Post Updated with Mike Condon's shiny new contract extension!

Good news on the Condon resigning!

Post Updated with Mike Condon's shiny new contract extension!
- JaredCrozier

I like it. It's a good bridge between Anderson and the next guy. Condon could even be that 'next guy' if plays up to it. And we know he can fill in when the starter goes down.

Good news on the Condon resigning!
- Brandon

It's a good deal....provides both stability and flexibility while staying strong in net, and as someone else said, it provides a good bridge to our next gen of goalies

I like it......but fully expect about 5 guys on here to complain about how it's another example of why GM PD should be fired.....wait for it

Karlsson has lived in Ottawa since he's been a teen with Alfie. This is home for him and sweeds are VERY loyal and homely people (unlike some other countrymen that run for the $) ...anyways in all seriousness I have difficulty believing Karlsson is not a lifer here.

If Karlsson gets 8 years, I'd have to think deal is around 10-11m. Kane and Toews had 3 cup rings and got 10.5 but Karl will also care about building a team around him
- AlfieisKing

You really think so? Alfie left for the Red wings money. Karlsson's D partner and good friend is now gone and there is no commitment from Ownership or Management to make anything happen to win a cup.

I could see him leaving if things don't change

It's a good deal....provides both stability and flexibility while staying strong in net, and as someone else said, it provides a good bridge to our next gen of goalies

I like it......but fully expect about 5 guys on here to complain about how it's another example of why GM PD should be fired.....wait for it
- sensarmy_11

I absolutely think PD should be fired. But signing Condon was a great move. We needed him for the remaining for Anderson years until we need another #1

I am glad Condon is aboard the good ship senators. I don't think he is another Hammond. I believe they will get a ufa or via trade another top 6 forward. They need it and a decent plug of a defenceman and we will be good to go

You really think so? Alfie left for the Red wings money. Karlsson's D partner and good friend is now gone and there is no commitment from Ownership or Management to make anything happen to win a cup.

I could see him leaving if things don't change
- Maverick1818

If the return is obscene ...trade him. Karlsson is beyond every other d-man in the league but 1 player can't win a cup. Its really tough being a Sens fan they have this guy yet aren't spending around him during his prime and cheap years...what a waste

Guys, let's not worry about whether we can replace Methot from within or outside. Frankly, we can't replace the intangibles he brought with anybody available, full stop. But we do have some guys coming most of you either have not heard of or forgot about entirely who can do the job as early as next season.

None of you legitimately thought last year that Claesson was even NHL-ready at the start of the season, let alone able to be a regular on the blue line. My how quick opinions change. Harpur was the same way for you all. Yet they both turned out to be really good players who were able to get the job done during a tough stretch run and in the playoffs.

My point is none of you (no offense, but it has been proven repeatedly after years of observing this board) has ANY idea what you are talking about in terms of how to evaluate future NHL talent. How many of you even knew who Shane Bowers was before we drafted him? Exactly.

We have a LOT of good talent coming up soon. Aside from the obvious ones (Chabot, Harpur, Claesson, that's half a full D-corps right there). Andraes Englund is a big, rough hard checking D who will be NHL ready by the end of next year. We have Christian Wolanin, a sophomore D-man with the U of North Dakota right now, who projects to be a good 2nd pair d man in a few years as well. That's five NHL-ready D men within two years who aren`t even regulars on our roster coming down the pipe. Relax, we actually have a pretty decent future for prospects not even taking into account what we draft in future years.

For the record, I am the ONLY one on here who predicted Stone and Hoffman would both be first line players for this team when they were drafted, and y'all called me certifiably insane (look it up if you don't believe me).

To address next year, I'd propose circling back to Anaheim and seeing if one of their D can be bought using similar value to what Methot went for. The blessing in disguise of losing him is that it basically reset the insanely overvalued market for D to a more reasonable price range. See if Vatanen or Fowler can be had for a first and prospect like Nick Paul or Logan Brown.

