I would love this, if this was the offseason that the Sens have. Only think I would try to do as well, is to trade Murray's contract away to leave an open space for Gus to play and have the cap space to sign Stutzle and Zub in the future.

Not tremendously fussed if Ottawa has to carry 3 goalies next year. It goes against conventional wisdom, but as long as it doesn't effect Forsberg getting into the starting goalie groove I don't see the problem. They have more than enough space to sit on the Murray deal. In an off season where they will spend so much to dump Zaitsev and bring in talent I think it's a much preferable option. Will be much easier to fire that contract off next summer when there's just one year left.

True but I just worry that this might affect Gus's development

Sens weren't afraid of waiving him this season. Might not be ideal from a financial perspective, but from a fan perspective I don't see a good reason in favour of moving even more assets to dump him. If they can get out from under him with salary retention that's a different story, but I wouldn't give up premium future assets or take bad money back to do it this season.

This works imo. Both great contracts. Just hope Burakovsky doesn’t regress

I think Burakovsky is such a natural talent fit to fill out the Stützle Batherson line.

Agreed

tbh if we could keep JBD I'd be much happier. He screams shutdown, boring, effective RHD. Every team needs one. I really think highly of him

Sens have one. I don't think Bernard-Docker will ever be what Artyom Zub already is. I love Bernard-Docker, but if I'm putting one of Bernard-Docker or Thomson on the board, I can't see a good argument in favour keeping him over Thomson. Thomson is younger (by like 3 months tbf), he's a much better skater and a much more complete overall talent. He's got way more two way upside and while he's maybe less refined in his defensive structure than Bernard-Docker, whenever I watch him play I still like his defensive reads a lot, especially his gap control and rush defense. I think he's the one who ends up in Ottawa's top 4.

This season he wasn't waiver eligible, that's why they sent him down to the minors to keep playing a lot without a problem, this year however, he is waiver eligible, meaning the team could lose him for nothing, which isn't really the ideal situation.



Yeah same, but we've reached to a point that we have to give up some prospects to get a good player, but I do agree that we could trade Thomson over JBD

TBH I want to keep both. Looking at Colorado's D core leads me to this. But to me, the Sens have Chabot, Sando, Branny as the offence guys. Need stable D next to them (like Methot was for Karl). I see JBD as more of a sure thing in this role than Thomson. In the NHL if you have RHD in the system you need to keep them unless you're getting top 2 D in a trade, and I don't see those guys available. After Greig, I see JBD and Thomson as the untouchables UNLESS the Sens fall into Nemec or Jiricek at the draft

Sorry, I was unclear. The 'him' in this case is Matt Murray. Ottawa was willing to pull that trigger because they thought he was hurting the team. If the same thing happens this season you just suck it up and sit him down in Belleville.

Also I don't think it's the worst thing for Gustavsson to have to battle for the backup job this season. Murray was a lot better than Goose this year, and while I still have confidence that Goose a long term guy it's not gonna hurt him to force him to elevate himself.

Oh in the case of waiving Murray over Gus, then yeah I wouldn't mind carrying 3 goalies. I was just opting for the 2 goalie tandem instead of 3 because goalies are so random and you can never know what to expect from them, especially that carrying 3 goalies isn't very common.

canucks accept

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gus to Minnesota in a Fiala deal this summer. I wonder if Ottawa tries to build something around Gus +Brown with retention for Fiala. Maybe Goose, Brown and a pick for Fiala and the swap of 7th overall for 24th overall?

I think at some point someone has to be touchable. On the roster I have 2,7,9,18,19 and 72 as your untouchable core, and for prospects I have Sandy, Greig and Pinto, as well as one of the two top RHD prospects. You can't bring in Quality if you're afraid of giving quality in return, and Ottawa NEEDS to bring in quality this summer.

I'm 100% with you, but a lot hinges on this coming draft. If either of the top 2 RHD fall to #7, I'm willing to flip guys. Otherwise, Ottawa has F depth (to me Greig is a top 6 with a little seasoning). The top 3 are Greig, JBD, Thomson. After that go crazy, but those positions and qualities are so hard to acquire.

I would not be surprised if Ottawa does something along these lines. They have the depth to make trades and the room to add a UFA to their top six. I really like Burakovsky and Garland as fits with this young forward group. I would also not be shocked to see a big jump in the standings in the next few years as a result of this off season, what ever they decide to do.

It's such a crucial summer for this team. I genuinely believe that they could realistically get into the playoffs or at least the playoff hunt this season with a strong series of moves this summer. It doesn't even need to be mind blowing things like adding Fiala, DeBrincat and Giroux all at once or anything.i think something like the above lineup has them competitive in the Atlantic with the Bruins in a horrific spot to start next year.

Ultimately it all comes down to Pierre Dorion and Ottawa's Pro Scouting Department, and frankly I have little to no faith in either. They have an outright abysmal record when it comes to determining whether an NHL player is any good. Even the rare times they get it right (Duclair, DeMelo) they don't realize it'd be better to keep them.

Connor Brown for a 1st? Seems a little rich, no?

Not according to Sens fans

A pick in the back half of the 1st round for a player making 3.6mil against the cap (1.8mil if OTT is smart and retains), who has been on a 20G, 50pt pace over the last three seasons. He's a premier PK option, can play 1st 2nd or 3rd line in a checking role or a scoring role. He's a coach's dream type of player, and a huge cap value player for what he brings. I think he's worth a 1st easy. There's not many options to get a player as good as Brown for 3.6mil. Plenty of cap tight teams would relish that opportunity.