Confirmed with Link: Sens sign Chris Kelly (1 yr $900,000)

[Micklebot]

The determining factor over whether this is a good signing or not, and helps the team win or not, rests entirely on whether Kelly has recovered and can skate somewhat like he used to.

If he can still skate, he brings some leadership, sorely lacking experience on the PK, and some extra depth at center (he can also play wing).

I thought our biggest problem on the PK last year was the forwards (perhaps because of how the coach was asking them to play), and Kelly should help shore up that glaring weakness if he's back to pre-broken leg form.

 

[Xspyrit]

I really don't see how it can become a problem... Sens are actually at 40 pro contracts so they have space.

Worse case scenario : Kelly doesn't play and Melnyk's team pays him 900 K$ for nothing

Just like last season when MacArthur barely even played. We missed him but outside of that, it was a bigger cap hit we couldn't use. Conclusion, I don't think the 900K$ of Kelly are going to hurt.

Very low risk, small/medium reward

 

[Alf Silfversson]

I don't know how this signing can be taken as anything but a small positive.

Strength down the middle is important. The club had a choice to make with regard to 3RW/4C in terms of Lazar's role moving forward. They appear to have made it and determined that his short term future at least is on the wing. This could be better for his development as a 3rd liner instead of a 4th liner.

Kelly over the others as a center. They have little to no experience and 4th line center is much more important than 4th line LW. Not only that, we do need more options for the PK and the rookies probably aren't the best suited until proven otherwise.

If we carry 3 youngsters to fill the last 4 forward spots with Neil, do we have sufficient call up depth? Are those kids getting enough playing time? Are they ready to come up? Does the organization even believe in all of them?

Kelly with probably be the 9th or 10th forward in ice time. I'd seen somebody call him the 12th or 13th, but 4th C / PK'er is a pretty important role.

How will Kelly do? Probably pretty well. Before last season, his offense and possession stayed relatively stable as a solid 3rd liner. Sure, he's gotten older and struggled with injuries last season... but we're demoting him a line and reducing his responsibility. He should easily be able to handle that with an off-season to recover.

Get outta here with yer logic and common sense!!! This is, bar none, the worst move the Sens have ever made.

You know... until the next one.

 

[StefanW]

The thing I like about this signing is it pushes people down in the lineup a bit, which is something we have been missing in the bottom half of the lineup for about 3 years now. Whether it is Chris Kelly or someone else matters less to me than the fact that it eliminates the need to insert someone who isnt really ready into the lineup.

Aside from all of this it is hard to complain about a 1 yr 900k contract. The only risk to a deal like this would be if he was taking the spot of a more deserving player, but...see the previous paragraph.

 

[Sensinitis]

If none of the young guys impress our 4th line will be Pyatt-Kelly-Neil

All of Paul, Dzingel, Puempel are challenging for spots.

Even Lazar, unless you consider that he locked up the 3RW spot. Even McCormick.

Lots of internal competition, I like it.

 

[topshelf15]

If none of the young guys impress our 4th line will be Pyatt-Kelly-Neil

All of Paul, Dzingel, Puempel are challenging for spots.

Even Lazar, unless you consider that he locked up the 3RW spot. Even McCormick.

Lots of internal competition, I like it.

Iam very interested to see what he can bring to a terrible PK .Very fast player with some history for being a good PKer ,maybe him and JGP can just fly around disrupting PK,s for us all season long

 

[Langdon Alger]

If none of the young guys impress our 4th line will be Pyatt-Kelly-Neil

All of Paul, Dzingel, Puempel are challenging for spots.

Even Lazar, unless you consider that he locked up the 3RW spot. Even McCormick.

Lots of internal competition, I like it.

Yeah, I see 10 guys having spots up front with the 3rd line RW and 4th line LW up for grabs. Lazar has the inside track for the RW spot at the moment, but maybe he starts the year in the AHL?

 

[ChelFan31]

lol signing a depth player at 900 000$ is what would handcuff the team from signing Hoffman? I know "Melnyk is cheap" and everything but isn't exaggerated a bit? I mean, Sens did re-sign Anderson, Methot, Ryan and MacArthur when it was time to sign them... as long as all the RFAs we cared about

Who did we lose so far? Volchenkov and Gonchar were let go because it was the decision. Spezza was traded because he didn't want to re-sign and asked to be traded. Alfredsson left at 40 y/o...

