Off Season Planning: If I was The Bryan!

Like I said, I submitted my thoughts on what ideally the Sens should do this offseason to The 6th Sens, and if you didnt get a chance to read it, DO it! Its awesome. For the few of you who do not get here by way of that beautiful site, this is what I had to say!

Here's how I see the summer unfolding for the sens. As a preface, Im not trading Spezza (the idea is ludicrous, you'd never get full value for him, and Ottawa won't support a bottom feeder for 5 years a la Pittsburgh/Chicago) and I'm not signing Volchenkov. I've made my opinions clear on his contract before, and I cannot bear the thought of him turning into the next Jay McKee.

So this is what I'd do:

1) Let Volchy walk, and go out and sign another, defensive minded defenceman who blocks shots but has slightly more offensive upside than Anton. The only person who comes to mind from this years crop is Zbynek Michalek. At 28 he is the same age as Anton and his career high in goals is nine, not 4. The other nice thing about Little Z as they call him is that he made 1.25 this year. I say sign him to 4 years, 3 mil per and move on with two Michaleks on the team. (NOTE: also would be open to signing Dennis Seidenberg, who is strong at both ends of the ice, but I feel he may be a touch more expensive)

2) Let Cheech play in the minors. The Euge has shown he is willing to do this in the past, and there is no sense having him count against the cap for two more seasons when he can be off the payroll after this year. Remember buyouts count against the cap for twice the remainder of the contract, and that hinders further moves.

3) Offer Matt Cullen what he made this year (2.8) for another 2 years. At his age, that's not bad, and the worst that can happen is he says no.

4) Sign Peter Regin, Nick Foligno and Chris Campoli. I KNOW. But Chris played a good playoffs and at this point he gets a tiny raise (to 0.7 mil) from us, or probably doesn't get a contract. Fact is, he is better than Brian Lee. Period. (Note: Peter Regin 3 year 1.4 mil, foligno 3 year 1.2 mil)

5) Pile all of our awesome Murray draft picks that are playing all over the place in one place: BINGO. Let them learn to play together and for them all to develop together. Give Cowen and Weircoch top minutes in all situations and let Mike Hoffman and Peterson et al play to their hearts content down there. Don't forget Lehner as the starter.

This leaves us with a similar but not same lineup as we finished with, but with some great prospects on the way. I'd like to see a forward selected first round who can also make the jump to the "A" but thats wishful thinking...

LINES

• 1) Regin-Spezza-Alfie (why tinker with it, and check out the depth it gives)
• 2A) Foligno-Fisher-Kovalev (or shannon til Kovy is healthy)
• 2B) Michalek-Cullen-Butler
• 4) Ruutu-Kelly-Neil

• Phillips-Karlsson (the kid is the future, give him big minutes and let the big rig guide him)
• Kuba-Michalek
• Carkner-Campoli

The goalies are the same.

Cap is about 200k below cap. Beauty right? this summer isn't going to be one of huge changes, that's next year when all sorts of contracts come off the book. I love this forward line-up, its really deep and dynamic.

So there you have it! What would you do if you were The Bryan?

Let's Check Out the Defence, Ya Dig?

Well then... *dusts off the cobwebs*

It's been a few days now hasn't it!! Both Oakes and I went home to O-Town for the Easter weekend and we're the first to admit we slacked a little bit. Looks like our boys decided to take some time off too eh? ZING.

Jokes aside, it would make me cry to come here and ramble on about the pathetic effort Saturday afternoon in a meaningless game. The bright side is, the Sens have shown an ability to play to the level of their opponents this year, as evidenced by the awful record against non-playoff teams and excellent record against playoff teams losing only 4 times to playoff teams (as it stands now playoff teams at least) SINCE JANUARY. Wild eh?

THIS JUST IN: Apparently only playoff teams play in the playoffs!!!

Phew. Guess we can hope the trend continues.

But now that we are talking about the playoffs, let's look at something that came up in conversation on the way back to Kingston; The Senators' defence corps.

