Not to the Hawks. They moved on from Kubalik.

Yeah. CHI declines. BUT!!!, I kind of wonder if OTT might consider moving Norris... Hear me out. If Stutzle has solidified himself as the 1C and they think Pinto can be their 2C, they could probably move Norris for a decent haul (like a roster player, prospect, a 1st, plus) and still be in pretty good shape and have significantly more cap flexibility.

Pinto probably isn't 2C ready right now, he was put in that position last year because of the injury. The thinking is that once Pinto is ready to become our full time 2C that Norris would be moved to the wing.

I don't think Brady would be very happy with that

Norris needs to be part of this core. If he's back to form, he's a prime Kesler in development (40 goal scorer excelling defensively). You don't trade that


And it's perfectly fine if Pinto stays as the 3rd line center, a 1-2-3 punch with Stutzle, Norris and Pinto is actually perfect

Sure. I was just thinking about the assets OTT could probably get for him, and the cap space that would create. It COULD make sense, but it would also set OTT back a little bit, unless an ELC or low AAV player just exploded out of nowhere and seamlessly took over Norris' on ice production.

The thing that might not be well known by outsiders is that Ottawa doesn't need cap space beyond this season. Basically every key/core player is signed long term. The cap is rising next season and the Sens have a lot of dead cap expiring. When Pinto, Greig and Kleven start being more costly, players like Zub, Joseph and Giroux will become less costly or let go. Sens can even replace Tarasenko with a 67 M$ player next season

I may be a CHI fan, but I am very familiar with just about every NHL teams individual situation. So, I get it. But, OTT isn't done. They are still missing some important intangibles, which could just be a matter of a prospect popping off or already established roster players taking their game to the next level. I'm also pretty confident a coaching change, or a change in coaching philosophy, could work wonders for OTT, but that is purely speculative.

The major thing that Ottawa has needed for years is a better trifecta and by this I mean ownership, management and coaching. The team is sold so it's a matter of time. It's been speculating that more changes will follow, which is the usual practice. The problem with Dorion is that he gambles too much instead of making more calculated risks, he doesn't seem to have asset management notions and lacks foresight big time, and all of this affects roster construction negatively. He doesn't make the "right moves" most of the time (ex : Gustavsson for Talbot last year, invested cap in this instead of keeping Paul and Brown). It's things I have talked in advance in each of the last 3 seasons, without the benefit of hindsight every offseason and unfortunately materialized during the season.

Pretty good guy though, which is also the case for DJ Smith, players seem to like him but his hockey systems seem to be lacking, particularly in the neutral and defensive zone. Result : they don't play the right way, 2-way hockey. They need to play more like the Carolina Hurricanes for example

The hope is that next management will make the roster adjustments (more 2-way forwards, more intangibles for example) and that the new coaching staff will have them play the "right way", so a bit like you just mentioned.

There's many elite/good/great pieces in place and seriously, Dorion was lucky as he had an incredible wealth to start a rebuild plus Trent Mann (who was hired by Bryan Murray in 2011) got him several homeruns during the draft.

Tkachuk - Stutzle - ??????
Greig - Norris - Batherson
Ostapchuk - Pinto - ??????
?????? - Kastelic - ??????

Ridly Greig is going to be an excellent 2-way player in the Jaden Schwartz mold
Zack Ostapchuk is also going to be a good 2-way player, more on the 3rd line though

The rest of forward spots is TBD but in the meantime there's a Claude Giroux for example. Could be another prospect like Jarventie or Pettersson making his way too. They could also target the right players on the trade or UFA market. The sad part is Alex Formenton could have been part of this but people's life choices are on their own free will (speculating of course)

Sanderson-Chabot-Chychrun-Kleven-Zub-JBD should make the Sens defense their main strength. All are 21-27 y/o

I haven't mentioned Brannstrom because he most likely will be traded to leave a spot/cap space for Kleven going forward. Lassi Thomson is a prettty decent OFD RHD prospect but there's no spot for him and no opportunity on the PP (which is something he needs to make his mark in the NHL), he's not waiver exempt too so I don't expect him to last in the organization. Then, there's a few more noteworthy prospects like Guenette, Donovan, Norberg, etc.

Well, I'm definitely pulling for OTT to make those strides and become one of the big dogs in the east.