Sens offseason needs beyond just Top 6 F/Top 4 D

[613Hockey]

"The Senators need for a top 6 F, and top 4 D has long been documented. But their offseason wish list should extend beyond just those two areas. Damian Smith examines what else the front office should be looking at to improve their roster."

Senators Offseason Wish List - Dynes Pressbox

Click to read more...

 

[Xspyrit]

Kinda easy :


- Figure out the 4th line center : Mark Kastelic, the guy is MADE for that job and I believe it's the only possible NHL job for him. They also signed Gambrell who is a decent reserve center.

Our centers are/should 100% be : Stutzle, Norris, Pinto, Kastelic. And it could/should be clear for a long time

- Resolve the goalie situation : Anton Forsberg was a top-10 goalie last season, he's only 29 y/o. If it was a "flash in the pan" we're in trouble but if he continues to play solid, we're in a good situation. I believe he can continue to be solid, and I called Hammond a "flash in the pan" when he had that incredible run and said that Condon was nothing more than a "ok" backup

Forsberg buys us time while Mads Sogaard develops. I believe he is the goalie of the future. Gustavsson could be a solid backup to Forsberg assuming we finally have a decent defense? Matt Murray can be good too, but injured like 50% of the time, hard to get in a groove.

- Acquire a power play specialist forward : That would be the guy they acquire as a top-6 forward, of course.


Mr. Damian Smith, don't overthink it, the Sens MAIN (and pretty much only) needs are a Top-4 RHD who is good defensively (a RD Methot) and a Top-6 Winger

 

[Loach]

A front office...

 

[aragorn]

IMO they have most of what they need already in their system & these guys just need to mature & improve. Hopefully, they keep their 1st rd pick this yr & add a top 4 RD or top six forward that can grow with the team. They also have several players (Brann, White, Joseph, Thomson) who could be packaged to improve certain positions or roles.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

The "skeleton" of this team as far as I see is:

XXXX-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Norris-XXXX
Formenton-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-XXXX

Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-XXXX
Brannstrom-XXXX

Goalies

Thinking we need to still acquire a top 6 F and top 4 D via trade/free agency, but we do have promising prospects that could fill some of those holes.

 

[Micklebot]

I think this team is closer than some give credit. Depending on who you add as a top 4 D and Top 6 forward, the only other spot we have is starting goalie.

We have 4 very good top 6 pieces, and I'd argue 3 guys (Brown, Formenton, and Joseph) that can be complimentary top 6 wingers, or anchor 3rd line players.

We also have Pinto who I think is a 2nd line quality center that can be an stud on the third line. We need one more top 9 player, and might already have that in the system with Sokolov or Greig.

Kelly-Kastelic-Watson make a good 4th line, nothing to write home about yet, but I think they're fine.

The backend has lots of promise, but lacks one more big piece imo.

Chabot-Zub are a good top pair, and Sanderson will be a stud, so that's half the battle. Hamonic and Holden are good bottom 4 vets. So that leaves one key spot to go, with Brannstrom, JBD, and Thomson as our internal options. Ideally, I want a guy on the level of Chychrun to play the right side and fill that out, tough position to fill though.

Goaltending is the only spot imo with no clear solution. Murray is unreliable, I have zero faith in him. Forsberg to me isn't a clear cut #1, but we can run with him for now. Gustavsson, Sogaard, Mandolese and Merilainen are all young enough that they could become #1 guys in their prime, but outside of Gus all are too early in their careers to be taking that step, and Gus isn't there yet.

If all we do this offseason is add a stud on D to fill out the right side, I'm thinking we have a shot at playoffs. The speculation that Brown wants to test UFA complicates things a bit, but I think we can trade him and fill the spot internally or through UFA without too much pain.


Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Formenton-Stutzle-Brown
Joseph-Pinto-White
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Gambrell

Chabot-Zub
Sanderson- XXX (Chychrun for example)
Brannstrom-Hamonic/Holden

Forsberg
Gustavsson/Murray

Trade chips with value :
Brannstrom, Brown, Greig, JBD, Thomson, Sokolov, Jarventie, Boucher (?), Gustavsson (we have 3 NHL goalies and Murray is untradable)

Change of Scenery/ dump trades (probably require retention or a similar bad contract coming back):
White, Zaitsev, Del-Zotto

With 7OA in play, along with 7-9 expendable pieces in the system that hold value to choose from when brokering a trade, I think we can have a very competitive team starting this year and stay competitive for a while too.

 

[benjiv1]

We can’t afford more than 1 additional top 6 forward, in addition to giving Connor Brown a raise, unless we suddenly start adding 20M to our payroll.

So if we can add a top 6 forward and a top 4 D, I think that is the extent of what we can do until we get rid of some bad contracts.

Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Joseph-Stützle-UFA
Formenton-Pinto-Brown/ELC
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson

Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-UFA
Holden-Hamonic

Forsberg
Gus/Murray

Flip the 7th overall pick for a D, and sign a top 6 forward in Free Agency.

 

[jbeck5]

"The Senators need for a top 6 F, and top 4 D has long been documented. But their offseason wish list should extend beyond just those two areas. Damian Smith examines what else the front office should be looking at to improve their roster."

Senators Offseason Wish List - Dynes Pressbox

Honestly, if they get a top 6F and a top 4D, we don't need any other piece until we reassess.

Acquiring a top 6F pushes down 2 of brown, formenton, and Joseph to the third line.

Add guys like kastelic to the 4th line, and then do we really need another forward?

Same for the D.

Acquiring these pieces push down other players improving the bottom lines.

 

[Micklebot]

I guess our needs beyond a top 6 F and Top 4 D is to get rid of Zaitsev and Murray.

 

[topshelf15]

I guess our needs beyond a top 6 F and Top 4 D is to get rid of Zaitsev and Murray.

Maybe retention on guys like White and Zaitsev,could make a deal more palatable to teams in a cap crunch???However I cant see this working with Murray

 

[GermanSpitfire]

I guess our needs beyond a top 6 F and Top 4 D is to get rid of Zaitsev and Murray.

I’d add White to this also

 

[Micklebot]

I’d add White to this also

White's overpaid, but until we have somebody ready to step in and take over his mins, he can still serve a role in our top 9 as a winger who can fill in at center when there's an injury. We'll probably try to find a landing spot for him and take back a similar contract or have to retain, but to me, that one is less of a rush because he doesn't actively harm the team with his play. The only reason we'd get rid of him right away is because the 1/3 buyout option ends after this offseason.

 

[Sting]

The "skeleton" of this team as far as I see is:

XXXX-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Norris-XXXX
Formenton-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-XXXX

Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-XXXX
Brannstrom-XXXX

Goalies

Thinking we need to still acquire a top 6 F and top 4 D via trade/free agency, but we do have promising prospects that could fill some of those holes.

This is the most realistic version of the Sens depth chart. We would like two top 6 forwards but chances are we only grab 1. Someone like Joseph will probably play a top 6 role.

I agree that Brown is not a long-term player for Ottawa.

I have concerns over Kelly/Kastelic on the 4th line on a cup contender but we'll see how they fare over a full season.

 

[Xspyrit]

This is the most realistic version of the Sens depth chart. We would like two top 6 forwards but chances are we only grab 1. Someone like Joseph will probably play a top 6 role.

I agree that Brown is not a long-term player for Ottawa.

I have concerns over Kelly/Kastelic on the 4th line on a cup contender but we'll see how they fare over a full season.

I think Wallet just forgot Brown lol, who plays in basically any situation, which is why he has been the most used Sens forward in each of the last 3 seasons

NHL coaches can't live without that type of players, or even sleep at night

I'd be shocked if he is not extended. We can certainly trade him for futures and continue the perpetual rebuild, no worries, but if I was Thomas Chabot I would have already asked for a trade so something's gotta give

 

[aragorn]

Top 6 forward - Draft Cutter Gauthier with the 7th OA pick
Top 4 RD - trade for Arz 27th OA pick & draft Tristan Luneau RD & Noah Warren with our 39th OA pick

To Arizona: White C, Brannstrom LD, Thomson RD & Gustavsson G (could all play for Arz next season)
To Ottawa: 27th OA pick & Lawson Crouse LW

MDZ, Watson, Hamonic & Holden are all UFAs & should be gone by the TDL, just need to find a way to move Zaitsev & Murray or buy one out this yr & the next one next yr. Maybe there are a couple of deals to be made with teams close to the cap for these guys.

 

[Crosside]

Don t know where to post this. But yesterday Paul Maurice was in interview and he said ¦ We ve got a bunch of headwinds here in the future , with Lightning and Leafs and the Ottawa Senators , they ve put many good young player in the lineup . They re gonna turn the corner and it might be this year

 

[topshelf15]

Top 6 forward - Draft Cutter Gauthier with the 7th OA pick
Top 4 RD - trade for Arz 27th OA pick & draft Tristan Luneau RD & Noah Warren with our 39th OA pick

To Arizona: White C, Brannstrom LD, Thomson RD & Gustavsson G (could all play for Arz next season)
To Ottawa: 27th OA pick & Lawson Crouse LW

MDZ, Watson, Hamonic & Holden are all UFAs & should be gone by the TDL, just need to find a way to move Zaitsev & Murray or buy one out this yr & the next one next yr. Maybe there are a couple of deals to be made with teams close to the cap for these guys.

