How many elite players did Ottawa have in the last 10 years? Chara, Redden, Hossa, Havlat, Karlsson, Ryan, Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson
Out of those 9, 2 are playing on the team right now and out of the other 7:
Chara - Salary reasons (Normal)
Redden - was kept
Hossa - Traded because of monetary reasons (ability to retain)
Havlat - Traded because of monetary reasons (ability to retain)
Spezza - Requested a trade (ability to retain)
Heatley - Requested a trade ( ability to retain)
Alfredsson - Franchise player lowballed (ability to retain)
I mean 5 of the 7 elite players (not counting Chara, Redden) we've had in the last 10 years who are not on the team right now have either asked for a trade or been traded due to internal budget. Seems pretty clear that the team had problem keeping elite players here. Not saying it's still the case because it isn't at all but you have to be blind to not see from the past.
Ok but you have decided we were talking about the
ability to retain talent... I was just talking about what the original poster said, which was "consistent issues with retaining star talent". When you trade a player, does it means you wouldn't have been able to retain him? There's a salary cap. Havlat was traded and Chara was let go because we couldn't fit an all-star roster under the cap... If it wasn't Chara, it would have been Redden, pick your poison. Even Hossa, was traded for cap purposes, Heatley was cheaper for a it longer. So it has nothing to do with "ability" to retain, but only with the fact that you have too many star players and have to make sacrifices. Look at the Hawks over the years.
Now Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson were different beasts. They were used to play for a contender and suddenly had to play for a rebuilding team.
Heatley didn't even got there, he got in a fight with the coach and became disgruntled. The team traded him but in the end, it was really a blessing. Problem : he didn't like the coach and didn't fit in the system that coach was trying to implement
Alfredsson left because he wanted a chance to win a Cup with his Swedish buddies. Everyone would have done the same. Ability to retain Afredsson"... I mean how under the market contracts did he sign with the Sens? Just because he tried something else 1 year means that much? Seriously, the Sens were not ready to pay him 6M$ for that last year. It was a bit cheap but for a business standpoint, it makes sense... A bit like with Volchenkov (don't think he's going to be worth that much). However, they owed that money to Alfie but it's not my money so my opinion stops there.
Spezza took a lot of blame over the years, I understand why he was tired of that and wanted to try something else, in a more "sane" environnement, because Canadian hockey fans are fanatics and it must be irritating over time.
So I agree on Heatley and Spezza, but even then, there was more than traditional reasons. Sens also made a big culture change and went through a rebuild so usually big moves are made during those times.
Look at it the other way :
- Ryan : signed long-term
- Karlsson : signed long-term
- Methot, Anderson, MacArthur, Michalek (without being big stars) : retained
- Alfredsson, Neil, Phillips : retained all their careers (or almost)
- Chara, Havlat, Hossa, Fisher, Vermette, Kelly : doesn't apply because they were traded for cap reasons or culture change
Can't think of too many players that left because they wanted. Heatley and Spezza, yes. Volchenkov and Gonchar, let go because they were judged "too expensive now"
Please let me know which player left on his own outside of the pizza line.
EDIT : oh I just saw this but this is PLAIN wrong : "traded due to internal budget"... No, they were traded because the team was stuck to the cap, internal budget is a more of a recent thing. Alfie and Spezza were a bit victims of that but in that Spezza's case, did you want to be stuck with Spezza for 4 more years at 7.5? As much as I liked Spezza, it was for the best to trade him.
At the end of the day the Senators have had some truly excellent players bail/walk/force their way off/cap casualties in their prime like Hossa and Chara
This franchise has an established history when it comes to losing talent, that there are good reasons for the talent to have left/get traded does not change that
Ok but you didn't say it like that the first time, so that's why we started a discussion based on that : "consitent issues with retaining star talent"... Unless I don't understand the word "retaining" correctly.
When I look at the list of players retained over the years vs not retained (Heatley, Spezza, Alfie), for me the real problem is to attract established talent from elsewhere. That's why this team has to build through the draft.
