the Senators don't need centers, and the Blues do, so it wouldn't make sense to trade Zibanejad for Berglund.

Kevin Shattenkirk

#22 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-11

Weight: 207

Born: Jan 29, 1989

SCOUTING REPORT

Assets:	Has excellent offensive capability and all-round upside. A good transition game player, his quickness, talent and poise with the puck are assets. Can make an impact on the power play. He's not big, but is stronger than he looks and will use the body effectively.
Flaws:	Must continue adding more bulk to his frame and overall strength in order to better handle bigger NHL forwards in front of the net. Should learn to better choose his spots when he's pinching from the point as he gains more experience. Lacks some toughness.
Career Potential:	Offensive defenseman with upside.

via The Hockey News

In 48 games this year, Shattenkirk had 5 goals and 18 assists, totaling 23 points. Armstrong described him as "steady":

"He’s been an interesting three-year study because his numbers have almost stayed flat across the board. I look at that as a positive, that he’s defining himself relatively quickly."

But the Senators already have a smallish, offensive defenseman, and he's done all right. They don't have any real incentive to add what is essentially a similar player. Though Shattenkirk has good offensive skill and could conceivably fill the hole left by Sergei Gonchar's departure, there's not a major difference between him and Patrick Wiercioch at this point in their careers, and at 6'4", Wiericoch has the frame to be more than merely a puck-mover. A Zibanejad-for-Shattenkirk trade would be a very slight overpayment by the Senators, as they'd be moving a potential 1C for a second-pairing defenseman on their roster. It's a move that could work with some tinkering, but there are bigger fish out there.

Chris Stewart

#25 / Right Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-2

Weight: 231

Born: Oct 30, 1987

SCOUTING REPORT

Assets:	Owns tremendous size and strength, and is at his best when working the corners of the ice. Is physical and plays with a warrior's mentality (most of the time). Is faster than most think, and has what it takes to score goals, including a bullet for a shot.
Flaws:	Consistency continues to escape him, which he needs in order to hit the next level of his development. Has to play with an edge at all times, since he cannot get by with talent alone. Must also continue working on his play away from the puck and in his own end.
Career Potential:	Inconsistent but talented power forward with a little upside.

via The Hockey News

Chris Stewart is the player the Senators hoped Nick Foligno would be. He led his team in points this season with 18 goals and 18 assists in 48 games. Repeatedly billed as a 30-goal guy, that's a mark he has yet to hit in his career, though his point totals indicate that's not unreasonable: In 2009-10, he had 64P (28G, 36A) in 77 games with Colorado, which remains his career high. The following year he was traded to St. Louis, and between the two teams, he recorded 53P (28G, 25A) in 62 games. Last season, however, he managed only 30P (15G, 15A) in 79 games. And he recorded just one assist in six games in the playoffs this year, an unimpressive followup to his 2011-12 playoffs that saw him notch two goals (both coming in a 4-2 loss against the Los Angeles Kings) in seven games. It would appear that both the 30-goal and inconsistent labels could be deserved.

In imaginary scenarios, Stewart is the player who will be blessed by the magic hands of Jason Spezza, whose offensive skills let his wingers soar to greater heights. "If he could get close to 30 without Spezza," the story goes, "just imagine what he could do with Spezza!" Well... probably around 30 goals. Remember, Spezza already plays with a winger who flirted with 30 goals: Milan Michalek--and in their first year under Paul MacLean, Michalek recorded 35 goals and 25 assists with Spezza. Those 60 points were still less than his career high of 66, but tell us that Michalek's ceiling is probably as a mid-50 to 60-point player. Stewart's ceiling, even with Spezza, is probably as a 60-point player.

Except, of course, that Stewart wouldn't be replacing Michalek in this scenario--he'd be replacing Zibanejad. You know, the guy who's playing on the wing because that's the only place to get him top six minutes? Stewart is a RW, which would cause a slight logjam in the top six with Silfverberg and Daniel Alfredsson already playing those spots, but both Swedes have the intelligence to play LW if called upon, and Alfie's retirement is closer than it is farther.

There's no denying that at this point in their careers, Stewart is a much better option on the wing than Zibanejad could be for the Senators, so a trade here could have real traction. Except--if I'm the Blues, Stewart is exactly the kind of player I want to put on Zibanejad's wing. Sure, they still have Vladimir Tarasenko, but there's not much point in trading for a playmaking center if you don't surround him with guys who can finish his plays. Stewart would look great for the Senators in front of opponents' nets, especially with someone like Erik Karlsson taking ten shots a game, but the Blues would probably prefer to keep him.

Alex Pietrangelo

#27 / Defenseman / St. Louis Blues

Height: 6-3

Weight: 201

Born: Jan 18, 1990

ScouTING REPORT

Assets:	Has excellent size, two-way ability and loads of offensive acumen. Is aggressive in nature and never afraid to lay on the body. Plays with poise and excels with the man advantage; he has a quality point shot. An excellent skater for such a big man, he's also a good playmaker.
Flaws:	Needs a little more work in terms of his defensive-zone coverage, as well as learn how to make a few safer plays when in danger in his own end of the ice. Injuries are also a bit of a concern, mostly because his playing style can leave him vulnerable at times.
Career Potential:	Excellent all-round defenseman with big upside.

via The Hockey News

This is the big fish. Pietrangelo finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting last season (the guy he lost to would be his partner in Ottawa) but had a regression this year. It wasn't as precipitous a drop as, say, the illiterate Tyler Myers, but it's obvious Armstrong doesn't want to overpay a young defenseman who's still developing. In his own words:

"He had a good year, but not as good a year as his second year. So we have to figure out where all that fits into the market moving forward. As I look at our group, he has the best opportunity to be an elite (player) of anyone on our team right now. But opportunity has to cross-sect with the final result."

