Here is a picture of a kitten.

James

Chris Phillips re-signs for 9.3 million over three years. Thoughts?

Conrad

I don’t like the re-signing, as much as I like Phillips. I distrust a situation where the player wants to help rebuild without bringing in in a pick to do it. We could have re-signed him on July 1st and also had a pick. I appreciate the hometown discount, of course, but the guy has a once-in-his-career opportunity to play for a contender, and pick his destination at that, and he chooses to stay with a rebuilding club for its last twenty games. No thanks. We could have used the 2nd round pick.

Add to that that we have yet another logjam of mediocre defensemen on this team. Kuba, Gonchar, Phillips, Lee, Carkner, and that’s five without including our one good player, Karlsson, or any of our good prospects. You end up with a team that looks disturbingly like this year’s version.

Ultimately, it’s up to him – he has a NTC. (Which we gave him another one of, by the way.) And I know he’s a good, character guy, etc. But if he plays like he did this season for the next three years, we’re gonna look like buffoons.

Steven

I totally agree.  I like Phillips, but this deal doesn’t leave me with a good feeling.

Coming into this deal I thought that Phillips had no leverage.  Wants to stay in Ottawa, super unproductive season, getting long in the tooth, and wants to be a part of the re-build.  If he wasn’t willing to be rented out / no teams wants him, why is this re-signing even happening now? Why not wait till the off season. (I’m sure that there’s a detail I’m missing)  Was this for the potential of assuring fans that there is a reason to go to the games for the rest of the season?  Couldn’t it have been possible to negotiate 3.1/season without a no trade clause or 2.5 million with one?

I don’t know.  It feels rushed, especially if we need room to bring in prospects and as of now, Kuba isn’t going anywhere.

Conrad

I guess the big X factor is that nobody knows who the GM is going to be in June, and he really wants to stay, so no matter the strength of the agreement in principle, Phillips couldn’t be sure he’d get a contract offer in the summer. So he hung tight and assumed that Ottawa would want to re-sign him rather than risk losing him for nothing.

So, we trade Campoli and a 7th for Potulny and a 2nd. I’m psyched to have the 2nd – that’s potentially five picks in the first two rounds, if that Nashville conditional kicks in. I don’t know anything about Potulny except that he’s a third liner and I guess we needed one of those with Jarkko going out the door. Sort of sucks to trade a late 1st for Campoli and then, only a couple of season later, trade him for a late 2nd. But I guess he served his purpose – he was a cheap stop-gap until our young prospects were ready, which a couple of them are, so he became expendable.

Peter

Watching Bryan Murray’s press conference and typing this at the same time.  Starts off by being excited about the Phillips deal, asked him to take a pay cut and he did. Murray thinks Phillips also has a lot left in the tank and hinted that he might have been hurt to start the season.

Potulny is going to finish the year with the big club, since they need bodies. McIlhenny is going to backup Anderson. Pascal’s probably done for the year and Lehner’s going to play the playoffs in Bingo.

Wasn’t planning on signing Campoli, the pick he got will be decided from one of the 3 2nd rounders Chicago has two days before the draft

Anticipates signing a top six forward and possibly packaging picks for a player or 1st rounder. Plans on drafting a first rounder that can play with the club next year

2 1st rounders

3 2nd rounders

Total of 12 picks

Sounds like there will be two new faces on the back end. Didn’t speculate on what the top six forwards would look like.

Look at me I’m reporting!

My opinion, Phillips is here way too long for way too much money. Could have returned after the season, like Conrad said. Murray practically outed Campoli and Kuba as one or both of the guys he was looking to move today. Trying to figure out who’ll be here next year is the fun part.  If Murray works his plan and drafts an NHL-ready forward and signs a top six forward (so pissed Williams resigned with LA!) This might not be the worst team in the NHL?

Conrad

I’m feeling pretty pessimistic about this rebuild today. Didn’t trade Neil or Kuba. Didn’t trade Phillips or Lee. Didn’t trade Anderson. Of course they didn’t have the balls to trade Alfredsson or Spezza. After all of this overhaul, we end up with a late 1st, a couple of late 2nds and potentially a third 2nd that might also be a 3rd and might also be nothing, all depending on if Nashville, who has never won a playoff round, wins a playoff round.

If they sign a top six forward and package picks to get another top six forward and it doesn’t work RIGHT AWAY, then they just fucked this rebuild for a year. This all sounds suspiciously like exactly what they’re already doing. The East is wide open, blah blah blah, anyone can make it. There’s about three quality players available July 1st, and the last two UFAs we signed, Kovalev and Gonchar, we overpayed and got burned. Sounds like they’re trying to get back to the bubble team grind.

Maybe it works. Maybe it’s the only option because of a lack of assets and a weak draft. But it sort of sucks. I was looking forward to a crazy draft day. Maybe Murray / his replacement (Omega Murray) makes more moves after the season.

