When a team struggles, rumors run rampant. This much is to be expected. In a hockey craze market like this, it's what 24/7 sports talk radio stations and hockey columnists live on.
But really people, if we're going to spread nonsense, let's at least make sure it's sensical nonsense. Because what's making the rounds right now certainly isn't.
Firstly, "Eklund" is reporting that the Sens and Flames are in trade talks for a deal that would see the much maligned Daniel Alfredsson go to Calgary for Robyn Regehr.
Now, hopefully, we've all realized long ago that "Eklund" is full of shit. Kinda goes without saying I know. But even a broken clock is right at least two times a day, and one of those times was last summer when he broke the Dany Heatley-Marian Hossa. So when he talks about the Sens, I sort of perk up just a little bit.
All of that said, I have to believe this is total B.S. The Sens are a team that is struggling offensively. Their problem is not on the blueline. So how does this deal make a lick of sense? If you move Alfie, that's even more pressure on Jason Spezza and Heatley, who've folded like cheap tents many times this season already.
The other isn't quite as absurd but it still feels like complete drivel, and that's Bruce Garrioch's report in today's Ottawa Sun that the Sens are seriously looking at Brendan Morrison as a solution to their center-ice troubles. These rumblings aren't new. Over the summer there was such talk, but it never materialized, and it's origins likely laid in the same lame chat rooms that spawn the majority of these things.
I do believe that Ottawa needs an upgrade in the middle. Dean McAmmond and Mike Fisher have both been solid this season however each are more suited for the third line spot. Over the long haul, I'm not convinced either are up to the job. But Brendan Morrison?
Is he really much better? He hit the jackpot by getting paired with Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund when they were at their most dominant and reaped the rewards statistically. Hell, if you or I was in the middle of those two for those seasons, we would've tallied 50 points. Don't get it twisted, he's an above average player that, for the right price, would be a nice addition. $3.2 million is not that right price though.
The Sens payroll is at about $41.8 million. Alexei Kaigorodov leaving (probably for good) cleared about $1 million of room but not nearly enough to bring in a salary of that size. And the guys supposedly going back the other way (Anton Volchenkov or Christoph Schubert) don't help that cause either.
The major problem the Sens are facing is who do you deal? Alfredsson? That would be a disaster. Spezza? He's still too young to give up on entirely. Heatley? It's only a matter of time before he turns it around. Antoine Vermette? That won't sit well with the French Sens fans who maintain the franchise has a conspiracy against players of that ilk.
The team needs scoring, so moving any of those guys doesn't seem plausible. And while some stretch lies on the blueline, as they have seven NHL calibre defencemen, one major injury can change that in a hurry, and it's never a bad thing to have one d-man too many.
A trade wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. A change might be what this team needs. But I just don't see where you deal from and how you make it make sense, both from a hockey perspective and economically.
But really people, if we're going to spread nonsense, let's at least make sure it's sensical nonsense. Because what's making the rounds right now certainly isn't.
Firstly, "Eklund" is reporting that the Sens and Flames are in trade talks for a deal that would see the much maligned Daniel Alfredsson go to Calgary for Robyn Regehr.
Now, hopefully, we've all realized long ago that "Eklund" is full of shit. Kinda goes without saying I know. But even a broken clock is right at least two times a day, and one of those times was last summer when he broke the Dany Heatley-Marian Hossa. So when he talks about the Sens, I sort of perk up just a little bit.
All of that said, I have to believe this is total B.S. The Sens are a team that is struggling offensively. Their problem is not on the blueline. So how does this deal make a lick of sense? If you move Alfie, that's even more pressure on Jason Spezza and Heatley, who've folded like cheap tents many times this season already.
The other isn't quite as absurd but it still feels like complete drivel, and that's Bruce Garrioch's report in today's Ottawa Sun that the Sens are seriously looking at Brendan Morrison as a solution to their center-ice troubles. These rumblings aren't new. Over the summer there was such talk, but it never materialized, and it's origins likely laid in the same lame chat rooms that spawn the majority of these things.
I do believe that Ottawa needs an upgrade in the middle. Dean McAmmond and Mike Fisher have both been solid this season however each are more suited for the third line spot. Over the long haul, I'm not convinced either are up to the job. But Brendan Morrison?
Is he really much better? He hit the jackpot by getting paired with Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund when they were at their most dominant and reaped the rewards statistically. Hell, if you or I was in the middle of those two for those seasons, we would've tallied 50 points. Don't get it twisted, he's an above average player that, for the right price, would be a nice addition. $3.2 million is not that right price though.
The Sens payroll is at about $41.8 million. Alexei Kaigorodov leaving (probably for good) cleared about $1 million of room but not nearly enough to bring in a salary of that size. And the guys supposedly going back the other way (Anton Volchenkov or Christoph Schubert) don't help that cause either.
The major problem the Sens are facing is who do you deal? Alfredsson? That would be a disaster. Spezza? He's still too young to give up on entirely. Heatley? It's only a matter of time before he turns it around. Antoine Vermette? That won't sit well with the French Sens fans who maintain the franchise has a conspiracy against players of that ilk.
The team needs scoring, so moving any of those guys doesn't seem plausible. And while some stretch lies on the blueline, as they have seven NHL calibre defencemen, one major injury can change that in a hurry, and it's never a bad thing to have one d-man too many.
A trade wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. A change might be what this team needs. But I just don't see where you deal from and how you make it make sense, both from a hockey perspective and economically.
