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Don't Forget About Me!

August 23, 2014, 10:49 AM ET [78 Comments]
Travis Yost
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I feel as if there's one player we haven't talked about at all in the past couple of months, it's newly-extended winger Milan Michalek.

Michalek, who turns thirty this December, was given a three-year, $12MM extension on top of his current deal, which carries him through the 2016-2017 season as an Ottawa Senator. It was a contentious extension -- Michalek took a slight discount from his previous deal, but I think there were plenty of people nervous regardless about giving a fair-sized contract to a guy whose career has really been dinged by injuries.

Now, Michalek did head overseas in the summer of 2013 for a special knee operation, and he followed it up by playing all 82-games last season. I don't know if there's a direct link between the two, but for a guy who has missed a decent number of games over the last five years, it was quite encouraging to see.

On the other hand, it wasn't as though Michalek totally returned to form. He still put together a respectable 17G/22A season last year, playing predominantly with Jason Spezza. As was the case with that line for most of the season, goal-scoring and point-tallying really wasn't an issue -- the problems were mostly in the defensive zone, where the trio were burned time and time again.

Despite last year's confusion, I think the organization sees Michalek as a two-way player, a defensively-responsible type that's sort of refined his game with a loss of goal-scoring prowess these days. I'm not sure he's going to produce to the extent that a 3Y/12MM deal would warrant, but I think he can be a positive contributor for this team -- especially if he's dressing on most every night.

And, to be honest, I think the biggest question for Michalek is who he plays with. It seems likely he'll get one of Mika Zibanejad or David Legwand at the pivot -- I think Zibanejad's style of play might complement Michalek's game a bit more, but the team may choose to give him the veteran center to start the year.

So, two questions for Saturday: what are your expectations for Michalek this season, and who do you think his primary linemates are?
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