Jeff Carter, in Columbus, is like a polar bear in the Amazon…it just doesn’t work.  Nothing against the polar bear, a noble beast if ever there was one, or the Amazon, an absolute world wonder of flora and fauna, but the two simply do not mix.

Carter wants out of CLB (desperately), and CLB wants what they thought they were getting (and didn’t) in Carter, a top six centre.

Well, for the first time ever, the Sens actually have two centres, and some serious depth waiting in the wings.

Does this make Ottawa a potential trade partner with CLB?

Let’s, for shites and gurggles, just look at this for a moment.

Silfverberg, DaCosta, Auld for Carter and Mason.

What CLB does gets out of this are two young, talented, and cheap centres with high growth potential. This for a team not going anywhere, any-time soon.   And they save mega bucks, to boot, and likely secure the coveted #1 pick in the up-coming draft.

Ottawa gains a legitimate scoring centre/winger (or he was, before being traded to CLB, a team he never wanted to play for), capable of playing #1 centre in a pinch, excelling as a #1 winger, or #2 centre, and providing this team with vastly more experience and skill in the top six.  Next Ottawa secures a reliable #2, but at a huge cost of 2.9 against the cap through next season.

The HUGE risk is Carter’s crazy contract, putting Ottawa on the hook for a 5.273M hit through 2021/22.

For Ottawa, this comes down to a few things.

Does Ottawa see Silfverberg in NA next season, and if so, in the NHL?

Does Ottawa see Silfverberg as a #2 or #3 centre?

Does Ottawa see Mika making the NHL next season, or needing time in the A?

Does Ottawa see ZBad as a centre or a winger?

Does Ottawa want to go for it…do it for Alfie, if you will?

The fact is big, experienced and skilled top 6 forwards are very rare on the trade market, and when one becomes available, a team has to take a long hard look, even if doing so upsets the “plan”.  Nobody plans on trading for a Carter, because it rarely happens (although he was traded to Columbus, in a move that shocked everyone).

I believe CLB would make this deal, assuming nothing better comes along, of course.

Would I make this trade, if I were GM?

No…not without the owners consent, and Melnyk just be the man who would pull the trigger on this sort of deal!

GN

ps, there is NOTHING behind this trade talk but idle chit-chat, this is not a rumour, although Carter is apparently on the market, as is Mason…

It’s always funny how a surprising improvement in performance eventually becomes the minimum acceptable expectation.  Now, should the Sens fail to make the post season, for many, it would be a failure of a year…how quickly things can change.

But what hasn’t changed is the main reason making the post season was considered pie in the sky not just 4 months ago.

The team is young and in-experienced.

And now, for the first time this season, they’re facing adversity, and pressure, all at once.  And their competition is no longer looking past them.

Make no mistake, this is going to be a very difficult task to pull off, and to consider the Sens as a post season team is folly, in my opinion.

But now the Sens have a theme song for the remainder of the season, and as the song says;

We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there,
We’re gonna do what they say can’t be done…

And if the Sens are going to make it, they’re going to need The Bandit (Craig Anderson) to get ‘er done!

GN

That from a western based pro-scout.  Is it just reaction to Boro’s insertion in the line-up, or a legitimate rumour?  Well, I have no idea, as this has only come from one place (but a well-informed one), but there has been a ton of talk about Vancouver needing more toughness, and to get it in the form of a steady defenceman…makes sense for them.  As for Ottawa, well, they’re OK on defence, with Lee and *maybe* Boro…seems a pretty big gamble for Ottawa if they have real post season aspirations, you simply cannot have to many defencemen.  Spoke to a few people on this (none had heard it)…they all thought it made sense if the Sens plan on getting Boro some NHL/post-season experience.

Is Boro the “new” Rundblad, albeit an entirely different player, ready to skate a regular shift in the NHL?  Is Carks expendable (he has only 3 fighting majors this season)?

Or is this total BS?

Roy, Ruutu, or Brassard?  All three have been linked to trade rumours with Ottawa, and all three have legitimate top 6 ability.

Who would you rather, and what would you be willing to move in return?

GN

Well, we all knew that was coming…eventually.

