Rumor: Nikitin being shopped?

[Milan the God*]

From the Sens blog linked:

"Sens have bodies in the AHL to trade in Da Costa and Hoffman and roster players *cough, Greening, cough* they might be wise to unload. There is a deal to be made here."

Anybody know anything about these guys?

Honestly, as a Sens fan, I'm not high on any of them.

Da Costa is an AHL player. He's getting pretty old for a prospect. He has good vision, although he's undersized and not very quick for his size. He has good puck control. He looked really good in pre-season and gave the Senators management a problem on who to send down, and chose Zibanejad because SDC needed to go through waivers. He didn't play well in the NHL this year and got the chance to centre Milan Michalek and Bobby Ryan and failed. He was put on waivers, nobody claimed him and now he's back in the AHL.

Greening is a player who leaves you wanting more. He's very fast, a big body, bad hands, decent shot and mediocre vision. He won the Sens accuracy shooting thing a couple years back I believe, along with the fastest skater. He has all the tools to be a better player than he is, but he's inconsistent. He should be driving the net, throwing big hits and causing havoc. He's too nice of a player. This years he's been throwing around his body a bit which is nice, but he hasn't scored yet and has played a couple games with Spezza with no results. Had a great playoff series against Pittsburgh scoring in the first three games before fading. One of the goals was a 2OT winner.

Hoffman is all speed. He finishes checks, but he's a motor. Personally, I don't see much of an NHL future, but you never know. A few Sens fans seem to really like him.

 

[pete goegan]

Honestly, as a Sens fan, I'm not high on any of them.

Da Costa is an AHL player. He's getting pretty old for a prospect. He has good vision, although he's undersized and not very quick for his size. He has good puck control. He looked really good in pre-season and gave the Senators management a problem on who to send down, and chose Zibanejad because SDC needed to go through waivers. He didn't play well in the NHL this year and got the chance to centre Milan Michalek and Bobby Ryan and failed. He was put on waivers, nobody claimed him and now he's back in the AHL.

Greening is a player who leaves you wanting more. He's very fast, a big body, bad hands, decent shot and mediocre vision. He won the Sens accuracy shooting thing a couple years back I believe, along with the fastest skater. He has all the tools to be a better player than he is, but he's inconsistent. He should be driving the net, throwing big hits and causing havoc. He's too nice of a player. This years he's been throwing around his body a bit which is nice, but he hasn't scored yet and has played a couple games with Spezza with no results. Had a great playoff series against Pittsburgh scoring in the first three games before fading. One of the goals was a 2OT winner.

Hoffman is all speed. He finishes checks, but he's a motor. Personally, I don't see much of an NHL future, but you never know. A few Sens fans seem to really like him.

Thanks for adding your perspective MtG.

 

[Xoggz22]

I wouldn't be opposed to moving Nikitin for a draft pick. He won't be re-signed so he'll be moved at some point. Getting a pick in 14 or 15 would be OK in my book. I like the idea of Panik as well...

 

[grindline]

My thinking is that if we want a valuable piece in return we might have to add an asset we don't necessarily want to part with.

Maybe we have to think about trading Nikitin+ one of the following:

Calvert
Foligno
A second round pick

I would add Umby to that list but I think his dollar hit makes it impossible to package both for a genuine asset.

 

[EspenK]

My thinking is that if we want a valuable piece in return we might have to add an asset we don't necessarily want to part with.

Maybe we have to think about trading Nikitin+ one of the following:

Calvert
Foligno
A second round pick

I would add Umby to that list but I think his dollar hit makes it impossible to package both for a genuine asset.[/QUOTE]

Plus the major fact that he isn't very good

 

[Theo Von]

I have been waiting 'patiently' for the CBJ to ship Nikitin out... just don't see anything special about Nikitin's game and never have. He has a hard time getting the puck out of the zone, lacks physicality, and is NOT a top-6 material defense man on the roster... Jarmo was interviewed last night (Boston game) on the FSO broadcast and if I am correct, Rimer asked Jarmo if any trade talks happened while all of the GM's met over the past week... Jarmo said something along the lines that he feels after 20 games into the season, trade talks could begin. He wants to see how the team performs when all healthy... understandable. So say, Nikitin gets traded... for what? a draft pick? offensive product(s)? We'd be down a D-man which could potentially allow Erixon to be called-up from Springfield. Either way... Prout has been far from the Dalton prout that we saw last year... thru 13 games, he has one point and is a -6. Why not send Prout down to Springfield and call up Erixon?..... just one of the many ideas that I question with the CBJ.

 

[FlaggerX]

Nikki6 is an NHL veteran who plays pretty well for us in the past but is having a bad year. So long as we're looking for a middle round or later) pick he should bring one, if for no other reason than he'll probably find being traded solid motivation.

I'd love a third rounder, but I really don't want to give up pieces like Calvert unless we get something really good in return.

 

[Crede777]

What about Nikitin for Shawn Matthias? Gives us a 3rd line center with size/speed from a team outside our division and the salaries work out. He is still young enough to fit in well.

 

[Mayor Bee]

What about Nikitin for Shawn Matthias? Gives us a 3rd line center with size/speed from a team outside our division and the salaries work out. He is still young enough to fit in well.

Knowing the way that Tallon covets his former draft picks, he'd probably add in Kulikov if we'd add Jack Skille.

