Silver Nuggets: Depressing predictions; More on Alfredsson

Greetings to all my minions, I appreciate the bow, you may sit now. Am I: 1) Really full of myself, 2) Really Funny, 3) Really try to be funny but really am not? Or maybe I am just checking if anyone actually reads the introduction? Did you ever think of that?

Before the links, if anyone is going to the home opener with us (or without us), and is passing through Kingston on the way, if you can give Speedy_McEachern a ride, check out his post here.

Here are today's links:

• Puck Daddy previews the Eastern Conference and all six predict the Senators miss the playoffs and finish last in the Northeast Division. (Yahoo!)
• A couple of Bruins blog don't like our chances, with one of them also not thinking the future will be too good either, while the other predicts a 68 point season. (Stanley Cup of Chowder, Days of Orr)
• Ian Mendes predicts either a 12th or 13th place finish for the Senators. (Sportsnet)
• The National Post predicts a long season for the Senators, but Bruce Arthur sarcastically points out that Ottawa fans can at least fall back on their 'sparkling nightlife'. Noah Love rates Sergei Gonchar as the most overpaid player in the league because he 'can't skate'. (National Post)
• Varada (who sometimes writes for us too) argues for the benefits of trading Daniel Alfredsson, pointing out that Keith Tkachuk was worth a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick at the deadline. From a purely hockey point of view, it could be beneficial, but I think it would crush any fan momentum that watching the young team might have created. Is that a good enough reason to not trade him? Probably not, but I wouldn't trade him. (Welcome To Your Karlsson Years)
• Bruce Garrioch points out that Alfredsson has another year left on his contract after this season. While the salary is only $1 million, the cap hit is $4.85 million, which would be an issue for any contenders he could be dealt to. This could make trading him very difficult. (Bruce Garrioch)
• Kaspars Daugavins hopes if he keeps playing like he did at the end of last year, it will get him out of Binghamton and to Ottawa. (WBNG)
• The Senators left for a 'bonding' trip (and a practice) in London, Ontario yesterday. Later today, they will head to Detroit. (Ottawa Citizen)
• If you watched the Senators goal song video yesterday, you would have seen how happy Nikita Filatov seems these days, joking around and such. He says hockey is fun again and seems to be enjoying the new setting. Without putting too many expectations on him, I think he is going to have a great season. (Ottawa Senators)
• The Hockey Writers has a list of rookies to watch out for, with Mika Zibanejad at #7 and David Rundblad at #10. They note that while Cowen arguably had a better camp, Rundblad's offensive ability makes him more noticeable. Cowen didn't make the top 10. (The Hockey Writers)
• This is 11 minutes long, but I was watching this video yesterday and definitely recommend you watch it if you have time. Probably the best hockey atmosphere I have ever seen. You can spot Mika Zibanejad at around the 1:28 mark. (YouTube)
• Erik Karlsson really likes to say 'I mean' a lot. I mean a lot. (Ottawa Senators)
• For all four of our female readers, here is a picture of Ryan Kesler wearing, well, nothing. I assume now it is okay for me to post pictures of Christina Hendricks in gameday threads? (Sean Leahy)