Murray is restocking the farm.
September 4th, 2008 by Gerald NortonA common refrain over the past few seasons has been that Bingo, the Ottawa AHL affiliate, has been all but neglected by the Senators. It has become so bad, that until these recent moves, there were rumours the ownership of Binghamton were ready to revolt and seek a new NHL affiliation.
Over the summer, things have changed for the Bingo line-up, and for the better. In are Bell, Shannon, and now Brad Isbister. Soon to be arriving will likely be Kaspars Daugevins, Peter Regin, and a full season of Tomas Kudelka.
This is where I see the recent Isbister aquisition destined to play, baring any injuries. And that is the entire genus behind the recent trade and signing, to have some NHL capable players available for call-up, that can also contribute to the club by fostering a good development environment in the AHL. Brad is perfectly suited to this role, and when an injury occurs in the bottom six, he’ll be the #1 man on deck, ready to resume his crash and bang role in the NHL.
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12 Responses to “Murray is restocking the farm.”
By Oman on Sep 5, 2008
A very astute and concise observation. When you see so many transactions with names like Isbister, and relative unknowns like, Waugh, O’Keefe, and Mauldin, you have to wonder if Murray is just scraping the barrel, or shuffling the deck chairs on the titanic. But from a talent development point of view and some injury insurance it makes a lot more sense. I’m sure having more NHL caliber players in the lineup for Bingo is good for morale and overall talent development of drafted prospects. Having a winning farm team should be a good indicator of an NHL team’s talent development health.
By thewordbird on Sep 7, 2008
I believe that in a system where you weave young ‘well-drafted’ players into a system where the farm team is competitive, it only serves to whet the youngster’s palate for the bigs.
If and when Isbister is called up when McAmmond or the like are hurt - then kids like Nikulin, Regin, Daugavins will be spurred on as they can see that their opportunities are not long off. Being around professional athletes fosters a professional attitude as well G-man.
Bell is hardly washed up, albeit a low-minute defensive dman at 25.
Also, I believe it was Burke who inherited Murray’s team and then added superstars in pronger and Niedermayer. Wow, that is offline.
I count Regin, Daugavins, Zubov, Elliott, Nikulin and karlsson as legitimate prospects with kids like Ben Blood, Erik Condra, Ruslan Bashkirov, and O’Brien having outside shots. There are plenty more to stock up with. Sure , the only ‘no misses’ are Brian Lee and Karlsson on defense.
By Gerald Norton on Sep 7, 2008
G-man
Do you understand how the AHL works? It is made up of 4 types of players;
1. NHL identified Prospect - i.e Lee, Foligno, Bass, Nikulin, Zubov, Eliot.
2. Fringe NHL’ers - Bell, Shannon, Isbister.
3. AHL Stars
4. Fringe AHL players.
Since Muckler took over, the number of group 2 players was being eradicated. This, in many ways, is the core of a good AHL team, because these players provide proven depth, leadership for the group 1 players, and above average AHL talent. Go to the Bingo site, and you’ll see the fans are very hapy with what Murray has done.
As for “trading away any depth the team has”, well apart from a nice accusation, care to elaborate? Because, without anything more then a baseless platitude, it smacks more of bashing then analysis.
Restocking the farm team DOES NOT mean bringing in “young kids”, to say that is proof positive you have no experience with the minor pro leagues. Look at the best teams, they are made up of mostly group 2 and 3 players, not group 1. Especially now with the new CBA, where young talent is often brought up to the NHL to take advantage of their entry level contracts.
Feel free to elaborate with facts to support your views, I’m more then willing to consider any analysis you care to present. But I seriously doubt you have much of substance to contribute…prove me wrong.
By Gerald Norton on Sep 7, 2008
When did I call you an idiot? I merely asked you to defend your opinions, is that unreasonable? Will they make the post season (Bingo)? YES! There. No problem saying it.
When did I say Bingo was being pushed over the top? What I said was that for the last few years Bingo had no bubble NHL’ers, and now they have 3, and that’s an improvement.
It is unlikely Zubov, or Nikulin will be leaving the AHL. Neither Bass nor Foligno were major contributors to the B Sens last season, check the numbers.
Eaves had no role on this team, already the Sens are over stocked with bottom six players. Moving his contract allowed the Senators to re-sign Vermette and Kelly, the players they wanted.
Corvo asked for the trade, and was moved primarily for this reason. With him off of the books Ottawa was able to bring on Kuba.
The trades in no way hampered the Sens depth, as the players that left (Commodore, Stillman) were strategically replaced.
Sens finished 7th, not 8th, and finished 5th the year they went to the Cup, finishing high in the standings is secondary to finishing in the post season.
One of the key issues with the Sens has been their lack of experienced leadership, that has now been adressed, without corrupting the young core (Spezza, Heatley, Fisher, Kelly, Vermette).
OTT is 15th oldest in the league, at 28.8, this is old?
BTW, average age of DET last season, 31.8, so what was your point again?
The Schaefer trade…you mean the guy making 2.1M/yr, for 3 yrs, to play a 3rd/4th line role? Yeah, Murray got killed on that one.
How exactly was Mesz a victim of playing with Redden? They were both awful, independently. Neither improved with new partners.
Ottawa destroyed TBL in that trade, absolutely ate them alive. Watch and see, Mesz will not improve playing on that team as the go to guy, and they’ll have 6YRS to enjoy the fishing with Mesz show.
Opinions without something to back them up are just guesses and rants.