Take a step back and look at what's already been spent for the upcoming year. Our salary cap is at $57 Million, but actual expenditures in cash is $60 million range + call ups. Assuming we maintain at around the same budget as last year around $66 million; that $900K of space actually becomes magnified as it accounts for 15% of the remaining budget [$900k/$6Million left ] to sign everyone else [Ceci and Hoffman]. $6 Million seems like a lot, but it will be extremely difficult to sign both players under that total sum...so yes he did handcuff himself somewhat as the money could have been put to better use/better opportunity cost elsewhere.

Alfredsson left because he balked at the low ball of an offer Melnyk/Murray/Dorion and the brass offered him. They assumed he would take a hometown discount just like he played on the year previous for $1M. He didn't. And signed with the Wings. Spezz left because he took a look around him and could instantly see the Sens aren't willing to spend and build a contender. He knew Melnyk wouldn't spend, but would never come out and say it directly/publicly.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Take a step back and look at what's already been spent for the upcoming year. Our salary cap is at $57 Million, but actual expenditures in cash is $60 million range + call ups. Assuming we maintain at around the same budget as last year around $66 million; that $900K of space actually becomes magnified as it accounts for 15% of the remaining budget [$900k/$6Million left ] to sign everyone else [Ceci and Hoffman]. $6 Million seems like a lot, but it will be extremely difficult to sign both players under that total sum...so yes he did handcuff himself somewhat as the money could have been put to better use/better opportunity cost elsewhere.

Alfredsson left because he balked at the low ball of an offer Melnyk/Murray/Dorion and the brass offered him. They assumed he would take a hometown discount just like he played on the year previous for $1M. He didn't. And signed with the Wings. Spezz left because he took a look around him and could instantly see the Sens aren't willing to spend and build a contender. He knew Melnyk wouldn't spend, but would never come out and say it directly/publicly.

ChelFan makes a good point. Even looking at it conservatively Hoffman 5 and Ceci 3 puts pressure on the total salary. + Puempel to sign as well (say ~800k)

http://www.generalfanager.com/teams/ottawa-senators

 

[StefanW]

Take a step back and look at what's already been spent for the upcoming year. Our salary cap is at $57 Million, but actual expenditures in cash is $60 million range + call ups. Assuming we maintain at around the same budget as last year around $66 million; that $900K of space actually becomes magnified as it accounts for 15% of the remaining budget [$900k/$6Million left ] to sign everyone else [Ceci and Hoffman]. $6 Million seems like a lot, but it will be extremely difficult to sign both players under that total sum...so yes he did handcuff himself somewhat as the money could have been put to better use/better opportunity cost elsewhere.

Alfredsson left because he balked at the low ball of an offer Melnyk/Murray/Dorion and the brass offered him. They assumed he would take a hometown discount just like he played on the year previous for $1M. He didn't. And signed with the Wings. Spezz left because he took a look around him and could instantly see the Sens aren't willing to spend and build a contender. He knew Melnyk wouldn't spend, but would never come out and say it directly/publicly.

The NHL minimum salary was $575k last season and will be between there and $600k for the coming season. If we did not sign Kelly someone else would have to fill that spot, and even if that someone was on a league minimum deal the savings would be $300k at the very most, not $900k.

 

[ChelFan31]

The NHL minimum salary was $575k last season and will be between there and $600k for the coming season. If we did not sign Kelly someone else would have to fill that spot, and even if that someone was on a league minimum deal the savings would be $300k at the very most, not $900k.

The Kelly signing actually is relevant and has direct barring over their budget. Their operation budget has a prescribed threshold for so many dollars which it can use. By signing Kelly it adds additional outgoing cash expense which only adds to the already fixed amount of budget left to sign Ceci and Hoffman. Instead they already had other players already signed [which your going to be paying anyway actual cash], which could have been used instead of Kelly and not been a huge drop off. At the end of the day The $900K is an additional outgoing cash expense [on top of the expenses it already pays to its minor leaguers] which takes away from the inelastic cash budget to sign other players. So yes it does affect them.