Makes sense. It's a mistake throwing too much money at a young player before you're sure what you've got--except the Blues would have to be blind not to know what they've got in Pietrangelo. He's a stud, a true stud, and he's not moving for cheap. Armstrong would have to believe that Zibanejad is a future top-line center to even think about moving Pietrangelo, and that would be just the starting point. The Senators would also have to throw in their first rounder, and a defenseman as well, either Patrick Wiercioch or Jared Cowen (preferably Wiercioch), and hope that two good young players who can contribute immediately and a decent pick in a deep draft would be enough to bag a great young player. The odds of this happening are low, but ask yourself: The year before Karlsson won the Norris Trophy, when he put up 45 points in 75 games and was a minus-30, would you have taken a potential 1C and potential top-4 offensive defenseman and a first-round pick for him? Remember, this was a roster that did not yet have Kyle Turris on it, had David Rundblad waiting in the wings, and already had two (later turned into three) first-round draft picks, one of which was 6th overall.

Of course, you wouldn't take the deal now, because Erik Karlsson established himself to be a true game-changing defenseman, but you don't know that at the time. What you do know is that you have:

A highly-skilled defenseman on your team who still has question marks about what his future really is.
Another similarly-skilled defenseman waiting in your pipeline.
A need at center.
An offer on the table that not only addresses that need, but gives you a similar, though much less polished, body back to replace him as well as a valuable pick in a draft where you're already stocked with firepower.

You could walk out of that draft with four first round picks! You could trade your way into the top of the draft and then trade your way back into the top 15! It's not a bad place to be considering all you had to give up was one highly-skilled defenseman who still has question marks about his future, is it?

Of course, the Blues aren't exactly in the same situation. They're not rebuilding. They already have a good young core of players--we've just looked at four of them. But they did give up their first round pick (22nd overall) this year to acquire Jay Bouwmeester, so getting the 17th overall pick definitely holds some value--otherwise the Blues watch 83 players get picked before they make their first choice, since they traded their second-round choice to the Sabres for defenseman Jordan Leopold.

If the price for Pietrangelo is Zibanejad, Wiercioch, and a 1st, it's a price the Senators should pay without hesitation. And considering the Blues' needs and draft status, it's a bounty they should at least consider.

But they probably won't.

So, is that it? Is there no one else that might work? Well, there is one name, but he's not on this list of RFAs...

David Perron

#57 / Left Wing / St. Louis Blues

Height: 5-11

Weight: 196

Born: May 28, 1988

SOUTING REPORT

Assets:	Is a great dangler with the puck and very creative. Can play on either side of center and excels in open space. Gritty and full of character, he's both a finisher and an excellent playmaker.
Flaws:	Injuries are a problem here, including concussion issues. Must also continue to work on his positioning and defensive-zone coverage. Should shoot more. More strength would also serve him well.
Career Potential:	Ultra-skilled scoring winger, when healthy.

via The Hockey News

If the Sens were to hear that Pietrangelo is off the table, this is the next player they should ask about. Perron was tied for fourth on the Blues in team scoring with 25P (10G, 15A) in 48 games, and carries an extremely cap-friendly hit of $3.8M until the end of the 2015-16 season. As a Sens fan, you may not have seen him play much, but in researching, I found that the scouting report provided above is quite accurate. But don't take my word for it, judge for yourself:

Versatile and skilled, this is exactly the kind of player the Senators need. His style of play means he would flourish under Paul MacLean, his ability to finish is ideally suited to a pairing with either Spezza or Turris, his ability to play both wings means he can play anywhere in the top six, and his ability to create plays would pay huge dividends for linemates with good shots.

There are some signs that Perron, a playmaker, chafed under Ken Hitchcock, a coach who tends to like structure--at one point he was demoted to the fourth line, though it didn't last long. He also missed 97 games over the course of 13 months after suffering a concussion when hit by Joe Thornton in November 2010, so it's not all sunshine and roses when it comes to him. However, it's worth noting that that stretch of games missed ended in December of 2011, and he has been consistently in the lineup since his return--he played in all 48 games this past season.

Of all the possible moves, this one feels the most right: Zibanejad-for-Perron seems fair to me. Zibanejad can be that playmaking center the Blues need, and Perron can be the skilled winger the Senators need.

Conclusions

It's important to note here that Zibanejad's talent is not in doubt. He was drafted 6th overall for a reason, and he demonstrated major strides forward this season. It is highly likely that he'll build on them next season. The only real question is whether he'll have the best opportunity to do so in Ottawa. As of right now, it looks like the answer to that question is no. The strong play of Turris and looming emergence of Pageau mean the Senators have some depth at center, and Zibanejad's best talents could be squandered on the wing. That does not make him expendable--it makes him an asset.

And Pageau is no lock to make the team next year. It's perfectly reasonable that Zibanejad could center a third line alongside Colin Greening and Mark Stone, and the average height there would be 6'2". You'd have three strong players all with not a small amount of skill who are both willing to use their bodies as well as go to the net to score. There's not many negatives to that scenario. It's not the kind of line you'd want to send your bottom paring against.

Still, if Zibanejad has transitioned--through no fault of his own--from building block to asset, the Senators would do well to at least ask around and see if there's some team who has need of his skill set, and if that team has anything the Senators might need in return. The St. Louis Blues sure look like they fit that bill.

Daniel Alfredsson wins Messier Leadership Award

2013-06-14T21:52:59Z

It's not fair to say Daniel Alfredsson beat out anyone for this award, but it's great to see him recognized for his off-ice accomplishments as well.