Jared Crozier: Where does Oduya fit & what does it do to the rest of the blue line?

Solid article and I agree with your Defensive projected line ups. I would say starting him with Karlsson could be a good idea and keeps Dion as a second line D where he is the most effective.

If all turns on i'd like to see Chabot with Karlsson on the top pairing

Was not impressed with WIdeman's play these past playoffs.

I think the starting lineup will look like.
Oduya Karlsson
Ceci Phaneuf
Claesson Harpur
Boro

Chabot starts the season in Bingo but will wind up on the big team later in the year.

Was not impressed with WIdeman's play these past playoffs.

I think the starting lineup will look like.
Oduya Karlsson
Ceci Phaneuf
Claesson Harpur
Boro

Chabot starts the season in Bingo but will wind up on the big team later in the year.
- david22

Personally I would agree, but I don't believe that will happen.

Zibby got 5 years at 5.35M per.
Fair or too much...?

Zibby got 5 years at 5.35M per.
Fair or too much...?
- 21peter

I would say pretty fair and about what was expected, maybe even a little less than I would have thought

Someone else posted those charts on HF boards yesterday.

I'm sorry, but these types of things without context are totally misleading.

Unless we discuss quality of competition (which pairing you play in and who you are matching up against each shift), we well as total time on ice (unless you're a top tier Dman, the more you play, the less effective you'll generally be).

Methot was just over 22M/game last year. Oduya was just over 18.

As an aside: Some people actually suggested that Claesson would jump into the 1-2 role and point to his advanced stats to back it up, but then we look and see he played 13 mins per game last year - barely half of what Methot did.

Oduya was 6th in icetime in Dallas among D and 4th in Chicago. His 18 mins/game would have put him squarely in the bottom pair in Ottawa.

Can a guy who is 35 play more than he did in previous seasons? Anyone who is suggesting he plays with EK is also suggesting he is going to play almost 20% more than he did last year. It's possible, but it's crazy to expect it.

Now they could platoon him and Claesson with EK, which would make sense.

I'm not picking on you Jared, but it's kind of ridiculous to suggest that Oduya can replace Methot. There is a reason Methot makes almost 5M/yr and no one was lining up to sign Johnny at anything over 2.5.

I still like the signing, and I think outside getting a bona-fide top 4 Dman right now, this is about as good as we can do. Hopefully, the system insulates the fact that we have 2 bona fide top 4 Dmen on this team and they can platoon partners with EK.

But just to be clear, Oduya is not replacing Methot. I don't think Dorion would ever suggest that either.

I would say pretty fair and about what was expected, maybe even a little less than I would have thought
Jared Crozier

same here, I thought Zib would have gotten 6M on a 5+ year contract...

I'm still not crazy about that trade...

G.C.T.F.M.




Give Claesson Top Four Minutes!!!

Zibby got 5 years at 5.35M per.
Fair or too much...?
- 21peter

I think it's fair based on how he played last season.

Thing is, it was a contract year. Based on the way he played the previous two years, it's a huge overpayment.

Zibby is almost impossible to figure out. With all this money in his pocket, he could be a star or a bust or anything in between.

I am still glad we traded him away. I'm not super happy with the return, that's for sure, but I just don't see Zibby being an everyday top 2 center. He makes no one around him better.

I think it's fair based on how he played last season.

Thing is, it was a contract year. Based on the way he played the previous two years, it's a huge overpayment.

Zibby is almost impossible to figure out. With all this money in his pocket, he could be a star or a bust or anything in between.

I am still glad we traded him away. I'm not super happy with the return, that's for sure, but I just don't see Zibby being an everyday top 2 center. He makes no one around him better.
- Charliebox

Can't disagree with that...




Thanks guys

I like those projected defense pairings. Our defense is well rounded.

Mika would been netter at 6 x 3 . But such is life in with cap resources

I love this signing so much. One year deal on the cheap for a stable vet. Of course it doesn't replace Methot but we have to bet on our internal growth. It also leaves the management flexibility moving forward.

I personally think Big O (see what I did there) will have a good year with his countryman EK.

I have real trouble believing that after the whole Methot debacle, Boucher is planning to immediately demote Ceci to the 3rd pairing... doubly so, given that Ceci played the 2nd most minutes on the team in both the regular season and playoffs (only Karlsson played more).

Assuming no more moves are made, I think the top-4 will start the season as...
Karlsson-Oduya
Ceci-Phaneuf

... where Claesson will hold the 3rd pairing LHD spot so that he can play up the lineup as needed with Karlsson (backed up by Borowiecki), and Chabot/Wideman will compete for the 3rd pairing RHD puck-moving role. It's possible that logjam could trigger a trade, but injuries are pretty much inevitable, and none of Oduya, Claesson, Wideman, or Borowiecki make more than $1.2M.

