Senators Considering Logo Change
In an article today by the Ottawa Citizen’s Ken Warren, he reports that the Ottawa Senators may soon be donning a new jersey. Warren reveals that new Senators President and CEO, Tom Anselmi, is in favor of making the Sens’ current alternate logo, the stylized “O”, their primary logo. Anselmi feels that fans have embraced the “O” logo, and he personally believes that the alternate design is a better-looking jersey. With the Senators enjoying their 25th anniversary in 2017, Anselmi stated that the time is now for a re-branding.
This would be the second logo change for Ottawa in less than a decade. The team moved from their old two-dimensional profile Senator logo to their current three-dimensional Senator logo in 2008, and the new logo was met with high regard from fans as opposed the very old-fashioned logo they previously used. However, the change that Anselmi is describing is a much larger transition, going from a logo with the team’s actual mascot to a simple letter. Several NHL teams have a single letter as their primary logo: the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, and now Vegas Golden Knights. However, the Flames, Avalanche, Stars, and Knights use a stylized design that relates to the team mascot and the Bruins and Habs have two of the most iconic logos in all of sports. The Ottawa “O” is just that, the letter “O”. Would fans embrace that simplistic logo as the primary brand of their franchise?
Many might be questioning why the Senators need to choose one logo or the other when the “O” is already the alternate jersey logo. However, the announcement earlier this year that there will be no alternate jerseys next year complicates the situation. With Adidas taking over the production of NHL jerseys in 2017-18, teams have agreed to drop their third jerseys to make the switch easier. As part of the change, several teams have announced jersey makeovers, and Ottawa could be next. If Anselmi wants the “O” logo to celebrate the Senators anniversary in the first half of next season, his only choice is to make a total switch in his primary logo.
Expansion Draft Issues: Post-Trade Deadline
Last month, we looked at several teams facing some tough situations in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and offered potential solutions to how they could address their needs for forwards, defensemen and goalies at the NHL Trade Deadline. With March 1st over and done with, many of those squads have solved their problems with signings or acquisitions.
Calgary Flames
Problem: Defense
Status: Solved
The Flames solved their problem of otherwise having to expose Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, or Dougie Hamilton with the ingenious signing of Matt Bartkowski, the only defenseman on the planet who was both free to acquire and automatically eligible for exposure in the draft. It’s a good thing they signed him too, since they ended up trading away their best fall-back option, young defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.
Carolina Hurricanes
Problem: Defense
Status: Unsolved
It was a pretty quiet deadline in Raleigh, as the ‘Canes shipped out Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg and then called it a day. What they didn’t do was acquire another body on the blue line to help solve their lack of a defenseman to expose. Carolina is still facing the problem of All-Star Justin Faulk being the only defenseman on the roster currently meeting the criteria for mandated exposure, due to the majority of their defensemen being too young to be eligible altogether. There is no way that Faulk is there for the taking by Vegas, but GM Ron Francis is left with only two choices: extend impending RFA Klas Dahlbeck or extend impending UFA Matt Tennyson and make sure he plays in seven more games this season, as he’s currently short of the 40-game mark.
Snapshots: MacEwen, Tynan, Vermette
The Vancouver Canucks have dipped their toes into the 20-year old free agent waters, signing undrafted center Zack MacEwen to a three-year entry-level contract. MacEwen is playing for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL where he often skates with Blue Jackets’ third-round pick Vitaly Abramov, one of the league’s top scorers.
Elliotte Friedman reports that both Ottawa and Tampa Bay had been in on MacEwen recently, before the Canucks eventually signed him. MacEwen is a point-per-game player for the first time in his junior career, scoring 62 in 59 games this season. He’ll join Matthew Highmore and many others as teams around the league start snapping up any talent that has slipped through the cracks.
- The Blue Jackets have recalled T.J. Tynan from the AHL on an emergency basis prior to tomorrow’s game against the Ottawa Senators. The 5’8″ forward is a former third-round pick that is known for his pass-first mentality and soft hands. Tynan was a linemate of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust at Notre Dame, where he led the team in scoring three out of four years.