Much has been made about the fantastic depth the Sens have up front with Spezza and Alfie, who carried us to the Finals not too long ago, on the top line. The second line has wizard (with good playoff numbers) Kovy, Fish (who's game is meant for the dance) and likely Foligno (who's cycle game will be good for the playoffs). The Third line has Cullen (cup winner), Michalek (one of the only Sharks who didnt TOTALLY suck it in the postseason) and probably Shannon (let's face it, I'm not sold on him in the playoffs). The Fourth line is made up of grizzled vets who get it, and who will help us win at least one series (as the internet junkies say... book it).

Much has also been made about the fact that neither Spazzy or our Saviour Elliott have ever even sniffed the playoffs.

But NOBODY, and I mean nobody, is talking about the fact that outside of Volchy and Phillips, CHRIS CAMPOLI IS THE MOST EXPERIENCED POSTSEASON D-MAN ON THE TEAM.

....

.......

Have you wiped the mess you just made on your seat up yet?

Good. Now, let's chat.

Assuming Filip Kuba really IS out for the year (and it's looking like that) the D will look like this in the playoffs

Chris Phillips: 91 postseason games, cup finalist, general badass. I'm not worried about the rig. He is having a career year and I expect him to do his thing and step up as he always does come mid-april.

Android Volchenkov: 55 playoff games, cup finalist, russian cyborg. Again, not worried about our Russian bear. These may be the last games he plays in a colour that will hide the blood from he blocked shots, but he is having a career year too, expect him to amp it in the playoffs to ensure he cashes in hard this summer.

Chris Campoli: 5 games postseason play, first round exit, floundering midget. When confident and determined, as in the last few games, Campoli is actually kind of a useful player. When he gets complacent and assumes he has a roster spot, he shits the bed. Right now he is fighting for a contract. Let's pray he gives us good third pairing minutes and some quality PP time.

Mount Sutton: 4 playoff games, first round sweep, literally looks like bigfoot. I would never say this to his face, but as awesome as Sutton is, he is as big a question mark as anyone else that comes after him on this list. However, it can be argued (and possibly rightly, I know I would) that his game suits the playoffs, and that, at 35, he should be hungry to give all he's got in his chance at the dance.

The Kid: (Yes! HIMYM reference!) 0 playoff games, only 57 regular season games, awe-inspiring rookie. King Karlsson was rightly fellated on this site for his play recently and rewarded me by putting in two huge goals to secure the playoffs the next game. However, upon my boasting, he shit the bed last game. He is just a rookie and he has played well, but he can either help the Sens win a game (like Thursday) or he can serve up some turnovers (like Saturday). Jury is out, but for the Sens to have success, the Kid must be the King.

Carks: 0 playoff games, only 78 games regular season, one ear. So this should be interesting. I think that even though at the beginning of the year Carks was a feel good story, his first year in the NHL, and that many fights and PK minutes took a toll on him and he seems tired. He would be my bet should Kuba make a return to come out, but to spot in should the series require some toughness.

So there you have it, hope I haven't scared you too much. As much as this is an unknown group, I have confidence. You have to start somewhere right?

Which playoff virgin (or at least prude) are you most interested in seeing in playoff action?

How about a healthy debate?

Really intense game Tuesday night, a real playoff set-up. I thought the team played well, and played extremely hard (except one person...I'm looking at you big 27). I thought the defence won us the game and that instead of doing a normal recap, I would put up a debate containing in my mind, two of the three best Sens in Tuesday's win (the other was Phillips), to inspire some thought and (hopefully) some responses.

For the few of you that read this (thank you housemates!!), you may not believe me when I say that, sitting in class today, I came up with a sweet idea for a blog. Why not compare the pros and cons to keeping Anton Volchenkov over Andy Sutton. Why might you not believe this? Because when I came home, I found that at 11:43, Senschirp put up a blog about the very same idea. You can believe me or not, but fact is, while chirp posted the question, I planned to look into it deeper. And, because I don't want to do homework, that's exactly what I'm still going to do! So let's break it down shall we?

