I would like to ask you how is the situation. Lehner showed he can be a good backup, but Bishop too. Anderson has an agreement still some years. So, whats happen, you will trade Lehner and draft a new goalie (Subban/Vasilyevski), or Lehner will play still year in AHL and if Bishop shows his qualities you will trade Anderson in the next of the season or ... is the another possibility? Thanks.
Auld is a UFA in the last yr of his contract, he will not be re-signed. Bishop has a one way contract for next season & will be the backup to Anderson. Lehner is only 20 yrs old & will have to prove that he can play an entire season in Bingo with a winning record. He has yet to do that, although he has played well in Ottawa with limited games & he did take Bingo to a Calder Cup. But he lacks consistency & needs to show that he can play at a high level every night, that could take another yr or two.
Depth is good. You don't trade a goalie at this point. A year from now might be a different story. While I consider Anderson to be a below average NHL starter he's the only goalie we've got who's proven anything at the NHL level. I'm actually hoping Bishop beats him out for the starters job next year because I think Anderson would be one hell of a backup and not really all that overpaid provided he plays 30-35 games.
Lehner has the highest ceiling of the three and he's much more likely to reach it if he spends another year or two at the AHL level playing tons of games. Lehner running back to Sweden is about as likely as me teaching my dogs to talk.
If Lehner is pissed, his agent needs to remind him about Jacob Markstrom, a much higher touted goalie, now 22 and is playing in the AHL. It would be a bit foolish to assume he would be handed a starting NHL job at the age of 20.
If they were in the west i would agree but in the east even with Lehner/Bishop they could be a bubble team.
Point is, we would still be significantly worse off if Anderson was gone and Lehner/Bishop was the full-time starter. People are saying that Lehner and Bishop are better than Anderson right now based on AHL stats and tiny NHL sample sizes.
It's pretty safe to say that Anderson has been the 3rd most important player on our team behind Spezza and Karlsson this season. It's easy to become infatuated with the potential of our young goalies, but Anderson has proven to be a steadying force over the course of an entire season.
Although it would take great patience, I would be absolutely fine with Lehner being the go to guy in Bingo throughout the duration of Anderson's contract.
I hope it never happens, but really all it would take for Lehner/Bishop to take over from Anderson is being out of the playoff race for one year. Anderson would be a great trade asset then.
I hope it never happens, but really all it would take for Lehner/Bishop to take over from Anderson is being out of the playoff race for one year. Anderson would be a great trade asset then.
The Sens could potentially be in that situation soon enough. This is a year that Ottawa was expected to be horrible but everything has seemed to go right for them. Not only has the team played well over what people thought they could, but other teams around the league have faltered badly, and Karlsson is having what could be a career year for him.
Alfredsson is having a bounce back year but he'll have to retire at some point and he is one of Ottawa's top six still at the age of 39. Then there is the fact that the defensive unit is going to need to be restructured soon enough with the departure of Gonchar and Kuba in the next few seasons, so this is by no means a finished product just yet.
I'm loving this season but I don't think we should be considering Ottawa a playoff team year in year out from now on just yet. This is still a rebuilding/retooling franchise that is going to be very good, but I don't think we'll see the team as a playoff lock like in years past until they start feeling the effect of the recent drafts.
Point is, we would still be significantly worse off if Anderson was gone and Lehner/Bishop was the full-time starter. People are saying that Lehner and Bishop are better than Anderson right now based on AHL stats and tiny NHL sample sizes.
It's pretty safe to say that Anderson has been the 3rd most important player on our team behind Spezza and Karlsson this season. It's easy to become infatuated with the potential of our young goalies, but Anderson has proven to be a steadying force over the course of an entire season.
They might be but if you look at the east next year there could be 6-8 teams in true rebuilds a couple others are bubble teams and the Pens & Bruins/Flyers might be the only elite teams
The Sens could potentially be in that situation soon enough. This is a year that Ottawa was expected to be horrible but everything has seemed to go right for them. Not only has the team played well over what people thought they could, but other teams around the league have faltered badly, and Karlsson is having what could be a career year for him.
Alfredsson is having a bounce back year but he'll have to retire at some point and he is one of Ottawa's top six still at the age of 39. Then there is the fact that the defensive unit is going to need to be restructured soon enough with the departure of Gonchar and Kuba in the next few seasons, so this is by no means a finished product just yet.
