I thought the whole point was he indicated he won’t sign there long term? This is Tkatchuk 2.0; you are risking him walking for nothing if you don’t move him this year, no?

Cat does not want to stay in OTT, OTT will trade him or keep him as a own rental

Chabot would be the guy I move....... Sanderson will take that spot in terms of icetime and money.

And Batherson's contract is waaaaaayyyyyy to good to even consider moving.

Realistically, you are right. Whether Debrincat stay or goes, there is a contract that will be moved out in 2-3 years.

This roster looks like 6-8 years of top 10 draft picks coming the senators way.

Lol sure Buddy sure

How is this lineup an improvement of the decades long tradition of Ottawa senators never winning?

Stutzle 90-100pt player
Tkachuk 85-90pt power forward
Giroux 70pt player
Batherson 70pts player
Norris 65-70pt 2 way player
Debrincat 70pt player
Chabot 50pt player
Chychrun 50pt player
Sanderson 2 way Dman (best overall Dman on Ottawa)
Zub defensive shutdown
Brann - very good puck mover and defender
Pinto - 2 way 45-50pt player
Greig 40-50pt 2 way player

If that’s not enough idk what is lmao

Was this enough last year?

No because we didn’t have Norris, Chychrun and we got sub .900 goaltending and 3 rookies in the lineup playing important minutes

I mean if you guys get league average goaltending... you will make the playoffs

But the thing is...they aren't getting league average goaltending with this group.

You're right. All those guys who have never done a thing will help so much.

1. How are you resigning Ridley Greig even with the cap going up? You have a lot of high dollar contracts for long term.

2. Same question for Sanderson?

3 Where’s the goaltending? I like Korpisalo but that tandem isn’t going anywhere.

5 mill in buyouts and retention coming off.
Joseph, Forsberg will be moved
Cap going at least 5 mill up in the next 2 years
Giroux coming off the books

The cap is going up 5 million over the next 2 seasons… meaning about 2.5 a year. These owners aren’t going to want to toss a ton of money to the players when the league isn’t a big money maker like the other major sports leagues are. The cap will help but I think we’re going to be a little disappointed by how it looks in a few years.

I’d have to imagine Giroux resigns even for a cheaper deal. You’d still have to pay a legit goalie as well. I guess it can work but that’s a tight window all to resign a winger you honestly don’t need.

My guess:
2023-2024: 83.5 mi
2024-2025: 87 mill
2025-2026: 90 mill

I think next year is more likely 86 and then MAYBE 89. I just don’t see these owners wanting to spend big bucks. This league is conservative with money and in many ways it has to be.

Cap is going up; see below. Agree nhl owners and commissioner are conservative (i.e. terrible) but even with that, the cap is going up considerably.
Biggest flaw in team above is deBrincat has indicated (allegedly) he won’t sign long term in Ottawa so lineup will be different than shown. Atlantic is brutal - Sabres & Sens knocking on door but no guarantee

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-salary-cap-could-increase-by-more-than-1-million-in-2023-2024-season/c-342271376

I can't see Sokolov being a regular 3rd line forward in the NHL. He won't have any PP minute in Ottawa, which won't help him

I seriously hope we don't go the DeBrincat way. I have argued since the beginning, the right play was to keep Paul and Brown, have Greig and Pinto develop and we were going to be golden. There was also that dreadful Gustavsson trade that complicated things. We'd have Gustavsson/Forsberg with Sogaard/Merilainen developing, i.e. one of the best goalie situations in the league, but as usual Dorion happened.

Tkachuk - Stutzle - Giroux
Greig - Norris - Batherson
Paul - Pinto - Brown
Crookshank - Kastelic - Gauthier

We had Formenton too, so even better 2-way group






Yes Giroux will be cheaper if he wants to be a 3rd veteran leader helping his hometown team

Like CSick said, the dead cap money will make a difference. Goaltending remains to be seen but Sens have 2 high end prospects in Sogaard and Merilainen. We'll see how it goes, in the meantime, Forsberg is an excellent stop gap but need another guy like him to hold the fort.