Silver Seven

2012 NHL Entry Draft: Tanner Pearson Prospect Profile

2012-05-16T11:00:16Z

Yes, this is Silver Seven Sens' second prospect profile leading up to the NHL Entry Draft at the Consol Energy Centre in Pittsburgh. No, we do not expect Tanner Pearson to go second overall. Instead, we're going to jump around the prospect rankings, showcasing players expected to go in the top round or close to it. This feature is not going to follow the rankings, but instead will look at different kinds of players each day. Yesterday, we saw a player in Nail Yakupov who will not be an Ottawa Senator. Today, we look at one who could be theirs if they wanted him, Tanner Pearson of the Barrie Colts.

If Pearson had been taken in the draft last year or the year before, the team fortunate enough to select him in a late round would be comparing his astronomical rise over the past season to that of Mark Stone the year before. Yet, after a combined 421 picks over the last two years, Pearson is not the property of any NHL team. His first two years of draft eligibility have thus obviously been a disappointment. The way things are looking in his third, 'disappointing' could be called 'the second round.' So, how does a player go from relative obscurity in Junior B to middling OHL forward to top-round talent? Experience surely helps, but Tanner has only now played two years in the OHL. Age helps more. As a 19 year old, Pearson excelled in his second season- racking up more than twice the number of points in year two than year one.

Still, there have to be other pieces to the puzzle. A player does not deceive professional scouts and pundits on the way to being considered for a first round selection. Pearson has grown and gotten better (he's actually grown a fair amount. He reveals in this interview that he was 5"8 in his first draft eligible campaign). In this video interview with The Hockey News' Ryan Kennedy, Pearson gets to the heart of the matter, attributing his success largely to a summer of hard work and conditioning, which helped secure him a spot on the team's top six.

	GP	G	A	P
Barrie Colts	66	15	27	42
Barrie Colts	60	37	54	91

The Player:

The left winger eked out Sens' prospect Shane Prince for third overall in league scoring this season, finishing with 91, despite having played six less games than the year before. Pearson may have been the only Colt in the top 20 in scoring, but that's not to suggest he's the only star on the lineup. Pearson spent much of the season as a linemate with Mark Scheifele, who nearly made the Winnipeg Jets' roster out of training camp. Pearson also got a chance to showcase his skills at the World Junior Championships, where he was a point-per-game player. Pearson is an average sized playmaker and above-average skater, whose greatest asset is his vision and playmaking ability. He doesn't do too much exceptionally, but he does just about everything very well. A solid defensive game. A good shot (37 goals). Pearson projects to be a good hockey player with second line potential.

Perhaps more important than his raw skill-set is that the past two years have witnessed Pearson's ability to commit to a difficult conditioning regimen. That discipline and work ethic is tremendously valuable. Whichever team picks Pearson knows what they are getting: a character player who will work hard. He is a relatively safe bet who does not need to be protected in a top-six role. If you feel like reading more, The Hockey Writers have written a good profile on Pearson, and The Scouting Report pondered about his potential to be a first-round pick back at the beginning of December.

As a Senator:

A rare exception, a product of his age, is that Pearson will step directly into professional hockey this coming year- he'll be twenty by the start of the season. Ottawa has a young and growing group in Binghamton into which Pearson would fit well.

Any talk of being twice overlooked in the draft is sure to make Sens fans think of Zack Smith, selected by the Senators in the third round. To his credit, I doubt Smith gave a crap.

The Senators are hurting for some help on the left wing. Behind the current lineup of lefties, which controversially features Nick Foligno in a top-six role, Jakob Silfverberg leads a group that consists most significantly of Matt Puempel and Shane Prince. Pearson could fill a hole in Ottawa's depth chart. To get the player though, they would likely trade down from 15. Not that the group is averse to taking people by surprise- they selected Stefan Noesen at 21 last year, which sent all us armchair managers into a state of frantically wondering "who's that?", but fifteen is too high for Pearson. It's hard not to be a little drawn in by one of the OHL's best stories this season, but what do you think? Should Ottawa be interested in a player like this?

