TSN: 10 AM TSN.ca: End of Season News Conference

[Benjamin]

Marian Hossa? yes pls

If he gets amnestied. Yes pls.

 

[18Hossa]

Marian Hossa? yes pls

Pls pls pls pls pls

 

[Legend Killer]

I want one, two, or all 3 of Wayne Simmonds, Patrick Sharp, or Bobby Ryan...

Lets make proposals!!!

 

[Milan the God*]

There's talks of Hossa getting bought out?

 

[BUCKLE UP]

From the Trade Board:

Hossa has continued to play at an extremely high level for the Blackhawks. But the winger’s 12-year, $63 million deal that runs through 2020-21 features the final four seasons at $1 million per. If he were to retire with two years remaining, the charge would be $9.187.5 million per. If he were to play all but the final season of his deal, Chicago’s dead cap charge would be a crippling $18.375 million for 2020-21

 

[BK201]

Hossa will never sign here ever again... Do you guys not remember what happened?

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Hossa will never sign here ever again... Do you guys not remember what happened?

That was Muckler, not Murray, but you're probably right.

That sign and trade of Hossa for Heatley also cost us Chara, so that was a rather poor move by Muckler, even though I'm sure he thought himself quite clever after swinging the deal days after signing Hossa.

 

[source]

The "rebuild" tag can only work for so long as a smokescreen for Melnyk's unwillingness to spend to the cap. He struts himself out as a real 'fan', but the truth is that he is making plenty of money from this team. I don't condone him, but as a fan myself I'd rather if good old "Euge" would use some more of that profit margin on improving the team.

 

[great1]

Hossa will never sign here ever again... Do you guys not remember what happened?

It is wishful thinking but hopefully time has healed the wounds left by Muckler.

 

[BonkTastic]

Thanks for the recaps, BonkTastic. The typos weren't that distracting.

I posted the "Quick University Notes" version.

 

[BonkTastic]

Hossa will never sign here ever again... Do you guys not remember what happened?

This.

He was betrayed by the Sens when we sign & traded him without his knowledge. Not only will he probably never ever play another game in a Sens jersey, but Muckler effing over Hossa was a huge reason why fellow countryman Chara wouldn't re-sign with us, either.


**** you, John Muckler. Take your ****** sweaters and terrible hockey IQ and go **** yourself.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

clarkson, penner, filppula, horton, raymond

For guys who should hit UFA, my top in that criteria are Horton, MacArthur, Stalberg and Penner.

Brunner and Clarkson will likely be resigned.

Boyes might be an intriguing option if he is looking for Latendresse money

What about Penner? I'm pretty sure Murray signed him out of college for Anaheim, and he also tried to trade for him during the Heatley fiasco. We could always use a big winger like him.

WHAT THE **** is the fascination with Penner?

He scored TWO goals this year and 7 GOALS LAST YEAR.

He was tied for least amount of goals on the team for forwards.

Murray said faster and bigger; Boyes doesn't tackle any of those 2 problems.

I'll take Clowe, Roy and Whitney...

Whitney? Ryan Whitney?

The guy who was 4th on his time in ice-time where they were craving defensive support? Also part of one of the worst defensive cores in the league and trashed by Oilers fans? No thanks, bruh.

 

[harvey]

This.

He was betrayed by the Sens when we sign & traded him without his knowledge. Not only will he probably never ever play another game in a Sens jersey, but Muckler effing over Hossa was a huge reason why fellow countryman Chara wouldn't re-sign with us, either.


**** you, John Muckler. Take your ****** sweaters and terrible hockey IQ and go **** yourself.

Muckler destroyed the team long term. Look even at the horrible Havlat trade, all because he did not like Euros.....

 

[Micklebot]

This.

He was betrayed by the Sens when we sign & traded him without his knowledge. Not only will he probably never ever play another game in a Sens jersey, but Muckler effing over Hossa was a huge reason why fellow countryman Chara wouldn't re-sign with us, either.


**** you, John Muckler. Take your ****** sweaters and terrible hockey IQ and go **** yourself.

Is anybody from that management group still around other than Melnyk? The question is, who does he hold a grudge against? Still don't think it happens, but I doubt the sign and trade still factors in.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Guys, as much as Muckler lost us a Cup and the chance to see a dominant Chara play with the Sens until this day and age, we have an almost better roster being assembled.