I'm loving this season but I don't think we should be considering Ottawa a playoff team year in year out from now on just yet. This is still a rebuilding/retooling franchise that is going to be very good, but I don't think we'll see the team as a playoff lock like in years past until they start feeling the effect of the recent drafts.
I disagree. It might have been a 3 year plan but it has come together in one year. Alfredsson is likely to be here next season and if he is this is a playoff team.
People talk like this a career year for Karlsson but I don't know why anyone would think that. He still gets better every month in an upward trajectory, I don't see any reason to think he won't be as good as he has been this season in the future, likely he keeps getting better and better for a few more years.
This team keeps getting better and better. We have so much depth at forward we have like 16 NHLers or something and we have a multitude of prospects coming up soon like Silfverberg and Zibanejad. The fact we have so many Klinkhammer/Daugavins/O'Brien's ready and coming up shows we don't have to worry about depth or injuries too much at forward, as long as Spezza is healthy and in the lineup and Alfie next season we are fine at forward.
At defence we need to resign Kuba or replace him with as good of a player but we are first by a distinct margin in points from the back end. Our defence is not perfect and we need to restructure it if Kuba leaves, and when Gonchar leaves the next year but as is... they produce lots of points, most in the NHL. We don't have depth on defence or young guys pushing the existing D-Men and Gilroy is also a UFA but really this is now the only hole to fill for Murray so you have to think he will find a way to improve the defence in the offseason.
In goal we have the solution. Anderson was a very, very decent starter, best the Sens have had since Hasek and perhaps the best we have every had aside from a half year of Hasek. He might not be the best in the NHL but he has the ability to start almost every game and win the games he is supposed to and steal a few and not lose his confidence. His numbers do not do him justice considering the style the Senators play he gets far more than the average number of odd man scoring chances against then most NHL goalies. He should not be jettisonned to make room for Lehner or Bishop any time soon. He likely sticks here through his contract. Lehner and Bishop both look like great goalies. So we have 3 decent goalies and that is something we have never had before.
This is a playoff team next season. It would be crazy to not try to get to the playoffs or try to be top 4 in the East next season. Murray needs to remake the defence some in the off season to accomplish this but the forwards are set (in terms of who we have will fight for jobs next season) the goalies are set. The coach is set. The style of play is set. The wild cards are long injuries to Spezza, Karlsson or Alfredsson. If that doesn't happen I don't see why we would not be a playoff team next season
Don't get me wrong when I say "career year" for Karlsson. I'm mostly speaking points wise as I don't think he'll put up 70-80 points a year every season. Right now all the offense goes through him and Spezza, but as the team builds in scoring depth that will change dropping his numbers. I'm not saying he is going to regress as a player as I'd still see him putting up around 50 points a year. I just think his numbers will level out a bit as he becomes better defensively. I'll be more than pleased if he can be a PPG defenseman consistently, but you have to admit that is pretty rare.
Draft day 2013, we trade Bishop's rights for what we paid (2nd) and Lehner becomes the backup. Then, in 2014, we let Anderson go via UFA, and boom! Lehner is the starter and is finally old.enough to do so.
I don't see how you could be sure of that, afterall, Anderson's goal against isn't great and Bishop has been the best goalie in the AHL.
Anderson's GAA is heavily influenced by the fact that Ottawa gives up the 2nd most amount of shots in the league. He's done a heck of a job keeping this team in games, while playing almost every game when he got hurt (56/61 at that point). A lot of starting goalies wouldn't have been able to keep us in a playoff position behind our porous defense or with Anderson's workload.
Being great in the AHL means that you might be a good enough to be a back-up goalie in the NHL. Prove you're a great back-up and then we can talk about challenging for a starting job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
I disagree. It might have been a 3 year plan but it has come together in one year. Alfredsson is likely to be here next season and if he is this is a playoff team.
39yo Alfie is 4th in scoring and 3rd in ice time amongst forwards (8th on the team).
37yo Gonchar in 3rd in ice time on the team and 6th in scoring.
35yo Kuba is 2nd in ice time and 8th in scoring.
