Spezza is a goner - he wants out and Maclean wants him out.

Here's what we learned yesterday:

Spezza doesn't want to sign an extention in Ottawa
Spezza feels he has been taken for granted by the fans
Maclean wants centers that can skate in the D Zone and defend with their bodies and not their sticks
Maclean wants better leadership in the room.
Maclean thinks Ottawa is to Offense heavy and needs more two-way players

Ottawa signed Phillips and will make him the Captain, they signed him to 2 years to keep the job warm for Karlsson who will be named Captain in the 2015-2016 season.

I think going back to the summer the reason we have had so much uncertainty is naming Spezza the Captain - I think Maclean was in the Phillips for C and the Murray's wanted Spezza - this is why we heard Phillips say he wanted it and they waited for so ling to name the C

Maclean will win this power structure - his message is if you want to be an elite team you will not make it there with Spezza as your #1 - you need more grit and more smarts at that position. And he isn't alone in his thinking on this. Time to turn the page.
- tuna99

This is extremely extrapolated...there is no way Philips gain captaincy after his aweful year... he was the worst on the team besides maybe Greening and Cowen.

This is extremely extrapolated...there is no way Philips gain captaincy after his aweful year... he was the worst on the team besides maybe Greening and Cowen.
- PtotheY

EK is the future Captain of this team but he's not ready for it, he still needs 1-2 more years to play without the pressure of being a Canadian market Captain who is looking for his game.

I say Phillips is the opening day Captain in 2014/2015

Spezza is a goner - he wants out and Maclean wants him out.

Here's what we learned yesterday:

Spezza doesn't want to sign an extention in Ottawa
Spezza feels he has been taken for granted by the fans
Maclean wants centers that can skate in the D Zone and defend with their bodies and not their sticks
Maclean wants better leadership in the room.
Maclean thinks Ottawa is to Offense heavy and needs more two-way players

Ottawa signed Phillips and will make him the Captain, they signed him to 2 years to keep the job warm for Karlsson who will be named Captain in the 2015-2016 season.

I think going back to the summer the reason we have had so much uncertainty is naming Spezza the Captain - I think Maclean was in the Phillips for C and the Murray's wanted Spezza - this is why we heard Phillips say he wanted it and they waited for so ling to name the C

Maclean will win this power structure - his message is if you want to be an elite team you will not make it there with Spezza as your #1 - you need more grit and more smarts at that position. And he isn't alone in his thinking on this. Time to turn the page.
- tuna99

A+

EK is the future Captain of this team but he's not ready for it, he still needs 1-2 more years to play without the pressure of being a Canadian market Captain who is looking for his game.

I say Phillips is the opening day Captain in 2014/2015
- tuna99

Guess people don't know what you have until it's gone. Naming Phillips captain would signal a major step back in the rebuild. People's say Spezza doesn't lead by example (which is bull) how will Phillips lead by example when he is probably our worst D-man right now. He is good veteran presence, but not a captain.

Guess people don't know what you have until it's gone. Naming Phillips captain would signal a major step back in the rebuild. People's say Spezza doesn't lead by example (which is bull) how will Phillips lead by example when he is probably our worst D-man right now. He is good veteran presence, but not a captain.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

trading spezza is going to end up being a massive fail for the sens....terrible

Guess people don't know what you have until it's gone. Naming Phillips captain would signal a major step back in the rebuild. People's say Spezza doesn't lead by example (which is bull) how will Phillips lead by example when he is probably our worst D-man right now. He is good veteran presence, but not a captain.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Yeah, I have no issue with Trading Spezza for useful pieces, but to follow it up by naming Rusty Rig the captain would be a huge mistake.

Spezza is a goner - he wants out and Maclean wants him out.

Here's what we learned yesterday:

Spezza doesn't want to sign an extention in Ottawa
Spezza feels he has been taken for granted by the fans
Maclean wants centers that can skate in the D Zone and defend with their bodies and not their sticks
Maclean wants better leadership in the room.
Maclean thinks Ottawa is to Offense heavy and needs more two-way players

Ottawa signed Phillips and will make him the Captain, they signed him to 2 years to keep the job warm for Karlsson who will be named Captain in the 2015-2016 season.

I think going back to the summer the reason we have had so much uncertainty is naming Spezza the Captain - I think Maclean was in the Phillips for C and the Murray's wanted Spezza - this is why we heard Phillips say he wanted it and they waited for so ling to name the C

Maclean will win this power structure - his message is if you want to be an elite team you will not make it there with Spezza as your #1 - you need more grit and more smarts at that position. And he isn't alone in his thinking on this. Time to turn the page.
- tuna99

Where did you learn all this yesterday?

Guess people don't know what you have until it's gone. Naming Phillips captain would signal a major step back in the rebuild. People's say Spezza doesn't lead by example (which is bull) how will Phillips lead by example when he is probably our worst D-man right now. He is good veteran presence, but not a captain.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Hey Gord, we lose. Spezza is a goner

Hey Gord, we lose. Spezza is a goner
- Cup 06

(frank)ing Melnyk... Can someone please ban me for a day or two?? I just want to say so many terrible things about Eugene that I would not respect myself afterwards!

Same poop different day! I am the sucker for already paying for my 14-15 season tickets... He has no incentive to change...

(frank)ing Melnyk... Can someone please ban me for a day or two?? I just want to say so many terrible things about Eugene that I would not respect myself afterwards!

Same poop different day! I am the sucker for already paying for my 14-15 season tickets... He has no incentive to change...
- riceroni

the team will never win under melnyk...we might as well all just accept that

A+
- spatso

good lord, what has this site come to ..... Spatso and tuna are in agreement

Guess people don't know what you have until it's gone. Naming Phillips captain would signal a major step back in the rebuild. People's say Spezza doesn't lead by example (which is bull) how will Phillips lead by example when he is probably our worst D-man right now. He is good veteran presence, but not a captain.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Come on now, Colin - we know what we have.

