So Rookie Camps Are Fun, but Are There Any Spots?

As of this writing, the Ottawa Rookie Senators are currently winning 7-3 in the third period to Chicago's rookies. Yesterday, the Rookie Sens lost to Pittsburgh 5-3.

One very bright spot in the loss to Pittsburgh was the play of Bobby Butler, who picked up two goals and was all over the ice, having excellent chemistry with Mike Hoffman.

BOBBY BUTLER

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Bobby Butler, the Hobby Baker finalist and top NCAA player from last season is a player the management are very high on, and who looked quite promising in two games last year. Bryan Murray describes him as a very smart player who is "a goal scorer". We know he can put the puck in the net at the collegiate level with 29 goals in his last year, and appears to be able to put the puck in against his prospect-peers.

So the question is simple, can he do the same at the NHL level? Oakes did a sweet piece back when the Sens first signed him that can be found here, that talks about what we might be able to expect.

ROMAN WICK

Another, exceedingly intriguing prospect is Roman Wick. A similar type of player to Butler in that he is an offensive winger (an area where the Sens are not so deep), Wick is a prospect from the past. He was brought back into the consciousness of the fanbase while playing for the Swiss at the Olympics. He is big, strong and could look good on a line with someone like Milan Michalek.

The question with him is, can he bring the success from the Swiss League, playing for the Kloten Flyers, to North America? And if he cannot right away, how long is he willing to stay here improving in the AHL?

Now I would say these are the two most NHL-ready forward prospects the Sens have (assuming, as I do, that Zach Smith is a lock for the 4th line, and is therefore not a prospect), and they are exciting because they offer at the chance for some offence. But is there even a roster spot for either of these gentlemen?

Well let's look at the roster. Under one-way forward contracts, the Sens currently have

Spezza, Kovalev, Alfie, Fisher, Michalek, Regin, Kelly, Ruutu, Neil, Winchester, Shannon, Foligno.

That's twelve, and technically, that's all you need. But if you remember, I said I believe Z. Smith is our fourth line centre, so now we are at 13, which is the number most teams carry. So let's look at line combos with these thirteen.

Regin--Spezza--Alfie

9MM--Fish--Kovy

Ruutu--Kelly--Neil

Foligno--Z.Smith--Shannon

Winchester

This is, in all likelihood, the most safe bet as to how the lines will start this season. I'm not Winchesters biggest fan, I think Z.Smith does everything Winchester does, only better and with more intensity. I'm also not a huge Shannon fan.

So in reality, in Training Camp, Wick or Butler only has to outplay Ryan Shannon for a roster spot.

Now there are pros and cons to this. Would Butler and Wick benefit from 4th line duty? Or is it better to give them more minutes at the AHL level and use them for injury call-ups (remembering that Locke and Keller will also be in line for call-ups)? In addition both players need new contracts after this year, and you want to keep them happy and around for the not-so-distant future when Kovalev and Alfie retire leaving huge holes in the top six for wingers.

So how do you handle these two young players?

Here's the Deal on that Shocking Deal

I will start by saying one thing.

As much as we bleed red, black and gold and love our team, none of us has been in the NHL in SOME capacity for the better part of 3 decades.

Bryan Murray has.

The fact is, in a league with such short attention spans, and such changeover in management and coaching personnel, that is quite a feat. This leads me to believe he knows more about running an NHL team than I, or any person who frequents blogs and/or writes blogs does.

So let's look at this.

From his comments, The Bryan probably wanted Jaden Schwartz. The young talented USHL'er went much higher in the draft than many thought that he would go, but is the young forward that the Sens could very well have been targeting. Ironically the Blues picked him at the 14th spot, so Murray was Shit-Outta-Luck.

Now, with the prospects Murray has picked (trading up to get Karlsson when he was relatively unknown, getting Lehner and Weircoch second round, getting Hoffman 5th round) I tend to trust him and his scouting staff.

It is possible he saw Emmerson Etem and Austin Watson as nothing more than future third line NHL'ers, and while I love the Senators from the bottom of my heart, the Senators have more "bottom six" players than any team in the league, so picking another does not make sense.

It is also true that he was wary of taking Russians after the Sens have been royally screwed by Russian prospects in our recent history (Zubov, Kaigorodov, Nikulin etc, etc)

So he gets a call from the Blues. They have Pietrangelo, and a need for forwards. They already have a good, safe pick in Schwartz, but they are feeling risky and want to use another first round choice on Tarasenko (easily the best player still available, but one Murray is afraid of). So what does Murray do? He gets another FANTASTIC Swedish defenceman (and you know how much we liked the first one) who is one year farther in his development, has size and would have gone before the likes of Dylan McILRATH and Derek Forbert.

So what is everyone up in arms about?

