A Senators SNAFU
How did a team that was a goal away from the Stanley Cup final get into this mess?
“I think the whole situation there is f---- up. That’s the best way to put it.”
That comment, which sums up what Ottawa Senators fans are feeling these days, came from a former player who was part of last year’s playoff team. Based on the number of turnovers in the last year, it could have come from anyone — current players included.
That’s the mess the Senators find themselves in. A team that was a goal away from reaching last year’s Stanley Cup final has spent the past 12 months systematically destroying everything that was once good about the roster. A toddler kicking apart a sand castle has shown more restraint.
It all started when the team chose not to protect heart- andsoul defenceman Marc Methot in last June’s expansion draft. A few months later, Kyle Turris was sent to Nashville in a three- way trade for Colorado’s Matt Duchene that also included Ottawa’s first- round pick after contract talks broke apart. Then Dion Phaneuf and his $ 7- million cap hit were shipped off to Los Angeles last week, while on Friday Derick Brassard was traded to Pittsburgh in exchange for a first- round pick, defenceman Ian Cole and a goalie prospect.
And now, with the team stuck in second- last place in the Eastern Conference standings and the trade deadline approaching, the real destruction is about to begin
Erik Karlsson, a defenceman so special that a year ago GM Pierre Dorion said God created him on the 8th day, could be gone in the next two days. In doing so, the Senators are in the process of robbing their fans of a two- time Norris Trophy winner who is not only regarded as the best defenceman in the NHL, but is arguably one of the top 3 players in general.
Not even Judas would have been this cruel.
“Look at the guys who had an impact there and now they’re all gone. It doesn’t make much sense,” said the former Senators player, who requested anonymity. “There’s so much going on behind the scenes that I don’t know who’s pulling the strings, but I feel bad because the fans there are so awesome. I loved playing there and it’s got to be so hard for them because we were one goal away from going to the Stanley Cup final last year and then there’s this.
“I don’t want to badmouth the team, but I didn’t want to leave. I was very happy there. I was frustrated when I left.”
How did the Senators get to this point? How did a team go from playing in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference final to sinking to the bottom of the standings with no real end in sight?
Well, money is a large part of it. Despite reaching the third round of the playoffs, Ottawa didn’t sell out all of its home games. This year, in an attempt to increase ticket demand, the team removed 1,500 to 1,700 seats from the upper bowl. But according to espn. com, the Senators rank 24th in home attendance.
The seats aren’t the only things that have been tossed out lately.
Methot, who was Karlsson’s longtime defence partner and friend, was left unprotected in the expansion draft in part because he was earning $ 4.9- million. Turris, who signed a six- year, $ 36- million extension with Nashville after the November trade, said ownership — not management — was unwilling to pay him the same amount. And Karlsson’s impending exit is the result of comments he made in December, where he stated: “when I got to market, I’m going to get what I’m worth and it’s going to be no less, no matter where I’m going.”
So now the Senators are rebuilding or removing, whatever you want to call it.
Aside from Karlsson, the team has made Mike Hoffman, Cody Ceci and pretty much everyone not named Thomas Chabot or Colin White available. Maybe a fresh look is necessary for a team that overachieved during last year’s playoff run. But optically, it’s not a good look after what’s transpired in the last 12 months.
As the former player said, “There’s a lot of bad s--- going on over there.”