Marc

The injury excuse for Phillips’ subpar season is a weak one if you ask this guy. But I do like this signing. He can and will be solid for this team next year, with all of that (post) teenage spirit hanging in the dressing room.

Campoli was serviceable and brought his speed to a relatively not fast defense. I liked the kid and wish him good luck with Chicago.

I’ll be the little ray of sunshine up everybody’s ass and bring a bit of positivity. The draft is only the beginning. The off-season will see the purge continue with (hopefully) more trades including Kuba. In my twisted mind, a rebuild isn’t about getting rid of all the old pieces. We all know this is borderline impossible unless you Redden all the bunk Murray signings or straight-up buy them out. You need a healthy mix of vets and youth to make this work. Stay the course. It’s that fuckin simple y’all. I believe the foundation is there, with more pieces on the way. Do not sign a top six forward and develop one internally.

I’m on to you old man Murray. You may trick the Euge into signing you for another year, but we all know you’re done.

My proposition: let the CCFR run the team for a season. It can only get better.

Conrad

Grading the rebuild thus far, I would dip into the C grades until at least the draft. I think until such time as this team no longer has $25M still tied up in veteran contracts – Neil, Kuba, Gonchar, Spezza, Alfredsson, Phillips – I don’t think this went as far as it should. None of those players, save for maybe Spezza, are good enough or young enough to build around, and they also won’t help you win now. It’s tough for me to rate Murray, because I don’t want him to trade players just for the sake of it – meaning, he probably just didn’t receive any worthwhile offers – but all I see is a weak 1st rounder and a couple of 2nds in a weak draft. That’s not enough to launch a rebuild.

Add to that the needless pickup of Anderson, and I’m pessimistic. Why would Anderson sign in Ottawa, and who is Brian Murray to offer him a contract? Why wasn’t he flipped for a pick at the deadline? Why is Murray again talking about signing a top six forward? It’s starting to sound like this team is returning to the sneak-in-as-a-low-seed strategy. Rebuilding needs to be from the ground up, and trading away a couple of centers, an agitator, a useless winger, and a third pairing D is not a complete rebuild.

I say C-, unless there’s more trades at the draft.

It’s trade deadline day. You know what that means: near-ubiquitous coverage by absolutely every blog and channel for eight straight hours, partnered with breathlessly banal analysis as TSN’s Team Deadline Overkill grasps desperately at something relevant to talk about.

The CCFR is going out on a limb and guessing that there isn’t much we can offer during what has increasingly become a hype machine that almost always underwhelms and nearly never is of consequence come June. Which makes it even more perfect that Phillips re-signed last night, making today even less exciting for Ottawa fans. Really glad we got that player who doesn’t want to play for a competitor under contract. We can guarantee him we won’t be that.

Will Chris Neil stay or go? Can we get a third round pick for him? Is there a single team out there stupid enough to trade for Filip Kuba? Would it be dickish to flip Anderson? These are questions that can almost certainly wait until tomorrow.

So have fun out there, stay safe, keep yourself hydrated. And enjoy reading 500 words about why someone trading a 7^th round pick for Jody Shelley will almost certainly change the landscape of professional hockey.

Where does this leave our resident image genius Steve, for whom Kovalev provided the best material? Can he perform similar miracles with Michalek, who looks like an escaped chimp?

James

Kovalev to Pittsburgh in exchange for S. Crosby, E. Malkin, J. Staal and a 1st Rounder!

Conrad

I can’t even think of anything to say to analyze this except that I know Kovalev sucks, and I hate him, and even I’m a little puzzled that he only got a 7th rounder. He got less than Jarkko Ruutu. I know he’s terrible, and costs a lot, but I thought at least a 5th for a veteren on an expiring contract with good playoff numbers.Anyway, I’m wrong. Pick is conditional. If Pens make it past the 1st round and Kovalev plays in fifty percent of the games, it turns into a 6th. Which is a fucking hilarious condition, because I can see him leaving 1/3 of the way through the third game and it turning into a math equation. Plus, the more he plays, the more he sucks. Maybe Murray coulda waited until deadline day? See if anyone missing out on the good players gets desperate?

Now’s a good time for a retrospective on Kovalev’s time in Ottawa. Just imagine a donkey defecating in the street. That’s it. He did nothing, he made way too much, he’s KHL bound after these playoffs so I hope, for his sake, that he tries. This is his swan song. Just like…a…donkey…? Never mind.

Also, Ottawa picks up Marek Svatos on waivers! (*farting sound*)

James

Hey just ordering my authentic 300 dollar on ice Svatos jersey…(obviously Black S.N.E.S. 3rd jersey)

Conrad I think you saying “He did nothing, he made way too much, he’s KHL bound after these playoffs so I hope, for his sake, that he tries. This is his swan song” and again, taking ZERO salary back might explain is why its a seventh rounder.

Listen, before I go too far the other way i think its a pretty insane return…i would have thought 4th round. I just look at it as getting him off the books and taking no salary back = more money for the scoreboard piggy bank.