I have no idea what those charts show

I have real trouble believing that after the whole Methot debacle, Boucher is planning to immediately demote Ceci to the 3rd pairing... doubly so, given that Ceci played the 2nd most minutes on the team in both the regular season and playoffs (only Karlsson played more).

Assuming no more moves are made, I think the top-4 will start the season as...
Karlsson-Oduya
Ceci-Phaneuf

... where Claesson will hold the 3rd pairing LHD spot so that he can play up the lineup as needed with Karlsson (backed up by Borowiecki), and Chabot/Wideman will compete for the 3rd pairing RHD puck-moving role. It's possible that logjam could trigger a trade, but injuries are pretty much inevitable, and none of Oduya, Claesson, Wideman, or Borowiecki make more than $1.2M.
- khawk

I can see your point, except the loss of Methot really has nothing to do with Boucher, that's on PD

I like these new guys. They're big and tough and that's what we badly need. I love Methot and will miss his hip checks and big personality, but let's face it, he was way overpaid for backing up the best D in the game and scoring 2 goals a year (or whatever). I think Claesson and Chabot are going to bring way more than that very quickly for much less money (at first anyway).

As for Zib, I agree with the comments above. I was not sorry to see him go and I'm still not. He got a rise from NYC and the move, but as noted, it was also a contract year and he stepped up for the money. The kid just has no heart and soul and I'm betting he's going to slip back into invisible next season.

Edit: not invisible, but certainly unexceptional.

I can see your point, except the loss of Methot really has nothing to do with Boucher, that's on PD
- Maverick1818

The Methot situation was Dorion, but at the end of the day Boucher is the one who has to realistically account for the loss of Methot in the lineup. So when people are talking about Ceci playing on the 3rd pairing, that's where consideration of how Boucher played him last year is strong evidence to the contrary. For better or worse, Ceci-Phaneuf is effectively Boucher's answer for what to do with the most difficult of the ~34min/gp that Karlsson is physically incapable of being on the ice.

As for Zibanejad, I think what's unfolded since the trade is pretty much exactly what Dorion saw coming... Zibanejad would put up enough points to expect a multi-year $5M+ contract in the very near future, but would never be the kind of player that Dorion wanted to bolster the team's centre position. With Brassard, he got a scoring centre with more natural hockey IQ who could match up more effectively against the game's best players, and who's already had a major impact on the team's post-season success.

EDIT: In other ex-Senators news, it looks like Lehner's on a bit of a last-chance deal to prove to the Sabres he can handle the #1 job long-term. That trade just keeps looking better over time, particularly given that Tim Murray has already been fired... in large part because of making exactly those kinds of trades.

i dont think there is a better veteran defense team in the league where young guys could learn from then Ottawa. Chabot should see alot of games this year. Now Eugene needs to pry open the wallet a little more and spend another2-3 mill on a good depth forward. and we will be set to go

Off topic but did anyone see the pics of turris wearing the new away jerseys. I didn't like the new Jersey when it was revealed but the white ones look awesome and the red one has really grown on me.

Oduya believe we're gonna have a good season now?

Oduya believe we're gonna have a good season now?
- ahjnkn

Stop...... my spleen

Stop...... my spleen
- SensnRBs

You should get that looked at by Ceci (he'll check it twice), or maybe Andy Sutton. I hear he's an expert....

Someone else posted those charts on HF boards yesterday.

I'm sorry, but these types of things without context are totally misleading.

Unless we discuss quality of competition (which pairing you play in and who you are matching up against each shift), we well as total time on ice (unless you're a top tier Dman, the more you play, the less effective you'll generally be).

Methot was just over 22M/game last year. Oduya was just over 18.

As an aside: Some people actually suggested that Claesson would jump into the 1-2 role and point to his advanced stats to back it up, but then we look and see he played 13 mins per game last year - barely half of what Methot did.

Oduya was 6th in icetime in Dallas among D and 4th in Chicago. His 18 mins/game would have put him squarely in the bottom pair in Ottawa.

Can a guy who is 35 play more than he did in previous seasons? Anyone who is suggesting he plays with EK is also suggesting he is going to play almost 20% more than he did last year. It's possible, but it's crazy to expect it.

Now they could platoon him and Claesson with EK, which would make sense.

I'm not picking on you Jared, but it's kind of ridiculous to suggest that Oduya can replace Methot. There is a reason Methot makes almost 5M/yr and no one was lining up to sign Johnny at anything over 2.5.

I still like the signing, and I think outside getting a bona-fide top 4 Dman right now, this is about as good as we can do. Hopefully, the system insulates the fact that we have 2 bona fide top 4 Dmen on this team and they can platoon partners with EK.

But just to be clear, Oduya is not replacing Methot. I don't think Dorion would ever suggest that either.
- Charliebox

I disagree with you. I don't think Jared said that oduya will be just as good, but a fair replacement. Oduya has more experience, won two cups. for the price difference between merits salary and oduya 1M, I think the GM did a fantastic job to find a suitable replacement.