After that, re-sign Stalberg and some bargain UFA like Cody Franson and you've got an even better team than last year for almost the same price, with room for extensions mentioned like Stone, Turris, and of course EK.

So with the following two moves, I believe we'll be fine:

To OTT: Sami Vatanen
To ANA: 2018 1st, Nick Paul, Borowiecki

Sign: Cody Franson (2 yr. at $3.6)

Stone-Turris-Dzingel
Hoffman-Brassard-Ryan
Burrows-Pageau-Macarthur
Pyatt-Smith-Stalberg
ex: White, Depth UFA (wingels equivalent)

Karlsson-Vatanen (!!!!!)
Phaneuf-Ceci
Franson-Wideman or Chabot
ex: Harpur, Claesson, Wideman or Chabot

Anderson
Condon

That is a DEEP team, one elite talent (in my dreams, but Kovalchuk....) away from being a legit perennial cup contender.

Ok NOW I am questioning Dorin's moves.

Listen, I love Condon as much as they next guy, but that is way too much for a backup goalie. Sure, maybe Andy gets hurt and we need to call on him to fill #1 duties again, but you can't bank on that.

Condon at best is a tweener. Too good to be a backup and not quite a starter. This signing really blows my mind. I feel like he should have got $1.5M tops.

With Chabot's progression - it's a natural fit for him to play with Ceci.....Phaneuf with Karlsson though is worrisome.

Phaneuf is a solid D-man but playing against the top guys in the NHL? His foot speed and ability to play with Karl CONSISTENCY that concerns me

I'll say it now it's a russian D-man that sens can bring it and it's either Emelin or Kulikov in FA.... I would really like to see Kulikov and I'd be pissed about them not signing atleast 1 D-man

Ok NOW I am questioning Dorin's moves.

Listen, I love Condon as much as they next guy, but that is way too much for a backup goalie. Sure, maybe Andy gets hurt and we need to call on him to fill #1 duties again, but you can't bank on that.

Condon at best is a tweener. Too good to be a backup and not quite a starter. This signing really blows my mind. I feel like he should have got $1.5M tops.
- Charliebox

Yup. Budaj signed for 2 years, $2 mill total. Based on that, Condon is worth about $1.5 mill a year, as you recommend.

I remember seeing a heat map type thing showing how most of Condon's shots against were not in the slot compared to Hammond with a lot more. Not his fault but they overpaid a ton

It's a good deal....provides both stability and flexibility while staying strong in net, and as someone else said, it provides a good bridge to our next gen of goalies

I like it......but fully expect about 5 guys on here to complain about how it's another example of why GM PD should be fired.....wait for it
- sensarmy_11

It's a weird signing. Why do we need a back up for 3 years who has virtually no chance of taking a step to become a starter?

This is basically the identical situation as Mike Hammond. No name guy goes on a hot run and cashes in. Kudos to these guys, but any logical person knows neither of these guys are great goalies. They just had hot runs.

Hammond will likely never see another game in the NHL. Wouldn't be surprised if Condon follows a similar path.

It's not an end of the world signing. Just sort of weird and unnecessary. Similar to the Alex Burrows signing. There are cheaper options out there for guys who will produce the same result.

In a cap era and budget team having guys who gets paid 1 mill who can produce the same as guys getting paid 2-2.5 mill can make a difference. You can throw those few saved millions to top line guys (aka all the resigns Ottawa will have to do in the next year or two).

Yup. Budaj signed for 2 years, $2 mill total. Based on that, Condon is worth about $1.5 mill a year, as you recommend.

I remember seeing a heat map type thing showing how most of Condon's shots against were not in the slot compared to Hammond with a lot more. Not his fault but they overpaid a ton
- Ottawa Fan

If he is worst then Hammond he will be buried in the ahl by Dec.1 . Hammond was a fluke. A great one hit record though. Condon appeared to me to be a poised solid net minder and probably could of had a starter job elsewhere

It's a weird signing. Why do we need a back up for 3 years who has virtually no chance of taking a step to become a starter?