I used to be like “god why do people give so much of a crap about the scoreboard” then i saw the Hurricaines scoreboard at the all star game and with tears forming in my eyes said “i get it now” its like how you think Blu Ray isnt a big deal until someone with Planet Earth invites you over to watch it on their HD tv.

Pete

Just like I thought… Meh okay I thought bri mur would wait the final two games before dealing AK. Then again it’s been a while since he took a few games off with a hyperextended glavin.

No salary back. Nicely done. Are we going to see some of these picks put together in a package for JM Liles? Vokun?

Hoooow weeeee!, B Murray’s wheel-and-deal meter is approaching dangerous, Sutter-ian le

Conrad

So, to Pens fans who might be checking out this blog to see what you got: apparently, having Kovalev for the playoffs was always the plan for Ottawa, but he was hurt in the first year of his contract ,and we’re obviously light years from the playoffs now. But there’s some logic at play here. Also, he can’t possibly not live up to the cost, even if he only scores a couple of goals on the 2^nd unit PP. But man, will he ever piss you off. Prepare for some sick stickhandling up until he hits the blue line, then he’ll toss it away. Postgame interviews will also be 170% Zen and an anecdote about not sweating the small stuff or changing a thing, even as Bylsma probably says something about expecting more from him. Congratulations!

Prianka

I’m not too surprised that Kovalev only brought in a 7th round (I think it’s 6th, depending on his performance in Pitts). You just know Murray and Melnyk hated him for making $5M a year to either turn over the puck or be the world’s laziest skater. Like everyone else is saying, it is definitely so that we didn’t have to take back any of his salary.

Conrad

Hey guys, I just wrote this song.

“Baaahhhhbeeeeee / Bahbee Butlaaaa-aaaaahhhh / Like fifteen Dean McAmmonds, on the surface of an ice / cold suuuuuuuuuuuun / scored two motherfucking goals / the guys are feeding him all night, awesome / hadouken”

Now that that’s out of the way, you want to know why Cory Clouston is fucking nuts? Ryan Shannon on the point of the power play, that’s why. Sure, there’s literally no one left in this lineup, but can’t Brian Lee get something resembling love? He’s gotta play a preschooler making $500k a year as power play quarter back? Crazier still, it sort of worked. Shannon didn’t flub the puck at the blue line, and scored a goal.

Speaking of Brian Lee being fuckin’ awful, that goal by the Cats (I love that this is short for Panthers. Adorable team name, wish the logo was one of those carpet-covered climbing things) was textbook Terrible Season Senators. Higgins blows by Lee, takes a brutal shot on net, but it reflects off of Phillips’ skate and in. Two minutes later, Carkner, in an attempt to spark his team, takes a needless roughing penalty.

Anyway, more Bobby Butler. Kid goes 11 games without a point. Not goal. A point. Now he’s got five goals in five games. Can we agree that maybe playing him on the fourth line for two minutes a night was a terrible idea and that the guy belongs up there with some talent? He’s a friggin’ scorer, you need to put him with a pivot, give him power play time, not ask him to be a checking power forward. Anyway, Kovalev has 14 goals, fuck that guy. He kills his own team’s penalty stick handling into the corner. Also, there was only five minutes left in the game, Butlahhhh has two goals, Sens are on the power play and Clouston doesn’t put him out there. Does this guy just completely misread his bench or what? (Butler’s awesome.)

You know who else ain’t bad? Spezza. That guy gets a bum wrap, from me occasionally, but he might actually be undervalued, even at $7M. Such a dynamic player. (Probably not undervalued.)

The Panthers are one awful team. I don’t know what the hell Dale Tallon is going to do with them. That’s a five year rebuild if I ever saw one. Look at the Sens lineup. No Alfie, Gonchar, Karlsson, Fisher gone, Kelly gone, and the Panthers lose 5-1. Barf.

Hey, Brian Elliott is playing tonight! Against the Oilers! I can’t wait to read the Avalanche blogs tomorrow to see if they’re like “What….did we…do?”

Marc

I get sooooo pissed off when Clouston traps it up with the lead. Keep that pressure going all game and up the sonic booms.

Here’s what happened after the Great Flushing of 2011: goodiness in the form of hockey intelligence. This team is thinking before reacting. Is it me just me (or the listerine/blue caracao cocktail now known as the Plaqueless Blue Ball Buster) or is this team showing tons of patience, waiting for the play to develop before doing….well….any hockey related action with the puck. I’m feeling the youth movement (that sounds disgusting).

Butler is the new Heatley without the crashed baggage, Manson eyes and lack of respect for back checking. B-Spot is really killing it right now without Alfie, Van Allen, Brunet and Bonk in the lineup. Sign him to a Dipietro type contract now!! But add 10 years.

A miracle happened tonight: Kuba skated and hard at that! Next step which is kinda important if you’re a defenseman: learn how to clear the frickin zone, especially on the PK. Why the hell is he on the PK to begin with?

