After a gutsy win in St. Louis the other night, the tension has momentarily been lifted for the Ottawa Senators.
No game today but the team was back on the ice for practice this morning ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Jaromir Jagr and the red-hot Florida Panthers. It’s the first of two important home games for Ottawa as they host the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
(UPDATE 11:36 AM)– Some good news from that practice too. Both Milan Michalek and Cody Ceci took regular shifts with the rest of the team and it appears as though both of them could return tomorrow night. Mika Zibanejad was on the ice too, skating in his regular spot on the second line. Chris Wideman and Shane Prince were the odd men out along with Cowen and Dziurzynski. With two guys seemingly ready to come off the IR, expect to see someone sent down to Binghamton today.
In the meantime…a quick rundown of some news, notes and rumours surrounding the Ottawa Senators right now.
-In yesterday’s 30 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman again echoed the now well-known idea that the Senators are ready to move on from Jared Cowen. Problem now becomes finding someone to take on his contract. We’ll call it a long shot at best. I do think there are scenarios where a team might be willing to take Cowen but only if they could send a bad contract Ottawa’s way. And then that only make sense for Ottawa if they think they can get some use out of the player coming back. The possibility of a buyout this summer is being thrown around a little bit but I can tell you that for the Senators, buyouts are always the last resort.
-One player that came to mind yesterday while kicking around the idea of taking on a “bad contract” was Columbus Blue Jacket forward Scott Hartnell. Hartnell is obviously still a solid player and the Jackets have given no indication they want to move him but maybe some time in the near future the free-falling Jackets decide they need to cut some payroll. That’s the type of player that comes to mind. Hartnell has a cap hit of $4.75 mil and three years left on his deal after this season ($5.0, $4.5, $3.0). With MacArthur’s future up in the air (although he skated this morning), maybe the Senators see a guy like Hartnell as a possible replacement. It’s worth noting that Hartnell’s contract includes a no movement clause. The Blue Jackets have apparently been looking for a young defenceman so maybe they see something in Cowen? And maybe this is all just wishful thinking.
-Patrick Wiericoch has played a little bit better lately and that’s good news for him and for the Ottawa Senators. As Friedman mentioned in 30 Thoughts, the Senators were previously considering moving Wiericoch. He almost went at last year’s deadline and they shopped him again earlier this season. There was no interest. But now with Cowen as the odd man out, Wiercioch’s future with the Senators seems a little more stable.
-The sudden emergence of Frederik Claesson is great news for the Sens’ blueline. But while it seems like Claesson is coming out of nowhere here, this is a player that has paid his dues for some time now. In fact, there are some in the organization that have been pushing for Claesson to get this chance before now. By his own admission, Claesson did not have a great camp this Fall and the struggles down of the team down in Binghamton probably didn’t help either. Claesson certainly looks like an NHL players now though. Fascinating decision the Senators will have to make when Cody Ceci is healthy and ready to return. Would they sit Mark Borowiecki? Is Wiercioch the odd man out again? Or does Claesson go back to Binghamton? Of those three options, the one that seems to make the most sense also seems like the least likely.
-Speaking of good news on the prospect front, Matt Puempel is starting to heat up in the American Hockey League. Puempel scored again last night, his 12th goal of the season, and he now has 21 points in 23 games with the Binghamton Senators. Going to be interesting to see when he gets another look with the big club. Max McCormick is currently on recall at the left wing position and is doing a hell of a job making sure he gets noticed this time around. Tough to send a guy like that down. But with Puempel playing as well as he has the last little while, the Senators may need to make room.
-I’ve been told that the Ottawa Senators are one of a handful of teams that have already reached out to the Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman about disgruntled forward Jonathan Drouin. This type of move is right up Bryan Murray’s alley so it’s not at all surprising to hear that the Senators are in the mix on this. Unfortunately what I also heard is that right now, the price is way too high. Again, not all that surprising. Not sure exactly what that means but safe to say your “Cowen + 2nd” proposals aren’t going to cut it. The Lightning will be in no hurry to make this move and really don’t have to pull the trigger on a deal unless they are getting exactly what they want. Which is apparently a young defence, by the way.