Silver Nuggets: What Does the Future Hold for Butler?

2012-05-15T17:00:23Z

Bobby Butler was signed by the Ottawa Senators in the spring of 2010. He was a hot shot sniper from New Hampshire of the NCAA and was added to a team that needed scoring depth up front. Alex Kovalev wasn't going to be around much longer, and it was unclear how much Daniel Alfredsson had in the tank. He played in one game before the end of the season and Sens fans were excited to see what the future held for Bobby.

He failed to make the team the following training camp, but went down to Binghamton to play for the baby Senators. He adjusted fairly well to the pro game putting up 22 goals and 33 points in the first 47 games of the season for Bingo. After the mass exodus that signalled the beginning of Senate Reform, Bobby was called up the the big team to play the remainder of the season. He did admirably and showed good chemistry with Jason Spezza, putting up 10 goals and 21 points in just 36 games. He finished off his very strong first pro season by winning the Calder Cup with Bingo, and adding 13 goals along the way.

Needless to say, fans were excited to see what he could do with a full season at the NHL level riding shotgun to Spezza. However, Butler had quite the sophomore slump. He had trouble staying in the line up and when he did get into the lineup, he often found himself in a 4th line role or was ineffectual on the top line. Whatever magic he had in 2010-2011 seemed to be gone. In the playoffs, he was sat in favour of new flavours Jakob Silfverberg and Mark Stone, two rising prospects who play the right side (like Butler) and who both had great seasons in their respective leagues.

So what now for Butler? He still has one year left on his 2 year 1-way contract extension from this past July, but is there really room for him with Silfverberg, Stone and Mika Zibanejad all pushing for NHL top-six spots? He certainly didn't forget how to play hockey, and he still possesses a release matched by only Kyle Turris. The question for Butler is can he find some consistency and some chemistry on one of the top two lines, and prove that he has the ability to play at the NHL level. If he can do that, it will allow Sens brass to bring other prospects along a bit slower, and will give Paul MacLean a weapon up front that he badly needs.

Links after the jump.

Sens Links

As mentioned yesterday, Nikita Filatov has signed with a KHL team for the next two seasons, but Bruce Garrioch sees it as no big loss. In his opinion, it was a gamble that didn't pay off, no big deal. [Sun]
Daniel Alfredsson, who's currently deciding his future, said that he can see coaching in his future, but definitely not right away. He seems to think it would still be too much time at the rink. [Sens Extra]
Cool story on the Senators website about Mark Stone. He has rocketed up the prospect rankings for the Senators after being selected in the 6th round a few years ago. The interesting thing about this article is that it gives an insight into the draft being a bit of a crapshoot. The scout who pushed for Stone simply thought he had good size and may crack a 4th line role. Seems he exceeded that. [Sens]

League News

Playing the way they have the entire playoffs, the New York Ranger managed to take game one of the Conference Finals last night with a 3-0 shutout. [Bruce Arthur]
Another Arthur piece this time about how defence is winning games in this years playoffs. One thing is sure, the 4 teams left know how to lock it down. [Arthur] In fact, the Rangers blocked 26 shots last night. That's insane. [NHL.com]
Don Brennan gives Dan Girardi some serious man-love. [Sun]
Sadly for my predecessor Adnan, Alexander Semin doesn't think he is done in Washington. [Puck Daddy]

2012 NHL Entry Draft: Nail Yakupov Prospect Profile

2012-05-15T11:00:27Z

It's that time of year again. Even though the NHL playoffs are only halfway done, they have been over for many fans of the Senators for a few weeks. The offseason in hockey may feel like it lasts almost as long as the Director's Cut of the Titanic, but it is mercifully interrupted by the NHL Entry Draft, held at the end of June. So, after spending the last fortnight tearfully reminiscing a very entertaining season gone by, it's time to emerge from our state of semi-hibernation and start draft analyzing. So, don't remind yourself the Rangers are still in the playoffs. Instead, start prognosticating!