Prianka

I wish I had had the effort to get out of bed this morning to watch the Florida game. Butler and Anderson seem to be really rocking it, but c’monnnnnnn I thought we were after a top 3 draft pick?! I hate to be that fan that complained about the team sucking all year, and is now complaining because they’ve posted back to back wins for the first time in over two months but if we win too many games and end up 20th or 21st overall, this really will be the worst and most useless season in Senators history. Also we will have traded guys like Fisher and Kelly for no reason – turns out the real change that needed to be made (big surprise, right …) was the goaltender.

When is the trade deadline anyways? I can’t even keep track of what day/time it is in Ottawa these days. Are we trading Kovalev, Gonchar and Phillips are what? I know Phillips would like to stick around and help with the rebuild, and I suppose it isn’t the worst idea but I am ready to see the backs of Kovy and Gonchar.

My friend who has been traveling for the last two months or so is still confused about how our goalies went from being Elliot and Leclaire to Anderson and Lehner within the span or two or three weeks. I say we play Lehner for the rest of the year. It will let him get comfortable, ensure there aren’t too many wins and it will preveent Anderson from getting injured. Then next year we come out with Karlsson, Anderson, Butler and Lessard/Cowen to destroy everyone and anyone. Could be the fastest rebuild ever! Or maybe I am getting ahead of myself after beating two barely mediocre teams.

Conrad

The deadline is this coming Monday. Should be good. I suspect Kovalev is gone, and Phillips too. If Phillips wants to stick around, that’s cool. Just get traded for a pick, then re-sign in the off season, that’s what I would say to him. There’s helping with the rebuild by being around, and then there’s actually helping with the rebuild. We need that pick. As for Gonchar, I think it would be a miracle if someone traded for him. They could have had him in the summer for nothing, but Ottawa out-bid everyone. Why would they give up a pick now to pay terms that Ottawa agreed to?

As for not getting a top three draft pick, I wouldn’t worry: Sens are still four points back of the Isle for 3rd last overall, and seven back of NJ for 4th last. And only one point up on the Oil for 1st overall. We’re getting a top three pick.

Speaking of the Oilers, they beat the Avalanche last night 5-1, scoring 5 goals on 31 shots on…Brian Elliott. Poor guy. I’m not into Schadenfreude, so I won’t pile on, but needless to say: the boy’s just not right this season.

Pete

Watching a sens game these days is like watching an political ad on TV. Sure this guy sounds legit but I’m waiting for evidence of serious malfeasance. The Sens jettisoned serious talent in Kelly and Fisher and still went on to pound the cats. What kind of bizarro universe is this? Why are revolutionary ideas making sense? Yes we should harvest old people so we can extract viable nutrients from them.

Anyways the cats made them look sharp, Kuba wasn’t a liability on the back end and the Bingo line of Condra, O’Brien and Greening was pretty sharp (Incidentally, the sens skills competition was pretty eye opening since Greening was the fastest skater and finished second in the hardest shot)

Fear not draft-niks, we still suck, we’ll still get that delicious top three pick.

What I’m concerned about is who coaches this team next year, everyone has Clouston out the door, but I’m not so sure anymore since his roster next year will be about as mature as any AHL roster. I think he sticks around so he can put Shannon on the PP point (worked) and play Foligno at centre (what the hell, he’s not a winger?)

Conrad

Same thing happened in Atlanta last year. They lose Kovalchuk, everyone thinks they’ll go 0-22 to finish the season, and instead they go on a run.
 
As for coaches, man I dunno. I really fucking hope it’s not Bob Hartley or Ken Hitchcock. Dudes are rumored every single time there’s a vacancy. May as well be Patt Quinn. They need to do what Yzerman did in Tampa this year: go out and find whatever AHL savant is trying out new systems. Go new school.

Seems like the general reaction to Colorado’s decision to abruptly (and, coldly, I think) cut ties with a goalie who provided them stellar value for their dollar was “buh?” In fact, on paper the move doesn’t make much sense for either team. The Senators take on salary to improve their goaltending in a lost season. Anderson comes in to a train wreck and either nothing happens and the team still stinks, or he actually improves their position in the standings and thus worsens the quality of their pick. I was having visions of Brian Burke picking up Gerber on waivers a couple seasons ago and doing nothing but losing the chance to draft Brayden Schenn.

The prevailing logic employed by the Sens’ vast number of independent bloggers seems to be that this will give the Senators a chance to get a good look at Anderson, for the purposes of perhaps offering him a contract. Why on earth any team, in an era of perpetual video analysis and scouting, would need to trade for a player in order to analyze their worth is beyond me. When you mix in Ottawa’s uncertain management scenario — someone new is going to end up calling the shots, but it’s not clear who — you have to think that this move was not made with signing Anderson in mind. After all, he’s a pending UFA. If they liked him that much, they could have taken a run at him on July 1st, and if they didn’t get him there are a number of cheap alternatives on the market for a rebuilding season.

