(UPDATE 9:38 AM)- As rumoured earlier this morning, the Senators have announced an extension for defenceman Chris Wideman. It’s a deal that will see Wideman earn $800,000 over the next two seasons. Very affordable contract for a player that has proven he can play in the NHL. Wideman was scheduled to be a UFA at the end of the year. Interested to see what this means for Patrick Wiercioch leading up to the deadline. A couple Western Conference teams have shown some interest in him.
FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Make it four! Talk about a great way to kick off a trip through Western Canada. The Senators were in control of this game from the moment the puck was dropped and took care of business against the lowly Edmonton Oilers. Not sure about the rest of you but I’ve barely even glanced at the standings, even during this winning streak. There is still so much ground to make up and from Ottawa’s perspective, it’s just about continuing to bank points. The Sens are in Vancouver on Thursday night and then in Calgary on Saturday. Three out of four points in those games and Ottawa will come back home with a ton of momentum. Win ’em both and look out.
-Interesting to look at how ice time was allocated last night. The first thing that jumps off the page is the fact that Erik Karlsson played just 21:19. Third highest total on the blueline behind both Phaneuf (24:49) and Ceci (22:44). It’s pretty rare to see Karlsson below 30 minutes these days but being in control of the game and having another trust-worthy pair to use meant that Cameron could ease up on Karlsson’s ice time a little bit. Considering how much he has played this year, it’s going to be important to have Karlsson as rested as possible down the stretch. Good job by Cameron recognizing that and allowing his Captain a relatively easy night at the office.
-Another solid outing by Dion Phaneuf. It’s remarkable how quickly he has fit in with this Ottawa team and just how much he has been able to stabilize the team’s second defence pairing. I know I can be prone to hyperbole but honestly, it has completely transformed the look and feel of that blueline. His ability to move the puck was well known and obviously he has a cannon of a shot but his willingness to engage in and win battles along the boards has probably been the thing that has stood out the most so far. He has that cross check to the lower back/take the puck away thing down to a science.
-Certainly hasn’t taken long for Nick Paul to establish himself at the NHL level. Last night, he picked up the first goal of his career and along with Curtis Lazar and Chris Neil, formed what I thought was Ottawa’s best forward combination. There’s always an adjustment period for a Junior player in his first year as a pro and Nick Paul has gone through that this season. He (and the whole team really) had a dreadful start in Binghamton and there were legitimate concerns about Paul’s development. But Paul pushed through it. He certainly looks like an NHL player right now.
-Zack Smith is one of those intriguing trade possibilities leading up to the deadline. He has one year left on his deal and will earn $2.35 mil in the 2016-2017 season. He’s the type of player that you can slot comfortably as a fourth line centre but he’s also shown this season that he can play up and down the line up- left wing, power play, penalty kill. He’s exactly the type of player contending teams are looking for this time of year. Smith now has 15 goals on the year (along with an unusually high 19.5% shooting percentage) and it’s safe to assume teams will be calling about him this week. With that said, unless somebody makes an incredible offer, I really don’t think Zack Smith is going anywhere. He was probably the best forward on the ice last night.
