James

Release the Krackhead…BOOOOOOOOOOOM

I am warming up to this trade I suppose. A huge part of such warming comes with the fact that the trade DONE been made and there’s no undoing it now so might as well think of some of the potential. If you take into account a lot of the prospects looking to move up next season it almost seems like the Sens have two whole sets of teams in the works let alone just a log jam at defense (keeping in mind that Filatov was just sent back to CCCP Srebrenica and DaCosta demoted), the Sens have bodies. I think there’re a lot of exciting players in the mix and logically there’s not room for urrybody. Someone, someone likely very good, was going to get flipped at some point and we as fans would do our jobs and get angry. The real rub of this situation (and I mean in a bad way) is the pedigree and potential of the guy who got flipped. I think if we fans were a week ago leaked the knowledge that a Sens rookie was on the move and asked to make a list of most likely to be traded at the top and least likely at the bottom Rundblad would be more certain to be found in the basement than THIS GUY. Listen, it HURT to hear Rundblad was gone. I got a text from Steven walking down Rideau street and was literally stopped dead in my tracks by the news. I was just saying to someone on Friday night that after attending a few games the last couple of weeks that it appears that once Rundblad can start making his decisions just a split second earlier he could approach Karlsson heights of dominawesomeness. Similar to the Filatov situation before him, I don’t think I’m alone in having the notion that we barely got half a look at the kid’s game. Gone is the organization’s prime prospect AND A Pick. And a pick. You guys, is this the worst or is it not necessarily the worst?

Some people are saying this is Murray cow towing (does ANYONE know what that means? Sound off in the comment section or @wtyky with answers/suggestions) to a playoff push. What? I don’t really see acquiring Kyle Turris as that at all. I think that the deficiency at centre has been the most talked about issue of this season (and the off season: see our HOTTT preseason predictions in the achieves for more! Or don’t!) and Murray has been upfront in communications with the media that he was still looking to add a top 6 forward via trade. Yes, Foligno has been filling in admirably at centre and yes Regin is back and YES DaCosta and Zibanejad (who’s 18 btw) are waiting in the wings but I don’t really believe most NHL GMs think about things like this. I think Murray might see it more as…

1. By around this time last year Spezza was juuuuust about ready to shut ‘er down for an extended period on the IR which saw the team win ONE motherfucking game in a month without him.
2(a). Peter Regin cant even take draws right now because his shoulder has been reconstructed using melted down California Raisins figurines.
2(b) He has a winger who just took TWO knee on knees in a couple days potentially taking draws against the likes of Malkin/Staal, anyone on the Bruins, Scott Gomez (KIIIIIIIIIIIIDDIIIIIIIING but you get the idea)…Im sorry but …yikes
3. Zibanejad looking really awesome but far from ready at 18 years old. Maybe they want to give him 2 years to develop. No need to rush him…like Kyle Turris was uhhh…moving on… Ottawa needed more depth at centre for sure just hot holy shit that was a spicy toaster strudel of a price tag. One sunny side I will offer up about the pain of seeing a 2nd round pick – and this is coming from the guy who has said all year, ‘do what you gotta do Murray just DON’T SURRENDER PICKS, is that … by trade deadline, that pick will be recovered. Right Kuba!?

A lot of bandwidth has been spent on the “Emergence of Jared Cowen” being the impetus of this trade. YOWZERS I hope that’s not the case. That would be on some “what have you done for me lately” type shit that saw Da Costa getting thunderous applause at the introductions at the home opener for scoring one goal and Gonchar and Kuba getting booed for playing poorly in the first week. In the coming years I think we’ll see, as we are seeing now, that Cowen isn’t some Phillips/Carks style shutdownbot 3000. The kid was told to “contribute more offensively” in his last year at Spokane and posted 48 points in 58 games up 18 from a still respectable 30 in 59 the previous season. The kid’s not just a bulldozer, he’s got a little swag. Maybe the organization has more faith in Weircioch than we realize. Maybe this has less to do with blue line mobility and more to do with leaving the offense to King K, Cowen, maybe one other (Gonchar sticking around?) and looking more to bolster the CRYSTAL CLEAR defensive lapses the team suffers from with the likes of Lee, Borowecki, Gryba, Blood…I don’t know. Im just saying…maybe in the end they sold high on….well, an incredible asset.

That said: Maybe they sold stupidly low. I think one of the most painful things in the inevitable comparisons in years to come is that even if Turris works out well, we WILL be forever a touch burned on this trade. In that all Sens fans that are smart and good looking and have the same opinion as me, know that Rundblad is going to be amazing. It will always suck to see him excelling on another team a la Brooks Laich…but maybe more so.
The Filatov debacle is still smarting like …I don’t know…getting kicked in your area by Condoleezza Rice? And this feels like this situations could be Filatov on steroids. To get burned AND lose Rundbald will be…well it will be Bryan Murray’s retirement party no doubt.

So it seems Murray paid up to win the Turris sweepstakes. I suppose that unlike Filatov there were actually sweepstakes to obtain him…so that’s nice. Also unlike Filatov, Turris, I think is a lock for the top 6, more ice time, is not a flight risk and will more opportunity to play, though for his sake I hope they integrate him slowly as there will be a need for some adjustment time. Go easy in the meantime everyone. At least the Sens will improve in the shootout.which should come in handy when Auld is in net. OHHHH and Turris will reportedly be wearing number 7. Sound off in the comment section whether you think this is MORE delicious or LESS delicious than him wearing number 91.

Here we go…

Varada

Most of my thoughts are documented in that hate-tastic rant from the weekend. (And you know I’ve got to hate something to post on a weekend.) But I’ve had a couple of days to think about it, to weigh some of the excellent opinions and reactions on the web, and to consider my position from new perspectives. And yeah. I still hate this trade.
 
I’m excited to see Turris. I’m glad I availed myself of that Groupon for Sens tickets, because now I get to see him in action on Thursday. (Side note: was this trade all a way to sell more Groupons?) Nothing against the kid, center depth is important, and I’ve said all year that it’s only a matter of time before Spezza spends at least a few games hurt, and I’m not sold on Regin as a 20 minute a night man, at which time you either recall DaCosta (playing pretty well in the AHL, by the way) or play Zack Smith as your first line center. So we have options now that we didn’t before. And this is good.
 
But if there was any year that could be sacrificed in the name of having a truly terrifying team 2-3 seasons from now, it’s this one. Yeah, Cowen is playing great, and Karlsson is the new sliced bread. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for Rundblad. It means you can roll a solid defence without having to play your top pairing to death.

As for the whole thing about Gonchar and Kuba coming back…really? Gonchar and Kuba who everyone has been mentally trading in their head from the moment they were brought in? Or maybe one of the best prospects in the game should have been traded because Phillips was re-signed? Ugh.
 
This is a huge risk. Massive. And it might work out, but we don’t even really have a sense of what “working out” looks like. If Turris puts up, what, 30 points, how will we feel? I have hopes for this trade, but the value just doesn’t seem right.