- According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, Anaheim Ducks forward Antoine Vermette will not appeal his 10-game suspension with a neutral arbitrator the way Dennis Wideman did last season. Vermette has already served five games of the suspension and is eligible to return March 12th. Though winning an arbitration would recoup some of his lost salary, at this point it might just be better off to let sleeping dogs lie—as the Calgary Flames likely wish Wideman had.
Snapshots: Vatrano, Lazar, Canadiens
When Ryan Spooner spoke out recently saying that he didn’t have a good relationship with Claude Julien during his tenure with the Bruins, it didn’t come as much of a surprise. Spooner never fit into Julien’s system, and the two obviously didn’t mesh properly. The Bruins likely didn’t like having a player speak out against a coach past or present, regardless of whether that coach was now behind the bench of a divisional rival.
Today another Boston forward has spoken up. In Joe Haggerty’s latest column for CSNNE, he relays that Frank Vatrano sounded very similar in his comments on a Boston radio show, saying that he “didn’t have the best relationship with Claude”. Vatrano doesn’t exactly speak ill of Julien, just that he feels much more comfortable with Bruce Cassidy his former coach with Providence and now bench boss of the NHL-Bruins. It’s showing on the ice, with Spooner and Vatrano combining for seven points in the last five games, which include four wins.
- When Pierre Dorion said that he’d hold out for a first-round pick before dealing Curtis Lazar, Senators fans rejoiced knowing that they wouldn’t be underselling their former 17th overall pick. Apparently the addition of the recently waived Jyrki Jokipakka was enough to sway Dorion, as he dealt Lazar (and Mike Kostka) to Calgary for a second-rounder and the defenseman. Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun believes that he made a huge error in sending the struggling Lazar out west, even claiming that in ten years Lazar would have likely been wearing the captain’s ‘C’ for Ottawa. While that seems unlikely, it is a good gamble for the Flames, who may have nabbed a future NHLer at his lowest value.
- It certainly won’t look like the same team in Montreal, even if many of the key parts remain. The Habs added size in a big way at the deadline, shipping out some of their undersized pieces for Hulk-sized players. As Eric Engels writes in his latest piece for Sportsnet, the team has definitely gotten harder to play against, if not more skilled at the same time. The Canadiens’ biggest (in terms of impact) acquisition might be Dwight King, who might actually have a little bit of offensive upside left in him. Once upon a time King used his huge frame as an effective power forward, even scoring 30 points in 2013-14. His bang-and-crash style will be brand new to Montreal, who will fit perfectly into Claude Julien’s approach.
Injury Notes: Zacha, Senators, Prince
After the New Jersey Devils sold off a couple of expiring assets, the rest of season will likely come down to developing some young players and building chemistry for next year. Though they’re not out of the playoff race completely, it’ll be a tough climb out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
One of those youngsters, Pavel Zacha, has been out of the lineup since February 21st with a concussion but was back on the ice this morning according to Andrew Gross of The Record. It was his first time on the ice with his teammates since suffering the head injury, a good sign for the 19-year old.
- According to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen, both Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur were on the ice prior to Senators practice today. Though they aren’t expected to play for a while, it’s nice to see them back on the ice. The Senators will have both Alex Burrows and Viktor Stalberg in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Avalanche.
- The New York Islanders have moved Shane Prince off injured reserve and expect him to be in the lineup tonight according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. Prince, Cal Clutterbuck and Josh Ho-Sang will all skate tonight. Ho-Sang will be making his debut, as the Islanders try to catch the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final playoff spot in the East.
Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Atlantic Division
The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the neck-and-neck Atlantic Division:
Winners
Boston Bruins:
- Acquired Drew Stafford from Winnipeg Jets for conditional 2017 sixth-round pick
GM Don Sweeney did not want a repeat of 2016, when he gave up second, third, fourth, and fifth-round picks for Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles, only for the team to miss the playoffs. In 2017, he succeeded in bringing in a reliable depth player and goal-scorer, Stafford, without having to pay the price of a top pick or any of Boston’s numerous high-end prospects. Sweeney deserves credit for not panicking when his divisional rivals all began making multiple moves, holding to his word of not overpaying and eventually getting a last-minute deal done at a bargain price for a good player.