What I find strange is that Anderson isn’t being linked in any further trade speculation. He was great filling in for Vokoun in Florida, he was great in Colorado, especially in the playoffs, and he’s had some injuries this season that have limited his effectiveness on a Colorado team falling apart. But one has to think that one of many playoff-bound teams with uncertain goaltending may be interested in Anderson’s services. What if Murray just turned ninth round pick Elliott, with no trade value whatsoever, into a player he can trade at the deadline? Not hard to imagine a team like Philly, San Jose, or perhaps Washington parting with even least a low pick for goaltending depth. For those teams, every other piece in place, and they’re contenders if Anderson plays the way he did in the playoffs last year.

Maybe Ottawa really does love Anderson so much, and wants to sign him so badly, that they’d send him a message about their commitment. Seems strange — who is Murray to send that message? But if Anderson plays his brains out in the three games Ottawa has between tonight’s game against the Leafs and the deadline, this just might be the shrewdest upgrade of assets we’ve seen from Murray.

This person’s image comes up when you search for ‘Chris Kelly’. I can only assume the actual Chris Kelly struck the same pose upon learning that he was being traded to a bona fide contender and wouldn’t have to watch Brian Elliott piss away the lead again.

Marc

Hot 89.9 is banning all Kelly Clarkson music to protest the Chris Kelly trade to Boston. Enter: another pick in the 2011 Draft, this time in the second round. At this pace Ottawa is gonna have 20 picks in the first 2 rounds.

If the Sens can trade Phillips for that Leafs pick as Conrad suggested, this team will be in a good position sooner than we all might think.

Butler was killer again tonight. This guy looks like the real deal after the 10 game goaless streak to begin his career. Elliott was terrible again tonight. This guy gives his team zero confidence. The shorthanded goal hurt my feelings on so many levels. I dig that Grabner is fast. But there is no valid reason for Elliott to be that far out of position. That was the CCFR turning point of the game for me. Lehner is not impressed and will break him.

The game is decided by a shootout and the Sens come out with a pointless point. The journey through the 9 faceoff circles of overtime hell continues while the old pieces are shipped out of town.

James

Bryan Murray on Kelly Trade:

“We are prepared as an organization to get scored on on each penalty kill
for the remainder of the year”

Conrad

Having put up a post last night suggesting that Kelly should be targeted in exchange for a 2nd round pick literally at the same time as Boston was targeting Kelly for a 2nd round pick, I’m now going to say the exact opposite: I don’t like this trade. I’m okay with Kelly for a 2nd rounder, which is fair, and I’m even okay with not having a veteran, affordable, versatile utility player around for the rebuild, which I admit is problematic. What I’m not okay with is trading such a useful player inside the division. Boston already has the potential to be scary good (though they never seem to be quite as tough to play against as they should be. Ask Philly about that). Kelly is perfect for that team. He can contribute offensively, and slots in perfectly in a defensive, grinding system. And they’ve got him for next year, too. Boston just got a lot stronger, a lot stronger than the addition of a 3rd line grinder would imply. I guess it shouldn’t matter, considering Ottawa will probably stink next year, too, but I would have liked to see him go out West or not at all.
 
Also, why are our highest value players being traded two weeks before the deadline? Are we screwing ourselves out of a bidding war, here?

A shout out to The 6th Sens, whose latest podcast features Sens President Cyril Leeder. Leeder says some encouraging things about where the franchise is heading, and talks about some of those decisions which we now know to be mistakes (ahem, Kovalev). Worth listening to. Funny how hearing it from the mouths of those making the decisions makes their logic seem so much more reasonable. I also felt like this regime is taking this catastrophic season really hard. They’re doing town-hall style consultations with groups of fans from 10 to 100 to talk about what went wrong (!). I think the Senators and their fan base have a really high-maintenance relationship.

Peter

Two ways at looking at this trade. 1. Yes trading him to a division rival is sketchy business that happens way more in the NHL than it does in any other sport.  You’re allowed to be upset that a good character, faceoff guy who does everything else well but nothing else great is gone. 2. You can view it that when his contract expires and if he’s still a sen, management will have a tough decision to resign him. Will he fit with the youth movement? Will all this wheeling and dealing leave room in the top six for him? Would he even bother to resign to be a 4th liner with kids ahead of him on the depth chart?

In my opinion two years from now we won’t need a Chris Kelly. Who knows, maybe Eric Condra is a Chris Kelly clone. Not that we would know after one game but this brings me to my next point.

I know I rant about Denis Potivn alot but last night but his wet-eyed remembrances of high sticks past with his beloved islanders was fucking shameful. He spent the entire third period practically fellating Michael Grabner and Garth Snow. Forgetting that they’re a shitty team too and have used 6 goalies this year.  I still know very little about Eric Condra who played well in limited ice time. Do I know everything about Michael Grabner? Yes granted he’s the hottest player in the NHL but home broadcasts are for home fans. I like watching games on TV since there is additional insight. What insight did we get about Condra from Denis? Basically a faux-rockwell ode to how kids want to play hard for their dads. What? Who gives a shit? What does he do well? What does he need to work on? No one spends any time talking about the up and coming talent on this club until they get called up. Then when they do, we instead have to hear about the time Denis and Butch Goring stole a bunch of hotel mints. 