A few months after one of the biggest drafts in franchise history, Sens fans were already turning dejectedly to the next one. In retrospect, five games into the season may have been a wee early to start the Fail for Nail campaign, but there's no harm in revisiting it now.

Nail Yakupov is no late riser in draft rankings. He has sat comfortably as the anticipated top pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft during the entirety of his season this year with the Sarnia Sting. However, the added pressure and attention of a top pick, not to mention an injury-shortened campaign, has not resulted in Yakupov experiencing the Sean Couturier drop. Save for some wild conjecture that the Edmonton Oilers might throw all caution (and logic) to the winds and select Ryan Murray, the star forward will be the first pick of this year's draft.

The Player:

Nail Yakupov is one heck of a hockey player. That's really all there is to it: he's strong on the puck, fast, powerful and with an absolute rocket of a shot. Yakupov's strengths are well known, as pundits, analysts and fans have been raving about this kid all year long. We could harp on about the player's tremendous offensive dynamism till the cows come home (or Filatov returns from the KHL. Zing!), but almost countless others have already done an admirable job of it. Here's a sampling:

Fail for Nail may be a thing of the past for Sens fans, but it's a very fresh wound over at The Cannon, where the folks at our fellow SB Nation blog have done a fine job breaking down Yakupov's strengths and weakness(es).
Not to be outdone, the team over at Hockey Wilderness has written up an informative profile on Nail.
Here's a cool take from Buzzing the Net that takes opinions from a couple of scouts.

As a Senator:

Well, he won't be one. At least for the foreseeable future. There is no question Yakupov would assume the role as top prospect in the system, the only true question is whether there would be any prospects behind him on the list after Murray traded up. Although perhaps a little more inclined to cut a deal this year, the Oilers were sniffing around Ottawa's Norris Trophy Candidate defenseman eleven months ago-- and that was presuming the Senators would also offer up the sixth overall pick to accompany Erik on his way to Edmonton. At this rate, what would the Senators really be able to offer that the Oilers would want to take? And don't you dare say Patrick Wiercioch.

Any team would love to have a player like Yakupov in their system, but the cost is either a bevy of top picks, players or prospects, or a whole season of suck. Any avenue to get a top player like this is worth exploring, but that's about it. Yet, it's certainly worth posing the question anyway: assuming the Senators are interested, what would you give up for the pick?

Silver Nuggets: Big Name Free Agents

2012-05-14T17:00:37Z

Saturday night, the New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 in game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final.

The got a huge opening goal from Brad Richards, last summer's top free agent. Richards, who recently turned 32, was awarded a nine year contract worth almost $60 million.

Last season, with ownership issues in Dallas, it became clear that the Stars would be unable to resign their top player, and the hunt was on. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames both made serious efforts to bring Richards into the fold, but in the end he chose to go back to coach John Tortarella with whom he won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is currently making Glen Sather look like a genius as he has led an offensively challenged Rangers team to the Conference Finals. The Rangers have averaged just 2.07 goals per game, putting them 11th of 16 playoff teams. The other conference finalists are all in the top 5. Richards himself has 6 goals and 5 assists, putting him 4th in the league in postseason scoring.

Ilya Kovalchuk, he of the record-setting, rule-breaking contract the summer before, is 3rd in the league in postseason scoring with 12 points.

This summer, Kovalchuk's teammate Zach Parise has the distinction of being top fish in the free agent pool like Richards and Kovalchuk before him. He is a game-breaking talent, the kind of player that 30 teams would do just about anything to have on their team. His leadership skills, competitive nature and intense battle level are the kinds of things you hope for in any player. However, the fact that he has been a 45 goal scorer in this league and this season managed to put up 31 goals and 69 points (all despite missing all of last season with a knee injury) make him a rare commodity indeed. Not to mention, as his knee continues to get better, one has to think he will get back to that 40 goal, 90 point range he has shown he is capable of.

