Jared Crozier: Draft Day! - Should The Senators Go For A Home Run/Strikeout Player?

I like the idea of Chychrun.....it would give us a lot of organizational depth on the blueline.

i feel like you can address your forwards through trades and free agency a lot easier than you can your blue line.

Meh,i think we shop the pick along with something else .This roster needs a bit more reinforcement now ,we can play for picks again later

The NHL moves from the hot lights of Vegas for the Awards to the...well to Buffalo

I'm in the camp of trade the pick to get some NHL ready guys into the line up.

I'd like to sign Hoffman..ideally. Trade the 12th overall pick and Zach Smith for Jeff Skinner.

That makes our LW - Hoffman, Skinner, MacArthur, Puemple/Paul
That seems solid to me.

Seems the canes are trying to get younger and two high first round picks improves their chances of that. Smith isn't Skinner, but he's a good depth winger to fill in until talent matures.

I would add a RW through free agency. Like Purcell or Brouwer.

I'd try and get Ryan Murray from the Jackets, since he's been a bit on the outs with the team, but I think his injuries are behind him and he will be a decent guy in the bottom 6. Englund and Lazar should be enough. Murray has had his struggles so far, but he will be sheltered on the bottom pair for a while to help him build confidence.

Line up-
Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Skinner-Zibanejad-Ryan
MacArthur-Pageau-Purcell
Puemple-Paul/Dzingel-Neil

Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Murray-Wideman
Boro

/dream scenario

I'm in the camp of trade the pick to get some NHL ready guys into the line up.

I'd like to sign Hoffman..ideally. Trade the 12th overall pick and Zach Smith for Jeff Skinner.

That makes our LW - Hoffman, Skinner, MacArthur, Puemple/Paul
That seems solid to me.

Seems the canes are trying to get younger and two high first round picks improves their chances of that. Smith isn't Skinner, but he's a good depth winger to fill in until talent matures.

I would add a RW through free agency. Like Purcell or Brouwer.

I'd try and get Ryan Murray from the Jackets, since he's been a bit on the outs with the team, but I think his injuries are behind him and he will be a decent guy in the bottom 6. Englund and Lazar should be enough. Murray has had his struggles so far, but he will be sheltered on the bottom pair for a while to help him build confidence.

Line up-
Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Skinner-Zibanejad-Ryan
MacArthur-Pageau-Purcell
Puemple-Paul/Dzingel-Neil

Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Murray-Wideman
Boro

/dream scenario
- MaxTLimit

The 12th & Smith for Skinner? With his injuries & contract, I don't know if I'd trade either for Skinner!

The 12th & Smith for Skinner? With his injuries & contract, I don't know if I'd trade either for Skinner!
- Statsman2000

he's missed like 10 games total in the last 3 years............injuries are not a concern with skinner.

If you guys keep 12, I think Jost would be one hell of a pickup. He's going the safe route. Bchl and he's slated to play in Dakota this upcoming season, but had he played in the dub, he'd be most likely in the top 3 and probably be up against Matthews. He's already got the speed to make him fast in the nhl and captained team canada at the under 18s. If you guys take Jost, I think he has a good shot of being the player 11 teams kick themselves for not taking 4-5 years down the road. (If he's available when the Sens go to the podium)

Anyone have opinions either way on Yakupov? If the rumours of him being available for a 3rd are true, I would be all for that deal. I think he is undervalued mainly because of Edmonton's mishandling of him (or their general incompetence) and he will likely turn out way better than whomever we would draft in the 3rd round.
There will be obvious comparisons to Filatov, but I think this is waaaay different, and Yak has shown great production when he hasn't been on the checking line with plugs.

The 12th & Smith for Skinner? With his injuries & contract, I don't know if I'd trade either for Skinner!
- Statsman2000

He's coming off of a 28 goal season where he played 82 games. Granted, it is his first 82 game season in 4 years, but he seems like he's getting to the point where health is less a concern. Concussions can happen at any time, so it is tough to plan against them.

