TSN: Are the Sens solid enough in goal for next season? [YOST]

[Sens of Anarchy]

I would. Give me a Gustavsson/Murray duo as well as one very solid RD acquisition (sort of like a Methot for Chabot) and I'd bet they'd be among the best duos in the league. But we're going another route (Forsberg instead of Gustavsson, no RD movement : Zaitsev still our #2). Like last year we went the Gudbranson/Coburn/Reilly route until it blew up in our face (not saying it will again)

At least there's more hope this year as the forward group is faster and should be more solid 2-way, at least versus last season's start. The young guys have a bit more experience too. Also, Zub and Mete are still here and Nick Holden is pretty solid if not overplayed. I didn't watch Columbus last season so no idea where Del Zotto's game is at but apparently he did well... It remains to be seen how he'll fit in Ottawa

CJ, show me the kind of 2-way hockey we'll play and I'll tell you how the goalies will do. These 2 have pretty good/high end ability so not worried about them at all (although Murray ability to stay healthy is a concern)

I thought Forsberg was Murray's backup and Gus was playing in Belleville to start the year. Sounds like there are lots of ifs in your explanation.
When we are saying "question mark" we are not talking about it being a question mark for ever or even into next year or 7 months from now.. its to start the year.
Are you 100% completely certain the Sens goaltending will be solid to start the year with Murray / Forsberg? If you are well great. If not then you at least have some element of a question mark on how they will be

All this stuff about hope is just that hope. Every team and their fans hope to make the playoffs and many hope to win the cup.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Bottom line...we're likely not going to lose a winnable game because of goaltending. We also likely won't have a goalie steal any wins for us, either. So it's a wash.

And who the hell cares about Montreals netminders?

 

[Xspyrit]

I thought Forsberg was Murray's backup and Gus was playing in Belleville to start the year. Sounds like there are lots of ifs in your explanation.
When we are saying "question mark" we are not talking about it being a question mark for ever or even into next year or 7 months from now.. its to start the year.
Are you 100% completely certain the Sens goaltending will be solid to start the year with Murray / Forsberg? If you are well great. If not then you at least have some element of a question mark on how they will be

All this stuff about hope is just that hope. Every team and their fans hope to make the playoffs and many hope to win the cup.

Maybe I didn't express myself correctly but reading it again it seems clear. There's not a lot of IFs, there's only one and that was my point. Without that IF, I'm not 100% certain it will be fine. I am actually 100% certain it WON'T BE.

I said "give me", it means that IF the duo was Murray/Gustavsson (not Forsberg) AND we went after our biggest need (a RD for Chabot on the 1st pair) THEN I think our goaltending could be extremely solid, for the reasons I stated in that post (and more)

But I know it's moot point because like said, we went "another route" with Murray/Forsberg and no real D personnel improvement so yeah, no idea how it will play out.

 

[JD1]

Is a question mark the same thing as a weakness? I don't think so

I think we have question marks for sure. Will Murray provide 910 goaltending across 55 games? Is Gus ready for the show? I think the smallest question is around Forsberg being a capable back up. I think he is

A weakness is different. We've got options. If Murray struggles Forsberg can shoulder a heavier load. Gus looked fantastic behind a more structured nhl defence. There are various ways this can play out and not have goaltending a weakness relative to league averages but i thimk there are question marks on how it might play out.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I have faith in Murray. It costs me nothing and I like the guy, so why not?

 

[aragorn]

Hogberg was pretty bad to start the yr, never really recovered & was not re-signed. I think Forsberg being a vet will give them better goaltending then hey got from Hogberg to start the season, but it will all depend on how Murray does. But given that the team as a whole is still developing their young guys & weak on defence it could be another tough yr for him, hopefully Forsberg helps here.

However, Forsberg could be gone by the TDL & then hopefully again Gustavsson can come in & play as well as he did last yr. It's mostly all hope with the goaltending on this team at this time, nobody really knows how this will turn out. We have had a good number of good young goalies, but who knows which one will end up as the best of them or a clear #1, right now Gus is in front, my monies on Merilainen, others like Sogaard & Gus. We'll see I guess is the short answer.

 

[Cosmix]

Hogberg was pretty bad to start the yr, never really recovered & was not re-signed. I think Forsberg being a vet will give them better goaltending then hey got from Hogberg to start the season, but it will all depend on how Murray does. But given that the team as a whole is still developing their young guys & weak on defence it could be another tough yr for him, hopefully Forsberg helps here.

