Hoffman Negotiations off to a Good Start

SensChirp May 20, 2016 1,154
Hoffman Negotiations off to a Good Start

Obviously it’s still pretty early in the negotiation but if Mike Hoffman’s first comments of the off-season are any indication, he’s legitimately excited at the possibility of sticking around Ottawa long term.

In an interview with the Ottawa Sun, Hoffman provided his thoughts on the Senators decision to hire Guy Boucher as their new Head Coach.  To say that he’s excited would be an understatement.  Hoffman had nothing but good things to say about his former-QMJHL bench boss and provided some great insight on how Boucher helped his career.

This is a great sign for a few reasons.

First off, it’s nice to see a player endorsing the decision to go with Boucher.  I mean, it’s not entirely surprising that Hoffman would like the hire considering their previous experience together but up until this point, we haven’t really had much in the way of reaction from the players about the addition of Boucher.

Lazar had good things to say. Phaneuf seemed legitimately excited when I talked to him earlier this month. And other than that, we haven’t heard a whole lot from the players. None of them are going to say anything negative about their new Coach clearly, but so far, the reactions we have seen seem to suggest legitimate excitement.

Secondly, it’s a great sign for the Senators as they get set to negotiate a new contract with Hoffman over the next month and a bit.  This is still going to be a tense negotiation but the fact that Hoffman seems excited to play for Boucher again is a great place to start.  There’s still a ways to go before these two sides come to an agreement but both the organization and Hoffman are saying all the right things early on.

And lastly, while the interview was short and it’s hard to read tone in newspaper quotes, it sort of seemed like a weight had been lifted off of Hoffman’s shoulders.  Under both Paul MacLean and Dave Cameron, Hoffman seemed to find himself in the doghouse quicker than necessary.  Both Coaches had their issues with Hoffman and it seemed to drag him down a bit from time to time.  Seeing the organization hire a Coach he was familiar with and had a great relationship with was clearly a breath of fresh air for Hoffman.

There’s still a lot of work to be done before Hoffman is inked to a new contract but I’m certainly more confident today than I was at the end of the regular season.

What do you think is the most likely outcome in the Mike Hoffman negotiations?

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