For fans of the Ottawa Senators, the Stanley Cup Final has mercifully come to an end.
Perhaps some of you were able to watch that “showdown” between the Penguins and Predators but personally, I found it way too painful. For starters, the hockey was awful. Up until Game 6, there really wasn’t a close game. Blowouts one way or the other. But more importantly, watching Pittsburgh in the Final, it’s impossible not to think about just how close the Senators came this season.
One goal away.
Obviously there are no guarantees the Final would have gone the same way had Ottawa made it there but there’s no doubt they would have had a shot. It’s rare for the stars to align the way they did this season. Chances like that don’t come along often in the NHL and the Senators were one goal…one shot away from their best chance at a Stanley Cup in at least 14 years and maybe ever.
Onward and upward, as they say.
With the Final wrapped up, you can expect the pre-expansion trades to start flooding in.
Some news and notes as we officially enter the off-season.
-Dion Phaneuf’s no movement clause is quickly becoming one of the key story-lines of this year’s off-season. While Pierre Dorion has been sort of non-committal about the possibility of asking Phaneuf to waive, Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman suggested over the weekend that he believes the Senators have asked Phaneuf to consider waiving his NMC. The team has until today at 5:00 PM to make the request but it sounds like it may have already happened. There will be no pressure on Dion to waive obviously and even if he does, the Senators may have to send something to Vegas as a “guarantee” to get to not pick him. Phaneuf will have until 5:00 PM on Friday to make his decision.
-Speaking of Friedman, he was on an Edmonton radio show last week and mentioned the possibility of the Senators continuing their pursuit for Avalanche forward Matt Duchene. As we know, the Sens had interest in him last season and may have even made another last minute pitch at last year’s trade deadline, depending on who you ask. While there’s no doubt Duchene would be a huge add for the team, it’s tough to see where he fits long-term. With Turris, Stone and Karlsson all in need of new contracts in the not too distant future, it would almost be like a two year rental.
-If you follow Shawn Simpson on Twitter, you may have caught a reference he made to the possibility of the Senators bringing Chris Neil back for another season. Based on the poll we ran last week, this is a move that would catch most of the fan base off-guard. There’s no doubt that Neil provides an important presence in the locker room but it’s not clear how much he has left in the tank at this point in his career. For those that are passionately against this possibility, you can take some comfort in the fact that he’s clearly a 13th or 14th forward on Guy Boucher’s depth chart.
-Sounds like negotiations are underway with RFA-to-be Jean Gabriel Pageau. It’s no secret that the Senators and Pierre Dorion would like to get a multi-year deal done in this instance but that’s easier said than done. The Senators have done a good job with their RFA contracts in recent years and always seem to prioritize keeping the salary as low as possible, often giving up more in the later years of the contract to make it happen. Expecting a similar structure in Pageau’s next contract. He’s obviously going to get a raise on the $1.1 mil he made this past season.
-While a lot will rest on the decision of Phaneuf, the Senators Management team has until the end of this week to put together their list of protected players. The lists must be submitted to the league by 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 17th and they’ll be delivered to the Golden Knights on Sunday morning. It’s expected that those lists will be made public just after 10:00 AM on Sunday morning too.
