Silver Nuggets: Scouting!

A few weeks ago, we learned that Pro Scout Rob Murphy would be leaving the Senators organization to join Tim Murray in Buffalo. This, added to the fact that Pierre Dorion's workload increased tremendously after taking on Tim's contract duties meant that there was a gap left in the amateur scouting duties. Today, the Senators filled that gap by announcing that longtime scout Bob Lowes has been promoted to Chief Amateur Scout, with the primary task of running the scouts for the amateur draft. Lowes was featured in the WHL, where he formerly coached, and was a driving force in the Senators drafting Mark Stone, Jared Cowen, and Curtis Lazar. It's clear that he was a valued voice in the room, and through draft interviews, he always seemed like a great talent evaluator to me.

The Senators also hired two full-time amateur scouts, promoting Trent Mann from a part-time capacity and adding Don Boyd, formerly of the Blue Jackets organization. More on this news can be found in the official press release here.

Last week, Amelia had a fantastic review of scouting departments across the league (which I strongly encourage you to check out) and came to the conclusion that the Senators were ranked 25th. With the new hirings, they've moved up to T-23, and are still relatively small. Now, this is not to say that I disagree with how the scouts performance during the Bryan Murray regime, and rather, it's the opposite - drafted players are the livelihood of this organization and prepares us well to compete in the NHL landscape. However, due to our budget constraints and being a small-market team, the importance placed on scouting is emphasized, and need to be able to maintain or better their performance if the Senators hope to find success in the future.

Nichols had a fantastic write-up of the Senators scouting news today, and shared some thoughts that I echo. Go give it a look.

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Sens Links

• It was a very busy week in Sens land, with the organization re-upping goaltender of the future Robin Lehner to a fantastic contract. Like many of the recent signings the Senators have made, the three year deal is backloaded and carries an average cap hit of $2.225M. If Lehner ends up the starter over the course of the deal, it's a bargain relative to his peers. [Ottawa Senators, Our discussion thread]
• As always, the blogosphere had their takes on the Lehner signing [Travis Yost, SenShot]
• The funny content from WTYKY keeps on coming! This time, Varada comes up with some marketing slogans for the 2014-15 season. [WTYKY]
• Both Nichols and Wayne Scanlan from the Citizen had great write-ups on the comments by Asst. GM Pierre Dorion with respect to the Lehner contract and what it means for the 2015 UFAs. [Dorion, Nichols, Scanlan]
• Yost tackles the Colin Greening rumours [Travis Yost]
• Chirp has a nice article on Alex Chiasson (just in case you're still having trouble pronouncing his name, it's SHAY-sahn) [SensChirp]
• With all of this news, contributor Mike Burse asks if the Senators will make the playoffs this year by projecting goal, points, and finally win totals. Want to hear his final verdict? [Silver Seven]
• Matt has his entry into the Making of Ottawa Senators fans series, which I have really enjoyed. [Silver Seven]
• Don't forget about our Five Thoughts for Friday column from Amelia! Diverse array of topics here. [Five Thoughts] /

I hope you enjoyed the first month of Silver Nuggets! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see more or less of in the comments below. Have a great weekend!

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