Moving Smith and Lazar is more about making space and clearing a bit of salary as well. The moves I suggested will add a bunch of money...so the odds are against it.

Chychrun. Keller. Jost. Bean.

In that order for me. Based who is possible to be around at 12

Chychrun. Keller. Jost. Bean.

In that order for me. Based who is possible to be around at 12
- BodyCheckRadio

move keller to 4th and that's what i'd like to see.....same 4 guys though.

he's missed like 10 games total in the last 3 years............injuries are not a concern with skinner.
- sensarmy_11

Injuries are absolutely a concern for anyone with a history of concussions.

He's coming off of a 28 goal season where he played 82 games. Granted, it is his first 82 game season in 4 years, but he seems like he's getting to the point where health is less a concern. Concussions can happen at any time, so it is tough to plan against them.

Moving Smith and Lazar is more about making space and clearing a bit of salary as well. The moves I suggested will add a bunch of money...so the odds are against it.
- MaxTLimit

Agreed, he is a good player when healthy, and hopefully he stays healthy.

Also like you said, doubt the Sens trade low cap hits like Smith-Lazar for higher cap hits despite how much sense the trade may make.

Injuries are absolutely a concern for anyone with a history of concussions.
- Statsman2000

then pretty much every player in the league has injury concerns because just about every players has had a concussion at some point.

he has hardly missed any time over the last 3 years.....i'm not concerned.

Agreed, he is a good player when healthy, and hopefully he stays healthy.

Also like you said, doubt the Sens trade low cap hits like Smith-Lazar for higher cap hits despite how much sense the trade may make.
- Statsman2000

Yeah, it is pretty damned unlikely as ( if my contract value guesses are correct ) it would put the Sens at about $70M.

The days of the Sens being that close to the cap are probably behind us.

Anyone have opinions either way on Yakupov? If the rumours of him being available for a 3rd are true, I would be all for that deal. I think he is undervalued mainly because of Edmonton's mishandling of him (or their general incompetence) and he will likely turn out way better than whomever we would draft in the 3rd round.
There will be obvious comparisons to Filatov, but I think this is waaaay different, and Yak has shown great production when he hasn't been on the checking line with plugs.
- wilkobecks

If he's available for a 3rd, I don't know why teams are waiting to grab him. I'm pretty certain he's in the bust category, but he's likely as good as what a 3rd would get you at the draft.

I still say the Sens should move the 1st for an NHL ready player if they can. I don't mind drafting a guy, but they won't be ready to contribute within the 3 year window that we have to win with this current core. It's time to load up this current roster one way or another.

If he's available for a 3rd, I don't know why teams are waiting to grab him. I'm pretty certain he's in the bust category, but he's likely as good as what a 3rd would get you at the draft.

I still say the Sens should move the 1st for an NHL ready player if they can. I don't mind drafting a guy, but they won't be ready to contribute within the 3 year window that we have to win with this current core. It's time to load up this current roster one way or another.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

100% agree

If he's available for a 3rd, I don't know why teams are waiting to grab him. I'm pretty certain he's in the bust category, but he's likely as good as what a 3rd would get you at the draft.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

If Yak is out there for a 3rd round pick, I say the Sens do it. Odds are slim that a 3rd rounder ever plays in the NHL. Yak is a pretty solid bust of a #1 pick, but he might have some luck playing with a guy like Pageau in a protected role.

No more swinging for the fences (Brian Lee, Jarred Cowen) pick the best player available.

No more swinging for the fences (Brian Lee, Jarred Cowen) pick the best player available.
- Octavarium

The Brian Lee pick still baffles me. Looking at the scouting reports on that draft, there wasn't any reason to take him so early. Cowen actually had some promise and was likely going to be taken where he was, but he also fell in the prospect ranks due to injuries, which have plagued his career so far.