 

[Fro]

i'm in Bee...draw up the papers and lets fax them in...

 

[major major]

What about Nikitin for Shawn Matthias? Gives us a 3rd line center with size/speed from a team outside our division and the salaries work out. He is still young enough to fit in well.

Matthias would be awesome. He's the only one of the players Tallon would part with that we'd actually want. Though why would Tallon want Nikitin? I'm sure Tallon would prefer Erixon or perhaps Golo + a pair of second rounders. They don't have much interest in any player over the age of 23.

 

[Sore Loser]

Matthias would be awesome. He's the only one of the players Tallon would part with that we'd actually want. Though why would Tallon want Nikitin? I'm sure Tallon would prefer Erixon or perhaps Golo + a pair of second rounders. They don't have much interest in any player over the age of 23.

Would we really be crazy enough to deal Erixon or Goloubef and ANY draft pick for Shawn Matthias?

A #6/#7 defenseman for a #9/#10 forward seems like more than a fair offer, to me. Not that we really need any more of those.

 

[Crede777]

Matthias would be awesome. He's the only one of the players Tallon would part with that we'd actually want. Though why would Tallon want Nikitin? I'm sure Tallon would prefer Erixon or perhaps Golo + a pair of second rounders. They don't have much interest in any player over the age of 23.

Granted I'm sure a young player could be preferable, but Nikitin isn't that old. And he'd fit a need of the Panthers according to some of their fans which is a stable defensive defenseman.

I think he'd do well on a pairing with Kulikov.

Just saying, if we're looking to move him, I think Matthias would be a good fit in terms of teams (not in same division), what our team would be looking for, what theirs could be looking for, and salary. Also, both players are rumored to be available.

 

[NotWendell]

Personally, I would hope Nikitin isn't the only one being shopped.

 

[major major]

Would we really be crazy enough to deal Erixon or Goloubef and ANY draft pick for Shawn Matthias?

A #6/#7 defenseman for a #9/#10 forward seems like more than a fair offer, to me. Not that we really need any more of those.

Sorry I realized my post might suggest that I think it would be worth trading Erixon for Matthias. I don't think its worth it. I was just outlining the kind of deal that Tallon wants to do. He wants to move Goc and Matthias (useful guys) plus any other older player they have (all the rest are overpaid) for younger players with upside. Matthias for Nikitin is lateral, the only way it makes sense is if there is a positional need element.

 

[blahblah]

Personally, I would hope Nikitin isn't the only one being shopped.

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be shopping anyone. Nikitin can be moved anytime up to FA.

Let teams approach us if they need a defenseman. At some point we're likely going to have injuries. Guys like Wiz aren't exactly the most durable; he's never played 70 games in the regular season.

 

[pete goegan]

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be shopping anyone. Nikitin can be moved anytime up to FA.

Let teams approach us if they need a defenseman. At some point we're likely going to have injuries. Guys like Wiz aren't exactly the most durable; he's never played 70 games in the regular season.

Yep. Rather than reduce our defensive depth to combat our lack of scoring, I'd be inclined to see how the offense responds to the loss of Gaborik; the return of Jenner and, shortly, Calvert; the apparent awakening of Johansen's offensive potential; and the recent uptick in secondary scoring from RJ, Foligno, Arty, etc. This road trip may go a long way to clarifying that.

As for Nikki6, it seems like the name most often associated with a trade is Yakapov. His offensive potential is appealing, but is he the right fit for this team? At his worst, he sounds too much like Filatov. At best, his game sounds like Gabby. I certainly prefer the latter to the former, but it really has not been established that this proven scorer fits well with the game Richards want to see, so I'm not sure how wise it is to bring in another player with what appears to be a similar style.

 

[blahblah]

As for Nikki6, it seems like the name most often associated with a trade is Yakapov. His offensive potential is appealing, but is he the right fit for this team?

It would take a lot more than Nikitin to get Yak; even with his struggles. Honestly, I wouldn't have a reservation bringing him in. He would find Columbus a different place than Edmonton. I think he's perfectly capable of playing the type of game that we would want him to. Sure it would take a couple of seasons to get him up to speed. But he would learn quick that ice time is a reward here (unless you want to ***** about RJ :p).

Rest easy, we wouldn't give up as much as Edmonton would want. They certainly aren't going to give him up for a marginal top four.

Ahh, remember the days that no one wanted to touch Turris?

 

[pete goegan]

Rest easy, we wouldn't give up as much as Edmonton would want. They certainly aren't going to give him up for a marginal top four.

I think you're right about that and could well be right about Yak potentially learning to fit in, here, too. Even though the Oil seems to have much of what we want - young scoring potential - and we seem to have the defensive pieces they appear to want, I really don't see a trade. As you say, we won't give up what it would take to pry loose the players we might want and we either don't want or can't afford the players they might make available (ie., Hemsky, Gagner, etc.).

 

[blahblah]

I think you're right about that and could well be right about Yak potentially learning to fit in, here, too. Even though the Oil seems to have much of what we want - young scoring potential - and we seem to have the defensive pieces they appear to want, I really don't see a trade. As you say, we won't give up what it would take to pry loose the players we might want and we either don't want or can't afford the players they might make available (ie., Hemsky, Gagner, etc.).

I guess we'll see what the landscape looks like closer to the deadline. It's obvious JK is in wait and see mode. Maybe someone becomes available, on our team, that we just don't see now.