With the Eastern Conference final match up set, fans of the Ottawa Senators are left to look back on a fantastic year and look ahead to what should be an interesting off season.
This season, the Sens were able to sneak up and surprise some people. It's safe to say after the progress this team has seen the past two campaigns, expectations will be ramped up when this team takes the ice this fall. They'll be expected to compete for a playoff spot and make some noise when they get there.
Of course a lot of those expectations will depend on the moves this team makes in the offseason.
After what had to be one of the most profitable seasons in franchise history, the money should be there to make a couple key acquisitions over the summer. And the early indications I've got from people close to the front office suggest that the Senators should be in a position to spend some money this off season.
That will obviously require Eugene Melnyk to loosen the internal budget a little bit. Something you would hope he's prepared to do after the success of the last couple seasons.
Of course a lot of their spending will depend on what they do with their own free agents. Much like last off season, the most anticipated move will revolve around the Captain. Daniel Alfredsson is expected to take some time before making his official decision on retirement. The early indications I'm getting are that the organization is optimistic Alfredsson will be back for a final season.
When you consider the shortened schedule, his health and the fact that next season figures to be pretty exciting around these parts, it just makes sense for him to play one more year.
Now of course, his family will have a huge say in that final decision.
After that, there are a bunch of other free agents management will have to make decisions on before they start to look at external options. A quick look at the list of UFAs and RFAs can be found below.
UFAs
Daniel Alfredsson
Guillaume Latendresse
Peter Regin
Sergei Gonchar
Mike Lundin
Andre Benoit
Nathan Lawson
RFAs
Mike Hoffman
Erik Condra
Patrick Wiercioch
Stephane Da Costa
Corey Cowick
Mark Borowiecki
Dave Dziurzynski
Louie Caporusso
The Senators are back in Ottawa this morning for the annual locker clean out. That's always an interesting day as you get to hear what types of injuries players were playing through down the stretch.
Will update this post as the day moves alone.
Alfredsson says the biggest issue remains the off-season workout program. It requires a lot of dedication — and he’s not sure he has it.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) May 27, 2013
Karlsson says he did no further damage to his achilles by coming back this season. Hopes to be close to 100% healthy for training camp.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) May 27, 2013
Sergei Gonchar says he would like to play two more seasons in the NHL. And his preference is to stay here in Ottawa.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) May 27, 2013