We have an extreme talent who is 30 years old, battling continuous injuries which affect his game directly, and looks uncomfortable with the leadership burden that we've placed on him. Spezza is what he is, he is 30 years old and still has yet to find any sort of consistency in his career. Some nights he's the best on the ice, other nights he costs us games.

This is not about a fall guy, or blaming anybody. It's about looking to the future, which every team should do. Spezza will fetch a return worthy of a top tier player, which will help us be even better than we were with him in a couple years' time.

He will absolutely flourish if he can go to a team where he is not "the guy". Playing behind Backes, Getzlaf, Toews, Seguin, etc would be great for him - but we've made him the go to guy here, and he just isn't the type to be that guy.

(frank)ing Melnyk... Can someone please ban me for a day or two?? I just want to say so many terrible things about Eugene that I would not respect myself afterwards!

Same poop different day! I am the sucker for already paying for my 14-15 season tickets... He has no incentive to change...
- riceroni

He lost out on significant attendance this season compared to years past, in a year when most teams were seeing increases in attendance - plus playoff revenue.

I suspect he will reconsider his position this offseason.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. We should be resigning Spezza and building around him. When healthy, he is one of the best offensive players in the game. Trading him sets this team back since we have no #1 centre replacement. And no, Turris and Zibby aren't replacements. The package you get back for Spezza may fill a couple of other holes, but creates an even bigger one.

He had a very rocky start this season. Just had too much on his plate. Recovering from injury, becoming captain, and starting a season without Alfie. He recovered quite nicely in the second half and was one of the better point producers in the NHL. He looked to becoming more comfortable in his new role. Alfie got a long leash at the start of his captaincy, Spezza should have the same.

The moment we trade Spezza is the moment these blogs become about finding this team a #1 centre. And that could take an extremely long time.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

well stated

To comment on a couple of trade scenarios that are out there ..... suppose mgt makes the mistake in trading Spezza to Buffalo or Anaheim - the domino would be our entire first line signing there.

Both Hemsky and Milo love playing with Spezza - it is quite conceivable that the they would sign wherever Spezza is traded.

While it might not affect Ottawa as much if it were to happen with Anaheim, could you imagin if it were Buffalo instantly taking two years off their turn around

Come on now, Colin - we know what we have.

We have an extreme talent who is 30 years old, battling continuous injuries which affect his game directly, and looks uncomfortable with the leadership burden that we've placed on him. Spezza is what he is, he is 30 years old and still has yet to find any sort of consistency in his career. Some nights he's the best on the ice, other nights he costs us games.

This is not about a fall guy, or blaming anybody. It's about looking to the future, which every team should do. Spezza will fetch a return worthy of a top tier player, which will help us be even better than we were with him in a couple years' time.

He will absolutely flourish if he can go to a team where he is not "the guy". Playing behind Backes, Getzlaf, Toews, Seguin, etc would be great for him - but we've made him the go to guy here, and he just isn't the type to be that guy.
- TommyDeVito

A guy who has been a point per game player over his whole career and has finished in top 10 or 20 in league scoring a handful of times is going to be a go to guy anywhere. He'll just have more supporting players in the markets you mentioned.

And who the (frank) is Colin?!?!

Hey Gord, we lose. Spezza is a goner
- Cup 06

I don't believe he is going to get dealt this summer. I'll believe when I see it. Sad to see people so comfortable loosing such a special player, especially after loosing Alfie last season. Rebuild forever I guess.

Hey all guys, I'm sry I couldn't stay away after that. What in the blue (frank) is Melnyk thinking? I get that some changes have to be made, but making public comments basically saying Spezza is gone, GREAT!

So let's cover the bases here, #1 Spezza is gonna be traded and whoever gets him is gonna fleece the poop out of us because Melnyk can't shut his (frank)ing mouth. #2 No one is gonna come to this market every again knowing that if anything they do or say will prolly end up in a forensic investigation. #3 Only idiots spend money on good players or needs on the team.

Gotcha.

A guy who has been a point per game player over his whole career and has finished in top 10 or 20 in league scoring a handful of times is going to be a go to guy anywhere. He'll just have more supporting players in the markets you mentioned.

And who the (frank) is Colin?!?!
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Hahaha my bad, Gord - don't know how I managed to write colin there.

And you're right, he will be a go-to guy for offense, but I think he will perform better when there is already an established leader there, much like he did when Alfie was here.

Not the biggest Spezza fan in the world, but here is what is left over at forward if he is moved:

Turris line
Zibby Stone Hoffman
assorted mediocrities

Keeping Spezza should mean signing Hemsky, and maybe Michalek at a reasonable price = good 2nd line = team went 10-8-2 once Hemsky came in.

Slot that line in under Turris, and you have 3 entertaining lines for next year, win lose or draw.

The key would be to keep options on trades; if we suck at the deadline, surely an offence-starved playoff team would give a prime pick+ for Spezza + Hemsky next Feb.

Wish we had seen Borowiecki and Claesson down the stretch to know whether either can be an internal solution to getting a viable defense.

The Greening/Phillips albatrosses could prove to be our undoing. That $5M on a quality defenseman would have really pushed the team up the ladder for now. No way cheapo will swallow that and still upgrade the talent, as it seems more important to him to go the grave with $350M in the bank instead of $300M and the title of Stanley Cup winner. Never mind that more wins should = more regular season seat sales and multi-million dollar playoff dates.

Longer term, if we are going by the cheapo route to likely failure, I at least hope we start to transition the roster to the Boston grinder model from the tiny, semi-talented model we seem to favour.