Some days it feels like the Senators are extending or reaching deals with anything or anyone not named Bobby Ryan and Marc Methot.
Yesterday the Senators announced affiliation agreements with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators and the ECHL’s Evansville Icemen. The agreement with Binghamton is simply four-season extension that concludes at the end of the 2018/19 season and after losing their ECHL Elmira Jackals to the Buffalo Sabres, the Senators had to find a new affiliate of their own.
The Evansville Icemen are a relatively new ECHL franchise based out of Evansville, Indiana. According to the press release, they’ve existed for five seasons now, but only the past three were within the ECHL. Previous to that, the organization played out of the Central Hockey League. Being a more western city isn’t exactly ideal, since it inevitably will lead to more logistical problems should injuries or illness beset the Binghamton Senators. Travel will be more expensive and time consuming than what Elmira offered.
But with Elmira jumping on board with the Sabres, there’s simply no use complaining about it since the Senators HAD to do find an ECHL dance partner and at the very least, it’s somewhat reassuring to know that the organization won’t have to share an affiliate with another NHL franchise and fret about player development and properly allocate ice time or roles – even if the likelihood of ECHL prospects developing into impactful NHL players is remote.
I kind of like their jerseys and logo though.
Anyways, I digress. Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee was on TSN 1200‘s ‘The Drive’ yesterday to break down the new agreements, the contract status of Ryan and Methot, and a few thoughts on some of Ottawa’s prospects. Although I didn’t transcribe all of his comments, I’ve included the ones I found interesting.
To listen to the interview, you can click here or you can stream via the embedded audio below.
My thoughts are in bold.
On another four years in Binghamton and two with Evansville…
“We’ve been pretty obvious that we’re a team that really believes in developing and drafting well, so it’s important to have a good affiliate. And Binghamton has worked very well for us. When we went in initially, it was tough because they were huge Rangers fans and they had this team come in from Ottawa, Canada saying ‘What is going on here?’ And it was a bit of a sell. But I think over time, winning the Calder Cup and with our organization’s commitment there, we’ve really implanted our brand in the Binghamton community. And we’ve got great support there from the fans, great support from the ownership group and great support from the county.”
Senators branding in Binghamton?
On if the agreement with Binghamton is simply a case of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”…
“Exactly, and we wanted to show a commitment to them because they’ve made a lot of investments into this facility and that’s important for us. There’s a lot of teams that are based in good cities, but they don’t get any support, so it’s not a great environment for the players. And Binghamton has very strong fan support. And the facility there, it’s an older rink, but the county and the ownership group has invested quite a bit of money: we’ve got a great weight room – it’s like a Baby Sens weight room; a great players lounge; good coaches rooms. Last year they made huge investments in brand new seats, glass and boards. And this year, they’re putting in new video boards and a new clock. It’s really impressive. We’ve had players come in from other teams that have played in other top other American (Hockey) League cities and they’re very impressed with what’s going on in Binghamton.”
I’ve only heard great things about watching games in Binghamton. I’m really going to have to make a concerted effort to get down there sometime soon to watch one.
On the team’s new affiliate in Evansville, Indiana…
“Of course I have. I went down and got to meet the owner, Mr. Ron Geary, and we sort of auditioned each other. We tried to sell each other and to see if we could be a good fit. This man is a first class individual. He runs a first class program. The facility is beautiful. It’s called the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It’s an incredible rink: great training room; great dressing room; a great visitors room; and a really nice city that’s got a good travel schedule. The kicker to deal is their therapist is young Brian Patafie – ex-(therapist) of the Ottawa 67s.”
Brian Patafie? Whoa. Small world.
On what he’s looking for to give prospects an invite to the Senators’ main camp and what they have to do to grab their attention…
“You just have to paint a picture of what type of player you are. Don’t be someone you’re not, but paint a picture of the type of player that you are. Let us know that you think you can showcase yourself and play at the next level. It’s going to be a good camp. We’ve had some good success out of this camp and not just for the players that we’re trying to promote to see if they’re going to come to main camp, but a lot of the guys who in the offseason we’ve sent some pretty distinct targets to and say, ‘We want you to work on this aspect of your game or this aspect of your conditioning or your development,’ and we’ll see where they’re at.”
Even in the case of a Curtis Lazar or any of the prospects who played in the AHL last season who are participating in this rookie tournament, the likelihood of any of them spending a significant portion of the season in Ottawa seems small. Thanks to the Senators’ depth, players having to clear waivers before they can be demoted to the AHL, and bad contracts for easily replaceable players who clog the bottom portions of their roster, there simply isn’t room for many of these players to get a fair shot. What this rookie tournament opportunity provides is a measuring tool that can help solidify the pecking order when injuries beset the parent roster. These players are vying to be the first name called when the Senators need to promote someone.
On Ryan and Methot’s contract negotiations and whether they’re instituted into how the negotiations are going to be handled moving forward…
“Bryan (Murray)’s an experienced guy. He’s just going to let it play out. He’s one of those guys who just says, ‘It takes time and you’ve got to get the right deal that works for both sides.’ There’s no real timetable. I’m being very honest with you. It’s not like there’s a drop dead date and there’s not one of these policies that we don’t negotiate once the season starts. It’s nothing like that. They’re just going to make it work and try and get the best deal done for both sides. I’m just trying to be as honest as possible.”
It’s more of the same and not entirely that different from what Bobby Ryan was telling reporters just the other day.
“I think we all kind of have a feeling that when the time is right, we’ll all have to sit down … if that’s next week or that’s December, I don’t care,” he said. “I know they know I feel that way, that it doesn’t matter to me, whether it gets done or not. If we have to start the season without it, I’m comfortable with that.
“One of the guys already asked me about Philadelphia. I said listen man, that’s all a year away, if I get to that point. Everybody I’ve talked to in this city from a fan standpoint has been incredible. They’ve all stressed they’d love to have me here as a lifelong Senator. I think that was Bryan Murray’s goal when I came. I’ve tried to do everything right by the Sens, but at the same time you have to do right by yourself a little bit. I don’t know, I just want everybody to understand that nobody is the bad guy here. It’s not the Sens, it’s not Bobby Ryan … at this point, there’s nobody to be mad at or fed up with or anything like that. These things will get done when they get done.
“Everybody’s guess (on when or if it happens) is as good as mine right now.” ~ via the Ottawa Sun
Whether it’s Ryan or the Senators, the message hasn’t really been that reassuring. I mean, there’s nothing we can do but sit tight and that’s fine, but holy shit, you sure as hell don’t want this thing to go sideways on the Senators either – especially given the opportunity cost to acquire Ryan.
On where Matt Puempel and Shane Prince fit in and whether they have a chance to start the season in the NHL…
“I think both of them are right there. I think both of them have improved so much. They have both accepted the challenges that we’ve presented to them. Matt Puempel has done really well in terms of his physical development – becoming stronger and more competitive – because early on, we had concerns about Matt, but he’s addressed all of that. He had a great season last year scoring 30 goals. He was tough. He was gritty. Shane Prince, it was the same type of thing. We liked a lot about Shane, but there’s other parts of his game that we wanted him to work on. I think Luke and Steve did a really good job pushing him to become a more complete player. He’s a really strong player. I think he’s really close. I mean we do have some depth, but their goal is to sit there and if they don’t make the team out of camp, to sit there and say, ‘I’ve got to be one of the (first to be promoted).’”
Probably the most complimentary piece of news that I’ve heard from management on Shane Prince in quite some time. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in training camp and in some exhibition games. Hopefully he gets a chance to showcase his skills in Ottawa again soon.
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