I won't lie, I'm loving all this rebuild talk. Ottawa's Cup window has been closed for a while, so talk of rebuilding the franchise in the model of some of the NHL's younger teams is exciting and filled with promise. Why lament over the season's struggles when you can turn to the future and salivate over the prospect of a dynasty? (Ah, the talk of a losing franchise's fan) Here is my five year plan, laid out year by year.

2010 - 2011

Trade deadline day

-Chris Phillips and Ottawa's 2011 3rd are traded to Colorado for Tyson Barrie and Colorado's 2011 2nd

-Alex Kovalev is traded to St. Louis for Jay McClement and St. Louis' 2011 2nd

-Brian Elliot, Jarkko Ruutu and Colorado's 2011 2nd are traded to Los Angeles for Jonathan Bernier

Draft Day

-Ottawa finishes in 28th, drafts Gabriel Landeskog.

-Uses two 2nd round picks to draft solid offensive prospects

Off Season

- Zack Smith is resigned to a 3 yr / $2.7 million contract

-Chris Campoli is resigned to a 3 yr / $3.6 million contract

-Ryan Shannon is resigned to 1 yr / $800,000 contract

-Ottawa trades Brian Lee, Mike Hoffmann, a 2nd round pick and a 3rd for Patrice Bergeron

-Pascal Leclaire walks as a UFA

-Bobby Butler is resigned to a 2 yr / 2 way / $1.8 million contract

-Mike Brodeur is resigned to a 2 yr / 2 way / $1.3 million contract

-Ty Conklin is signed to a 2 yr / $2 million dollar contract

2011 - 2012

2011 - 2012 Roster

Regin - Spezza - Alfredsson

Foligno - Bergeron - Butler

McClement - Fisher - Neil

Winchester - Kelly - Smith

Gonchar - Karlsson

Campoli - Carkner

Cowen - Kuba

Bernier

Conklin

Trade deadline day

-Filip Kuba is traded for a 2nd round pick

-Chris Kelly is traded for a 2nd round pick

Draft Day

-Ottawa finishes 20th, moves up using 1st and 2nd rounders to draft a solid forward prospect (Frk or Forsberg?)

Off Season

-Nick Foligno is resigned to a 3 yr / $4.0 million contract

-Peter Regin is resigned to a 4 yr / $6.0 million dollar contract

-Patrick Sharp is signed to a 4 yr / $20 million contract

-Jesse Winchester is resigned to a 3 yr / $3 million contract

-Erik Karlsson is resigned to a 6 yr / $24 million contract

-Matt Carkner is resigned to a 2 yr / $1.8 million contract

2012 - 2013

2012 - 2013 Roster

Michalek - Spezza - Sharp

Foligno - Bergeron - Alfredsson

Winchester - Fisher - Neil

O'Brien - Smith - Butler

Gonchar - Karlsson

Cowen - Rundblad

Campoli - Carkner

Bernier

Conklin

Trade deadline day

-Mike Fisher is traded for a 2nd round pick and a prospect

Draft Day

-Ottawa finishes in 8th (in conference), drafts another forward in the 1st round

Offseason

-Alfredsson is resigned to a 1 yr / $800,000 contract

-Bernier is resigned to a 2 yr / $7 million contract

-Butler is resigned to a 2 yr / $2 million contract

2013 - 2014

2013 - 2014 roster

Michalek - Spezza - Sharp

Regin - Bergeron - Landeskog

Foligno - Smith - Winchester

Butler - O'Brien - Alfredsson

Cowen - Karlsson

Wiercioch - Rundblad

Campoli - Carkner

Bernier

Lehner

Deadline day

-Ottawa trades Campoli for a 2nd round pick

Draft Day

-Focus is on forwards, goaltenders

Off Season

-Bergeron is resigned to a 4 year / $22 million contract

-Carkner is resigned to a 2 yr / $1.8 million contract

-Michalek is resigned to a 2 yr / $6 million contract

2014 - 2015

2014 - 2015 Roster

Landeskog - Spezza - Sharp

Regin - Bergeron - Michalek

Foligno - Smith - Winchester

Frk - O'Brien - Butler

Cowen - Rundblad

Wiercioch - Karlsson

Gryba - Carkner

Lehner / Bernier

And there you have it! My plan for a five year rebuild. Solid centres, strong D and a good blend of young and veteran talent. Not only that, but by year five there's still plenty of money to play with, meaning that there's room to resign players in the future, or if my contract signings are too low, there's room to increase the salaries and have it still work. The next step from here would be to continue to draft and develop prospects, as well as work on improving on the second line wingers. However, if a player like RW Martin Frk was drafted and developed well, then the second problem would take care of itself.

What do you think? is this team anywhere close to where the Sens should be in five years? What would you change? What dumb mistakes did I make? I'd actually really like to put together the Senators dream roster based on who Silver Seven readers would like to see on the team, so let me know!