Look, I don’t know the rules about slander and his job is probably harder than I think but I’m going to say this. I get pie eyed and sentimental too, when I drink. I also slur my words and have a hard time keeping up with the play. Not saying, but I am fucking saying.

Denis Potivn’s legacy has little or nothing to do with the Ottawa Senators and I’d really appreciate it  they ease up on force feeding it to us.

There’s been plenty of speculation about which of the Senators will be leaving town in the coming days. It’s a given that at least the expiring contracts – Phillips, Ruutu, Kovalev, Shannon – will be on their way out, even if it’s for late or conditional picks or, probably in Kovalev’s case, with some bad salary coming back the other way.

But for all the conventional wisdom about GMs hedging their bets, the first trade was for Mike Fisher, who has two years left on his deal. Toronto just traded Kris Versteeg  to the Flyers, and Francois Beauchemin to Anaheim – all players with years left on their deals. This might signal a change in (at least this year’s) deadline strategy; if a valuable pick is being sacrificed, perhaps GMs are placing a greater emphasis on finding a player who acts as both a boost heading into the playoffs and addresses longer-standing gaps on the team.

Given the only untouchables are Karlsson and Alfredsson, and that even some of the Senators under contract or pending RFAs represent some value, I figured it pays to put ourselves in the other GMs’ shoes. If you were, say, Paul Homlgren of the Flyers, George McPhee of the Capitals, or Mike Gillis of the Canucks, who could you actually imagine giving up assets and moving salary around to add?

Personally, I’d go after Chris Kelly. A utility player who can play in any situation, is inexpensive, and contributes offensively. He’s just the kind of depth required for the stretch, and you don’t mind holding onto a contract like that for next season. He seems like the perfect bait for a second round pick.

Our round-the-clock Mike Fisher watch continues! He’s promised us pizza and a six-pack of beer (non-alcoholic, daps to JC) between all three thousand of us if we help him move this Saturday.

Marc

THE MIKE FISHER CAREER REVIEW/OBITUARY

Mike Fisher you gave Ottawa some great moments, fringing on some blue collar hockey hall of fame, election on the first ballot shit. You were always there when we needed you, with that grit and determination and skating real hard and backchecking and penalty killing and powerplaying and body checking and marrying country music supastars…you were good for this team. Were you great?

I say no. You and Great dated for a short while, but broke up a long time ago. Great moved out, took the dog, pocketed your favorite Amy Grant CDs, and poured your bottle of 2001 Baby Duck all over the bed. You never managed to be friends with Great, sometimes flirted with it, and we were all really broken up about that. We all wanted you to be with Great. You were the second line centre that could…be a third liner on plenty of other teams. You were somewhat consistent, but brought so many other intangibles that made you valuable.

Mike, you were a pillar in the community, and no one can ever take that away from you. From Elgin Fraser to Roger’s House, you set the example on how proffesional athletes should give back. You bled for this city and team, and we are all thankful. You have been a class act from the moment you were drafted.

You scored 20 goals 4 times as a Senator, netting a career high 25 in 09-10. You averaged 0.52 points per game, which is good. You were paid 4.2 million a year, which is a ton for that PPG output. The biggest plus of your departure is that your salary is now off the cap. You are the sacrificial lamb of the Great Rebuild. Many fans are upset. They thought you were great. They thought you were ruggedly attractive, hunky and the hardest working center on the team. They might be right. They loved you and your chiseled abs of taking care of business.

With that, in the words of the great Smooth Jimmy, “So Long and Thanks for all the Fish”. You’re no dolphin, but you mixed a mean Gargle Blaster. You are a fighter of Vogons, owner of the Heart of Gold and friend to all those paranoid androids in Ottawa. I hope you get 42 points this year.

Needs more Hitchhiker’s guide references…

Prianka

Right now, the Sens are mostly harmless, but maybe a little help from the infinite improbability drive we could land up at the restaurant and the end of the universe.

About Fish – when my buddy texted me last night saying that Fish had been traded, I almost thought it was a joke. A man who was once considered the potential future captain in Ottawa, and easily one of the top five most popular players in this town. Murray has give him up on a gamble, one that is stacked in our favour, but a gamble nonetheless. As long as Nashville doesn’t make a first round exit, this could end up being a really profitable trade especially considering we didn’t have to take back any of the salary.

I guess I’ll be cheering for Nashville in the postseason. Never thought I would see the day when that was the case.