However, Forsberg could be gone by the TDL & then hopefully again Gustavsson can come in & play as well as he did last yr. It's mostly all hope with the goaltending on this team at this time, nobody really knows how this will turn out. We have had a good number of good young goalies, but who knows which one will end up as the best of them or a clear #1, right now Gus is in front, my monies on Merilainen, others like Sogaard & Gus. We'll see I guess is the short answer.

And the goaltender who does better is likely going to be the one with a better team in front of him. The D is still very weak, so next season will not result in great goaltending. We need help at forward to maintain puck possession and reduce D-zone time too.

 

[aragorn]

And the goaltender who does better is likely going to be the one with a better team in front of him. The D is still very weak, so next season will not result in great goaltending. We need help at forward to maintain puck possession and reduce D-zone time too.

Agreed, the D is probably another yr or so away until we see Sanderson, Kleven & hopefully a top pairing RD either coming from this draft or a trade for a good young one.

 

[JD1]

Agreed, the D is probably another yr or so away until we see Sanderson, Kleven & hopefully a top pairing RD either coming from this draft or a trade for a good young one.

I think when Sanderson arrives, if he has a Makar like impact which people are comparing from a dev pov, D becomes a strength

Right now, i don't think it's weak per se, it's just not a strength. After the initial 20 games or so, our team D and goaltending settled down. After March 1, we were 20th in the league in ga/60 and i think our D will be better this year. I expecting/hoping we're middle of the pack which is only a modest and realizable improvement from March 1 onwards last season

 

[FerrisRox]

They do have question marks in goal because their high priced starting goaltender takes up like 15% of their cap while giving replacement level performance the last 4 seasons, other than one playoff run.

It's ridiculous that you need to have Carey Price's resume explained to you.

It's not "just one playoff run." The year before he was even better in the post-season. The depleted Canadiens, who had traded off a fair amount of depth at the deadline, upset the Penguins and then gave the Flyers a run for the money in the playoffs because Price went God-mode and posted a 1.78 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

You can pretend the Canadiens front office is concerned about going into this season with Carey Price and Jake Allen, but know that you look absurd making this ridiculous claim.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

It's ridiculous that you need to have Carey Price's resume explained to you.

It's not "just one playoff run." The year before he was even better in the post-season. The depleted Canadiens, who had traded off a fair amount of depth at the deadline, upset the Penguins and then gave the Flyers a run for the money in the playoffs because Price went God-mode and posted a 1.78 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

You can pretend the Canadiens front office is concerned about going into this season with Carey Price and Jake Allen, but know that you look absurd making this ridiculous claim.

A resume is a reputation. That means little to me. We're paying Matt Murray over 6 mil a year for his reputation and so far that's been a waste of money.

So we're up to two playoff runs now. It is still a problem that he is an average regular season goalie eating up ~15% of their cap for the next 5 years.

They put him up for free for Seattle and I'm confident they would trade him to any team for free with his contract.

Its contracts man, it screws everything up. If he were making 1-2 mil like his regular season numbers justify, nobody would bat an eye, but he's the highest paid goalie in the world with quite a few years left, while his performance continues to trends down.

 

[FerrisRox]

A resume is a reputation. That means little to me. We're paying Matt Murray over 6 mil a year for his reputation and so far that's been a waste of money.

So we're up to two playoff runs now. It is still a problem that he is an average regular season goalie eating up ~15% of their cap for the next 5 years.

They put him up for free for Seattle and I'm confident they would trade him to any team for free with his contract.

Its contracts man, it screws everything up. If he were making 1-2 mil like his regular season numbers justify, nobody would bat an eye, but he's the highest paid goalie in the world with quite a few years left, while his performance continues to trends down.

Except that his performance hasn't trended down in the last two post-seasons which is what they care about.

You are now talking about concerns over the next five years. I'm sure there are concerns down the road, but that's not what was stated. We were talking about if there are concerns THIS off-season for Montreal about their goaltending and there definitely aren't concerns about the Price/Allen tandem. It's one of the best 1-2 goalie punches in the league.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Except that his performance hasn't trended down in the last two post-seasons which is what they care about.

You are now talking about concerns over the next five years. I'm sure there are concerns down the road, but that's not what was stated. We were talking about if there are concerns THIS off-season for Montreal about their goaltending and there definitely aren't concerns about the Price/Allen tandem. It's one of the best 1-2 goalie punches in the league.