I hope we stand pat and get one of Chychrun, Keller, Jost, Bean
Would be nice to have another Dman in the pipe
Sign Hoffman and Ceci already
Yak for a 3rd fine with me
Skinner Im on the fence about with regards to the trades mentioned, more than I would be comfortable spending on him (although I can't recall watching him play last year) Hes a great 2 way player along the lines of Stone but do we really need more scoring?? I like our forward lineup as it is, provided MacArthur can bounce back
**Skinner also 6M/yr until 2019.... Uncle Eug won't like that lol

**Skinner also 6M/yr until 2019.... Uncle Eug won't like that lol
- JN1980

Well..$5.725M but that is a very valid point.

Skinner Im on the fence about with regards to the trades mentioned, more than I would be comfortable spending on him (although I can't recall watching him play last year) Hes a great 2 way player along the lines of Stone but do we really need more scoring?? I like our forward lineup as it is, provided MacArthur can bounce back

- JN1980

For me it is about adding depth. Adding a guy like Skinner moves MacArthur down the line up, which means that the sens have better depth. A guy like Purcell or Brouwer may not be great options for 1 or 2 RW, but they are both pretty good options for #3RW. If Ryan or Stone go down with injury, either Purcell or Brouwer are okay fill ins that will allow the sens to keep some pretty decent line combinations intact.

The problem is that 3 solid lines like I suggested would leave little ice for the 4th line and guys like Puemple, Paul and Dzingel would see little development. But I'm pretty okay with that.

I'm in the camp of trade the pick to get some NHL ready guys into the line up.

I'd like to sign Hoffman..ideally. Trade the 12th overall pick and Zach Smith for Jeff Skinner.

That makes our LW - Hoffman, Skinner, MacArthur, Puemple/Paul
That seems solid to me.

Seems the canes are trying to get younger and two high first round picks improves their chances of that. Smith isn't Skinner, but he's a good depth winger to fill in until talent matures.

I would add a RW through free agency. Like Purcell or Brouwer.

I'd try and get Ryan Murray from the Jackets, since he's been a bit on the outs with the team, but I think his injuries are behind him and he will be a decent guy in the bottom 6. Englund and Lazar should be enough. Murray has had his struggles so far, but he will be sheltered on the bottom pair for a while to help him build confidence.

Line up-
Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Skinner-Zibanejad-Ryan
MacArthur-Pageau-Purcell
Puemple-Paul/Dzingel-Neil

Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Murray-Wideman
Boro

/dream scenario
- MaxTLimit

You want to put Jeff Skinner, Bobby Ryan and MZ on the same line? Which one of those guys is actually going to go into the corners and get the puck?

The Sens don't need anymore soft players in or top 6. Right now, with Mac questionable, Mark Stone is the only forward who can win the puck in our top 6.

If we are looking for top 6 players, we need to go for size and tenacity.

The Brian Lee pick still baffles me. Looking at the scouting reports on that draft, there wasn't any reason to take him so early. Cowen actually had some promise and was likely going to be taken where he was, but he also fell in the prospect ranks due to injuries, which have plagued his career so far.

Agreed on both accounts. Lee made no sense whatsoever at the time. I imagine that choicehad a hand in sealing Muckler's fate in '07 as well. I also gotta think the lockout year threw a pretty significant wrench in scouting league-wide as that entire draft was fairly volatile comparatively speaking to the norm of the past decade+.

You've got Vezina winners going at 5 and 21, a surprisingly robust second round, and, other than the aforementioned Price (5), a serious stretch of disappointment after Crosby (to be fair, that's a tough comparison in any year) from picks 3 through 9 (Out of respect, going to omit Bourdon from this). And then again wildly varying results from 11 through to 30. Still, none of that excuses the pile of a pick that Lee turned out to be. I'll forever remember the level of my befuddlement-bordering-on-anger at learning he was our pick.


Re Cowen: If memory serves, a significant knee injury cut his season short leading up to the '09 draft when he was ranked 4th by ISS. He managed to play well the two following seasons with Spokane before making the jump, but I've often wondered if that knee injury had latent effects that still haunt him given the connected nature of our bodies structurally and intangibly in re to confidence as well as the fact mobility has been a significant part of his downfall. (ie: a badly sprained ankle can eventually evolve into knee, hip and ultimately back problems barring proper treatment - caveat being it is a rarity to see poor treatment at the professional sporting level, but not impossible).


