Hockey Trade Rumors

Well, its been almost a week since the free agency period started, and the Senators have sat idle watching two players leave the nation’s capital. Preissing is gone to LA, and Comrie is now on the Island. (sucks to see some good players leave what was a Stanley Cup Finalist team)

However, I will start by addressing the goaltending situation and work my way out from there.

GOALIE
An interesting situation we have here. Gerber clearly wants to be the starter, he even said so himself. But, will that be happening in Ottawa? I doubt it. It seems pretty clear that Emery will be the starter come opening night. I would think that Gerber will be traded, and hopefully soon (probably when the figure everything out with Emery’s new contract – heard he might be going to arbitration). I’ve heard rumors of him going to LA (doubt they would take Gerber’s contract when they already have Cloutier’s $6.2M left for two years – plus Gerber has one full good season under his belt, at least coach Crawford has an idea of what Cloutier can do). I think Phoenix would be a more likely destination, although I’m not exactly sure if they are settled with Tellqvist as their starter. Another option is Tampa Bay, but I would have to think they would want to send Denis back our way. Still, a $2M backup?? ummm i really doubt it. But, if Gerber is traded, who will back up Emery? Perhaps CuJo? i don’t think so… he’s too old.. remember the Hasek experiment? maybe Esche?? who knows.. Conklin is out there, as is Markaanen.

But hold on a minute, what if Emery holds out until arbitration? What if the arbitrator hands out more than the Sens are willing to pay? Then do you keep Gerber? My guess is yes. I don’t think the Sens want to part ways with Emery, but if the price is too high, they may have to let him go. Part of me feels that GM Bryan Murray is waiting until he figures out Emery’s situation before he deals with Gerber. My guess is Emery will sign before arbitration.
(by the way, Bruce Garrioch is an idiot, and Gerber is not going to be sent down to the minors… that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard)

DEFENSE
Wow, did Redden suck this year or what? Actually he wasn’t too bad, I’m sure many teams would love to have this guy, but we have seen better seasons from Redden. He was injured at the start of the year and I’m not quite sure he returned 100% healthy for the rest of the year. Methinks that he returned early to help the Sens out of the early season slump. He’s got a year left at $6M. I would say wait until about December, if continues playing poorly even healthy, then maybe think about dealing him. As for Corvo, this guy really boosted his confidence late in the season and was handling the puck extremely well in the playoffs. I say keep him and his salary, he’ll only get better. Sad to see Preissing go, but that gives Schubert his natural spot back on D (who I’m positive Ottawa will bring back) but leaves a hole on the forward spot.
Everyone else is good-to-go, props on signing Volchenkov and Phillips to extensions.

FORWARD
As it stands right now, Ottawa has 10 fowards signed for next season. Kelly will be re-signed, I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to keep one of their best defensive forwards. In my opinion, I think Saprykin is done in Ottawa. He’s a good player, but I just don’t think he was the right fit. So, that makes 11 (with Kelly signed, and don’t forget McGratton who usually ends up being a healthy scratch). Again Sun columnist Bruce Garrioch is once again stupid in thinking Ottawa will unload Peter Shaefer. This guy is a hustler on the boards and has ridiculous chemistry with Fisher. I couldn’t imagine Shaefer with another team anytime soon.

COACH
John Paddock. I don’t think Dale Hunter will get it, nor do I think Randy Cunneyworth will be named, although both guys would bring a no-nonsense, toughness-first mentality that helped the Ducks succeed.

So, what can the Senators do? They essentially need one of each position and have about $4M to spend (currently at $41.1M, sign Emery & Kelly = $5M thinking high-end. I would say that by getting rid of Gerber’s contract we would be getting close to the same value back against the cap). Needs:
- A forward (I’m assuming they will sign Kelly)
- A depth defenseman
- A new backup goalie (I’m assuming they will sign Emery and trade Gerber – this is what I think is the most likely scenario)

- For a forward, since Guerin is gone, why not Peter Forsberg? No one has signed him, though I hear Colorado is the frontrunner with Vancouver also interested, but maybe Mr. Alfredsson can make a few phone calls to the Forsberg family, hey it worked for Ryan Smyth! It might be wishful thinking, but thats what most of the posts on this sight are anyways.. haha…. There’s always Yashin (hahaha… just kidding), or even Selanne! *i shouldn’t go into comedy*. But seriously Shanahan is also available, but he’s expressed significant interest in going back to the NYR, and his price tag might be too steep to be able to fill other needs even though NY is dangerously close to the cap and they still have some players to re-sign. Perhaps a forward might come back in exchange for Gerber, that’s always a possibility. It is also possible that a rookie just might cut it this year and make the big team. Foligno is a possibility as is Hennesey.
- For a defensman, why not bring up a youngster from Bingo? They gotta get experience somehow. It’s also possible that one might come in a trade for Gerber.
- For a back-up goalie, one might come back from the Gerber trade, but if not, I don’t see anything good in free agency to worth diving into. It could be time for Jeff Glass to step into the back-up role.

What do I hope? What’s my ideal situation? Trade Gerber, sign Emery (long-term) and Kelly, sign Forsberg (who stays healthy and plays ridiculously good) and get a reliable backup (hey, I hear Raycroft is available.. just kidding)

For those that have had the endurance to read this entire post, I hope you enjoyed it and I await your constructive (but probably harsh) criticism.

go_sens_go