 

[StefanW]

The Kelly signing actually is relevant and has direct barring over their budget. Their operation budget has a prescribed threshold for so many dollars which it can use. By signing Kelly it adds additional outgoing cash expense which only adds to the already fixed amount of budget left to sign Ceci and Hoffman. Instead they already had other players already signed [which your going to be paying anyway actual cash], which could have been used instead of Kelly and not been a huge drop off. At the end of the day The $900K is an additional outgoing cash expense [on top of the expenses it already pays to its minor leaguers] which takes away from the inelastic cash budget to sign other players. So yes it does affect them.

Sorry, that is still wrong. Players in the minors make minor league cash which is often substantially less than their NHL salary. If a player making 65k/650k is called up instead of signing Kelly it costs the team 600k while Kelly costs 900k. The difference between moving a minor league player up and having Kelly step in is about 300k, and that is the amount that is important. Resources have to be allocated in multiple directions to fill a roster. It is not just about signing Hoffman and Ceci, although those two contract negotiations are huge.

 

[BonkTastic]

The Kelly signing actually is relevant and has direct barring over their budget. Their operation budget has a prescribed threshold for so many dollars which it can use. By signing Kelly it adds additional outgoing cash expense which only adds to the already fixed amount of budget left to sign Ceci and Hoffman. Instead they already had other players already signed [which your going to be paying anyway actual cash], which could have been used instead of Kelly and not been a huge drop off. At the end of the day The $900K is an additional outgoing cash expense [on top of the expenses it already pays to its minor leaguers] which takes away from the inelastic cash budget to sign other players. So yes it does affect them.

If a $900k veteran depth player poses such a huge burden to our budget, then the problem is the budget, not the $900k player.

You are trying to treat the symptom, not the cause.

 

[operasen]

Still wish we had a read on where Boucher (Dorion) see Lazar, Smith and Paul; even White and Brown will impact the Centre depth moving forward.

No issues Turris plays as the No1 and Pageau/Zibanejad the 2/3. Kelly should get the 4C which will push Lazar and Paul to the wing or AHL and keep Smith on the LW side.

As to Lazar, he plays better as a C and wants to be a C. I hope Boucher talked to him about it moving forward. Must be tough on the guy as he preps for Camp not knowing his position or who his projected Centre is if he's on the wing. Wish we knew where he was projected by Boucher.

 

[starling]

Take a step back and look at what's already been spent for the upcoming year. Our salary cap is at $57 Million, but actual expenditures in cash is $60 million range + call ups. Assuming we maintain at around the same budget as last year around $66 million; that $900K of space actually becomes magnified as it accounts for 15% of the remaining budget [$900k/$6Million left ] to sign everyone else [Ceci and Hoffman]. $6 Million seems like a lot, but it will be extremely difficult to sign both players under that total sum...so yes he did handcuff himself somewhat as the money could have been put to better use/better opportunity cost elsewhere.
.

Why should we maintain same budget?
2 years ago our internal budget was $50 Million. Last year - $66 Million.

 

[Indrew]

The Kelly signing actually is relevant and has direct barring over their budget. Their operation budget has a prescribed threshold for so many dollars which it can use. By signing Kelly it adds additional outgoing cash expense which only adds to the already fixed amount of budget left to sign Ceci and Hoffman. Instead they already had other players already signed [which your going to be paying anyway actual cash], which could have been used instead of Kelly and not been a huge drop off. At the end of the day The $900K is an additional outgoing cash expense [on top of the expenses it already pays to its minor leaguers] which takes away from the inelastic cash budget to sign other players. So yes it does affect them.

It's a friggin' one year deal man.

 

[ChelFan31]

Why should we maintain same budget?

Obviously its not engraved in stone.I did say its an assumption. Its a safe assumption, given Melnyks insistance on not being a cap team, along with a weak CDN dollar [while gate revs are all in $CDN] I don't see an increase in expenditure, but rather a flatline budget.

 

[swiftwin]

The last time we brought back our #22 wearing 4th line defensive center for a second tour at the end of his career, this happened:


Bonus trivia: Van Allen is the reason Kelly chose #22. Source

 

[armani]

The 2nd stint Vanner was a warrior. Limited in skills and toughness, but somehow found a way to be productive. He even dropped the gloves and held his own with some good spot picking skills.

Vanner is also a case study of why high scoring ways of AHL doesn't always equate to NHL success. Also a case study of how to stay in the league when you don't score.

Vanner is an international man of mystery.