Detroit Red Wings:
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick from Chicago Blackhawks for Tomas Jurco
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick and 2018 second-round pick from New York Rangers for Brendan Smith
- Acquired 2018 sixth-round pick from Montreal Canadiens for Steve Ott
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick and Dylan McIlrath from Florida Panthers for Thomas Vanek
As hard as it is to imagine, the Red Wings are going to miss the playoffs and were in a complete fire sale at the deadline. For as long as it has been since they were in such a position, the team did pretty well. GM Ken Holland may have been able to get a better deal for Vanek earlier in the season, but getting two high picks for Smith and anything at all for Ott was nice maneuvering. The Red Wings in essence added five picks for four players that were unlikely to be on the team in 2017-18 anyway. Could they have dealt Riley Sheahan and Drew Miller too? Possibly, but they did enough as is.
Ottawa Sends Curtis Lazar To Calgary
The Ottawa Senators were hoping to get a better return for Curtis Lazar than a second-round pick, but it seems that offer never came. The Calgary Flames have acquired Lazar and Mike Kostka for their 2017 second-rounder and defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.
After months of speculation due to an inferred poor fit and a drop-off in production, the Senators have finally moved on from their promising 21-year-old forward. Lazar was the 17th overall pick in 2013 and Ottawa had high hopes for his career. Lazar broke into the NHL in 2014-15 and over the past two seasons he accumulated 35 points in 141 games. However, 2016-17 has been a different story, as Lazar has hit a wall in his development and has struggled to fit in with the team’s system. He has just one assist in 33 games and Ottawa has been frustrated over his lack of production.
In a new location, especially with the speedy Flames, Lazar can still be a great player. Lazar has mostly played right wing in Ottawa, but prefers to play center, and Calgary has all lefties down the middle. Lazar, even if it’s not until 2017-18, should eventually slot in nicely as a right-handed center for the Flames who can keep up with their fast, skilled forwards. To give a talented young player a fresh start, an investment of a second-round pick and a young defenseman who has not worked out is certainly a good deal for Calgary and GM Brad Treliving. For Ottawa, they simply took the best offer they could get for a player who clearly needed to move on.
Ottawa Senators Acquire Viktor Stalberg From Carolina
The Ottawa Senators aren’t finished. The team has acquired winger Viktor Stalberg from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2017 draft.
As noted when the team traded for Alex Burrows yesterday, the Senators have needed depth on the wing all season and have now added both size and scoring potential in their two new players. Stalberg is a big bodied winger with speed to burn and a 20-goal season in his past, though he’s used more as an intimidating forchecker and penalty killer these days. A role-player in the Chicago Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup, he does have 43 games of playoff experience and will fit well into the bottom-six of the Senators.
With Ottawa just four points back of Montreal for first place in the Atlantic (with two games in hand mind you), owner Eugene Melnyk gave a clear directive for the Sens front office to follow. Playoffs or bust in 2017. The Senators are an internal budget team that relies on playoff revenue to continue to operate slightly above the cap floor, and with the two additions they’ve helped their case down the final 20 games. Though a third-round pick may seem pricey for a rental in Stalberg, they will likely recoup some of their lost draft selections with other trades—like a possible Curtis Lazar swap—before the draft this year.
For the Hurricanes, this represents an excellent value for Stalberg after signing him in the summer to a one-year deal. Though they had hoped that a playoff run was on the table this season, they still have an excellent young team and now own seven selections in the first three rounds of this summer’s draft. With the Metropolitan looking like a juggernaut for at least this season, but several teams (see: Washington) having multiple free agents leaving them this summer the slow burn of a Carolina rebuild may eventually pay off.
The Hurricanes still have Jay McClement and Lee Stempniak as possible veteran additions or a handful of young defenders to waive in front of team’s noses for the next 25 hours. They could easily acquire even more picks, or perhaps another young scoring forward before the deadline.