All of this leads to one conclusion-- should the Devils find themselves in a position where they cannot afford to keep Parise, 29 other teams will take a run at him. One team will be successful, and will likely be very happy about it, even if their pockets are quite a bit lighter.

Liens après le saut!

Barren Wasteland (AKA Sens Links)

Let us get the most ludicrous link out of the way. Doug MacLean, the greatest GM in the history of GM's has made a proclamation that Daniel Alfredsson OWES the Senators one more season. You read that correctly. After all he has given us, he MUST play next year because the Sens face his cap hit regardless. With all due respect (read: none) Ottawa will NOT be a cap team next year, so the cap hit is irrelevant. If Alfie comes back, I will be the happiest guy, but to think he owes it to us is ridiculous. [Garrioch]
Nikita Filatov has signed with Salavat of the KHL [6th Sens]
Somebody very familiar to the Battle of Ontario and Daniel Alfredsson offers him some advice on his current retire/keep playing conundrum. [Garrioch]

League Links

This week's What We Learned by Lambert with a focus on the Washington Capitals. [Puck Daddy]
For those of you advanced stat nerds, Anze Kopitar was a +27 in his Corsi rating last night which is actually absurd.
Terry Jones takes a look at how Duncan Keith has been leading the way for the Canadian World Championship team and how he is a great example for some of the team's younger d-men. [Sun]
My bandwagon team out West from the first round, the LA Kings, are playing some amazing hockey led by their ferocious captain Dustin Brown. He has had a hell of a playoff for someone who was supposed to be available for trade not too long ago. Right now, he's getting Conn Smythe talks. [Citizen]

Playoffs prediction competition: round three

2012-05-13T03:04:53Z

I should really just stop trying at this point. After predicting only two of the eight series correctly in the first round, I followed up by predicting exactly none of the four series correctly in the second round. For the second straight round, my Stanley Cup winner was eliminated in five games.

~~Here is the form for your picks for round three.~~ Predictions are now closed for this round. This is your last chance to change your Stanley Cup winner, the bonus is now reduced to 20 points. I will post a link to the standings tomorrow.

Here are the standings after round two.

Silver Nuggets: Claesson signs, will come to NA next season

2012-05-11T17:00:57Z

As you've no doubt seen, the Ottawa Senators signed Fredrik Claesson,who was selected in the fifth round (126 overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, to a three-year entry-level contract. The Senators reported that Claesson will come over to North America for next season, and will likely suit up for the Binghamton Senators.

Claesson, if you don't recall, was ranked 23 in our listing of the Senators' top 25 players under 25 years of age.

Claesson played alongside Mika Zibanejad in Djurgardens this season, his second full season in the SEL, and finished with 7P (1G, 6A) in 47GP for the now-relegated team. The fact that his team will no longer be playing in Sweden's top league probably explains part of his reasoning for wanting to come to North America this season, as Nichols pointed out. He plays a mostly defensive game, and assistant GM Tim Murray said that his skating and mobility improved this season--although there's ample room for further improvement.

Claesson will be one of three rookie AHLers on what will be a very green blue line in Bingo, along with Chris Wideman and Ben Blood--the most experienced defenders on the B-Sens right now are third-year pros Patrick Wiercioch and Eric Gryba, plus second-year pro Mark Borowiecki (although BoroCop got a head start by playing with the team through the 2011 Calder Cup playoffs), and possibly the as-yet-unsigned Bobby Raymond, who spent parts of the last two seasons with Bingo and who the Sens' brass are apparently quite keen on. Don't be surprised if the Sens bring in some more AHL experience on the back-end next season, pushing one of Claesson, Wideman, or Blood to spend some of the season with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.

