Formenton won't be on the team, so that will give them more wiggle room. Zero chance a multiple 40 goal scorer is signing for under 9mil.

Yeah that's still not enough to dump (even with waiting til after the bonus is paid) when next year is going to be the PEAK of the cap crunch teams will be facing. I think it would cost a 2nd minimum.

Why would Formenton not be here? Is it official that he's guilty?

And DeBrincat will have to be traded if we can't have him under 9 M$

Maybe it wasn't that smart to trade for him... Could have gotten Kasper, Lekkerimaki, Kemell, Savoie, Nazar... and NO problems of cap space going forward. Connor Brown could have been kept in the meantime



Agree to disagree. Matt Murray cost was a 3rd and 7th for a 11.250 M$ dump (owed 15 M$ minus 25% retention), which is 4.5 times more than 2.5 M$

Put Greig at 3LW, Trade Formenton. Brannstrom gets a bit less. Stutzle and Debrincat get 1 mill more each. Should be fine

Formenton won't be regardless of his involvement in the WJC thing. He's got no top 6 aspirations in Ottawa, and Ottawa will need cheaper guys like Greig and Sokolov to come in on elcs at give value. There won't be room to keep him and Joseph next season, and the Sens already locked up Joseph to a reasonable deal with term. Hell, even with his reasonable deal it might not be possible to keep Joz either.

Also suggesting Ottawa should move Cat before he's even played a game is such a losers mindset. He's the best player on this team, you pay him 9mil, more if you have to. There are three players on this team that you DON'T move to find the cap space to keep DeBrincat; Tim Stützle, Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk. If you have to trade Formenton, Joseph and Pinto for cheaper options to keep DeBrincat you do it and don't hesitate.

It's insane that Sens fans have spent half a decade complaining about not paying stars and not keeping their best players, but the second the Sens get a bonafide superstar we become so timid about the idea of paying him what he's worth. This whole fanbase acts like an abused puppy because of Melnyk.

Zibanejad, Stamcos, Laine, Guentzel, Forsberg, Anders Lee, all signed within the last 2-3 years with 40+ goal seasons and signed long-term for under a $9M cap hit. I do think he gets around $9M but if the Sens front or back load the contract they might get him for between $8-8.5M on a long term contract.

I don't understand why it has to do with "top 6 aspirations". I mean, if he doesn't, he'll never be too pricey. He is 22 y/o and has played one season. Other bottom-6 forwards played a long time for Ottawa in the past, like Pageau, Zack Smith, etc.

The WJC thing aside, I would much rather have Formenton than Joseph, like not even close. So if it meant we were going to lose AF, then why did we stupidly sign Joseph to a 4 years extension? I know we're talking about Dorion and he did a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense at all but this sounds extremely short sighted



Why is ADB already crowned as the best player on the team? He hasn't played a game yet like you said.

If ADB has very high demands in terms of salary, Ottawa simply can't keep him long term. It's mathematical and contextual

- You don't trade Tkachuk or Norris because they come as a pair. Tkachuk is the captain and posterboy of the Sens style of play. His buddy Norris is our best 2-way center and can score goals in bunches. Trading him would certainly piss off Tkachuk

- You don't trade Batherson because of his bargain contract and his high skill level

- You don't trade Stutzle because he is a Center and will be the best player on the team easily

- You don't trade Chabot because he's the defense leader and best D-man by a gigantic margin. Sure, Sanderson is coming but finally having another top D-man is what we have been waiting for a long time. Keep them at all costs, having a Top D-man on the ice for 50 mins a game is a key to becoming a contender

- You don't trade Giroux, he only has 3 years and is a veteran who came here for a retirement contract close to home. If you move him, good luck signing significant players in the future.


I don't think my post deserved a "losers mindset" comment lol




lol again, my post was purely mathematic. I have been wanting to see the Sens spend near the cap for at least a decade and now we're finally about to do it. While you talk about Joseph, Formenton and Pinto; I am more thinking about guys like Greig, Sanderson and Sogaard who will be expensive in a short/mid term future

I don't mind paying DeBrincat what he's worth but I also don't think he's worth north of 9 M$ (look what I have said) so if he wants over that, I'm totally ok flipping him and keep the cap flexibility for other key players like Stutzle (#1 Center), Sanderson (#2 D-man) and Greig (#1 multi-facet player) and Sogaard (#1 goalie). Yes, DeBrincat has scored a bunch of goals but he has also been in an extremely envious situation, which was playing with Patrick Kane in his prime.

I can't see myself trading Chabot, Sanderson, Stutzle and Batherson for reasons named above, so then it would be Tkachuk and Norris, which would be a gigantic change in culture. I'd rather trade DeBrincat if I had no choice. So let's be real, if the team and its players succeed like we want them to, we will have to sacrifice a player down the road. It's not about a "losers mindset" or being an "abused puppy", it's about being realistic and doing the maths and look at the salary cap structure going forward

I liked a lot of the points you made. I too wouldn't anoint ADB the best player on the team either, but I would be very careful flipping him right away. He still has a year left of RFA so if you can't lock him up right away, see how the seasons unfolds and see if he's worth the money. I personally believe a line with ADB - Stutzle - Giroux will ensure ADB and Stutzle likely average at or neat PPG paces. You trim the fat of the bottom rungs. Having Greig for 3 years on an ELC ensures your 3rd line is competent especially with Joseph signed for 4 years to play with him. I am hoping Pinto will be relatively cheap on a 2-3 year deal and play hardball with him if you must to get all your ducks in a row. Let players like Hamonic, Holden, Talbot, Watson, and Gambrell go. I think Formenton gets a 3/yr $2.5M deal and I think he deserved it. Will we be closer to the cap next season? 100% for sure. But every team that is going to try and win the cup faces those types of challenges. In 3 years we will have a ton of players on attractive deals.... Just have to make it til then first.

Our cap situation is odd.... Say we do lock up ADB and Stutzle for say $8.5M cap hit each? By the 25-26 Season the Cap ceiling will likely be around the $87-88.5M range. With all our big names signed for the most part, with Giroux coming off the books that year... There is where Sanderson will get his money. Then you have to hope a RW prospect is ready to take Giroux's place? Maybe even Joseph... So long-term Ottawa looks fantastic, mind you the next year maybe two will be dicey just with the cap already set to only rise $1M.