Senators will be an interesting team to watch as deadline approaches. Told they’re wide open for business even beyond the names out there.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) February 5, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Now there is an interesting nugget of information from ESPN‘s Craig Custance.
With the March 2nd NHL trade deadline quickly approaching, the names most often linked to trade rumours on the Senators have been those belonging to redundant veteran players like David Legwand, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Chris Phillips. Thanks to his impending UFA status and some stagnant contract negotiations, Marc Methot’s name has also been thrown into the mix because the Senators have to recoup some assets rather than lose him for nothing.
Yesterday on Twitter, I mentioned that it would interesting to see the Senators explore the market on some of their young and underachieving players (ie. Alex Chiasson and Jared Cowen), but Custance’s revelation came before word broke that Winnipeg’s Evander Kane skipped last night’s game versus Vancouver because Jets teammate Dustin Byfuglien threw his tracksuit into the shower. As an aside, Big Buff should have thrown Ondrej Pavelec’s tracksuit in the shower years ago.
The Ottawa Senators have made no secret of the fact that they have been searching for a coveted top six forward. In fact, Bryan Murray described his intent to make another Bobby Ryan-like deal. As the team faded out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, it felt like those aspirations would have to be shelved until the offseason — because hey, why would Murray want to make his team better now at the expense of a better draft pick?
Thanks to Byfuglien’s actions and the speculated discord between Kane and his teammates, it may force the Senators’ hand to act now if they want to pursue Kane.
Kane’s been a polarizing figure since the moment Atlanta relocated its franchise to Winnipeg. With that in mind, some Senators fans may wonder why Murray want to roll the dice on a player who has had his share of problems in that fishbowl environment. I can’t speak to Kane’s behavior or character, but it’s not like the rest of the NHL is comprised of upstanding characters of high moral fiber. Kane wouldn’t be the first or last player to turn his career around after his original franchise grew tiresome of his act. Assuming there’s much of an act in the first place. As outsiders, we simply don’t know that much about the athletes on an individual basis.
Case in point, look at Kyle Turris as a recent example. His contentious contract negotiations and wish for a bigger role with the Coyotes prompted many media members to paint the picture of Turris as a selfish individual who had a great sense of entitlement without ever accomplishing much at the NHL-level. From the moment that Ottawa acquired him, he’s been a model citizen and embraced this city.
Tyler Seguin’s another example of a player whose maturity problems led to his trade to Dallas. He seems to be doing okay.
A lot of people have described Kane’s tracksuit stunt as selfish, but it’s also worth mentioning that he’s playing through an undisclosed injury that requires surgery. (Note: the Jets just put Kane on IR tonight.)
Even if the prevailing assumption is that maturity maybe be an issue, at some point, everyone grows up.
Perhaps a change of scenery is all that’s needed.
In Ottawa’s case, they are a low-budget organization that essentially needs to roll the dice on some undervalued players since the organization never drafts high enough to have better odds of finding and landing elite, young talent. Whether Ottawa really needs another skilled left winger is open to debate, the organization already has Mike Hoffman and Clarke MacArthur playing in its top six. That being said, if Kane’s injury, background check, diminished production rates and the $18-million that is owed to him over the next three seasons all lead to Kane being a devalued commodity that can be acquired at a relatively reasonable cost, go for it.
Karlsson Most Valuable 24-year old in NHL?
According to ESPN Insider‘s Rob Vollman (note: paywall), Erik Karlsson’s the NHL’s most valuable player – ahead of vaunted superstars like John Tavares and Steven Stamkos.
Here’s Rob’s justification:
“I can quote jaw-dropping scoring statistics all day, but is Karlsson a defensive liability? If that were true, then Ottawa would have to be crazy to assign Karlsson more than 27 minutes per game when no other defender plays more than Chris Phillips’ 21 minutes. Putting it another way, Karlsson played 1,250 minutes this season before any other Senator had even played 900. While primarily an offensive weapon, Ottawa’s superstar is not at all bad defensively. No single NHL skater is relied upon more than Karlsson, who takes on top opponents, in both zones, and posts team-leading possession numbers. There’s not a single team that wouldn’t want this man in its lineup.”
In a separate piece that was run in corollary with Rob’s, ESPN colleague Craig Custance (again, paywall) spoke with various hockey scouts and executives who questioned the Karlsson nod in particular.
The quotes were to be expected:
“No chance. No chance,” said the scout on whether Karlsson is the best 24-year-old. “He’s a wild horse. He’s a great offensive guy, but you can’t put him above Tavares and Stamkos. I’d go Tavares, then Stamkos, then Karlsson.”
And…
“It’d take [Victor] Hedman over Karlsson,” he said. “Karlsson is a wild card defensively. Hedman is a big, strong, tough, son of a b— who can also get you some offense. He fills a much bigger space than Karlsson.”
And…
“Everyone always wants the defenseman who plays the big minutes and drives the offense. And when you watch Erik Karlsson, he is so dynamic. But holy s—, did he have one ungodly turnover when I watched him recently. There’s a lot of risk to his game,” said one of the execs. “You don’t see those things out of Stamkos and Tavares. Everyone is looking for those smart center men who have size and make their teammates better.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