Three players over the age of 35yo in the top-8 in ice time and scoring on the team has a lot of downside potential. Right now, we don't have the players needed to replace them any time soon (if at all). Yet, we can't to lose them or have them decline. Unfortunately, that's out of the clubs hands and both are going to happen over the next 13 months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
People talk like this a career year for Karlsson but I don't know why anyone would think that. He still gets better every month in an upward trajectory, I don't see any reason to think he won't be as good as he has been this season in the future, likely he keeps getting better and better for a few more years.
Spezza and Karlsson are in the top-10 in NHL scoring and have combined to miss 1 game this season. That's the first time that Spezza has cracked the top-25 in scoring in 4 years and the first time a D-man has cracked the top-10 in 20 years or so. They aren't going to perform to this level every year, especially not without much help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
This team keeps getting better and better. We have so much depth at forward we have like 16 NHLers or something and we have a multitude of prospects coming up soon like Silfverberg and Zibanejad. The fact we have so many Klinkhammer/Daugavins/O'Brien's ready and coming up shows we don't have to worry about depth or injuries too much at forward, as long as Spezza is healthy and in the lineup and Alfie next season we are fine at forward.
At defence we need to resign Kuba or replace him with as good of a player but we are first by a distinct margin in points from the back end. Our defence is not perfect and we need to restructure it if Kuba leaves, and when Gonchar leaves the next year but as is... they produce lots of points, most in the NHL. We don't have depth on defence or young guys pushing the existing D-Men and Gilroy is also a UFA but really this is now the only hole to fill for Murray so you have to think he will find a way to improve the defence in the offseason.
We're loaded with depth, I agree. We don't need depth though, we need top end talent very badly to even remain a bubble team for the next 2 years. We need top-6 forwards and top-4 D-men to be able to handle the decline and eventual losses of Alfie, Gonchar and Kuba.
On defense, we need to fill two huge spots to replace our #2 and #3 D-men. Karlsson is a top-4 D-man and will be for the foreseeable future. Cowen has been up and down this season, sophomore slumps do exist and if he takes anything close to the rocky path that Schenn has; we're screwed! Phillips can and probably will be moved back up into the top-4 at some point, but he just turned 34yo himself; so that's only a temporary fix.
1 x Top-4 D-man.
A year of Gonchar.
2 x 'Maybe's" from season to season in Cowen & Phillips and while one improves, the other declines... so we never really gain.
No prospects anywhere near the top-4, if we even have more prospects capable of becoming top-4 D-men.
-------------------------------------------
Up front is no better.
Our primary scoring has been Spezza, Michalek and Alfie. Plus, they've pretty much been responsible for us having any secondary scoring whatsoever.
Our secondary scoring has been: Greening - who at this point looks like he might be better suited to a bottom-6 role seeing as how he's only managed 31 points in 71 games playing mostly on the top line. Turris - who's at half a point a game (with Ottawa) despite playing with Alfie for just about every second of ice time he's received. He's nowhere near being able to carry a line, seeing as how he's being carried now and isn't producing a whol heck of a lot. Foligno - who's had a great year and is the only one of the 3 who hasn't been carried by the primary scorers all season long. However, he's proving that he might be a good complimentary 2nd liner... not a guy who would have been a part of Jacques Martin's duos.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
In goal we have the solution. Anderson was a very, very decent starter, best the Sens have had since Hasek and perhaps the best we have every had aside from a half year of Hasek. He might not be the best in the NHL but he has the ability to start almost every game and win the games he is supposed to and steal a few and not lose his confidence. His numbers do not do him justice considering the style the Senators play he gets far more than the average number of odd man scoring chances against then most NHL goalies. He should not be jettisonned to make room for Lehner or Bishop any time soon. He likely sticks here through his contract. Lehner and Bishop both look like great goalies. So we have 3 decent goalies and that is something we have never had before.
Agreed. I've been thinking that this is the 19th season of the Sens return and Anderson's performance this season is probably amongst the top 1/3 of the goalie-seasons we've ever gotten.
Right up there with:
- Hasek's 1 season.
- Emery during the Cup finals year from start to finish.
- Lalime's two best seasons.
- Tugnutt's big season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
This is a playoff team next season. It would be crazy to not try to get to the playoffs or try to be top 4 in the East next season. Murray needs to remake the defence some in the off season to accomplish this but the forwards are set (in terms of who we have will fight for jobs next season) the goalies are set. The coach is set. The style of play is set. The wild cards are long injuries to Spezza, Karlsson or Alfredsson. If that doesn't happen I don't see why we would not be a playoff team next season
I'm sure that we'll have teams put together, but this team isn't anywhere near a sure thing for the playoffs over the next few seasons. We would need a couple more big breakthrough performances to imagine that.
