Confirmed with Link: EDM/OTT - Hemsky for 3rd in '15, 5th in '14

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

HEMSKY FOR PPG, FOLKS.

LET'S GET THE MOVEMENT STARTED!!!ll!

 

[jbeck5]

Man these comparisons for hemsky are awful.

Its kinda like Matt kassian, right?

 

[StefanW]

Man these comparisons for hemsky are awful.

Its kinda like Matt kassian, right?

But Matt Kassian is like Crosby.

 

[jbeck5]

But Matt Kassian is like Crosby.

You have a point. Pittsburgh shouldn't resign Crosby when his deals up. Too similar to kassian and he hasn't played enough games in the NHL to prove himself.

 

[BonkTastic]

But Matt Kassian is like Crosby.

Yep. David Crosby.

 

[StefanW]

Yep. David Crosby.

You made my day.

 

[Dysentery]

I was against trading for Hemsky...but we basically got him for nothing, and that's alright with me.

It seems to have rejuvenated Michalek a little, and Spezza as well...which is huge.

I thought he was a bit soft, but then I heard he got stabbed in the throat with a broken beer bottle...that gives him some cred fo sho.

 

[SenzZen]

So does this mean we're hoping to lowball MM into re-signing because we're trying to sign a fellow countryman?

Spezza slings it to MM9, it hits the inside on his skates,the puck slowed down and slides right to Gryba

When Spezza shot it to the front of the net, it hit Michalek and continued on where Gryba then shot it in.

Looked to me like it hit the Jets defender's stick rather than MM, but that's clearly how they ruled it.

 

[StefanW]

You have a point. Pittsburgh shouldn't resign Crosby when his deals up. Too similar to kassian and he hasn't played enough games in the NHL to prove himself.

Absolutely. And have you seen all of those drop passes that he tried and didn't work? They are clearly going to dump Crosby in the off season. The team really needs to move on from him to get better.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Just trying to make a point that this fan base salivates at "potential" a little too much.

 

[BonkTastic]

I heard he got stabbed in the throat with a broken beer bottle...that gives him some cred fo sho.

Wait... what?





... WHAT?

 

[trentmccleary]

How this team thinks rentals are a good idea I'm not sure.

This year or ever? ... This team has gotten good mileage out of UFA's at the deadline, even without making the massive 1st, top prospect, decent player for an aging star deal.

pointless trade unless they resign him even then, inconsistent and injuries

6 Years between 0.83-1.00 PPG as a 1st liner with mediocre linemates.
Then 3 years 0.52, 0.53 and 0.53 as a 2nd liner with even worse linemates.

I'm not sure that it gets much more consistent than that. Injuries are the problem, not inconsistency.

only 7 goals before last nights game.

You realize that he's a playmaker right? One who had been playing with Gordon and Smyth.

Well, I am now a Senators fan for the rest of this season at least. I think you guys will come around on Hemsky, he's really an electrifying player and should be motivated for the playoff drive. He seems to have lost a little bit of his touch, but some of his passes will leave you shaking your head.

The funny thing is that if it had been Havlat, quite a few more "No's" would have switched to the "Yes" side just based on familiarity with Havlat's skill level. Not realizing that they're practically the same damn player and that Hemsky is a couple years younger.

Phillips getting paid less than average league salary....given everything about Phillips, he's better than any veteran Dman they could have picked up to fill the veteran dman spot on the roster.

I don't know who's available, but I know the type of d-man we need. There are too many d-men on the roster already and even paying Phillips $2.5M is a substantial hit to an internal budget. The roster spot and the salary will either cost us a kid on defense or our ability to acquire the player that we need.

Yeah, just like Cheechoo in SJ.

Cheechoo had two years as a 1st liner playing with Thornton and Marleau.
Hemsky had six years as a 1st liner playing with Smyth and Horcoff.

Hemsky carried his line and Cheechoo was carried by his linemates.

I feel the same way I did after the Bondra trade.

It's a good trade on paper. I just think we simply didn't need an Ales Hemsky type of player.

Bondra was a RW acquired by a team with Alfie, Hossa and Havlat on it's top 3 lines and all 3 squeezed onto it's top PP unit. That team didn't need a RW or finesse. It needed a LW with size and talent.

This team only has Bobby Ryan taking up a RW spot on the top-2 lines and not a lot of offensive talent on either wing behind Ryan. Plus, it was figuratively losing Alfredsson to decline before he left. Skating, stickhandling and playmaking were 3 big attributes that we were losing with Alfredsson (amongst others)... those are Hemsky's strengths.

I'm now rooting for you guys to make the playoffs and hopefully go very deep. Take good care of Hemsky for us. He was a good warrior for us. One of the most underrated players in the league. He'll make plays that leave you wondering why he's not an perennial 80 point player.

He's not the typical skill winger guy though. He's not soft at all. He goes into areas that others avoid, which is why he's had so many injury problems throughout his career. He's good defensively as well, and while he may not be a guy who speaks a lot, he's all heart. Good luck to Hemsky and the Sens.