Links after the jump

Senators headlines:

Discussions can get animated when Ottawa's top brass lay out their game plan for entry drafts. (Gazette)
Stefan Noesen could crack the lineup for next season, but he'd need a heck of an off-season in the weight room to do so. (Sun)
Luke Richardson is interested in the now-vacant Binghamton Senators head coaching job. (Citizen, Sun)
A bunch of former B-Sens said a lot of good things about former B-Sens coach Kurt Kleinendorst. (Press & Sun Bulletin)

Around the league:

Preview of the Western Conference Final. (SB Nation)
I dread this: "The cold war between the NHL and NHLPA" (Raw Charge)
Listen, Darren McLeod, I'mma let you finish, but Harrison Mooney just published one of the greatest photo captions of all time! Of ALL TIME! (Puck Daddy)
The Anaheim Ducks re-signed Bruce Boudreau to a two-year extension, so he won't be coaching the B-Sens next season. Not that that was ever likely, but it would have been pretty great. (Anaheim Calling)
Great piece by Mirtle on Ilya Kovalchuk and the continuing story of the tragic Yaroslavl plane crash. (Globe and Mail)

Poll

What do you think of the B-Sens blue line for next season?

Silver Nuggets: Stop throwing animals on the ice, please

2012-05-10T17:00:33Z

The whole animals-onto-the-ice gimmick started in 1952 when Detroit Red Wings faithful "honoured" their team by throwing octopods onto the ice during the playoffs. Apparently there was one game in 1995 when 36 octopi were sacrificed to the hockey gods.

The some San Jose Sharks thought it would make sense to kill their namesake and throw them on the ice--including, once, a shark with an octopus in its mouth. In Boston, lobster. In New Jersey, a fish. In Edmonton, steaks. In Vancouver, salmon. In Anaheim, a dead duck. Now, it's fans the Nashville Predators who partake, tossing catfish onto the ice during games (so that ice girls retrieve them, sometimes with pizzazz).

Personally, I'm thankful all of these teams are now out of the playoffs, because throwing dead animals onto the ice is ridiculous. Yeah, it's supposed to be fun, and something that the fanbases of these teams pride themselves on, but it's just an absurd and disrespectful waste of life. Many shark species are endangered (although not the leopard shark, which was tossed in the first San Jose shark-toss), but that's not why I care; catfish are far from endangered in any measure, and I'm no more in favour of them being thrown onto the ice. Where does it end? How about a dead coyote in Phoenix? A dead St. Bernard in Colorado? A dead cougar in Florida? It's just a stupid tradition that needs to end, because killing an animal for a couple of seconds of snickering before it's tossed in the garbage is a terrible waste.

I could go on about the cruelty, hubris, ignorance, and stupidity with which humans treat non-human animals ad nauseum, but I'll restrain myself. If only the idiots tossing dead animals onto the ice could restrain themselves, too.

Links after the jump

Senators headlines:

Missed this yesterday, but no one else did: The Erik Karlsson contract negotiations will likely take time, and will not likely end in a cheap contract. I still think it'll come between $6-6.5M for six to eight years, but we'll see. (Sun)
Stephane Da Costa is beefing up this off-season, and is honing his game while playing for France in the IIHF World Championships right now. (Senators)
Erik Karlsson scored the game-winning goal for Sweden in their IIHF WC game against Germany yesterday afternoon. (Senators)
Crozier took a look at whether or not the Sens should bring back Filip Kuba. (SenShot)

Around the league(s):

If you've got some mini-sticks hanging around your place, send them to young "Mikko" Gegen, a five-year-old who's been diagnosed with neuroblastoma. (Hockey Wilderness)
I'm a big fan of the playful ribbing between the Fort Wayne Komets and Journal Gazette beat writer Justin Cohn, demonstrated in this video. Awesome. (Puck Daddy)
Safe to say that Jaromir Jagr enjoyed his time in Philadelphia. (Broad Street Hockey)

Silver Nuggets: Filip Kuba: Should he stay or should he go?

2012-05-09T17:00:07Z

This year was a vindication for Filip Kuba, who bounced back from consecutive injury-plagued seasons with a very impressive performance this year. He played much of the year alongside Erik Karlsson--allowing the third-year blueliner to put up Norris Trophy-calibre numbers--and was also a huge part of the team's penalty kill. He was an important complementary player on the team, and something that seemed laughable before the season began became more appealing as the year went on: The idea of re-signing the unrestricted free agent.

