The Universal Cynic

Filip Kuba. Erik Karlsson. Matt Carkner. Brian Lee. Chris Campoli. Chris Phillips.

These are your other defencemen as of today. Feel confident? Yeah, I know. Me too.

I know what the rumour mill is churning out, and I find it exceedingly hard to believe. If the Senators are to be taken seriously by their fans, they need to not only make the playoffs, but at least make their presence known in the first round, win or lose. After that, they're likely playing with house money.

1) How does anyone expect them to do that without one of their best stay-at-home defencemen and 2)How do you expect the Senators to get back fair value for a UFA? It never works that way, kids.

Bryan Murray is going to be forced to hash this out until July 1st. Not doing so hurts his team too much, both in the short and long term. He said he's not going to do it -- we'll have to take him at his word for the next 25 hours and change.

More later.

P.S.: You can now add Andy Sutton to the list, as he was traded to Ottawa for a second-round pick (previously owned by the Sharks). Ooh, I'm tingling.

On Anton Volchenkov being in the last year of his contract:

It sounds like it's a question of the Senators being able to afford him after 2009-10. No. 24 will earn 3.2 million this year, and his current contract has a cap hit of 2.5. Future interest seems mutual, however, and Murray stated, "I would suggest we'll have him going forward."

Given the role he plays, it's in the best interest for the Sens to keep Volchenkov in the fold. The main question is, how long can he keep up the brutal pace of TOI combined with shot-blocking dependency?

On a future All-Star Game being held in Ottawa:

Eugene Melnyk says the city is in line for one, and "it's just a question of what year." Wasn't there a hold-up on this issue due to a lack of sizable facilities downtown to host certain events? Maybe we'll hear more about this when the new Conference Centre is completed in 2011.

On a new scoreboard:

Cyril Leeder (na na na na na na na na LEE-DER!) says they're aiming to replace the board within five years and that according to surveys, it's not a priority among the fans.

All right, who filled out these surveys? I'd like to have a word with them. How can anyone be happy with the current state of that scoreboard? Sure, they made attempts to improve the image several years ago, but it still looks like it came out of the Ark. Technology has advanced so much in the past seven years (the current age of the screen) -- go have a look at what some other clubs are sporting. Take a gander at teams like Toronto, Montreal or L.A. It makes a world of difference to have a quality picture. And yes, I know a new scoreboard would be used as an excuse to jack up ticket prices. Speaking personally, this is one occasion where if I knew my dollars were going towards a legitimate improvement, I'd be fine with it.

You can read the whole story over here at the Citizen's website. Also included: Melnyk takes Jim Balsillie to task for his interest in purchasing the Sens 6 years ago, for the purpose of moving them to southern Ontario. Weeee!

Fantastic news coming out of the capital as the Sens nailed down integral defenseman Anton Volchenkov to a three-year deal, which will see No. 24 remain as a Senator beyond his first opportunity to declare unrestricted free agency.

UPDATE: Salary breaks down as follows: Volchenkov will get $2.1 million next season, $2.2 million in 2008-09 and $3.2 million in 2009-10.

UPDATE #2: Reports coming out late Tuesday stated that Chris Phillips will be avoiding unrestricted free agency, as he has signed a four-year, 14 million dollar contract with the Sens.

Consider this your Monday chewable...

Here's a clip from a piece in today's Sun regarding Anton Volchenkov and his busted beak:

It's believed Volchenkov was to have his nose straightened out yesterday to resolve the breathing issue and Muckler was optimistic Volchenkov would be able to play tomorrow night.

"I suspect so. They'll give him a (face) mask or something," said Muckler after Saturday's game. "(Losing Volchenkov), that really hurt us. He's our second-best guy and he gets a ton of ice time."


Chew on this:

1) If Volchenkov is the "second-best guy", who's the first? Wouldn't it stand to reason that it's Chris Phillips -- Anton's linemate and the guy that's entering unrestricted free agency on July 1st?

2) If Phillips and Volchenkov are Nos. 1 and 2 respectively, what does that make Wade Redden? No. 3?

3) If Volchenkov is up for RFA this year (and he is), how fast do you think his agent clipped that quote out of today's paper? Hell, if I were his agent, I'd save the whole paper, write "kindling for arbitration" on it, use it to wrap a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and send it to Muckler himself. After all, it's not every day that someone helps his client break the 2.5 million dollar barrier, simply by making an off-the-cuff compliment.

From Chris Stevenson's blog:

"I'm doing the Team 1200's Over The Edge show and Dean Brown just told us Senators D Anton Volchenkov left the ice at the Senators morning skate in Manhattan in preparation for tonight's game against the Rangers. Volchenkov was in some difficulty Tuesday night when he was hit by a shot. Christoph Schubert has been taking Volchenkov's reps with Chris Phillips."

Nothing has been updated on the media line post-practice, and Antoine Vermette is still listed as a game-day decision.