This is basically the identical situation as Mike Hammond. No name guy goes on a hot run and cashes in. Kudos to these guys, but any logical person knows neither of these guys are great goalies. They just had hot runs.

Hammond will likely never see another game in the NHL. Wouldn't be surprised if Condon follows a similar path.

It's not an end of the world signing. Just sort of weird and unnecessary. Similar to the Alex Burrows signing. There are cheaper options out there for guys who will produce the same result.

In a cap era and budget team having guys who gets paid 1 mill who can produce the same as guys getting paid 2-2.5 mill can make a difference. You can throw those few saved millions to top line guys (aka all the resigns Ottawa will have to do in the next year or two).
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Go on...

I'm surprised at some of the reactions to the Condon signing. First off, comparing him to Hammond is questionable... Condon now has back-to-back seasons under his belt where he wound up exceeding all expectations as the only viable option in goal for long stretches of the season. He was not only effective in filling in for Anderson, but also seemed to really fit in well with the team, and was arguably the team's MVP for the first half of the season.

Now consider that a) Anderson's future is uncertain at best with just 1 more year under contract, b) Hammond's play has dropped off considerably after struggling with injuries, and c) younger options like O'Connor and Driedger have clearly failed to deliver on their promise. Factor in that they need to demonstrate to players like Karlsson, Turris, and Stone that there will be some continuity going forward in order to ensure that they re-sign in the next couple of off-seasons.

Sure, it's probably for a bit more money than expected, but it's manageable - and personally, I don't mind seeing guys like Condon and Pyatt rewarded for taking full advantage of their opportunities after taking the scenic route to the NHL... and I'd argue that Condon isn't nearly as replaceable as some would suggest.

Happy with the Condon signing., but 3 years... do they see a starter in him? really? We now just pay 6.6M for a very good goalie tandem, happy about that.

Hope we can resign Pageau, Stalberg, Dzingel, Wingels for <7M. Stalberg and Wingels on 1 year deals because next year will be a difficult year with the money.

Devils signed backup goalie Kincaid to 2 years, $2.5. Add that to Budaj, and the market for backups is $1-$1.5 mill per. Condon has similar numbers. I don't get his contract

Thomas Chabot and Colin White are attending their 3rd development camp for the Sens. They have a combined 3 NHL games - Noah Hanafin from that draft has 160GP.

My point....to think these guys can't have an impact on this team this season shouldn't be a shared opinion.

Devils signed backup goalie Kincaid to 2 years, $2.5. Add that to Budaj, and the market for backups is $1-$1.5 mill per. Condon has similar numbers. I don't get his contract
- Ottawa Fan

Really? Budaj is 7 years older, and coming off a stretch prior to last year where he played all of 1 NHL game in 2 seasons... and Kincaid didn't have anything remotely close to the impact on his team last year. Condon showed that he could handle starting duties for long stretches of time, and successfully keep his team in playoff contention - and if he he's earned the trust of Boucher and the coaching staff, that has significant value in itself.

Funny Note from last 15 years:

Calder trophy winners: Tyler Myers, Steve Mason

People who haven't won rookie of the year: Crosby, Karlsson, McDavid

Guys, let's not worry about whether we can replace Methot from within or outside. Frankly, we can't replace the intangibles he brought with anybody available, full stop. But we do have some guys coming most of you either have not heard of or forgot about entirely who can do the job as early as next season.

None of you legitimately thought last year that Claesson was even NHL-ready at the start of the season, let alone able to be a regular on the blue line. My how quick opinions change. Harpur was the same way for you all. Yet they both turned out to be really good players who were able to get the job done during a tough stretch run and in the playoffs.