Zaitsev would be under 2 mil if we retained 50% ,someone would bite ...White would be a little over 2 mil under the same circumstances...Murray is the real issue ,he hasnt played well enough period

 

[swiftwin]

I think Wallet just forgot Brown lol, who plays in basically any situation, which is why he has been the most used Sens forward in each of the last 3 seasons

NHL coaches can't live without that type of players, or even sleep at night

I'd be shocked if he is not extended. We can certainly trade him for futures and continue the perpetual rebuild, no worries, but if I was Thomas Chabot I would have already asked for a trade so something's gotta give

I can't see Brown sticking around. He's in a similar position to Paul. I think he's amazing, and I'd LOVE to keep him around, but he's due for a huge pay day, and I don't think we're in a position to do this. We'll have to count on guys like Formenton and Joseph to step up in that role.

 

[Xspyrit]

I can't see Brown sticking around. He's in a similar position to Paul. I think he's amazing, and I'd LOVE to keep him around, but he's due for a huge pay day, and I don't think we're in a position to do this. We'll have to count on guys like Formenton and Joseph to step up in that role.

I think like most NHL players, he just doesn't want to get lowballed but if you offer him something fair he would take it. I think 5 years x 5.0 would work. We're talking about 1.4 raise over his current cap hit. The cap will rise 1.0 in each of the next few seasons, it's easily doable if we have commitment from ownership

Look at what teams like Rangers (Copp), Lightning (Paul, Hagel) and Avs (Lehkonen) have been ready to pay to add that type of players. Coaches and executives know they're extremely valuable. If we let Connor Brown go, we'll be looking to add that type of guy once we make the playoffs

So unless we want to continue "chilling" and take the cool approach of "we'll make the playoffs when we'll make them and we'll see from there", then yeah, I agree, let's trade Connor Brown

But let's not forget there already a clock ticking on Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson contracts.

 

[aragorn]

It could be that C. Brown wants to go to a contender & with so much movement predicted to be happening this summer why wouldn't he go to a contender for around the same amount of money we would offer? I would love to keep Brown in Ott, but if he wants to try free agency than there isn't much we can do to stop it & we shouldn't over pay to keep him. Ott still has two Brown types of players on the team in Formenton & Joseph & I expect at least a couple of prospects to be added to the team this season. They desperately need a goal scorer/playmaker in the top six & a top 4 RD until their own prospects are NHL ready.

 

[Cosmix]

White's overpaid, but until we have somebody ready to step in and take over his mins, he can still serve a role in our top 9 as a winger who can fill in at center when there's an injury. We'll probably try to find a landing spot for him and take back a similar contract or have to retain, but to me, that one is less of a rush because he doesn't actively harm the team with his play. The only reason we'd get rid of him right away is because the 1/3 buyout option ends after this offseason.

The buyout option looks very tempting for a player of White's capabilities.

 

[Cosmix]

Top 6 forward - Draft Cutter Gauthier with the 7th OA pick
Top 4 RD - trade for Arz 27th OA pick & draft Tristan Luneau RD & Noah Warren with our 39th OA pick

To Arizona: White C, Brannstrom LD, Thomson RD & Gustavsson G (could all play for Arz next season)
To Ottawa: 27th OA pick & Lawson Crouse LW

MDZ, Watson, Hamonic & Holden are all UFAs & should be gone by the TDL, just need to find a way to move Zaitsev & Murray or buy one out this yr & the next one next yr. Maybe there are a couple of deals to be made with teams close to the cap for these guys.

All good but I want to keep Thomson at D. Brannstrom, White & Gustavsson for #27 would be ok but Arizona probably would want more.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

I think Wallet just forgot Brown lol, who plays in basically any situation, which is why he has been the most used Sens forward in each of the last 3 seasons

NHL coaches can't live without that type of players, or even sleep at night

I'd be shocked if he is not extended. We can certainly trade him for futures and continue the perpetual rebuild, no worries, but if I was Thomas Chabot I would have already asked for a trade so something's gotta give

Nah I didn't forget, I don't expect C Brown to be here long term.

 

[coladin]

None.

 

[Sun God Nika]

White's overpaid, but until we have somebody ready to step in and take over his mins, he can still serve a role in our top 9 as a winger who can fill in at center when there's an injury. We'll probably try to find a landing spot for him and take back a similar contract or have to retain, but to me, that one is less of a rush because he doesn't actively harm the team with his play. The only reason we'd get rid of him right away is because the 1/3 buyout option ends after this offseason.

Time is out for white if we don’t buy him out at 1/3rd this summer and he is the same injury prone average 3rd line C we are on the hook for that contract