Game Seven.
The two greatest words in professional sports. Excruciating when you care about the result but when you can just sit back and watch, there’s nothing better.
And especially when it involves two of your biggest rivals.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs win tonight, the meltdown of that sad franchise will be delayed by a couple weeks and passionate Leaf fans will quietly delete three days worth of “trade everyone!” tweets. Plus, the Montreal Canadiens will lose!
But if the Montreal Canadiens win tonight and complete an improbable comeback from 3-1 down, we’ll see an unravelling of epic proportions in the Big Smoke. The fragile Leaf fan base and the rabid Toronto media will hit levels of angst we have never seen before. Nobody will be safe. It would be truly magnificent to watch.
It’s a win/win really.
So as we prepare for Game Seven, let’s try a Monday News and Notes except without news or notes.
-Uh the Draft Lottery is this week. Like, in two days. It felt like I spent the better part of six months counting down the days to last year’s lottery so it’s safe to say this one snuck up on me a little bit. As you’ll likely recall, the NHL Draft Lottery is a completely rigged process where the league hand-picks the team they want to have the first overall selection. The Ottawa Senators, who are due for some luck on the lottery front, enter Wednesday’s festivities with a 4.5% chance at landing first overall. As nice as it would be to steal that first overall pick, the last few years of Entry Drafts have brought me to a point where I don’t worry too much about the Draft. Not only am I confident in Ottawa’s Amateur Scouting to come away with a good player regardless but in general, it’s all a bit of a crap-shoot. And maybe more than ever this year, where there seems to very little consensus among the top ten. Let’s take that simulator for a spin anyway!
-The Artem Zub signing kicked off the off-season for Pierre Dorion and it sounds like a contract for another RFA defenceman may be next on the list. As Elliotte Friedman mentioned back in mid-May, the Senators are interested in getting Victor Mete locked up to a new deal and the sides have apparently had advanced talks on a contract extension. Mete was a great fit on the backend for the Senators down the stretch and is likely to push for a spot on the blueline again next season. Mete, who was stolen off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens, is coming off a one-year deal that saw him earn $735,000.
-Speaking of RFAs, Logan Brown will be an interesting player to watch this off-season. He’s coming off a disastrous season where he struggled to stay healthy and you get the sense that patience is wearing thing for both the player and the organization. Although according to Bruce Garrioch, the Senators do plan on qualifying Brown this summer so it’s not like they have given up on him completely. During his first appearance on The SensChirp Podcast, Bruce talked about rumours that Logan Brown’s preseason change in agent was made with the hopes of facilitating a trade out of Ottawa. Obviously that never materialized but had Brown been healthy last year, it’s entirely possible they would have moved him. At this point though, it seems unlikely there’s much of a market for Logan Brown so his best opportunity may ultimately be right here in Ottawa/Belleville.
-Speaking of Browns, Connor Brown is having a hell of a tournament for Canada at the World Championships in Latvia. While Team Canada has sputtered a little bit at times, Connor Brown has consistently been one of their most reliable players, putting up an impressive 9 points through the first six games of the tournament including a four assist night against Team Italy. Based on the way Connor Brown played with the Senators this past season, it not surprising to see him dominate in that tournament. It’s clear that Brown is playing with a ton of confidence right now.
-With all due respect to former Ottawa Senator Robin Lehner, what was he doing in the Vegas net for Game 1 of their second round series? Marc- Andre Fleury was coming off an incredible series against the Minnesota (1.71 GAA and .931 sv%) Wild and felt like a no-brainer to get the nod against the Avalanche. Although after watching the way Game 1 played out, maybe they were protecting Fleury from the inevitable? That Colorado team looks pretty close to unbeatable right now. As much as I liked both Robin Lehner and Mark Stone during their tenures in Ottawa, I will enjoy watching Vegas get humbled by that powerhouse Avs team.
-The Avalanche certainly haven’t missed a beat without Nazem Kadri. Which makes you wonder if they might consider moving him at some point this off-season. Of all the centres that have been mentioned as potential targets, Kadri makes the most sense for the Senators. DJ Smith knows him well from his time in Toronto and his contract, which includes a $2 million signing bonus, is more than affordable. Kadri has just one year left on his deal at a cap hit of $4.5 mil and a salary of $4 mil. When Pierre Dorion goes shopping for a centre this season, you can be certain he’ll make a call on Kadri.