Meanwhile, Yak for a 3rd rounder is a steal to me as well. Before Chiarelli and co. took over there, I have been of the firm belief that the Oilers have been a tire fire of asset management and specifically horrendous and detrimental prospect development for decades, dating all the way back to the early 80's. Other than Arnott, Smyth and perhaps Hemsky, the organization has literally developed nothing but outright bust to severely disappointing to middling players regardless of draft position. Many successes only became so once leaving the organization. And more recently, you could argue Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins have managed to defy this trend with fair success almost on the power of pure talent alone, but even that's not a cure-all with regard to Yakupov.

Seriously, give their draft record a look sometime:

http://www.hockeydb.com/i...aft/teams/dr00005632.html

I'm in the camp of trade the pick to get some NHL ready guys into the line up.

I'd like to sign Hoffman..ideally. Trade the 12th overall pick and Zach Smith for Jeff Skinner.

As for trading the pick to acquire the old Ottawa Unicorn of a top 6 forward or any other roster-ready impact player, I am quite dubious. I lean the other way, in fact. Expansion is official next season and seems like a reasonable possibility again within two years after that. I'd rather a controllable blue chip asset going forward that is not susceptible to immediate poaching. I am sorry, but as it stands and even with Hoffman signed and a healthy MacArthur et. al plus improved coaching, I do not envision this roster being truly cup worthy barring perfectly timed unsustainables. One top 6 player or what have you is not going to change that either way; there are more holes than the trade value of the 12th overall pick can repair on its own.

Instead, I think the Sens might be wise to keep their salary low via keeping picks and act the spider waiting in its web via the use of cap flexibility to address the future of their goaltending post Anderson as well as a potential landing spot for hollow contracts (ie Datsyuk - not entirely sure what others are out there).


Finally, that proposed Skinner deal and the logic behind it, I can't support that. Canes are wanting to get younger? Skinner's only 24. He broke in and won the Calder at 18. As he returns to form after a string of concussions and the Canes' roster naturally improves, he is far more likely to return to a consistent 30+ goal scorer through the next 4-5 years of prime than regress. Even with his down years, his career average pace for goals over 82GP is 28. How many positive possession 30 goal scorers despite playing on middling talent rebuilding teams on reasonable contracts in their prime for the next half decade are there in the league? The answer's not many. If we know all of this, the Canes' management sure knows it too.

And that all comes before recognizing the salary floor will be $54m next season. The Canes are set to be $5m below with only a few relatively inconsequential contracts left to sign and even after including Bickell's albatross contract. Even with our 12th as bait, they still should have absolutely zero interest in settling on a depth forward coming off an absolutely unsustainable and aberrant season in exchange for the rarity that Skinner represents and to save a few $m only to be forced to overpay elsewhere to meet minimums. If this ever happened, their ask should be a lot more.

Related, if you are targeting anyone realistically on that roster of potential value that actually shouldn't cost an arm and leg in return, it is Ryan Murphy. A 23 year old RFA controllable asset and former first round pick (12th) who has failed to mesh in the organization's system and is now fallen victim to the numbers game thanks to some impressive organizational defensive depth via smart drafting.

That being different than Columbus' situation with Ryan Murray. A team up hard against the cap with a buyout candidate contract in Tyutin and an understandably unfocused emotional wreck in Johnson (google his family affairs). That leaves Jones, Savard, Werenski and a 22 year old Murray as their reliable, affordable, and again controllable core going forward. Aside from Jones, he's the Dman the Jackets should probably be most interested in keeping for a while longer. Remember Murray's a former #2 and has only just played his third season in the league after having the start of his pro-career derailed by a significant shoulder injury. Columbus depth at D is not such that they are willing to move him for a price most here are likely to find palatable based on the immediate optics. And if the Sens were to acquire him, he is definitely not going to be a 5-6 guy. And again, especially not for the price that would have to be paid to acquire him.