(UPDATE 10:28 AM)- This morning, the Ottawa Senators announced the signing of Memorial Cup winning forward Tobias Lindberg to a thee year, entry-level contract. Lindberg is coming off a breakout season with the Oshawa Generals in which he scored 32 goals and registered 78 points in 67 regular season games. He kept it going during the playoffs too, adding another 19 points in 21 post season games. Lindberg is expected to play in Binghamton this season and will take part in the team’s Development Camp this summer.
It may end up being one of the most interesting decisions facing Bryan Murray and his staff this summer.
At just 23 years of age, Mark Stone has already established himself as one of the most important players on the Senators’ roster.
He’s coming off a season where he put up 64 points in 80 games and earned himself a Calder Trophy nomination in the process. It was the kind of rookie campaign we haven’t really seen around these parts since Daniel Alfredsson burst on the scene back in the 1995-1996 season.
More than just one of the top rookies in the league, Mark Stone was pretty much one of the best forwards in the league from January 1st on. After a quiet first three months under Paul MacLean where he spent time on the fourth line and in the press box, Stone seemed to find another gear under Dave Cameron. He racked up an incredible 47 points in the final 46 games of the season and led the team’s offence during an incredible push to the playoffs. Just as impressive as his offensive numbers was his uncanny ability to take pucks away in his own end of the rink. That kind of defensive awareness is rare for any player let alone a rookie in the league.
When the NHL presents their yearly awards in just over a week from now, there’s a damn good chance it will be Mark Stone’s name that gets called out as rookie of the year. An award that may be presented by the aforementioned Daniel Alfredsson, by the way.
And now, after putting together one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the Ottawa Senators franchise, Mark Stone is a restricted free agent. As you might expect, Stone and his agent are expecting a hefty raise on his next contract.
Talks have been described as preliminary to this point but the two sides have at least started the negotiation.
Pierre Dorion has talked about it on a couple of occasions but the Senators have discussed various scenarios with Craig Oster including a shorter term bridge contract and a longer term deal. If the Sens want to lock up Stone long term, and why wouldn’t they after the season he just put together, they are going to have to pay big bucks to get it done. Think in the neighbourhood of $5 million a season.
There’s always some risk associated with a long term contract but Mark Stone seems like a pretty safe bet. I have heard in the past that the Senators would be open to a long term deal with Stone but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where the two sides land.
Obviously the Senators game plan in this negotiation is also influence by a handful of other key restricted free agents including Mika Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Jean Gabriel Pageau and Alex Chiasson.
It’s going to be really interesting to see where these negotiations end up. RFAs obviously don’t have a ton of leverage but in this instance, you can see why both sides might like the idea of a long term deal.
More than any other summer, there seems to be some speculation about the possibility of offer sheets. None of that talk has specifically been linked to Stone and honestly I’m skeptical we see any teams go the offer sheet route, but it’s always something that’s in the back of a General Manager’s mind. Plenty of RFAs to choose from if a team does want to roll the dice though.
Talks between the Senators and their RFAs-to-be are expected to pick up in the next couple weeks but one thing we know for certain is Mark Stone is about to get paid. And he certainly deserves it.
-Earlier today, we learned that the Senators have invited Clarkson University defenceman Kevin Tansey to Development Camp. The Hammond, Ontario native is best described as a shutdown defenceman. He plays with an edge but doesn’t exactly have a ton of offensive upside to his game, putting up 28 points in 117 games at Clarkson. There’s no contract in place with Tansey yet but he apparently did have interest from the Anaheim Ducks. Tansey participated in Ottawa’s Development Camp last season.