The Sens could potentially be in that situation soon enough. This is a year that Ottawa was expected to be horrible but everything has seemed to go right for them. Not only has the team played well over what people thought they could, but other teams around the league have faltered badly, and Karlsson is having what could be a career year for him.
Alfredsson is having a bounce back year but he'll have to retire at some point and he is one of Ottawa's top six still at the age of 39. Then there is the fact that the defensive unit is going to need to be restructured soon enough with the departure of Gonchar and Kuba in the next few seasons, so this is by no means a finished product just yet.
I'm loving this season but I don't think we should be considering Ottawa a playoff team year in year out from now on just yet. This is still a rebuilding/retooling franchise that is going to be very good, but I don't think we'll see the team as a playoff lock like in years past until they start feeling the effect of the recent drafts.
Are we a top 3 D away from being a regular playoff team?
Karlsson, Cowen, Kuba (hopefully resigned for the next 2 years), Mister X,
Phillips, Gonchar, Gilroy, others
We got lucky this year, we didn't get too many players gone with extended injuries.
We need to replace Gonchar next year and Kuba within 2.
Always like to read your thoughts Trent. well presented as usual.
I still wonder if Murray will pull some kind of deal to add to the depth of our D. I has to know it is now an issue.
I think he either targets a UFA (Suter) or makes a trade for a guy he wants. We almost have too much depth at the forward position at the expense of the back end.
Would a package of DaCosta/Petersson, Butler and Puempel get us a Gormley, Fowler, Blum type of return (young and lots of upside) from a team flush with young D prospects. If yes I'd do it.
We know that Silfverberg and Zibanejad will be on this team next year, so something has to give in the forward ranks. Binghamton will be stocked with Prince, Pageau, Stone et al in the forward positions so they are set as well.
Our goaltending has not been this deep (ever?) so I really see fixing the D as an area Murray will target and address.
We're loaded with depth, I agree. We don't need depth though, we need top end talent very badly to even remain a bubble team for the next 2 years. We need top-6 forwards and top-4 D-men to be able to handle the decline and eventual losses of Alfie, Gonchar and Kuba.
A very good post trent, and I agree.
Depth is a funny term. When Jacques martin used to talk about it, that's because he was rolling a 60-point forward like Martin Havlat on the third line. This team's Havlat equivalent is probably Nick Foligno since, as you mentioned, he's the guy who has been able to produce offensively without playing with our elite guys.
Having listened to Leaf fans brag incessantly about 'depth' in their system lately, the word has to be taken with a grain of salt. All the Klinkhammers and Condras in the world are worthless if your team struggles to find elite players. This year's Leafs are a perfect case study. They have one elite player in Kessel and a glut of middling players. It's a spectrum, to be sure - Phaneuf and Grabovski are better pieces than Lombardi and Schenn - but none of them are elite pieces IMO. Give them our top pieces at D and goaltending (Karlsson and Anderson) and things would look very different.
This is the reason - to tie this in to my post in another thread - that the Turris trade is is much more important to this team than getting a scrub like Klinkhammer for a 7th rounder. We got a chance to add young high-end talent at a forward position while sacrificing a player that may turn out very well but wasn't necessary for us. Is it a risk? A gamble? Yes. Is Turris going to be worth it? I don't know, but in acquiring him Murray went a lot further toward addressing a long-term organizational need than he did when he added another depth forward to a team that is already rich with them. Turris has struggled this year but has also shown signs of real top-6 talent. Give him a full summer of development and a real training camp with our organization and we'll see how he fairs next season.
I think Murray will almost certainly look to replace one of Gonchar/Kuba with another veteran through the UFA route at some point. The other top-4 spot will depend on how the internal development of our few remaining D prospects goes (Borowiecki, Wiercioch et al). As for our ageless Captain, Murray may go the UFA route there as well, or he may decide to wait and see if any of our own glut of forward prospects can step into that kind of role.