By Oman on Sep 7, 2008
Really? “There are things called opions”? What are they exactly and how do they contribute to the assessment of an NHL farm team or the performance of an NHL GM? It all sounds so fascinating…
I assure you G-man, you are not being kidded. This blog is definitely for real, and Gerald knows his stuff. My only contention remains that another depth scorer of the Cory Stillman type is needed to spread out scoring and make the Sens a serious contender. Without this, I think they’ll need a breakout year from one or two of their young guys.
Oh, and I’m not entirely sure why, but I always liked Peter Schaefer. He was certainly more productive than Donovan and seemed to have more impact on the ice. But that might just be my “opion”… I guess Murray saved money on the deal?
Keep up the good work Gerald!
By Gerald Norton on Sep 7, 2008
Don’t forget Shaef requested the trade.
I too would like to see another top six, and it may still happen!
By Gerald Norton on Sep 7, 2008
Correction, by the NHLnumbers site, Ottawa is 20th oldest, and .380 yrs above league average. To me, that’s a bright note, not a negative. They’ve kept the bulk of the young talent, and added solid experience, a well balanced team now.
As for the older players, you’ll see I said experienced, not better leaders. The knock was that the young players on the Sens lacked experience, and hampered the team in getting through rough patches. They’ve been replaced.
I never once said Eaves was,is, or will be a wash out, I think he’s a great kid, I know him personally, and trust me, I think he’s awesome. BUT, going back to experience, the team wanted to add more of it, and Eaves role was being filled by cheaper players (Foligno, Bass, Donnovan), that allowed them to bring in the more experienced guys.
Eliminating cap space, is ext best thing to getting young talent in a trade, and young talent (because of their salary) comes at a huge premium (this is what makes Picard such a steal). The fact we do not have Stillman or Commodore (two players that didn’t do much here) is a bonus, and allows for roster flexibility.
I never said Corvo sucked either, just that he wanted out, and that has got to be considered when evaluating him as a player on the sens roster.
As for Mesz, read my blog, I’m not a Mesz hater, but I am saying, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mesz will stumble in TB, defensively. He may light it up (a bit), but he will not be a #1 all around Dman, and that is how he’s being paid. He will struggle, and, being a money player, eventually start mailing it in. He should have stayed here, he would have developed far more quickly, and probably reached a higher level of performance, and then gotten his pay day…but he took the quick cash, from a couple of “cowboys” playing fantasy GM.
Murray tried to trade Gerbs, a lot, there were no takers, I mean, nothing, not even for picks. Nobody wanted his salary. The only offer was for Cloutier…like I said, no offers.
By Oman on Sep 8, 2008
Nice.
By Gerald Norton on Sep 8, 2008
G-man, first off, why are you so angry? Dude, it’s a blog…about hockey. I’d hate to talk politics, or religion. you’d be damn near apoplectic!
I do not have a “love in” with Murray, but, after the moves of some GM’s over the course of his tenure, I do feel he has made some very good choices, and some bad choices.
The bad?
1. Paddock. It has so rarely been a good move to bring in an assistant as head coach, that this move was a rookie mistake, and totally blew up in his face.
2. Emery. As the coach, he new what Emery was like, and should have known the risk. If he didn’t, he was incompetent, if he did, he took a gamble, and lost. BUT, he was able to get out of the deal for a fraction of the ususal cost, maybe that was luck, maybe it was strategic mitigation of the risk, who knows?
Fisher. I think he’s over paid, and is now being forced into a #2 centre role he has yet to prove he is. Don’t get me wrong, I have a tonne of respect for Fisher, but not his 4.2M dollar contract. IMO, he’s a 3.5M dollar player.
Robitaille. I never lied this guys game, and found his mere presence on the roster kept him in the line-up ahead of some younger talent that could probably played as well, or at least developed more quickly by playing full time in the NHL (Foligno).
I’ve never slagged a layer who was traded, just pointed out what I feel is the gap between their performance and salary (Shaefer, Meszaros), or desire to play in Ottawa (Corvo, Shaefer). Eaves was an exception, he has a very fair new contract, and will be a solid NHL’er, but is by no means irreplaceable, and so getting out from under Corvo’s contract (which is also very reasonable) allowed Ottawa more roster flexibility. Corvo, his wanting to leave not withstanding, was not the type of player (mentally) this club needs.
I’m not prepared however, to concede Murray has made mistakes, simply because your “opinion” is that he has. Basically, you’ve challenged me to agree with you, or admit to being a homer. I’m not sure if such crass and autocratic statements get you somewhere with the crowd you hang with, but such behaviour among my peers would get me ridiculed, then dismissed.
As I said, defend your opinions, then we can discuss them, but the bulwarism is neither constructive, nor welcome.
By Oman on Sep 8, 2008
Ok, I have brought out my calculator now and have determined that at a few thousand dimes a dozen, every 12 of these “verterns” likely costs somewhere between $200 and $300, or between $16 and $25 each. Still a pretty good deal for Murray I would say, especially if they can help develop some prospects down in Bingo.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist the opportunity to lighten the tone a bit.)
Re. Fisher: sadly I have to agree, but if he can find more of a scoring touch and avoid injury, his salary will be a bargain. He’s got everything else going for him. The kid is a force of nature.
GO SENS!
By Gerald Norton on Sep 9, 2008
Oman, I truly do like Fisher,it’s only his contract that bothers me. He may still earn it, but time is running out. That being said, I’m glad he’s on the Sens, even at that salary, then on an opposing team, even at that salary, whatever that means…
By Channon on Oct 28, 2008
Keep up the good work.