Prospect Info: Matt O'Connor #29

[Sens of Anarchy]

Its really hard to put O'Connor ahead of Dreidger and Hogberg as of right now.

 

[Caeldan]

We're kind of straying into 'generic goalie discussion' here, but will touch on a couple points.

Regarding 20/20 Hindsight GMing... I know I posted at the time, and only a few people agreed with me then... that we should have told Lehner to suck it up and ride the busses in Bingo and kept Anderson and Bishop. However, at the time - Bishop was the stopgap measure due to Anderson being hurt, and Lehner was the goalie of the future. So it did make sense then that Bishop was traded and most people were ecstatic at receiving Conacher then.

Anderson as a goalie still will have a few years left since he's not a 'butterfly' goalie. He's one of the hybrids in the style of Brodeur. It's a bit easier on the knees and hips and barring any major injuries I'm sure he's still got 3-4 years left in him at an NHL starter level. Also, the way you say 'best years behind him' seems to imply you think his play is dropping off a cliff when he's been pretty consistent year in and year out in terms of his statistics.

 

[Rodzilla]

We're kind of straying into 'generic goalie discussion' here, but will touch on a couple points.

Regarding 20/20 Hindsight GMing... I know I posted at the time, and only a few people agreed with me then... that we should have told Lehner to suck it up and ride the busses in Bingo and kept Anderson and Bishop. However, at the time - Bishop was the stopgap measure due to Anderson being hurt, and Lehner was the goalie of the future. So it did make sense then that Bishop was traded and most people were ecstatic at receiving Conacher then.

Anderson as a goalie still will have a few years left since he's not a 'butterfly' goalie. He's one of the hybrids in the style of Brodeur. It's a bit easier on the knees and hips and barring any major injuries I'm sure he's still got 3-4 years left in him at an NHL starter level. Also, the way you say 'best years behind him' seems to imply you think his play is dropping off a cliff when he's been pretty consistent year in and year out in terms of his statistics.

Like I said his numbers are still fine but his movements are getting slower and he seems to let in more bad goals the last few years. I won't go out and find videos to show you I think if you're here you watched a lot of games just like I do and when I say behind him I don't mean that he's going to be awful, I am just not sure I see us contending with him.

With the moves we made we need him to be great and consistent.

 

[Super Cake]

Anderson will be fine as long as the Sens stop giving up tons and tons of high quality shots every game.

The time to worry about our goaltending is when the Sens are playing good defensively, but Anderson is giving up weak goals.

 

[Larionov]

Firstly on Matt O'Connor - as others have noted, he was a free player, so the club doesn't have a ton invested in him. There are only so many development slots available for goaltenders in an NHL system, so if he doesn't show some promise this year he'll get tossed in the recycle bin fairly quickly. It's a cruel business, doubly so when you are an "older" rookie like O'Connor.

Andy should've been traded when his value was at his peak.

The market for goalies is always weak, though - it's fundamentally different than it is for skaters. I think there are a couple of key reasons for that. Firstly, teams have been burned multiple times in the past by giving up significant assets for a guy who comes in and just can't get it done. Secondly and somewhat related, they see teams having success with reclamation projects, prospects and journeymen in goal and think they can do the same. This year's Cup Finals were a good example - it was Murray, a young guy drafted after Chris Driedger if memory serves, versus Jones, a guy who was a backup in LA.

The Sharks got Jones for a low first round pick, basically the price the Sabres paid for Lehner. Would anyone give us even that for Andy given his age and injury history? Probably not. Best we ever would have received is a second and a prospect - no one was going to ship us a top six forward or a top four defenceman. Therefore, Anderson was and still is more valuable on our roster than he is as trade bait. That weak goalie market, of course, will get even weaker as teams look to pare down before the expansion draft...

 

[Xspyrit]

O'Connor also had a strong finish to the season so maybe it just took him awhile to adjust to professional hockey.

I think he's going to be another Bishop. He'll use his size well but he's never going to make any highlight reel saves.

That's a very good possibility, Bishop numbers in the AHL weren't exactly stellar at first.