I believe in Bryan Murray, and I believe that in a few years I will be looking at a top four D of:

Cowen (6'6) - Karlsson (5'11)

Weircoch (6'5) - Runblad (6'2)

That has great mobility, great offence from the back end and good size. I also believe that this means

Bryan thinks that Butler, Wick, Hoffman and Petersson are good offensive prospects or that

he has his eye on somebody later in the draft that nobody else has seen.

Either way, we look strong on D and in nets (Lehner) for the foreseeable future. With Jason Spezza,

Milan Michalek and Mike Fisher leading the next group of Sens forwards, I for one, am excited.

Aren't you?

All Hail the King

Sorry for the late post here today folks. Taking the time to watch the Sens game last night left me rather behind on my studying. I have some time now, so let's talk some puck.

First, thanks to everyone who has started to take some time to visit this little site. We are really enjoying it, and love your feedback.

Instead of doing the traditional postgame summary, which you undoubtably don't need due to the abundance of excellent ones (short and sweet? The Sixth Sens.... in depth and beautiful? Silver Seven).

Instead, I hope that each game inspires me to write a blog that you will enjoy and that will illicit your viewing and opinions!

Last night's game, and the game before that, lead me to want to write about my man-crush... Erik Karlsson. Or as he is affectionately known as... King Karlsson.

Karlsson, who turned 20 today, is a 5'11 175 lbs defenceman drafted 15th overall by the Senators in 2008 (I WAS THERE WHEN THEY TRADED UP FOR HIM!).

And this kid, he's a beauty. With two more assists against the Capitals, and a whopping twenty-four and a half minutes on ice, Karlsson is quickly becoming the integral cog to this team that everyone only could have hoped he would be. The two assists last night (as one was rightly given back to the Captain... more on him in a minute) give him 23 points on the year with several other great chances and posts.

But the most impressive feat? How about the 11 points in 14 games since the Olympic break? Yea, you read that correctly. 11 in 14 games to go along with his 33 shots over that period. That's nearly a point-per-game for a 19 year old toothpick of a defenceman.

Talk about filling the role of top offensive d-man nicely for this team. In addition to the 23 points, (which puts him second on the team in points for a defenceman) he has scored 14 of those points in the third period, to go with another two in overtime. Talk about clutch.

But its not just the kid's stats that are turning heads. With his play he could easily have more points than that this year. Its Karlsson's swagger. Its his guts. Its his instincts.

That is why, going forward, with all of this talk of signing A-Train to a massive new contract, I think that Erik Karlsson is the Senators most important player. Period.

On a team starved for a legit puck moving d-man since the days Wade Redden gave a shit, Erik fills that role. But more importantly, he provides that spunk, that creativity, that flair for the dramatic that you can argue the Sens have never had in a defenceman. That sort of thing cannot be taught, and it certainly cannot be underestimated. Think about it, even as a 19 year old, undersized player, I can think of at least three games where he has made plays, brilliant, unreal plays, that have won the game

Exhibit A:

As stated in the video it was an amazing move by Fisher, but without that perfect pass... that might be a game the Sens do not win.

Exhibit B:

That heads up play for an easy one occurs with ONE minute left in a tied, divisional game.

Exhibit C:

Of Course this was just last night, and again, that creativity is essential in yet another win.

I'm looking forward to many years with the young King, and as Sens fans, I think you should too.

Hopefully he continues on his current path and before we know it, is a

star in this league, because another Swede we like won't be around forever.

Question: Honest opinion, what did you expect from Karlsson going into training camp this year?

Mike Hoffman - Game on Sportsnet Ontario

Taken 130rd overall Ottawa Senators prospect Mike "don't call me Matt" Hoffman is enjoying an outstanding year with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. The 6 foot 175 pound prospect could put on a few more pounds but that has not affected his scoring ability. Hoffman has tallied 46 goals and 85 points in 55 games.

Once I got over the fact that his team's name was the Sea Dogs I was able to watch them face a red hot Moncton team in a battle of the Q's best this afternoon. I am going to be honest, for the best two teams in the QMJHL it was quite boring and sloppy, with a final score of 5-2 in favour of Moncton. Moncton dominated the whole game until they took a 5 minute major penalty for a head shot that mirrored the one delivered by Cookie on Savard. On that powerplay the Sea Dogs scored once and allowed a shorthanded goal. It also provided us with the opportunity to see Hoffman man the point for a full three minutes.

Even though Hoffman did not end up with his name on the scoresheet he was a factor on both of the Sea Dogs goals. He went 7 - 5 in the face of dot and looked like one of the quicker players on the ice. It was very hard to judge him on this game because as a whole the Sea Dogs had a very rough game. We also had the pleasure of watching Gabriel Bourque score a dirty penalty shot goal for Moncton when Penguins first round pick Simon Despres slashed him on a breakaway.

If you want to learn more about this Sens prospect with great upside check out this interview done by the guys at Silver Seven.

Stop by Tuesday morning for the our Game Day Preview!