All things considered I'm pretty optimistic because I feel like we have a #1 goaltender, #1C and top pairing defenseman for the foreseeable future, and a lot of options at the forward and goaltending positions going forward. Our defense is a little more precarious with Kuba and Gonchar slowing down. Obviously Murray will have to navigate these departures carefully. Injuries happen and will give us trouble. Playoffs are not a certainty, but that's true of a lot of teams these days. San Jose, Los Angeles, Buffalo and Tampa Bay were all supposed to be playoff teams this season and right now all are on the outside looking in. So while it's true to suggest that we may miss the playoffs, it's not the end of the world to say so.
Always like to read your thoughts Trent. well presented as usual.
I still wonder if Murray will pull some kind of deal to add to the depth of our D. I has to know it is now an issue.
I think he either targets a UFA (Suter) or makes a trade for a guy he wants. We almost have too much depth at the forward position at the expense of the back end.
I think we need a D-man in his prime, preferably under 30. These guys stick out as UFA's under 30 who might be able to play top-4 roles;
27yo Suter
27yo Carle
28yo Wideman
27yo Grossman
29yo Colaiacovo
And because we're building around offensive Karlsson and defensive Cowen... it doesn't matter what specialty the new guy is (offensive, defensive, 2-way).
Quote:
Originally Posted by operasen
Would a package of DaCosta/Petersson, Butler and Puempel get us a Gormley, Fowler, Blum type of return (young and lots of upside) from a team flush with young D prospects. If yes I'd do it.
Our D-men are really young and inexperienced or really old and about to retire/become UFA's. I'd prefer a proven D-man in his prime to help solidify the defense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by operasen
We know that Silfverberg and Zibanejad will be on this team next year, so something has to give in the forward ranks. Binghamton will be stocked with Prince, Pageau, Stone et al in the forward positions so they are set as well.
Our goaltending has not been this deep (ever?) so I really see fixing the D as an area Murray will target and address.
Prince and Pageau were just drafted last season. They may yet have another season of junior eligibility.
As for the NHL forwards. Let Konopka and Winchester go, then let Silfverberg and Zibanejad jockey for position against Foligno, Turris, Greening, Regin, Smith, Condra, Neil, Butler, Daugavins, O'Brien, Klinkhammer, etc. We need players to win those 2nd line jobs and perform in those secondary scoring roles. The losers of those competitions will simply be pushed down into roles that they are more suited for.
We need to not be obssessed with age. Kuba was easily our second best D this season and would be a top 4 on any team in the NHL getting 20+ mins a game. We resign him... it is a no brainer. Then we try to sign another UFA D-Man that is quality, if we don't find him we resign Gilroy or some similar cheap 6th D.
Look at St. Louis. They don't have ANY top forwards really, at least offensive ones, and they are first overall. They have a killer defence and a ton of forward depth. We don't need to really worry about a top 6 forward as long as Alfie comes back next season. Spezza, Michalek and Alfredsson are top forwards, next year we will have Regin, Silfverberg and Zibanejad coming up and what looks like a really deep and quality bottom 6 with O'Brien emerging we seem to have a two good "3rd lines" regardless of who is on them. And we have a bunch of boom or bust forward prospects that could emerge as stars or not in addition to blue chippers.
Sens fans are spoiled by the embarrassment of riches we had not long ago with Fisher and Havlat on a 3rd line and Kelly and Vermette on the 4th. That can't happen anymore. We have quality and quantity in forwards.
Goaltending is set with 3 of them. Forwards are set in terms of who
Draft day 2013, we trade Bishop's rights for what we paid (2nd) and Lehner becomes the backup. Then, in 2014, we let Anderson go via UFA, and boom! Lehner is the starter and is finally old.enough to do so.
It's not rocket science...
And what if Lehner starts to suck and Bishop is good?
I still think that we already have a replacement for Gonchar on defence in Gilroy, he has 18 pts this yr which isn't too bad & next yr I expect he will get better & produce more pts. I also expect that Murray will either sign a UFA defenceman this summer or make a deal at some point before next yr's deadline to shore up the defence. Gilroy may be able to make up for Kuba's pts next season & maybe Borocop adds some pts from the backend. There are options available & there are plenty of assets to move, if needed in a trade. IMO Murray will improve the defence at some point as he has every other area on this team that has needed it so far. Not too worried about it.
We need to not be obssessed with age. Kuba was easily our second best D this season and would be a top 4 on any team in the NHL getting 20+ mins a game. We resign him... it is a no brainer. Then we try to sign another UFA D-Man that is quality, if we don't find him we resign Gilroy or some similar cheap 6th D.