My point is none of you (no offense, but it has been proven repeatedly after years of observing this board) has ANY idea what you are talking about in terms of how to evaluate future NHL talent. How many of you even knew who Shane Bowers was before we drafted him? Exactly.

We have a LOT of good talent coming up soon. Aside from the obvious ones (Chabot, Harpur, Claesson, that's half a full D-corps right there). Andraes Englund is a big, rough hard checking D who will be NHL ready by the end of next year. We have Christian Wolanin, a sophomore D-man with the U of North Dakota right now, who projects to be a good 2nd pair d man in a few years as well. That's five NHL-ready D men within two years who aren`t even regulars on our roster coming down the pipe. Relax, we actually have a pretty decent future for prospects not even taking into account what we draft in future years.

For the record, I am the ONLY one on here who predicted Stone and Hoffman would both be first line players for this team when they were drafted, and y'all called me certifiably insane (look it up if you don't believe me).

To address next year, I'd propose circling back to Anaheim and seeing if one of their D can be bought using similar value to what Methot went for. The blessing in disguise of losing him is that it basically reset the insanely overvalued market for D to a more reasonable price range. See if Vatanen or Fowler can be had for a first and prospect like Nick Paul or Logan Brown.

After that, re-sign Stalberg and some bargain UFA like Cody Franson and you've got an even better team than last year for almost the same price, with room for extensions mentioned like Stone, Turris, and of course EK.

So with the following two moves, I believe we'll be fine:

To OTT: Sami Vatanen
To ANA: 2018 1st, Nick Paul, Borowiecki

Sign: Cody Franson (2 yr. at $3.6)

Stone-Turris-Dzingel
Hoffman-Brassard-Ryan
Burrows-Pageau-Macarthur
Pyatt-Smith-Stalberg
ex: White, Depth UFA (wingels equivalent)

Karlsson-Vatanen (!!!!!)
Phaneuf-Ceci
Franson-Wideman or Chabot
ex: Harpur, Claesson, Wideman or Chabot

Anderson
Condon

That is a DEEP team, one elite talent (in my dreams, but Kovalchuk....) away from being a legit perennial cup contender.
- ahjnkn

you're a stud!!!

Happy Canada Day

Guys, let's not worry about whether we can replace Methot from within or outside. Frankly, we can't replace the intangibles he brought with anybody available, full stop. But we do have some guys coming most of you either have not heard of or forgot about entirely who can do the job as early as next season.

None of you legitimately thought last year that Claesson was even NHL-ready at the start of the season, let alone able to be a regular on the blue line. My how quick opinions change. Harpur was the same way for you all. Yet they both turned out to be really good players who were able to get the job done during a tough stretch run and in the playoffs.

My point is none of you (no offense, but it has been proven repeatedly after years of observing this board) has ANY idea what you are talking about in terms of how to evaluate future NHL talent. How many of you even knew who Shane Bowers was before we drafted him? Exactly.

We have a LOT of good talent coming up soon. Aside from the obvious ones (Chabot, Harpur, Claesson, that's half a full D-corps right there). Andraes Englund is a big, rough hard checking D who will be NHL ready by the end of next year. We have Christian Wolanin, a sophomore D-man with the U of North Dakota right now, who projects to be a good 2nd pair d man in a few years as well. That's five NHL-ready D men within two years who aren`t even regulars on our roster coming down the pipe. Relax, we actually have a pretty decent future for prospects not even taking into account what we draft in future years.

For the record, I am the ONLY one on here who predicted Stone and Hoffman would both be first line players for this team when they were drafted, and y'all called me certifiably insane (look it up if you don't believe me).

To address next year, I'd propose circling back to Anaheim and seeing if one of their D can be bought using similar value to what Methot went for. The blessing in disguise of losing him is that it basically reset the insanely overvalued market for D to a more reasonable price range. See if Vatanen or Fowler can be had for a first and prospect like Nick Paul or Logan Brown.