There’s nothing fun about a rebuild, besides the fact that they are always spurned by a really awful season, on top of that you are guaranteed to be losing some of your favourite players. It’s a painful process, but it is also what needs to be done if we are going to avoid going on another 11 game (and counting) losing streak next January. With the $20M in available salary cap, there is a huge potential for who Murray could bring in during the summer. As much as I am loving Lehner these days, I think it would be a good idea to get in another goalie (maybe Vokoun or Bryzgalov) as well as a couple top 6 forwards, I’m thinking a center to replace Fisher and a winger for Spezza.

I guess the question now is, who’s next? My money is on Phillips. If we trade Karlsson or Alfie, I may actually cry.

Peter

I have a Mike Fisher story that for a while I’ve been getting plenty of mileage out of. Now, I fear there’s no more appetite for my little slice of banality from our departed Senator.

Summer, 2008. Fresh from my five years living in Vancouver I return to the Ottawa area and take a middling summer job at the private golf and country club frequented by my parents. My duties exactly? Sit in a pavilion at the first tee, monitor the automated scheduling system and drop the checkered flag on 4+ hours featuring octogenarians wandering around the woods and generally running out the clock.

One of the features of this golf course is a reciprocal relationship with the Marshes golf course in Kanata which features Fish as a member. One day I’m sitting in the shed, reading Deadspin and fending off the advances of randy blue hairs. Who should approach the first tee? Mike Fisher.

Now one of the duties of my role involves enforcing the club’s dress code. Normally this isn’t a problem since so many members already know the rules and would never run afoul for fear of being ostracized by their fellow members. The paramount stipulation of this code? Shirts must be tucked in. This is the banal part and I know you’re thinking “so freaking what?”

Well Mike approaches the first tee and the old ladies are immediately transported back to their beatlemania days, the fawning and cooing made my blood run cold. I know Mike is a good guy and he’s being gracious and signing autographs and taking pictures, but this is my turf. I am the law and the lash Mike.  I casually stroll out of the pavilion and push my way past the post menopausal throng.

“Hi Mike, Welcome, You need to tuck in your shirt. ” (I think I heard some boooos)

Record scratch… I’m not letting Mike tee off with his shirt untucked, no big deal right. Tuck it in and get on your merry way.
“I’m not wearing a belt, That’d look so stupid” he confesses.
“Well we’ve got a lovely selection of belts in our pro shop.” (Okay, admittedly this story might be really about me and my struggles with being an asshole.)

“But I’ve spent all this time signing autographs that my partners and I will miss our tee time.” 

Something tells me Mike is used to getting what he wants in public situations. I’m thinking, holy shit, how much money did you make last year?

“Well” I reply, “Looks like we’ve got a problem.” How about we do this? Now watch me as I wink Mike”. “You could tuck in your shirt and maybe like on the next hole, by some weird happenstance, it would come untucked? Either way, I’d never know…I have to stay here…wink.

“Ohhh, I get it, thanks…”
“No worries, Mike, enjoy your round”

About two minutes after Mike teed off one of the members came running out of the dining room with a styrofoam container of takeout. “Is Mike still here? I was going to get him to sign my leftovers.”

Conrad

Mike Fisher to Nashville (shock) for a 1st in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012.

INTERPRETATION RUN DOWN / HEARTBREAK LANE

I’ll miss the guy. This is when the rebuild gets real. It had to happen, and I’m glad it’s happening, but this is the moment when you go back to the apartment you once shared with your girlfriend or boyfriend and start separating your CD collection (when there were CDs).

Also, if you thought the Sens were bad now (11th loss in a row last night, only one win in I think 17), things are about to get really messy.

This biggest gain from this is getting out from under $8M in outstanding salary and a cap hit of $4.2M for the next two seasons. I’m surprised, and happy, that the Sens didn’t have to take any salary back in the deal, though with a team as deep in prospects as the Preds are, it’s too bad we couldn’t get a more developed young player in the deal.

Preds are currently 11th overall in the league, meaning that the 1st will probably end up being bottom fifteen. That’s basically a Nick Foligno added to the fold. Not bad, considering Fisher was a 2nd rounder himself, but for a player who was to be the future captain of this team, this is yet another signal that the days of the huge deadline deal are gone.

As for the conditional pick, my understanding is that it’s a 3rd rounder if the Preds win one playoff round, and a 2nd rounder if they win two or more. Keep in mind that Nashville has never won a playoff series, so this might end up just a straight 1st rounder for Fish.

Also keep in mind that the West is ridiculous right now. Nashville is 5th in the conference, but only four points ahead of 9th (and only five points ahead of 11th). They’re one losing streak away from our first rounder being turned into a top 15 pick.

JUDGEMENT: Aaaahhhhhh I dunno. Fisher is a fan fave, and it sort of sucks to see him traded for a lottery ticket. But at the same time, this team just turned about $14M in cap space next year into about $20M in cap space. They didn’t take a damn thing back.

I know it was never going to happen, but I wish we coulda gotten one of those sweet prospects in Nashville’s system. They’re going to be a ridiculous team someday soon.

