BALCERS' `DYNAMIC TALENT' EXCITES SENATORS
Winger overcame severe knee injury to flash scoring touch while in AHL
There is no rest for the weary.
A day after signing unrestricted free agent winger Evgenii Dadonov to a three-year, US$15 million deal, the Ottawa Senators' general manager was back at his desk with more work to get done to prepare for whenever the 2020-21 campaign does get underway.
Just for good measure, GM Pierre Dorion struck another name off the club's group of restricted free agents when he signed winger Rudolfs Balcers to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $735,000 in the NHL and $70,000 with the club's AHL affiliate in Belleville next season.
The 23-year-old Balcers missed the early part of last season after he suffered a devastating knee injury that required surgery on his MCL during an exhibition game against the Vancouver Canucks. He started the year in
Belleville and suited up for 15 games with the Senators through the course of the year.
Acquired in the deal that sent Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in September 2018, Balcers will push for a spot in Ottawa. He was fifth in Belleville scoring with 16 goals and 36 points in 33 games.
“Despite a discouraging injury at the start to the year, Rudolfs battled back to become an important contributor to Belleville's success last season,” said Dorion.
“He's a dynamic player with a great release, who's quick and who has good skill. We're confident that he'll set out to prove that he's overcome last year's setback to be a full-time player in Ottawa.”
With Balcers under contract, the Senators still have RFA fowards Connor Brown, Chris Tierney, Filip Chlapik and J.C. Beaudin left to sign, along with defenceman Christian Jaros and goalie Joey Daccord.
Brown, Tierney and Jaros all have rights to arbitration. Brown is scheduled for Thursday and talks are ongoing between the two sides. Jaros is scheduled for Nov. 7 and Tierney for Nov. 8.
Winger Nick Paul filed but signed a two-year, $2.7-million deal Tuesday so there's still plenty of time for Dorion to get deals done.
ADDING TOUGHNESS IMPORTANT
Dorion has stated he wants this team to be competitive next season and he's made steps in the right direction.
The biggest move was acquiring goaltender Matt Murray from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Getting Murray signed to a four-year, $25-million extension was a message to the players and fan base this organization isn't happy with its 30th place finish last season and the decision to bring in Evgenii Dadonov is another step in the right direction, but Dorion hasn't stopped there.
Former NHL GM Brian Burke, an analyst on HockeyCentral at Noon on The Fan 590 in Toronto, praised Dorion's work during his appearance on the station Friday. The Senators brought in rugged winger Austin Watson from the Nashville Predators in a trade on the weekend, acquired Josh Brown of the Florida Panthers and picked up Ottawa native Erik Gudbranson from the Anaheim Ducks.
All three fit the mould of the type of hockey that coach D.J. Smith likes and they aren't afraid to get their noses dirty and, of course, Burke doesn't mind that kind of approach, either.
“When we're trying to build this team, and trying to build the right culture, we know that big, tough people are character people for the most part,” Dorion said. “That's what we tried to do. We're going to have a lot of talent coming up over the next few years.
“People might question Josh Brown, I can tell you one thing about him, we think he's just scratching the surface. He's played just under 100 games in his career, he's going to bring character and leadership to how D.J. wants to play in boxing out.
“Gudbranson is a local guy we've had our eye on. He might not be the most skilled, but tries to get to the net. He'll crosscheck you in places you don't like to be cross-checked.
“We wanted that element up front with Austin Watson. He can skate, kill penalties and block shots, but he'll stick up for his teammates.
“When you're bringing in guys like (Tim) Stuetzle and (Josh) Norris and (Drake) Batherson — and Brady (Tkachuk) sticks his nose into everything — we've got to make sure we've got a bit of backup.”
THE LAST WORDS
Asked by former NHLer Anthony Stewart on the show
“on behalf of Senators' fans” if the organization would consider bringing back defenceman Zdeno Chara, Dorion chuckled: “That's a good question. I think our left side with (Thomas) Chabot, (Mike) Rielly and we'll add in (Erik) Brannstrom, I think we're pretty set. That ship has sailed.” … Former Ottawa winger Scott Sabourin, who suited up for 35 games with his hometown team last season, has agreed to an
AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies. Of course, Sabourin will likely have a good laugh with Toronto centre Auston Matthews when they run into each other at the club's shared practice facility. The duo got in a pre-season shoving match last fall and the video of Matthews taking a look at Sabourin's nameplate on the back of his jersey went viral … At the end of the show, Dorion was asked about his GM role models and the late Bryan Murray was No. 1 on his list. “I hope one day they consider putting Bryan Murray in the Hockey Hall of Fame. If you look at all the people who worked under Bryan Murray who have had successful careers I don't know how much you can do,” said Dorion … Let's end this column with a tip of the cap to Senators public relations whiz Chris Moore. He's done a great job making sure we get what we need at a busy time.