PHYSICAL

Sutton: 6'6, 245lbs and 35 years of age. 175 hits this year, which translates into 2.8 hits per game.

Volchy: 6'1, 226lbs and 28 years of age. 140 hits this year, which translates into 2.4 hits per game.

Thoughts: This is basically a DRAW. Sutton hits more, and his huge frame is quite an attractive asset because you cannot teach size. In addition, Sutton will occasionally drop the gloves, which takes some of the pressure off Carks and Neil. Now Volchy on the other hand has never had a problem with his size, and he is 7 years younger, which cannot be underestimated. Guys tend to lose a step in their late 30's.

DEFENCE

Sutton: Rated #1 Defensive defenseman in the league by CBS sports. This is because of his aforementioned 175 hits combined with his 172 blocked shots (2.77 per game) and only -8 rating despite playing on the Islanders for most of the year.

Volchy: Rated #3 on the same rating scale, he has blocked 157 shots (2.75 per game) this season while having a +3 on the season.

Thoughts: as far as defensive d-men go, these are two of the leagues best. Cannot really find much difference except in the plus-minus but that can be explained by a poor Islander season and possibly because Volchenkov has a very reliable defensive partner. DRAW.

OFFENSE

Sutton: Sutton has shown he like to jump up in the rush, and his hands aren't too bad. He handles the puck well for a man his size. 5 goals and 13 points this year puts him at 0.21 ppg for the year and 0.24 ppg for his career. He doesn't see regular powerplay time but does have a cannon for a shot.

Volchy: Handles the puck like a hand grenade. Sometimes forgets he is Russian. Needs to watch Kovy's puck handling DVD. 3 goals (almost a career high) and 13 points gives him 0.22 ppg this year and has 0.22 ppg for his career.

Thoughts: The numbers surprise me, but remember, Sutton has only ever played on one playoff bound team and Anton played on some very high scoring Ottawa clubs. Looking outside the numbers, just the way they handle the puck, I give this to SUTTON.

INTANGIBLES

Sutton: Well, he is the new guy, so you would think Anton should clean up here. However, he has played very well and shown some good chemistry with Erik Karlsson. This is no small thing. Going forward, King K will likely be our top d-man. In addition, Karlsson's biggest detractor is his size, and Sutton more than makes up for that, and can stand up for the kid (as shown on Tuesday) once the league realizes they have to run him to shut him down.

Volchy: It is hard to look past Volchy's 7 years of nearly sterling service and 4-5 years of Philchenkov chemistry that will be disrupted if/when he leaves. Trouble is, with the style he plays, how much longer can he keep it up. In addition, will Philchenkov (our top d-pair for years) be our top d-pair going forward? With the emergence of young guys in the pipeline, will it make sense to pay Volchy top dollar to play second fiddle to King K and the other new kids?In addition, Phillips has shown he can play with young guys and make them look good when Volchy is hurt (See: Brian Lee, Karlsson) and maybe he helps Cowen into the league over the next few years.

CONTRACT

Sutton: He is making 3.0 million this year, it the last year of a 3 year deal that I believe payed him an average of 3.5 million per. He has had a very good season, but I cannot see him getting more than 3.5 on the open market, and at his age, probably not more than another 3 years. This is just my opinion of course.

Volchy: This is a lose for Volchy (in this debate. A win for his bank account). Career year, in the media a ton, value is extremely high and is coming off a contract where he took a discount. Look for him to pick up (on the open market) as high as 4.5 million over 4-5 years. That is high and long term based on how we've broken this down.

YOUNG"S FINAL THOUGHTS

If I'm Brian Murray (which I'm not) and these guesses at numbers are correct. I re-sign Sutton to 3.5 (maybe a little less) for 3 years, pat Anton on the back, thank him for his services and wish him luck. Pair King K and Sutton next year, Pair Phillips with either Kuba or Cowen, and have Carkner, Campoli (resigned at minimum raise for RFA) and Lee fight it out for the remaining spots.

IF YOU WERE BRYAN MURRAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?