Yesterday we learned that the Ottawa Senators are one of at least six teams that have found their way onto a short list to land highly touted free agent Justin Schultz.
The Sens organization will have their chance to make their official pitch today in Toronto. It is believed that Ottawa is among the last teams that will speak with the defenceman before he makes his decision. Schultz can't officially sign until July 1.
No word on who will be there when the Senators make their pitch but it's safe to assume that both Bryan and Tim Murray will be involved in the process. Both guys have excellent track record of recruiting NCAA talent.
Will continue to update this situation as information becomes available.
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Prior to last night's Development Camp scrimmage, I had the opportunity to attend a roundtable discussion with Ottawa Senators assistant coach Dave Cameron and Binghamton Senators assistant Steve Stirling.
Topics were wide ranging as approximately 15 fans took advantage of the chance to pepper the two brilliant hockey minds with a wide variety of questions. A couple things jumped out at me during the discussion that I wanted to share with the readers.
- First question of the day was for Dave Cameron and is the one that is on every fans mind right now, what is Alfie going to do? Cameron stressed that they hadn’t received any indication one way or the other but he did say, “I think he comes back. He was just too good last year to stop now.”
- Cameron was asked a question on what the team needs heading into next season and no surprise, he talked about another top six forward and a replacement for Filip Kuba.
- Both Stirling and Cameron were asked about exactly what went wrong with Nikita Filatov last season. They were quick to emphasize that with Filatov, it had nothing to do with talent. He had all the skill in the world but according to both guys, just didn’t realize how hard it was to be an NHL pro. “You have to bring it every day,” Cameron explained. Stirling talked briefly about Filatov’s demotion to Bingo and said that again, skill wasn’t the problem during his AHL stint. He was sent there to work on the defensive side of his game, away from the puck, and just didn’t seem willing to put the work in. Both guys seemed optimistic that if he ever develops that “pro attitude” he can still be a good player in the NHL.
- There were a couple questions posed to Steve Stirling about the challenges of managing young talent in the AHL and in particular, in the city of Binghamton. Stirling talked about just how big of a culture shock it is for some of the European guys coming over and the importance of finding ways to manage your time away from the rink. Stirling referenced both Robin Lehner and Andre Petersson as guys that struggled with that adjustment.
- Stirling talked at length about some of the prospects in Binghamton that he feels are ready to take their game to the next level. He emphasized guys like Borowiecki, Gryba, Hoffman and Wiercioch as guys that “are pros in every aspect of their lives.” Stirling talked about the fact that many guys down there have the talent but may not be ready for the mental grind that is involved at the NHL level.
- Just before the session came to an end, I was able to sneak in a question about Justin Schultz. Cameron provided some details of the current situation and explained that the Sens were very interested and could offer him a spot in the line up right now. While Cameron said he hadn’t seen Schultz play first hand, “the hype is apparently justified.” Cameron closed with, “we’re going to make our pitch, fingers crossed.” Ottawa will make their pitch to Schultz today in Toronto.