Thank you for this.

Haven't seen too much Hemsky but when I have seen him he's looked impressive. Although it is a bit concerning he's gone from being practically a PPG player down to about 0.5PPG player over the past few seasons

Eberle replaced him on the top line and 1st PP unit due in no small part to Hemsky's injuries.
2005-2011 = roughly 4 mins PP time (22% of total ice time)... 82-22-53-75 pace.
2011-2014 = roughly 2.4 mins PP time (15% of total ice time)... 82-14-28-42 pace.

The trade is ok. PRoblem is Vanek got obtained for a 2nd a conditional 5th back from NYI if they make the playoffs (Habs). I don't see how Murray wasn't all over that, he gives Snow a 2nd and 5th for Vanek, or a 3rd and 5th? We get a much better player and true sniper.

Vanek was obtained for two 2nd's (Collberg and a 2nd with easily achievable conditions). Low for a player of his calibre, but still two 2nd's. Not a 2nd and 5th. Plus, he was making $7M and as a UFA who's walked away from 2 teams this year, wasn't likely to accept a decrease.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Hemsky will score more points in a Sens jersey than Vanek in a Habs jersey.

Most years, when top end PPG UFA's go a 1st, top prospect and a decent player at the deadline. Teams are hoping that they can fit into a new line & system well enough in a short period of time to even produce 20-25 points in the 30 regular season and playoff games they'll play in.

Cory Stillman produced 21 points in 28 games after being acquired for Patick Eaves... and people regularly use that deal as an example of a rental failure here.

Being reckless with draft picks tends not to be good for long term planning.

It's hard to be reckless with 3rd's and 5th's. 1st's and 2nd's sure.

2 games in and everyone wants to sign the guy. Weren't people here happy with the Greening deal after his 17 goal season too? Look at him now

Colin Greening is only 2.5 years younger than Hemsky and his career high achieved riding the coattails of Spezza-Michalek is less than half of Hemsky's career high achieved while carrying Smyth-Horcoff.

Yes, and what has he done that is so significant in the past few seasons?

Declined to the point where he is disappointing, yet still greatly outproducing Greening and Regin... whilst still being young enough to rebound.

This has Peter Regin written all over it. I'm pretty sure everyone thought he was a bona-fide top 6 forward and given an extension after 1 decent playoff round against the Penguins.

Hemsky is a bonified top-6 forward.
Regin was only given a $1M deal and started getting hurt after he got it.

Not sure where you were going with this one at all.

 

[Dysentery]

Wait... what?





... WHAT?

Hardcore...

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2005/09/19/1223596-sun.html

 

[Quo]

He didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose him.

 

[StefanW]

Hardcore...

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2005/09/19/1223596-sun.html

This is the only quote people need to read:

Hemsky didn't miss any games...

Hardcore indeed.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Hardcore...

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2005/09/19/1223596-sun.html

Insane. Just a completely random attack. Damned lucky that guy didn't hit the jugular.

 

[KA BLAMO]

Just trying to make a point that this fan base salivates at "potential" a little too much.

Literally every fan base does....

 

[operasen]

Loved what we saw, but its only one game. Murray wants the rest of the season to decide on an offer for Hemsky I'm sure. I certainly hope he can continue to light it up - it will save Spezza's skin as well.

 

[Holdurbreathe]

I don't know who's available, but I know the type of d-man we need. There are too many d-men on the roster already and even paying Phillips $2.5M is a substantial hit to an internal budget. The roster spot and the salary will either cost us a kid on defense or our ability to acquire the player that we need.

Only exception I have with your post is the above.

Phillips signing won't cost the team any of the youth, unless of course you believe it would be a sound hockey decision to have one of the young inexperienced guys sitting every game.

The Senators are faced with trading one of Cowen, Wiercoich, Gryba, or Boro regardless of the Phillips signing.

Of course they could carry eight D again, but I'm not sure from a budget or player development perspective that makes the most sense.

In terms of the $2.5M preventing the team from acquiring what they need, don't believe that for a second.

Phillips can be traded if the acquisition of a top 4 D or top 6 forward puts the team over budget by $2.5M.

Of course that is assuming none of the current players are deleted from the roster in the transaction, which IMO would be highly unlikely.

 

[Holdurbreathe]

Loved what we saw, but its only one game. Murray wants the rest of the season to decide on an offer for Hemsky I'm sure. I certainly hope he can continue to light it up - it will save Spezza's skin as well.

Some very important decisions to be made for the future of this team prior to July 1st.

 

[trentmccleary]

Only exception I have with your post is the above.

Phillips signing won't cost the team any of the youth, unless of course you believe it would be a sound hockey decision to have one of the young inexperienced guys sitting every game.

The Senators are faced with trading one of Cowen, Wiercoich, Gryba, or Boro regardless of the Phillips signing.

Of course they could carry eight D again, but I'm not sure from a budget or player development perspective that makes the most sense.

