Trevor Shackles: UFAs Giving the Senators Wins 4 of the Senators UFAs this summer are carrying this team

I'd keep them as long as I could but the risk of injury is very real. I thought Dzingel was hurt today.

I want the Sens to get players back that can help them win some games; getting Nilsson reminds me of getting Condon (speaking of which, he should be traded or maybe bought out. Has 3m salary next season)

As nice as it would be the re-sign Duchene and Stone, the best thing is trade them to help the rebuild. It's almost counterproductive to retain them.

Bottom out and rebuild "properly" is the answer. The Sens' contract and cap situation is an absolute mess and is going to need a few years to clean up, during which time they can stock the cupboards. Obviously not having their 1st pick this year hurts, but the organization needs to look past that.

The amount that both Duchene and Stone could fetch at the deadline would be an excellent start toward the Sens' future.

As nice as it would be the re-sign Duchene and Stone, the best thing is trade them to help the rebuild. It's almost counterproductive to retain them.

Bottom out and rebuild "properly" is the answer. The Sens' contract and cap situation is an absolute mess and is going to need a few years to clean up, during which time they can stock the cupboards. Obviously not having their 1st pick this year hurts, but the organization needs to look past that.

The amount that both Duchene and Stone could fetch at the deadline would be an excellent start toward the Sens' future.
- As_I_See_It

You can absolutely still keep Stone and have him around for a long time. Also not sure what you mean by them having a messy cap situation, they hardly have any contracts past next season

"It begs the question, how on earth did Ottawa get here?"

Sometimes we miss the obvious. The Sens are exactly where Melnyk said they would be during his infamous interview with Borowiecki. Everyone laughed when they thought he put up an impossible number of starters that would be gone by the beginning of next season.

I despise what they are actually doing...but, their theory of rebuild is text book and we will likely be grateful much sooner than expected.

Formenton is back from his injury and scored in his first game. Batherson is having a great rookie season in the AHL. Logan Brown is playing and building points. Wolanin should start next year, perhaps Chlapik. Both Norris and Bernard-Docker will be in the mix for NHL jobs next year.

The right thing to do is to sign Stone and Duchene. Yes, they’d fetch some assets but you still need to spend money. Signing Dzingel would be a huge error. He’s a good player at best but playing great at the moment. This is when you need to sell high.

I’d build around 95, 61 with the young guys. It doesn’t take long to turn a team around if done right and you catch just a sniff of luck with some players developing faster. I’d sign Nilsson to a one year deal and see if he is a late bloomer. I’d they trade either Stone and/or Duchene, obviously you have to take the best deal but my hope would be that they get a strong D prospect that may be ready to take the next step.

It begs the question, how on earth did Ottawa get here?"

Sometimes we miss the obvious. The Sens are exactly where Melnyk said they would be during his infamous interview with Borowiecki. Everyone laughed when they thought he put up an impossible number of starters that would be gone by the beginning of next season.

I despise what they are actually doing...but, their theory of rebuild is text book and we will likely be grateful much sooner than expected.

Formenton is back from his injury and scored in his first game. Batherson is having a great rookie season in the AHL. Logan Brown is playing and building points. Wolanin should start next year, perhaps Chlapik. Both Norris and Bernard-Docker will be in the mix for NHL jobs next year.

Even Melnyk isn't happy about the lack of a first round pick in the current situation.

But regardless, next years team should be interesting to see. I wonder how many of the guys you mentioned we'll see. They'll need some people to play in Belleville, and some regular NHLers to meet the floor.

Norris was looking really good before his injury. And benard Docker is looking good, I think was mentioned to be more of a long term project, but I can't say I know too much about him on that front.

Of course that Stone and Duchene carried senators...they're their best forwards.For me Dzingel is a complimentary player that mostly benefit from playing with Duchene.He's not creating much chances by himself.He's the one i would trade first.Getting a late round 1st round pick from dealing Stone or a 2nd round pick from dealing Dzingel dont make lot of difference except that Dzingel could replaced quite easily...Stone cant be.

But if one or both of stone and Duchene get traded,a top D prospect must be part of the return.There is Niku from winnipeg who come in rumors.Valimaki from Calgary would targeted as well so does fabbro who would get prime chance to crack top 4 D here and he's RHD which is our biggest need.

Depending of trade returns of Stone/Duchene/Dzingel/Ceci,top prospects and picks would come in big way.My preference would be to trade pageau/smith/anderson and get as much 2020 picks as possible to add on 10 we already have for 2020.Being bad enough to maybe add lafrenière and some more would true rebuild move.He's gonna be a stud...much better than hughes imo.

There is Logan Brown who is finding his groove in Belleville so does Batherson.Chlapik is getting there too.When Brown is on...he's fantastic player.He's close of making it full time in NHL.

When was the last time you all got excited about our prospects? Brown,Batherson,White,Chabot,Tkachuk are all blue chip prospects.Then there is Formenton,Chlapik,Wolanin,Hogberg,D'accord,Gustafsson,bernard-docker who are very good prospects.

You can absolutely still keep Stone and have him around for a long time. Also not sure what you mean by them having a messy cap situation, they hardly have any contracts past next season
- Trevor Shackles

not only "can" they, they HAVE to.

every great team that's successfully "rebuilt" had great vets to help the young guys along.....

pittsburgh - recchi, gonchar, lemieux, etc

chicago - hossa, sharp, ladd, etc

kings - jeff carter, justin williams, dustin brown (when he was good)

leafs - marleau, tavares

the teams who have solid youth but nothing but poopty vets surrounding them just fail over and over again.....edmonton, buffalo, colorado, etc. these are teams who for years stockpiled good young players and failed to surround them with quality vets, it it showed in the standings. the sabres seem to be slowly bucking that trend, but the oil and avs are basically still teams that have 3-4 quality young guys, and NOTHING else.

Ottawa, if they let everyone go, will be exactly that.....they'll have 3-4 young guys, and nothing but mediocre poop surrounding them.

Drake Batherson is going to be a BEAST