After that, re-sign Stalberg and some bargain UFA like Cody Franson and you've got an even better team than last year for almost the same price, with room for extensions mentioned like Stone, Turris, and of course EK.

So with the following two moves, I believe we'll be fine:

To OTT: Sami Vatanen
To ANA: 2018 1st, Nick Paul, Borowiecki

Sign: Cody Franson (2 yr. at $3.6)

Stone-Turris-Dzingel
Hoffman-Brassard-Ryan
Burrows-Pageau-Macarthur
Pyatt-Smith-Stalberg
ex: White, Depth UFA (wingels equivalent)

Karlsson-Vatanen (!!!!!)
Phaneuf-Ceci
Franson-Wideman or Chabot
ex: Harpur, Claesson, Wideman or Chabot

Anderson
Condon

That is a DEEP team, one elite talent (in my dreams, but Kovalchuk....) away from being a legit perennial cup contender.
- ahjnkn

"None of you know anything about hockey.....and my solution to fix this team is to trade for a dman who's on the IR until after Christmas, sign a useless FA, and put dzingel on the top line"

Guys, let's not worry about whether we can replace Methot from within or outside. Frankly, we can't replace the intangibles he brought with anybody available, full stop. But we do have some guys coming most of you either have not heard of or forgot about entirely who can do the job as early as next season.

None of you legitimately thought last year that Claesson was even NHL-ready at the start of the season, let alone able to be a regular on the blue line. My how quick opinions change. Harpur was the same way for you all. Yet they both turned out to be really good players who were able to get the job done during a tough stretch run and in the playoffs.

My point is none of you (no offense, but it has been proven repeatedly after years of observing this board) has ANY idea what you are talking about in terms of how to evaluate future NHL talent. How many of you even knew who Shane Bowers was before we drafted him? Exactly.

We have a LOT of good talent coming up soon. Aside from the obvious ones (Chabot, Harpur, Claesson, that's half a full D-corps right there). Andraes Englund is a big, rough hard checking D who will be NHL ready by the end of next year. We have Christian Wolanin, a sophomore D-man with the U of North Dakota right now, who projects to be a good 2nd pair d man in a few years as well. That's five NHL-ready D men within two years who aren`t even regulars on our roster coming down the pipe. Relax, we actually have a pretty decent future for prospects not even taking into account what we draft in future years.

For the record, I am the ONLY one on here who predicted Stone and Hoffman would both be first line players for this team when they were drafted, and y'all called me certifiably insane (look it up if you don't believe me).

To address next year, I'd propose circling back to Anaheim and seeing if one of their D can be bought using similar value to what Methot went for. The blessing in disguise of losing him is that it basically reset the insanely overvalued market for D to a more reasonable price range. See if Vatanen or Fowler can be had for a first and prospect like Nick Paul or Logan Brown.

After that, re-sign Stalberg and some bargain UFA like Cody Franson and you've got an even better team than last year for almost the same price, with room for extensions mentioned like Stone, Turris, and of course EK.

So with the following two moves, I believe we'll be fine:

To OTT: Sami Vatanen
To ANA: 2018 1st, Nick Paul, Borowiecki

Sign: Cody Franson (2 yr. at $3.6)

Stone-Turris-Dzingel
Hoffman-Brassard-Ryan
Burrows-Pageau-Macarthur
Pyatt-Smith-Stalberg
ex: White, Depth UFA (wingels equivalent)

Karlsson-Vatanen (!!!!!)
Phaneuf-Ceci
Franson-Wideman or Chabot
ex: Harpur, Claesson, Wideman or Chabot

Anderson
Condon

That is a DEEP team, one elite talent (in my dreams, but Kovalchuk....) away from being a legit perennial cup contender.
- ahjnkn

I think my fav part is that how you brag about claiming Hoffman would be a 1st line player as soon as he was drafted ( I call BS by the way ) but then put him on the 2nd line.