2007-08 Peoria Rivermen AHL 5 0 9 302 12 1 0 2.38 2 2 1 119 0.908 - - -
2008-09 Peoria Rivermen AHL 33 2 2 1898 89 6 1 2.81 15 16 1 771 0.897 - - -
2008-09 St. Louis Blues NHL 6 0 0 245 12 1 0 2.94 1 1 1 100 0.893 - - -
2009-10 Peoria Rivermen AHL 48 4 6 2793 129 4 0 2.77 23 18 4 1173 0.901 - - -
2010-11 Peoria Rivermen AHL 35 2 10 2043 87 4 2 2.55 17 14 2 924 0.914 1 0 0
2010-11 St. Louis Blues NHL 7 0 0 369 17 0 1 2.76 3 4 0 151 0.899 - -

Then, he started to break out in 2011-12, at the age of 25 y/o

Unless someone was actually posting in 2012 saying that Bishop should be our goalie of the future and he is the most talented out of Anderson and Lehner, and that if we trade him it will blow up in our faces, I cannot take seriously the hindsight GM type posts about us keeping Bishop.

Bishop had played only THIRTY NHL games. The fact that he could have been had for value around a second round pick, yet teams weren't lining up to grab him shows that Ottawa wasn't the only team who missed the boat on Bishop's potential. What people are suggesting is that Ottawa should have traded arguably the best starter they've ever had other than Hasek who prior to being injured was having an elite year in an attempt to bet on a goalie who played 30 career games. All the while, Anderson at the time was still young, and the Senators had a blue chip goalie prospect in Robin Lehner already coined as the goalie of the future.

Again, if someone was posting in 12-13 about how big of a mistake trading Bishop would be, and about how he is going to be a Vezina contender and one of the best goalies in the league, respect to them for getting it right. But the captain hindsight GM stuff is just lame. Ottawa made a HUGE mistake trading a goalie like Bishop to a division rival for Conacher, there is no discounting that. But almost nobody thought it was a mistake at the time.

That's why the bashing of the Bishop trade is often too disingenuous. He was 26 y/o and a 3rd string goalie, didn't show that he was going to become a starter either, BECAUSE goalies are so unpredictable. The fact that we got Conacher (who was a Rookie Of The Year candidate) and a 4th round pick for Bishop was awesome, as we only paid a 2nd to get him and used him to help us qualify for back-to-back playoffs seasons as Andy went down.

In the end, Conacher didn't work out and Bishop did but it was looking damn good at that time. People here were ectastic.

 

[Benjamin]

I knew Bishop was old for a "young" NHL goalie when we got him but wow he's already about to turn 30. In my mind he was still like 27.

 

[Emerica]

I knew Bishop was old for a "young" NHL goalie when we got him but wow he's already about to turn 30. In my mind he was still like 27.

was 26 when we got him right?

 

[bert]

Like I said his numbers are still fine but his movements are getting slower and he seems to let in more bad goals the last few years. I won't go out and find videos to show you I think if you're here you watched a lot of games just like I do and when I say behind him I don't mean that he's going to be awful, I am just not sure I see us contending with him.

With the moves we made we need him to be great and consistent.

I agree with this, his mobility does seem to have taken a hit. Specifically when players fake shots, he also seems to really strugle playing the puck at the moment. Obviously wrap arounds are an issue too.

I agree with the sentiment that you have to be patient with goalies, and just big players in general.

 

[Samsquanch]

I agree with this, his mobility does seem to have taken a hit. Specifically when players fake shots, he also seems to really strugle playing the puck at the moment. Obviously wrap arounds are an issue too.

I agree with the sentiment that you have to be patient with goalies, and just big players in general.

Im downright scared every time I see an opposing player start to go around the net for a wrap around on Anderson...

Even if he does actually stop the puck, its painful to watch because you can see the play coming from a mile away, and yet it still results in a high quality scoring chance for the other team.

Our goaltending is the biggest question mark for me moving forward.

 

[lakai17]

A few ahl games in this season along with playing on 3 different echl teams. any reviews on him lately?

 

[BondraTime]

A few ahl games in this season along with playing on 3 different echl teams. any reviews on him lately?

Well, he's not apart of the organisation, you'd be better off asking people who follow the ECHL

 

[lakai17]

Well, he's not apart of the organisation, you'd be better off asking people who follow the ECHL

On my phone so I thought this was the prospects board not the Sens board. My mistake.

 

[BonkTastic]

He's a 26 year old gialie with a sub-.900 save percentage at the ECHL level.

He's done, we can lock this thread now.

 

[Sun God Nika]

we didn't trade Lehner because of Hammond, we traded Lehner because of O'Connor.

actual quotes of HF posters .