Eh, I know i'd be pissed if our GM took him on even for free and disagree with you here, but we can leave it at agreeing to disagree.

 

[Cosmix]

I think when Sanderson arrives, if he has a Makar like impact which people are comparing from a dev pov, D becomes a strength

Right now, i don't think it's weak per se, it's just not a strength. After the initial 20 games or so, our team D and goaltending settled down. After March 1, we were 20th in the league in ga/60 and i think our D will be better this year. I expecting/hoping we're middle of the pack which is only a modest and realizable improvement from March 1 onwards last season

Our defense is not looking very good next season but should improve in the coming years.

Next season we will have the following D with NHL contracts:
Chabot - Zaitsev
Del Zotto - Zub
Mete - J.Brown
Holden

Brannstrom will be competing with them for a spot but I doubt the budget includes an 8th D man in it.

I think Sanderson will be good enough to join the D roster near the end of the season and probably be on the roster for the 2022-23 season where the NHL contract D is likely to be:

Chabot - Zaitsev
Del Zotto - Zub
Sanderson - Brannstrom
?????

????? could be Bernard Docker, Thomson, Kleven, or a UFA/Trade D. I suspect the budget will limit the UFA/Trade D to low salary players again.

 

[topshelf15]

Our defense is not looking very good next season but should improve in the coming years.

Next season we will have the following D with NHL contracts:
Chabot - Zaitsev
Del Zotto - Zub
Mete - J.Brown
Holden

Brannstrom will be competing with them for a spot but I doubt the budget includes an 8th D man in it.

I think Sanderson will be good enough to join the D roster near the end of the season and probably be on the roster for the 2022-23 season where the NHL contract D is likely to be:

Chabot - Zaitsev
Del Zotto - Zub
Sanderson - Brannstrom
?????

????? could be Bernard Docker, Thomson, Kleven, or a UFA/Trade D. I suspect the budget will limit the UFA/Trade D to low salary players again.

This so scares me...Sanderson is going to come into the league,and will have so much pressure to preform ...And have MDZ as his partner....This team really loves to throw their kids to the wolves at times

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

This so scares me...Sanderson is going to come into the league,and will have so much pressure to preform ...And have MDZ as his partner....This team really loves to throw their kids to the wolves at times

He can handle it, he’s a top prospect

 

[topshelf15]

He can handle it, he’s a top prospect

Ceci looked real solid too...His best partner was Dion Phaneuf ...Just dont trust the team to actually get him some decent experienced help

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

Ceci looked real solid too...His best partner was Dion Phaneuf ...Just dont trust the team to actually get him some decent experienced help

He doesn’t need any. He’s not Cody Ceci. He is the help. Who did Chabot have?

 

[topshelf15]

He doesn’t need any. He’s not Cody Ceci. He is the help. Who did Chabot have?

Chabot is overplayed and has needed help for the last two seasons

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

Chabot is overplayed and has needed help for the last two seasons

So? He didn’t need any coddling to develop into the player he is. Neither will Sanderson

 

[topshelf15]

So? He didn’t need any coddling to develop into the player he is. Neither will Sanderson

Coddling???WTH u on about ...Lol ,Chabot playing 30 some mins a night because we have nothing else is an issue...Anyone can see this

 

[Cosmix]

This so scares me...Sanderson is going to come into the league,and will have so much pressure to preform ...And have MDZ as his partner....This team really loves to throw their kids to the wolves at times

I think Sanderson might be good enough to play LD with Zub at RD, after he settles in after a few games on the 3rd pair. By the time Sanderson arrives, one of JBD or Thomson might also be there after one or more of the UFA D are traded at the TDL.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

Coddling???WTH u on about ...Lol ,Chabot playing 30 some mins a night because we have nothing else is an issue...Anyone can see this

You’re not understanding whatsoever. Who helped Chabot become the player he is today?

 

[Cosmix]

I have faith in Murray. It costs me nothing and I like the guy, so why not?

I HOPE Murray bounces back to being a good goaltender and plays well with a high save percentage and gets less than 30 shots per game; however, I do not think the roster is good enough at this time to make the playoffs which will result in more shots per game and more high probability of scoring shots. The D players are not in the top 3 quartiles of the league at this time.

 

[topshelf15]

You’re not understanding whatsoever. Who helped Chabot become the player he is today?

Chabot has struggled at times ,and could have used a good partner...But yes I get he has still become a legit top end defender...But my point is why throw him into the fire that hard