In terms of the $2.5M preventing the team from acquiring what they need, don't believe that for a second.

Phillips can be traded if the acquisition of a top 4 D or top 6 forward puts the team over budget by $2.5M.

Of course that is assuming none of the current players are deleted from the roster in the transaction, which IMO would be highly unlikely.

The defenseman we need will require a roster spot and $4-6M/year. That would have been easier to accomodate with a spot cleared and $2.5M in extra cash. Phillips, Cowen or Greening will probably have to go to clear some budget room.

I've always liked Phillips and would prefer to reward a good solider, but this defense isn't even close to being good enough and having Phillips compete with 4-5 other bottom pairing d-men to fill it out behind Karlsson-Methot won't make it better.

 

[StefanW]

The defenseman we need will require a roster spot and $4-6M/year. That would have been easier to accomodate with a spot cleared and $2.5M in extra cash. Phillips, Cowen or Greening will probably have to go to clear some budget room.

I've always liked Phillips and would prefer to reward a good solider, but this defense isn't even close to being good enough and having Phillips compete with 4-5 other bottom pairing d-men to fill it out behind Karlsson-Methot won't make it better.

I agree with the logic of your post, but the odds are pretty good that we wont sign a D at 4-6 MM per year regardless of whether that is our most pressing need. If you start with the assumption that guys in that range either aren't out there, or we can't afford them if they are, then the Phillips signing looks a bit better.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Hemsky's acquisition alone is worth it cause of what he contributes to our PP.

He is phenomenal on the right boards and if Sens decide to keep him there and move Spezza down-low, the options will be abundant.

Hemsky can feed Karlsson or he can feed cross-ice pass or downlow to Spezza who can spot Karlsson or back-door(hoffman) or slot(Michalek)

Hemsky has ridiculous offensive vision and makes the smart plays. One of the best PP players in the league and we've already seen it pay dividends on our PP so far.

 

[aragorn]

The acquisition of Hemsky is great for this team on so many fronts & he isn't even my kind of player. He makes the PP more dangerous with his playmaking ability & his shooting ability, he can pass or score. He makes Spezza better as a shooter & as a passer, he clears up just a little more space with his skating, stickhandling & is a known skilled player in the NHL. He is another player opposition players have to keep an eye on which gives more space to others. He is also decent defensively, I really hope & think they will make every effort to re-sign Hemsky especially considering Michalek may walk at yr's end.

It will be interesting to see how this young defence does for the remainder of this season & the beginning of next season. They are big, skilled & can be a tough defence to play against if they want to be. If they don't start to play to their potential I can see one of them getting traded next yr & most likely IMO it would be Wiercioch since I think he has the most value as a PMD & would bring the most return. Hopefully they all play well because I would like to keep all of them but I just don't think they have it in them to play a rough tough game consistently all yr long, we'll see. I don't see Ottawa picking up a UFA defenceman since they have 8 defencemen already, I think they wait a few months next yr before giving up on one of their defencemen, if at all.

I think at the moment the only change I would make to this forward group is replace Condra with Stone & create three scoring lines. It would also make Ottawa a bigger, tougher team to play against which IMO would be a good step forward. But what this team needs more than anything is to get good consistent goaltending for 60 minutes for every game. If Ottawa does anything this summer it could be to revisit with TM to see if he is willing to deal Chris Stewart which would be a Michalek replacement if he walks.

 

[Ice-Tray]

The acquisition of Hemsky is great for this team on so many fronts & he isn't even my kind of player. He makes the PP more dangerous with his playmaking ability & his shooting ability, he can pass or score. He makes Spezza better as a shooter & as a passer, he clears up just a little more space with his skating, stickhandling & is a known skilled player in the NHL. He is another player opposition players have to keep an eye on which gives more space to others. He is also decent defensively, I really hope & think they will make every effort to re-sign Hemsky especially considering Michalek may walk at yr's end.

It will be interesting to see how this young defence does for the remainder of this season & the beginning of next season. They are big, skilled & can be a tough defence to play against if they want to be. If they don't start to play to their potential I can see one of them getting traded next yr & most likely IMO it would be Wiercioch since I think he has the most value as a PMD & would bring the most return. Hopefully they all play well because I would like to keep all of them but I just don't think they have it in them to play a rough tough game consistently all yr long, we'll see. I don't see Ottawa picking up a UFA defenceman since they have 8 defencemen already, I think they wait a few months next yr before giving up on one of their defencemen, if at all.

I think at the moment the only change I would make to this forward group is replace Condra with Stone & create three scoring lines. It would also make Ottawa a bigger, tougher team to play against which IMO would be a good step forward. But what this team needs more than anything is to get good consistent goaltending for 60 minutes for every game. If Ottawa does anything this summer it could be to revisit with TM to see if he is willing to deal Chris Stewart which would be a Michalek replacement if he walks.

You and me? We see eye to eye, good post. I would add that I would not be upset to see Greening replaced, perhaps Lazar for 9 games and then one of our young players ready for a shot.