When the Ottawa Senators decided to go out and acquire Austin Watson, Alex Galchenyuk, and Cedric Paquette to fill depth roles on the NHL roster this year, the writing was on the wall. There simply was never going to be enough room this year to integrate all of the young, promising, non-waiver exempt players. That unfortunate truth became reality today, with the team placing a number of players on waivers:
The #Sens have waived the following today:
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) January 11, 2021
CHRISTIAN JAROS;
MICHEAL HALEY
FILIP CHLAPIK
RUDOLFS BALCERS
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BEAUDIN
LOGAN SHAW
MATTHEW PECA
The name that immediately sticks out on that list is that of Rudolfs Balcers. When the team announced that it had resigned the 23-year-old Latvian to a one-year extension, GM Pierre Dorion was quoted as saying “we’re confident that he’ll set out to prove that he’s overcome last year’s [injury] setback to be a full-time player in Ottawa.… If there’s a smart team out there looking for a cheap lottery ticket, it’s unlikely that Balcers will be able to make that happen now.
While there’s certainly a chance that Balcers clears, the Senators have put themselves in a spot where there’s a real chance that they lose a young player who produced at better than a point-per-game rate in the American Hockey League last year. Even in limited NHL action in 2019-20, Balcers proved that he deserves a shot; the counting stats may not have been there in his 15 games, but his underlying numbers paint the picture of a guy who is ready to at least hold his own.
And, the Senators are apparently willing to risk giving that up, for what? Externally acquired depth players who have provided little reason for optimism, in far greater sample sizes. If Balcers was being squeezed out by a roster stacked with other young talent, perhaps the decision to waive him would feel more forgivable. But, when those coveted roster spots are being occupied by players who are likely to produce below replacement level value for the organization, it’s a lot harder to understand:
Of the eleven players that Ottawa added this summer for a combined $28M in cap, I have two of them (Evgeny Dadonov and Josh Brown) projected above replacement level next season.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 28, 2020
What's the opposite of MoneyBall?
As always, thanks for reading.