Today's column in the
Ottawa Sun was death by a thousand paper cuts. If there's a plan in Ottawa, I would love to know what that plan entails.
Garrioch today confirmed that more moves were ahead, and speculated on a number of those deals. Every proposal was worse than the next. And this isn't negativity for the sake of being negative -- we have went over each of these deals in the past, laid out the numbers, talked about outcomes. It's horrifying.
The first deal was, you guessed it, Chris Stewart. I have sworn to never approach the topic of Chris Stewart again, primarily because I've written about it
here and
here, and I can't think of a move that helps this team less than acquire a
power forward that's really just Colin Greening on an expiring contract.
The only other move worse than trading for Chris Stewart would be trading away Patrick Wiercioch, which was also reported as a strong possibility by Garrioch. The common refrain here is that teams 'may' be interested in Wiercioch and that's why he's being shopped. To which I counter: this team has three good defensemen, and that's if I'm being extremely generous and placing Marc Methot in that group. Here's the actual paragraph:
Right now, the Senators are trying to find help up front after freeing up approximately $3 million in cash by moving Spezza to the Stars. More than one team noted Ottawa is working the phones.
Wiercioch is scheduled to make $2 million next season and coach Paul MacLean barely put him in the lineup last year. There is no reason to believe that will change."
I noted this
yesterday, but among defenders who have played at least 1000+ TOI at even-strength over the last three years, only five (!) defenders have posted better Corsi% and points-per-60 than Patrick Wiercioch. Three of those five are Zdeno Chara, Erik Karlsson, and Brendan Smith.
I've argued in the past that Paul MacLean's refusal to play Patrick Wiercioch was probably the co-worst decision of last season, along with his persistence with the Greening-Smith-Neil line. I don't get the hate. I'll probably never get the hate. And shuffling out a defenseman who can play on a second-pairing tomorrow seems like nothing more than another move to push this team, very quietly, towards the draft lottery.
The thought that Bryan Murray's dealing from a position of luxury because he has eight NHL defenders and Aaron Johnson is asinine. We are talking about a blue-line where at least half of the bodies -- if you stripped away senseless (and mostly unearned) reputations, and scrubbed 'draft status' while at it -- would not make a number of other teams out of training camp. Patrick Wiercioch probably makes every roster. And the team wants to move him.
I reiterate, from prior posts: the only way a Wiercioch deal makes sense is if he's part of a package for elite talent, and ideally for a defender. Can you even imagine the blue line next year if Wiercioch is stripped away without a sensible return to replace him?
Away from these shockingly bad ideas about Stewart (again) and Wiercioch (again), Garrioch wrote this:
The Senators are studying all their options for a centre. They've reportedly held talks with Detroit UFA David Legwand (along with several other teams) and checked on Vinny Lecavalier.
Legwand sort of intrigues me. Depending on the price, the idea isn't horrible. And the team does need a center. So I'll call this today's 'exception'.
The Vinny Lecavalier idea -- there's just so many angles to discuss. One, we are talking about a guy who had his teeth kicked in at five-on-five all of last season. Two, despite his total inability to drive play, he's probably "not done" per se. After all, he's an established Sh% driver, and that's not likely to fall off by next year.
Here's the problem: who is going to carry Lecavalier around the ice? If he plays on the second-line, he's going to get destroyed (and keep the likes of a talented Mika Zibanejad down in the lineup) against better competition. If he's acquired to play in the bottom-six, you're talking about him playing with guys like Colin Greening and Erik Condra and Chris Neil.
The only way this deal makes sense is if two things occur: Philadelphia retains salary, and packages a very desirable draft-pick with Lecavalier in the process. Then, Ottawa can reap benefits away from taking on Lecavalier and his puzzling contract.
Lastly:
Another league source said the Senators have made it clear that wingers Colin Greening or wingerand Erik Condra are available for a reasonable return.
Both guys are replaceable. Colin Greening was obviously a disaster from the jump of his new deal here, and the team really should look for any opportunity to move his deal. Condra on the other hand -- again, we've talked about this. Not very talented, doesn't score. But, dominates territorial play in the bottom-six, and comes in on a contract dirt cheap. You would think those two things alone would intrigue Ottawa's cost per point model.
Help.
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