It’s time for the last set of my responses to your questions submitted to this month’s Mike’s Mailbag! Let’s get to it:
Jesse asks: Why would the Sens not move #5++ for the second overall pick? Leaving the draft with Byfield and Stutzle would be a giant win.
Probably because it wouldn’t be #5++ for second overall; it would be #5++++++++++. The cost to move up like that is likely to be prohibitive. As much as leaving with both Byfield and Stutzle would be a win in a vacuum, it could easily turn into a loss when looked at with broader context.
Calin asks: Would you trade the 28th pick plus a couple seconds to move up into the teens in the draft?
I’m a lot warmer to the idea now than I would have been when the New York pick looked like it was going to sit higher. If there’s somebody who falls, and the team really likes said player, I’m not opposed to something like this. Danial asks: Do you think the Sens still need to replace players like Hainsey/Boro as veterans or do you think we should leave space on the roster for rookies? I feel like having a few vets for the next two years isn’t a bad thing for the upcoming rookies.
I definitely think there’s value in getting the right veteran presence in the room, but it can’t just be a veteran presence for the sake of veteran presence; it has to be in the form of a contributing member of the team. There’s been talk that the team is looking at re-signing Hainsey for a while, but that’s not the move I’d be making to help integrate the next crop of Senators.
Ktownfan asks: Of their own RFAs, is there one or two that the Senators should target to re-sign that fit the rebuild or to open up for Seattle?
Given the number of roster spots and cap space that the team needs to fill in advance of next season, the answer is essentially all of them. It makes sense to get Brown, Jaros, Tierney, Hawryluk, Balcers, Paul, and Duclair under contract for at least one more year. Maybe Englund is the odd man out.
Tevi asks: What are the odds of the Senators signing a star veteran on the downside of his career to gobble up artificial cap space? Who can you see them signing?
Signing? Probably pretty low. It’s hard to create artificial cap hits via the free agent market. I do think you’ll see them acquire someone on the trade market, though. Names like Stepan and Eriksson, as mentioned in the last set of Mike’s Mailbag responses, immediately spring to mind.
Bobby asks: Are the Sens too flush on defence? Shouldn’t they be setting their sights on more top six forwards?
It’s likely too early to say whether the Sens are “too flush… on defence. We really don’t know what players like JBD, Thomson, or Brannstrom, among others, are going to look like in the future. So much is going to depend on how the current prospect crop’s development transpires over the next year or two. So, in the meantime, I’d be targeting the best players available at the draft. There’s obviously a need up front in terms of elite talent, but if the best player available is a defender, they shouldn’t shy away.
Chuck asks: Are the Sens considering any of their goalies as a long-term answer or will they dip into an uncharacteristically heavy pool of available veteran goaltenders in the next year or two to fill the gap?
All the chatter seems to suggest that they are on the hunt for goaltending help right now, with names like Murray and Korpisalo showing up in rumors quite frequently. To me, the more prudent thing to do is run with what’s already in the system for at least the next two years; see if anyone steps up to take the number-one job, without having to give up assets in the process. If it turns out that one of the many bodies in the system can do it, great! If not, turn to the free agent or trade markets in a couple years. It just seems premature to be giving up assets for goaltending right now.
Crusher asks: How much real money do the Sens spend against the cap this year?
I’ll set the over-under at $52M in actual cash spend for the upcoming year. Wayne Scanlan’s piece at Sportsnet last year had them at $47.5M in the summer of 2019, and it would seem to me that the need for new restricted free agent contracts (that won’t come with wonky cap-to-actual variances) with so many players will drive that number slightly higher this year.
Fil asks: Your thoughts on bringing back DeMelo?
I’d love to see it, but the Zub signing and need to bring in young players probably reduces the chances of it happening to near nil.
Mr. Chevalier asks: Dorion has done an excellent job, LeBlanc looks really good rebranding. Melnyk, well he’s got some catching up to do. I really believe the Sens will have a powerhouse in 2-3 years. They have assets at all positions except in net. So, my question is: Mike, would you sacrifice a little for Yaroslav Askarov? What if he’s the next Tuukka Rask? Perhaps a Belleville player, Islanders first, and a couple second rounders.
And, what if he’s the next Jack Campbell? Or the next Chet Pickard? Or the next Jonathan Bernier? For every Rask or Andrei Vasilevskiy, there’s one of those guys. Goaltending is notoriously hard to project and predict. Giving up an excessive amount of assets for a chance at Askarov just feels to me like a gross overpayment, considering a guy like Anton Khudobin is equally capable of taking a team on a run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Sens Fan asks: What are your thoughts on offer-sheeting Pierre-Luc Dubois? Something like 8x7?
He’s so, so good. The appeal is obvious. With that being said, I just don’t see any way that the Senators could sign him to an offer sheet that: a) makes sense for the Senators, and b) the Blue Jackets wouldn’t match. Tampa looks far more vulnerable to an offer sheet. Unfortunately, convincing players to leave that situation by signing it might pose a different challenge.
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Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit questions. As always, thanks for reading!