21yo Karlsson
35yo Kuba
37yo Gonchar
21yo Cowen
34yo Phillips
Each additional older D-man that we're counting on so heavily brings an increased risk of decline and/or a little more injury risk. I've been happy with Kuba's 4 years. It sucks that he got hurt for a 1.5 years in between, but I've liked his contributions. However, we shouldn't take on that much downside risk with 3 very old D-men and nobody any where near ready to replace them. If we have the option of signing a 27yo Carle who could grow with the young D-men, you do it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
Look at St. Louis. They don't have ANY top forwards really, at least offensive ones, and they are first overall. They have a killer defence and a ton of forward depth. We don't need to really worry about a top 6 forward as long as Alfie comes back next season. Spezza, Michalek and Alfredsson are top forwards, next year we will have Regin, Silfverberg and Zibanejad coming up and what looks like a really deep and quality bottom 6 with O'Brien emerging we seem to have a two good "3rd lines" regardless of who is on them. And we have a bunch of boom or bust forward prospects that could emerge as stars or not in addition to blue chippers.
St.Louis is playing a tight defensive shell for Hitchcock's first year for as long as they will listen to him. Before that, their plethora of 2nd liners were missing the playoffs.
To be a contender, we need better offensive forwards.
Roughly, we'll need two forwards to drive the offense: Spezza and somebody else.
Two solid players who can contribute: Michalek and somebody else.
Three complimentary players to help fill out the offensive lines and give us some offensive depth: Foligno, Turris and somebody else.
And that's a minimum. In any given year, it could take better talent to win.
We'll likely develop another complimentary player or two next season. But we will have difficultly producing another Spezza and another Michalek.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sens Rule
Sens fans are spoiled by the embarrassment of riches we had not long ago with Fisher and Havlat on a 3rd line and Kelly and Vermette on the 4th. That can't happen anymore. We have quality and quantity in forwards.
Kelly and Vermette were on the 4th line for 1 season. Fisher was productive as a 3rd liner for 1 season. Havlat was the only one who spent a long time on the lines you're stating, but his PP time increased substantially from season to season.
Besides, I'm hardly arguing for that kind of depth. I just want us to be able to confidently be able to fill our top-6 and we aren't able to do that right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragorn
I still think that we already have a replacement for Gonchar on defence in Gilroy, he has 18 pts this yr which isn't too bad & next yr I expect he will get better & produce more pts. I also expect that Murray will either sign a UFA defenceman this summer or make a deal at some point before next yr's deadline to shore up the defence. Gilroy may be able to make up for Kuba's pts next season & maybe Borocop adds some pts from the backend. There are options available & there are plenty of assets to move, if needed in a trade. IMO Murray will improve the defence at some point as he has every other area on this team that has needed it so far. Not too worried about it.
We don't only need points, we need key performers. You're talking about our #2 & 3 D-men who play 24 & 22 mins a night in all situations. Gilroy and Borowiecki will probably never become anywhere near as good as they are... and certainly not within the next 2 seasons.
We don't only need points, we need key performers. You're talking about our #2 & 3 D-men who play 24 & 22 mins a night in all situations. Gilroy and Borowiecki will probably never become anywhere near as good as they are... and certainly not within the next 2 seasons.[/QUOTE]
I never said Gilroy or Boroweicki will be anywwhere near as good as them. I have said though that I think Gilroy was brought in to replace Gonchar as this team's 2nd PP unit right shooting defenceman once Gonchar's contract is up. Until then he can learn from Gonchar, Karlsson & Phillips. I think he may be able to replace Kuba's points next season & hopefully continue to be better as he is entering his prime but if Murray can get a better defenceman than he should.
I agree we need key performers but after our top 4 on defence we don't have many & until we do Gilroy will have to do, he's better than what we have in the organization right now. At 35 yrs old it makes no sense to re-sign Kuba on a rebuilding team & I think Murray stays with the program of rebuilding & replaces Kuba this yr, Gonchar next yr & Phillips the yr after either internally, UFA or through trade.
We probably have to thank Lehner and Bishop. Playoff spot wasn't guaranteed and we had to trust unproven players but they put on a clinic.
Something like .930 for the two of them. Our season could have really gone south. Feel good man. I think that, under MacLean, the feeling that "everything that could go wrong, will" is finally gone.