I was on boat with that idea for much of the second half of the season, but once the playoffs began, I jumped off and swam to shore. Kuba's a good regular season defenceman, but his post-season performance showed me that he doesn't have what it takes to succeed in the playoffs. He showed no "extra gear" once the second season began, and his lack of physicality becomes more concerning in the playoffs. I harbour no ill will towards Kuba, and appreciate his time here, but I think it's time for the Senators to move on.

If the team does move on, though, they'll need to bring in someone with experience to play top-four minutes. Luckily, in this off-season, there will be plenty of options. First and foremost are the two premiere free agent defencemen, both out of Nashville, and even though I feel silly even mentioning the minute possibility they'd sign with the Sens, it's still a possibility that one of Shea Weber or Ryan Suter could be lured to Ottawa.

Even after those two, the free agent pool remains attractive. Matt Carle will likely be the consolation prize for bidders who lose out on Weber and Suter, but if Ottawa can get in on the bidding early they may be able to get pen to paper on a reasonable deal.

Those three are blue line leaders, but there are a good number of supporting blueliners out there. I regularly return to Pavel Kubina, and I maintain that he'd be a good fit in Ottawa (despite his lacklustre playoff performance for the Philadelphia Flyers). Michal Rozsival, Dennis Wideman, and Barret Jackman could also serve well as top- or second-pairing defencemen with special-teams specialties. And there's a fourth group that would include Hal Gill, Carlo Colaiacovo, and Greg Zanon, all of whom could play meaningful minutes within the Senators' defence corps. Ideally, I'd like to see the Senators sign two of the players listed above, who would round out a D corps that already includes Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Sergei Gonchar, and Chris Phillips. Re-signing Matt Carkner as a capable seventh defender would give the Senators a strong group on the back-end.

Filip Kuba has played two good seasons with the Senators, and two pretty awful ones. He's been integral to the team's fate in the regular season (whether good or bad), but doesn't seem to have an extra gear for playoff time. He'll find interest in the free agent market, and his next team may very well be pleased with his contributions, but I think it's time for the Senators to move on from Filip Kuba and look in another direction.

Links after the jump

Senators news:

Nichols published a transcript of an expansive interview with Pierre Dorion, Senators' director of player personnel. Dorion discussed drafting strategy as well as issues regarding prospects Mark Stone, Jakub Culek, and Nikita Filatov. It's a good read. (The 6th Sens)
Amelia wrapped up her Senators Alphabet with an article on Zdeno Chara. What's next for Amelia? You'll see... and you'll like it, too. (Silver Seven)

World Championships (all numbers before today's games):

Daniel Alfredsson: 3GP, 3P (1G, 2A)
Kaspars Daugavins: 3GP, 2P (1G, 1A)
Roman Wick: 3GP, 2P (1G, 1A)
Stephane Da Costa: 3GP, 2P (2A)
Jakob Silfverberg: 3GP, 1P (1G)
Milan Michalek: 3GP, 1P (1A)
Erik Karlsson: 3GP, 1P (1A)

Around the league:

The New Jersey Devils eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in five games last night. I wonder how far this team can go... (In Lou We Trust, Broad Street Hockey)
Phoenix Coyotes forward and former Ottawa Senator Antoine Vermette is having a hell of a post-season. (Gazette)

Poll

Silver Seven

2012 NHL Entry Draft: Tanner Pearson Prospect Profile

Silver Nuggets: What Does the Future Hold for Butler?

2012 NHL Entry Draft: Nail Yakupov Prospect Profile

Silver Nuggets: Big Name Free Agents

Playoffs prediction competition: round three

Silver Nuggets: Claesson signs, will come to NA next season

What do you think of the B-Sens blue line for next season?

Silver Nuggets: Stop throwing animals on the ice, please

Silver Nuggets: Filip Kuba: Should he stay or should he go?

Should the Ottawa Senators re-sign Filip Kuba?