Best D in the game, top 2 defenders in Cowen and Methot, upcoming talents like Wiercioch and Ceci, top 6 roundouts like Gryba, Phillips and Boro.

Best upcoming tandem in the league with Andy and Lehner

All major positions locked such as number 1 center, number 2 center, number 1 D, number 2 D, number 1 G.

We even have back-up in those positions. Zibanejad and Pageau look like future number 2 centers maybe even number 1. DaCosta could surprise this off-season, all that was really holding him back was conditioning and strength.

One of the best prospect pools in the league with high-end prospects like Stone, Noesen, Hoffman, Prince, Puempel, DaCosta, VIKSSSSSSSSTRANDDDD, etc...

All we seriously need to round everything out is a couple legit top 6 forwards, one of them being high-end talent and a top 4 defender and we'd be in contending mode.

With our depth, a little luck and some good moves, we can address all those this fall.

 

[Berserker*]

The "rebuild" tag can only work for so long as a smokescreen for Melnyk's unwillingness to spend to the cap. He struts himself out as a real 'fan', but the truth is that he is making plenty of money from this team. I don't condone him, but as a fan myself I'd rather if good old "Euge" would use some more of that profit margin on improving the team.

Sports franchises aren't the best profit generating ventures. The profit margins are generally pretty low and they often lose more money than they make. I think Melnyk stated in an article last year that the Senators franchise doesn't even start to generate a profit until they are in the second round of the playoffs. Owning a sports franchise is more of a hobby than an viable entrepreneurial endeavor.

 

[GreatStateofHockey]

The penalty for Kovalchuk re-signing the year before his final contract is a cool $27 million. Realistically if he retires when his 40 it will still be over a $6 million dollar hit. The amnesty buy-outs are going to be a pretty interesting thing to watch this summer and next, as there are some very good players who will likely be bought out and could either re-structure their contracts or incite a bidding war.

 

[The Fuhr*]

That was Muckler, not Murray, but you're probably right.

That sign and trade of Hossa for Heatley also cost us Chara, so that was a rather poor move by Muckler, even though I'm sure he thought himself quite clever after swinging the deal days after signing Hossa.

Cap was 39 million coming out of the lockout and Hossa demanded 20% of it... The Hossa deal was a cap savvy deal especially considering we got back to back 50G 100+ point seasons from Heatley.

In Heatleys 4 seasons here he gave us 180 goals.

He was the most dominant goal scorer this team has ever seen and as much as I like Hossa there is no way I'd want to take that trade back.

 

[BonkTastic]

Sports franchises aren't the best profit generating ventures. The profit margins are generally pretty low and they often lose more money than they make. I think Melnyk stated in an article last year that the Senators franchise doesn't even start to generate a profit until they are in the second round of the playoffs. Owning a sports franchise is more of a hobby than an viable entrepreneurial endeavor.

It's definitely entrepreneurial, but it's more like owning a house than a standard business. You buy in, knowing that you won't see much yearly profit (at least in relation to the initial investment), in hopes that when you sell the team, it's value has risen enough that you make a tidy profit.

For instance, Melnyk bought the team AND the arena in 2003 for a combined ~$130mil. In 2012, Forbes valued the team ONLY at ~$220mil. His investment has gone up in value 70% in the 10 years he's owned the team, to the tune of $90mil, and that's just the team: he still makes money on the arena for non-Sens events.

Sure, it's a hobby, but it's a shrewd investment as well.

 

[HavlatMach9]

Am I wrong to feel apathy about the Sens financial situation when they are at worst average as far as generating revenue goes?

 

[John Holmes*]

If you want to pinpoint the exact moment that the Senators started to fall apart, it was the Hossa / Heatley trade.

Though I suppose that you could argue that the hiring of Muckler at all was the principle catalyst.

Havlat was a terrible trade, but at the time we didn't have much cap room. Hopefully we can benefit from a team in a similar situation, ie: a brain dead GM and a good player that he can't afford.

 

[John Holmes*]

It's definitely entrepreneurial, but it's more like owning a house than a standard business. You buy in, knowing that you won't see much yearly profit (at least in relation to the initial investment), in hopes that when you sell the team, it's value has risen enough that you make a tidy profit.