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN was first to break the deal on Twitter after Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet heard rumblings earlier today. Darren Dreger of TSN chimed in with a confirmation and the details on the pick going to Carolina.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ottawa Senators Sign Chris DiDomenico To One-Year Deal
Tuesday: The team has officially announced the deal as a two-year, two-way contract that will pay DiDomenico the prorated version of $575K/$150K for the rest of this season, and $650K/$190K for 2017-18. The forward will go on waivers today.
Monday 8:21am: The Ottawa Senators have looked outside the NHL for some help up front. The team completed a one-year deal with forward Chris DiDomenico today, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Johnston reports that it is a one-way deal for the remainder of the 2016-17 season.
DiDomenico had been playing with the Langau Tigers of the NLA (Switzerland) where he had 38 points in 48 games. You’re forgiven if you don’t remember DiDomenico from his brief stint in the AHL after originally being selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. After being traded to Chicago as part of the package that brought Kris Versteeg to Toronto, DiDomenico played 74 games over two seasons with the Rockford IceHogs but never found his way.
After a short stint in the ECHL, DiDomenico headed to Italy where he dominated the professional leagues before moving on to Switzerland. Working his way up through the system there, he has spent the last two seasons at the highest level and has been quite successful.
Once thought of as too small for the NHL, DiDomenico may have been unfairly judged because of his thin frame. Though he is by no means an intimidating center, he does have strong faceoff skills and at one point was thought of as an excellent penalty killer. We’ll see in what capacity the Senators use him this season, but perhaps he’s made the decision to come back to North America full-time. At just 28, he surely still has something to offer.
Vancouver Canucks Trade Alex Burrows To Ottawa Senators
Following the Maple Leafs’ acquisition of Brian Boyle, the Ottawa Senators have made their own deal up front. The Vancouver Canucks have sent Alex Burrows east in exchange for Jonathan Dahlen, a prospect selected in the second round this summer. The deal includes a two-year extension for Burrows which will pay him $2.5MM per season.
Ottawa has needed help on the wing since Bobby Ryan broke a finger and was ruled out for more than a month if not before. When Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman were both injured the next day, it proved just how fragile their depth at the position was. Burrows adds to that depth in a big way, despite not being the 30-goal scorer of his youth. His production has dropped to that of a third liner in recent years, though he does give you some special teams flexibility with experience on both the powerplay and penalty kill.
Burrows is currently earning a full season salary of just $3MM, though his cap-hit comes in at $4.5MM. For a team like Ottawa who does not spend right up to the cap, having a lower actual salary is a big plus.
Despite having his offensive production slip in recent seasons, Burrows still provides an ample amount of sandpaper to any game, getting under the skin of star players and often forcing teams into bad penalties. His style of play and general demeanor will be welcome on an Ottawa team that has missed that kind of play from Chris Neil due to being scratched or only playing a handful of minutes. Burrows would immediately become a hated target in the Atlantic Division, and a valuable playoff asset.
Burrows had a full no-trade clause in his contract, and may have only been willing to waive it after agreeing to an extension with the Senators. There was no guarantee he would get a two-year deal on the open market this summer, especially at the age of 35. With the Atlantic crown is clearly up for grabs, the Maple Leafs and Senators have pushed some of their chips forward as they reach for the top. We’ll see if the Montreal Canadiens now answer with a move of their own (turns out they will).
In Dahlen, the Senators have paid a very high price for the addition of grit and depth. The Swedish prospect was selected at #42 in this summer’s draft and is tearing up the Swedish second league with 41 points in 43 games. The 19-year old forward is an exceptionally skilled offensive player that dropped in the draft due to his small stature. The Canucks, dealing with a nightmarish season have pried a very good return out of a rental with a no-trade clause. While they didn’t receive any draft picks, Dahlen should be considered no worse than a late-first/early-second round pick in this year’s draft.
It’s a hefty price to pay for Burrows, even if he does fit the Senators lineup well. We’ll see if Ottawa has any more additions in the next few days, as teams load up for a dogfight in the last two months.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun was the first to announce that the two were finalizing a deal, though Joshua Kloke of The Athletic heard rumors of the deal earlier today. Kloke would include that it came with an extension, one that Dan Murphy of Sportsnet gave us the financials on.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images