After a stretch of like seven months without Sens news of any kind, the last couple weeks have been pretty hectic.
We’ve gone from a period where an interesting tweet would classify as Sens news to what has felt like a transaction a day for nearly two weeks straight.
In that time, the Senators have added a franchise forward, a top pairing defenceman, a two-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender and a new top line right winger. Pierre Dorion has been one of the league’s busiest General Managers.
And he may not be done yet.
As we settle in for another week full of rumours, signings and maybe a podcast episode somewhere along the way, let’s do this Monday right with a little news and notes.
-The Ottawa Senators have been busy locking up their restricted free agents over the last couple weeks and on Friday it was Rudolfs Balcers turn as the Senators signed Balcers to a one-year two-way contract. It goes without saying but this is a big year for the now 23-year old Balcers. It certainly feels like he is one of those guys right on the bubble heading into Training Camp in a couple months. Balcers has shown that he can dominate at the AHL level but it has yet to translate in the NHL. As Dorion put it in last week’s news release, Balcers has a chance to be a “full-time player in Ottawa” but based on the team’s depth chart right now, it seems likely it would be in a bottom-six role. Not ideal for a player of Balcer’s skill-level but there may not be any other openings. On Monday morning, the Senators announced that Balcers has been loaned to the Stavanger Oilers of the Norwegian GET-ligaen.
-The Senators also locked up Joey Daccord over the weekend, signing him to a three-year deal that’s a two-way contract in the first two years before switching to a one-way contract in year three. It’s an interesting structure that sends a pretty strong signal to Daccord that they see him as part of the long-term vision here in Ottawa. With so many other young goalies in the system it certainly doesn’t mean an NHL job is a lock in year three but it does provide Daccord with a little bit of certainty in the next few seasons. Daccord put up a 2.61 GAA and a .915 sv% in Belleville last season.
-If you aren’t already, I highly recommend following @SensProspects on Twitter. With members of the Ottawa Senators already in action around the globe, his account is a great way to keep tabs on uhh Sens Prospects. Case and point- if you read any of his tweets over the last week or so, you would know that Vitaly Abramov is running amuck in Finland right now. He’s two games into his season with Jukurit and has four goals already, including a couple highlight reel efforts. Abramov seems to get lost in the shuffle a bit when discussing Ottawa’s system but he looks like a guy ready to force his way onto the NHL roster in the very near future.
-Late on Sunday, RFA forward JC Beaudin accepted his qualifying offer of a one-year, two-way contract. He gets $700,000 in the NHL and $80,000 in the American Hockey League. Beaudin became an unexpected favourite in Ottawa last year, appearing in 22 games at the NHL level which is about 22 more than anyone would have expected. He had just one point but was generally viewed as a reliable bottom-six forward. Not sure that same roster spot will be available to him this coming season though with so many other young players pushing for spots.
-Cody Ceci plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins now.
-The most important item on this week’s To Do list, outside of trading for Steven Stamkos I guess (?), is the looming arbitration hearing for Connor Brown. Brown was one of Ottawa’s most reliable forwards last year and should be in line for a pretty significant raise although to this point, the two sides haven’t been able to agree on a long-term extension. Brown’s hearing is scheduled for Thursday but it does sound like they are trying to get something done before that hearing. Christian Jaros has his hearing scheduled for November 7th and Chris Tierney’s in on November 8th.