Peter

Yes fish will be missed. Though his production was down this year there is still a need for what he does best. A veteran presence and classy guy is never easy to replace. There is going to be a hole in this team for a while. Call it a scab or a scar.

I think objectively this is a good deal. I wonder if murray’s love affair with his prospects played any role in zero kids being Ottawa bound. Maybe fish hinted at wanting to go to music city and kinda hamstrung his g.m. a bit?

So now it begins huh? I don’t see a huge impact the rest of this season (only because i dont think it can get any worse) but next should be interesting. Keep playing the kids this year, don’t make a panic signing this summer, maybe amass a couple of first rounders when the Spezza and Gonchar contracts become a little more palatable.

I think every fan should know, nay expect this team to suck holy balls next year. Too many kids, no finishers and a disinterested and frankly wasted Spezza.

This is going to be rocky. I fear to watch, yet I cannot turn away.

James

“Sooooo…are we NOT calling this post ‘So Long and Thanks For All the Fish’ orrrr….somehow TSN didn’t go for that”

When the Sens lost their 54^th straight back in Novembuary, finally, after much resistance, I started leaning more toward what Conrad had been saying for a while and thought “Okay, uncle already, this core is past its prime, the team is officially TERRIBLE…let whoever go. . . minus Spezza b/c he’s impossible to move/ way hard to replace…what are you gunna trade that guy for? Ryan Getzlaf? Youre going to get murdered *LITERALLY* trying to move that guy – but I digress (not really)…and minus Alfie because YOU CANT TRADE MY DAD, STEP MURRAY!!! *goes to room, starts blasting Marlyn Manson* Just kidding, I put it out there on the blog (for those not reading at home – all of you) a while back that I was super comfortable if Alfie even wanted a shot at the cup before he turns THIRTY NINE…he’s done enough in this era of time, the era before he becomes our new GM *hopeful tears in eyes*.

Anyway, Phillips, Fisher, etc I was all get rid of the core. Lets get young and cheap! But then when it gets closer to the deadline you start to get sad thinking about only spending every second weekend in a three hour long court mandated supervised visit with your former Sens dads ( I think we can all agree Phillips is the DADDEST looking guy in modern history). That and we might get stuck sharing our room with some bratty pipsqueak of a step brother (I think we can all agree that Blake Wheeler is that)…but you know what? Im already reading all this bull in comments sections (Smartest move to continue to believe in humanity – wait for it…wait for it – NOT!) all “HORRIBLE MOVE! FIRE MURRAY!!! LOUUUUD VOICES!!!” unless this is a leafs fan trolling (and trust me you are a bunch of trolls, the lot of you) THIS IS THE TYPE OF THING WE WERE DEMANDING. Now look at me. IM the one whos yelling and im ALWAYS calm and completely reasonable (not).

Bottom line: We want young and we want cheap, which I am not an expert on either of these things as I am 64 years old and make 8 figures a year, but it would seem this is the brave new world we were begging for online and in the press. What we give up in the process of said future of course is a ‘sure thing’. We KNOW how good and hard working Fisher is. If we had just traded for a 2^ndround, 44^th overall pick we’d be all “off with Murrays head!” but that’s the pick that this heart and soul, selke finalist guy went BUT if we were the ones GETTING Mike Fisher in a trade 10 years after his pick, I think we’d be pretty happy. Well, the Comment Section Toughies wouldn’t be happy…they are lieterally never happy (and are racist homophobes J too ) taking a gamble is tough and stressful (Bobby B no points in 11 games) but the way players are developed these days a First Round pick is pretty much as safe a bet as they come outside of an active player.

Speaking of first round picks, maybe this is the time where Nick Foligno begins step up in an enhanced role to become the NEW Mike Fisher b/c cousin has kiiiiiiiiiiiind of been a beast lately. In conclusion, I don’t know how to run a hockey team at all and I for one welcome our new overlords. We’ll miss you and your generosity* Mike, as Pierre McGuire never (fucking) stops saying “He’s not only a tremendous player on the ice, he’s also a tremendous human being OFF the ice.”
“Relax, Pierre.” – Everyone

*Quick little story, a friend of mine had a baby a few years back and pretty much from birth, the child suffered numerous seriosus health problems. A low income single parent, in a desperation move, she contacted Mike Fisher’s people and eventually got in touch with him asking for help. Mike helped her, a stranger, weather some pretty burdensome financial storms taking care of a sick child on her own. This story never made one headline and was even a pretty private thing amoung friends. Safe to say, that it is not the only story of its kind invoving Mike Fisher. He did and will continue to do a lot of good for whatever community he’s in and even though a lot of people give him a hard time because he is so down with JC, he does a lot more than many 64 year old bloggers do. Thanks Mike.

From all of us at The CCFR: A few highlights. We especially like the first one because it was clutch and it immediately shows the crowd at the Scotiabank Plan streaming for the parking lot. Good luck, Mike. There may be plenty of empty seats where you’re going, but the people who’re there will appreciate having hockey around.