I’m not sure if it is good or bad, the fact the Sens could just as easily have won that game.  Apart from some solid goaltending on the Ducks part, and some hideous brain camps on Karlsson’s, that game was ripe for the picking.

But no team goes 82-0, and if the Sens can use the loss to get their heads back down to earth, and re-enforce the need to make the most of every opportunity, then the loss was well worth taking.

Fortunately Toronto lost as well, thus not gaining any ground on the Sens.  Right now it looks like the dog fight in the East will be between Toronto, Florida and Winnipeg, but with a young roster like Ottawa’s, a major set-back is not out of the picture, making any increased compression in the top 10 worrying.

Tonight will see the final game in the California portion of the road swing, with a 10:30 match-up in LA. With only 4 wins in their last ten games, of which 6 have gone to extra time, the Kings are struggling right now, but still find themselves in a post-season position.

The Kings, for the first time in years, made some big moves this off-season, believing they were finally within reach of making post-season waves but, as is so often  the case, the moves seemed to hurt more than help, and the team is desperate to remain in the play-off hunt despite their below average play of late.

The Kings are better on the road than at home, and the Sens are licking their wounds after a loss…I call this one a win for Ottawa, but only if they bring their A game, neither team has a decided edge in this one, and effort will likely be the final decider on who gets the ‘W’.

GN

Yes Anaheim currently sits in twenty-seventh position, but they’ve also scored 39 goals in their last 10 GP, for an average of 3.9 GF/G…that’s very impressive, especially when you consider there were only  two games with 6 or more GF in that data set.  Over the last 5 GP, the Ducks have potted 31 goals!

Even more worryingly, of late, the Ducks have been very, very stingy, allowing only seven goals against in their last 5 games played, for a GA/G average of 1.40.

To judge tonight’s Anaheim team against their season totals, instead of their short-term totals, would be a mistake.  This team appears to have turned the corner, and will no doubt have Ottawa in its sights come the drop of the puck.

This is the time of year when some teams are playing desperate hockey, and with only 39 points, for thirteenth in the West, Anaheim knows they’re out of the post season hunt if they don’t win a lot, and fast.  Anaheim has been playing with desperation of late, and winning…expect more of the same tonight.

If Sens want to get on their California roll, they’ll have to be sure to not get caught California Dreaming…or find themselves facing a sleepless night in Hotel California.

GN

Follow Sensay on Twitter at @GNSensay

Now the Sens hope to continue the roll when they shift to Anaheim, a recently surging team in their own right, before closing out their California swing in La, la land.

Can this mixed bag of upstarts and vets keep it going, through an increasingly challenging point in the regular season…who knows, and that sums up this team…who knows?

Who knows who will be the hero of the night, with Greening being the most recent appointee, due to an impressive 2 goal performance.

Who knows how the young players will perform, with Mark Borowiecky being the most recent surprise, posting a very solid 13 minutes in his first ever NHL game, and not looking at all out-of-place or over-whelmed by the highly skilled Sharks team he faced.

Who knows what the future holds, because nobody expected the team to be where they are now.

Who knew and who knows, but what is for certain is that this team is one hell of a blast to watch, and their game-in, game-out enthusiasm is a massive improvement over the head hanging doldrums of seasons past.

Onwards and upwards boys.

GN

The death of Sarah Burke, a Canadian athlete and sports pioneer, raises a lot of questions about life, the pursuit of ones dreams, and the risks one is willing to take in order to achieve them.

29 is so very young, but many have died much younger, for far less than the passionate pursuit of what they love.

I will never question the tragedy of her death, for it was not tragic, it was glorious, and in so an inspiration to us all to remember, no matter the duration, we will all, everyone one of us, die…that does not matter near so much as what we do before that inevitable event.

Thank-you Sarah, for being so full of life, and having the bravery to live it.

GN

That game against Toronto was gnarly, dude.

The Sens found themselves stuck on flat water while the opposition saw wave after wave, but couldn’t seem to get on their boards.  Chance after chance but, except for two quick goals, the Leafs couldn’t catch a break, no matter how hard they paddled.

Then, with only a minute remaining, the Sens get an ankle buster but ride it into the first intermission, only down by one.

