Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun on TSN's Off The Record yesterday:
"I keep hearing how Ottawa fans want a puck-moving defenceman. What was Joe Corvo?"
Sigh.
DE-FENCE-MAN. Can we please focus on that word, kids? It's kind of important right now.
It does Ottawa no good if a player can move the puck, but can't be trusted in his own zone. Yes, I know there are stay-at-home guys, but come on -- their first job is to defend. If not, they'd be forwards. Ottawa has seen guys like Joe Corvo, Wade Redden and Andrej Meszaros come and go. What did they all have in common? They could move the puck (some better than others), but they were also the source of many of a myocardial infarction when the play came into the Senators' end.
Don't gloss over the issue, because this isn't just an obsession about the breakout pass. It has to be the right guy -- one who can be trusted both in front of and behind the blueline.
More later.
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Seems to me, though, like we are asking for an awful lot here. In the ongoing search for help on the blueline, Senator Fan is sounding an awful lot like someone looking for a date on Craigslist - smart, thoughtful, sensitive (but not too sensitive, great sense of humour, loves kids and dogs, (but doesn't bring any of their own into the relationship), and enjoys long walks on the beach at night.
The reality is that there are very few Dream Defencemen in the league, and those who are out there tend to be on long term contracts with their current club. (See Phaneuf, Dion). Anyone else you get is going to have some holes in his game. Keep in mind that the Coyotes are paying Ed Jovanovski over $5 million a year to be a slightly more physical version of Corvo.
I always thought Corvo got a bit of a bad rap here defensively. He wasn't THAT awful in his own end, and at least dude could skate, create some offense, and blast the puck from the point like no one's business. When you trade away an athlete like that, and end up essentially replacing him with Jason Smith, you are downgrading your skill level significantly. Sending a handy, good skating young player like Eaves down the road to rent a past-his-prime Cory Stillman for two months was another shortsighted move, the kind that has landed us where we are now.
Dennis Prouse
10:31 a.m.
Joe Corvo was panicky and inconsistent when it came to defence -- he knew he had issues, and admitted it as much to the Ottawa media (who subsequently had a field day with his emotional interviews). At one point he said, "Maybe I'll get moved to forward -- I'm playing so bad defensively". Points for self-awareness, I guess?
Ottawa fans are going to ask a lot because they're used to having a lot. This team once saw Zdeno Chara in their own sweater, and they remember what Wade Redden's game looked like before it slipped. The Senators once maintained an impressive defensive core. To see it slip this far is distressing to a lot of people.
As for availability, Brian Campbell was a UFA only last summer. Murray was approximately 1 million dollars off per year on his offer, so you know he was willing to spend the cash. Is Campbell perfect? No, but no player is. But you can bet that seeing him in the red, black and gold would have sated many fans in this city. Jay Bouwmeester will be up this year. There will be players available. You have to pick your spots.
As for Eaves -- whether he should have been traded is a moot point now. He's injury-prone, so there goes that argument. Kind of brings to mind a guy like Dean McAmmond, who also looked like a completely different player before he had his melon rattled one too many times.
The Universal Cynic
11:07 a.m.
I forgot to mention Bouwmeester. No doubt he is extremely attractive, but the bidding war for him could get stupid in a hurry. With the possibility of the cap going down, can the Senators afford to have yet another big ticket, long term contract on the books?
I would rather have three guys making $2 million a year, upgrading the team all over, rather than putting all the chips on one guy at $6 million. I still think that teams with cap space and an owner willing to spend could make out like bandits over the next couple of years, as money losing teams or clubs with cap problems are forced to slash salary.
Dennis Prouse
11:51 a.m.
"I forgot to mention Bouwmeester. No doubt he is extremely attractive, but the bidding war for him could get stupid in a hurry."
Could, and likely will. Definitely agree with you there.
"With the possibility of the cap going down, can the Senators afford to have yet another big ticket, long term contract on the books?"
They could have this summer -- not any more. And if there's a position where I want to see money spent, it's defence. You can't survive in this league without it. If that route is unavailable to you, then get some decent scouts and learn how to draft effectively (another previous Ottawa strength that has fallen by the wayside).
"I would rather have three guys making $2 million a year, upgrading the team all over, rather than putting all the chips on one guy at $6 million."
I have absolutely no problem with this, but can Murray be trusted to make the right choice, or will he continue to chase scrubs that he assumes are diamonds in the rough?
The Universal Cynic
12:02 p.m.