Pet Peeve

Chris Kelly and the Sens agreed to a contract. We don't know for how much yet. Why? Why?

Terms not disclosed. Why? Why?

Update: Neil signed. "Financial details were not released." Sigh.

Update2: 1.1 mil a year over 3 years for Neil.

This puts the Sens at about 38.9 (via David Johnson's excellent site) if Kelly got 750,000. They've got only Schaefer left in arbitration this week. The roster will still be missing one player after that. Speculation has Russian rookie Kaigorodov filling that space but I wouldn't mind seeing a veteran centre.

Still here - really

If you don't read the BoA site you would have missed their post on Peca's arrival in StinkTown:

As David Johnson notes in his Leafs Off-Season Report, the Leafs' biggest problem last season, besides their goaltending, was that "they struggled to score goals at even strength". True: they were 27th in the NHL in ES scoring last season.
So anyway, there were 293 forwards who played more than 60 games in the NHL last season. Try to guess what these 11 fellows have in common:
Adam Hall, Curtis Brown, Blair Betts, Mark Rycroft, Donald Brashear, Serge Payer, Mike Ricci, Brian Savage, Kirk Maltby, Jed Ortmeyer, Ryan Johnson
Give up?
They were the only 11 of those 293 who scored at Even Strength at a worse rate than Peca's 0.92Pts/60min.

I guess we too can keep calling it a battle...

Let's hope both sides come to fight this year.

Announced today - CP via TSN:

The 2006-07 NHL season kicks off with the Battle of Ontario in Toronto and the Stanley Cup banner-raising in Carolina.
The Ottawa Senators visit the Maple Leafs in one of three games Oct. 4

I can hardly wait!

One More Forward To Go...

Is it fair to assume the Sens will have around $2-3 M to spend on a UFA?

Which one of these guys do you go after? If Mucks doesn't bring back Peter Bondra I may just have to go Burning Monk on the Scotiabank plaza (kidding - I'm kidding).

P.S.> Soccer sucks.

P.P.S.> Farewell to the little groin booter. I'll never forget seeing him and Hossa busting moves on the dance floor at O'Connor's. They looked like Euro Butabi brothers - both sporting pinkish-orange Gap shirts and shaven heads.

Nice trade

Who is Tom Preissing?

In his second NHL season he led the Sharks in points from the blueline and was fourth on the team on icetime per game.

He sures up the Sens blueline which now again must be considered the best in the East.

Not a bad return for a guy that didn't want to be here (Havlat wanted to be the star on some team - and be paid like it) and a fading centre who was a $2 million drag on the pay structure. Vermette will do far more than Smolinski ever did in the third line centre role.

Sens payroll?

Some have speculated that the Sens have a team cap of $40 million. Chara, in a conversation with Bruce Garrioch, was told otherwise:

SUN: When you spoke to Melnyk did he say he couldn't go any further?
CHARA: "He told me the cap is going to be $44 million and they were going to go to the maximum.