For instance, Melnyk bought the team AND the arena in 2003 for a combined ~$130mil. In 2012, Forbes valued the team ONLY at ~$220mil. His investment has gone up in value 70% in the 10 years he's owned the team, to the tune of $90mil, and that's just the team: he still makes money on the arena for non-Sens events.

Sure, it's a hobby, but it's a shrewd investment as well.

That's well and good, and also to be taken with a gigantic boulder of salt.

Sure the value of the franchise will increase over time, but I have a very hard time believing that Melnyk is not seeing actual profits year in and year out.

Creative accounting between the two companies (Ottawa Senators & Palladium Inc or whatever it is called) can surely hide profits. The ton of charities the team is involved with also has to help in the taxes owed every year.

There are probably loopholes with loopholes. I'm not an accountant, but I do believe in common sense, and common sense tells me a few things.

Billionaires don't become billionaires by pissing their money away. I seriously doubt that any pro sports franchise owner is saying "I don't care if I lose money on this enterprise".

It doesn't make any sense.

The owners have been crying poor since the NHL started. You can find quotes from 75 years ago that could have been written last fall if you look hard enough. Yet, the league revenue is higher than it has ever been.

Then there was this gem by Paul Beeston:

"Under generally accepted accounting principles, I can turn a $4 million profit into a $2 million loss and I could get every national accounting firm to agree with me."

The rest of this is not specifically directed and the post quoted.

The Euge spent to the cap for a long time. Years we underachieved badly or missed the playoffs entirely.There is nothing wrong with him running the ship a little bit tighter until we are a legitimate contender again.

He has ALWAYS put up the money necessary when it was needed. Look at Karlsson's big contract if your memory needs refreshing, or the green light he gave BM to try to acquire Rick Nash and his anchor of a contract.

Spending money for the sake of spending money is stupid. Handing guys like Wade Redden, Brad Richards, Scott Gomez or Marian Gaborik gigantic contracts (all of which have flopped, by the way) is not smart, to say the least.

If it's a move that makes sense and improves the team, Melnyk has always been there.

His commitment to building a winner should never be questioned. I know I've written this before, but if anyone is complaining about Melnyk and the way he is running this team, you must be too young to remember the Bryden or Firestone days when the team REALLY had no money.

 

[BonkTastic]

That's well and good, and also to be taken with a gigantic boulder of salt.

Sure the value of the franchise will increase over time, but I have a very hard time believing that Melnyk is not seeing actual profits year in and year out.

Creative accounting between the two companies (Ottawa Senators & Palladium Inc or whatever it is called) can surely hide profits. The ton of charities the team is involved with also has to help in the taxes owed every year.

There are probably loopholes with loopholes. I'm not an accountant, but I do believe in common sense, and common sense tells me a few things.

Billionaires don't become billionaires by pissing their money away. I seriously doubt that any pro sports franchise owner is saying "I don't care if I lose money on this enterprise".

It doesn't make any sense.

The owners have been crying poor since the NHL started. You can find quotes from 75 years ago that could have been written last fall if you look hard enough. Yet, the league revenue is higher than it has ever been.

Then there was this gem by Paul Beeston:

"Under generally accepted accounting principles, I can turn a $4 million profit into a $2 million loss and I could get every national accounting firm to agree with me."

The rest of this is not specifically directed and the post quoted.

The Euge spent to the cap for a long time. Years we underachieved badly or missed the playoffs entirely.There is nothing wrong with him running the ship a little bit tighter until we are a legitimate contender again.

He has ALWAYS put up the money necessary when it was needed. Look at Karlsson's big contract if your memory needs refreshing, or the green light he gave BM to try to acquire Rick Nash and his anchor of a contract.

Spending money for the sake of spending money is stupid. Handing guys like Wade Redden, Brad Richards, Scott Gomez or Marian Gaborik gigantic contracts (all of which have flopped, by the way) is not smart, to say the least.

If it's a move that makes sense and improves the team, Melnyk has always been there.

His commitment to building a winner should never be questioned. I know I've written this before, but if anyone is complaining about Melnyk and the way he is running this team, you must be too young to remember the Bryden or Firestone days when the team REALLY had no money.

Yeah, we're on the same page here. Agreed.

 

[Silvercup Returns]

Marian Hossa? yes pls

I would cry so many happy tears

 

[Iggy77]

I thought Havlat told the team he was testing the UFA market so they traded him because there was no way they could afford to keep him.