It was much the same in the second, but even worse for the Leafs, with glorious swell after swell, all for naught…and a bogus call, if you listen to the Leafs fans, leaving it all tied up after two.

The third finally saw some steady waves for the Sens, and as has so often been the case, they rode them to the victory, winning three-two.

Ahh, there’s nothing like giving the Leafs a sand-facial!

But, the Sens have got to stop hanging ten…or one of these waves are going to make them eat it.

So yeah, the Sens have been Gnarlatious bra, but if they want to get back home with some points in their doggers, they’d better start hitting the waves from the beginning, or risk finding themselves selling Buicks come April.

GN

p.s. http://cougartown.com/surf-slang.html

Follow Sensay on Twitter at @GNSensay

As a blogger, who functions in a nefarious region of cyber-space, spouting cyber rumours and opinions, while comfortably ensconced within a teflon suit of anonymity, who am I to question copyright law…right?

Wrong.

I question it not because it profits me by attempting to curtail or strengthen its status (hey, I don’t charge you to read my meandering thoughts), from a bloggers perspective, as I have no dog in this fight.

But as a rabid user of the internet, and a staunch supporter of fact based thinking, the mere thought of stifling access to quality information is frightening.

Without getting political, look no further than the Northern Gateway Pipeline issue currently making the rounds in Canadian media.  I’m neither for nor against it, I’m still trying to determine for myself which side I fall on.  But that’s the point, unlike in times past (no so very long ago), I can easily, through the power of the internet, discover the facts surrounding this issue.  I do not need to rely upon the generic and entirely fact exclusive conclusions of either side, government/industry, or the environmentalists.

Both sides in this issue are quick to provide grand conclusions, supposedly based upon facts…but as has always been the case, never actually show their work, and how they came to these conclusions, the very ones they want us to accept as valid and reliable.

To do anything to stifle the ability of citizens to access, analyse and draw conclusions, from fact, is to tarnish one of the greatest abilities of mankind, to reason.

So, like with the pipeline, I’m not sure what the specific solution/answer is regarding intellectual property rights, but I do know anything that attempts to prevent people from examining the facts around an issue, is often good for the few, but bad for the many.

We know that ideas are organic, and the greatest achievements of all time have been the result of meta thinking, not insular thought…so is not the sharing of ideas the most effective means of creating more, and better ideas?

Yes people need to be paid for their efforts, but not everything is about money alone, because if it were, well, how sad would that be?

GN

Pick one, it doesn’t matter what you call it, all that matters is what it nets.

As it stands the trading of Kelly, Fisher, Kovalev and Rundblad has resulted in the addition of just Turris.  Not exactly the Philadelphia model, where you move NHL assets for other NHL assets, leading to a new team, and improved results.  Well, except for the results part.

I have little doubt this team is surprising even the GM, despite his assertions that he expected a decent season.  And this has no doubt led to a re-thinking of the plan, no matter what you call it.

All indications are the Senators remain committed to building through young assets and the draft, not trades for veteran players or the signing of ageing UFA’s, and that is laudable, but when a competitive group gets a free shot, you know they’re going to take it.

And that’s what this season has turned into, a free shot a t the post-season, and as the thinking goes, once you make the post season, anything can happen.  The Lightning had a free shot last season, and darn near made it to the finals…no doubt this is close to the top of mind for both Murray and Melnyk, competitive guys.

But is it possible to remain committed to building through prospects and the draft, while still enhancing a surprisingly competitive team?

Yes, but it is a task that will require extreme focus, and at times, a difficult commitment to the original plan, even when other seemingly opportunistic trades present themselves.

A good example is the Turris trade.  The Senators were able to satisfy a need for the present (2nd line centre), but not jeopardize the future of the club, due to Kyle’s age and contract status (RFA in 2013/14) without overly impacting the future (although I still lament the 2nd rounder…).

If Murray and Melnyk are going to try to walk this tight rope between the now and the future, it will require trades for younger assets, that fit specific franchise needs, now and in the future, without sacrificing all of the teams picks and secondary/positional depth prospects.

Call it what you like, but for sure it will be difficult to pull off…withiut succumbing to the temptation to mortgage the future.

Like the Senators, consider this trade deadline a mid-term exam for management…have they learned their lessons?

GN