Hi folks! Shoutout to praba and GMG for getting this going, should be really helpful for a lot of us who don't get to see out of conference games! Little about me, I'm finishing up my victory lap at university out in Nova Scotia, but am an Ottawa native through and through. Grew up watching the Sens struggle and basked in their reflected glory when the Pizza line was going strong. Damn you Dominic Hasek and your desire to play in the Olympics....

I'll be tossing around some info from the Sens-o-sphere and my own personal thoughts about Senators players and prospects. I'll try to keep my pro-Karlsson bias to a minimum, but the kid's confidence is infectious so take that with a grain of salt! This is all relatively new to me so bear in mind that the format is a work in progress to say the least. I'd love to hear any constructive criticisms or anyone else's thoughts about the Sens so feel free to shoot me a PM or fire off a post!

Brian Murray and company have seemingly drafted pretty well over the last couple of years, (Sorry Brian! Called you out on Lee but I've been duly informed on it being the wise choice of your predecessor Muckler! Which could have been Kopitar, Rask or Downie.... FAIL Mr. Muckler, FAIL.) and have a solid group of Dmen, a few flashy forwards and Robin "Real Estate" Lehner, the great Swedish hope for Sens fans worldwide. I'll try to chime in on their progress and the up and comers waiting in the wings down in Binghamton.

Hopefully Big Ev and I will be able to get a solid handle on the Sens and provide some interesting give and take. But without further ado... off we go!

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

Aw yeah! It's nice to have another Sens guy on here. I can't wait to see your views on team and prospects. The Sens certainly have a very strong d-corps coming up, but they still could use a gamebreaking forward prospect (trade for Filatov ). Hopefully we can get into some heated debates as well, which I love.

As for me, well I will continue to update Sens news, rumours, fantasy values, etc., and I could provide some prospect info as well.

Oh and just one correction, it was Old Man Muckler that picked Brian Lee, not Bryan Murray. Murray was awake for most drafts unlike Muckler

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Pascal Leclaire started his first game in 10 days against LA and had a decent outing, turning away 28 of 30 shots. And after a scary report for Sens fans that he hurt himself in practice… turns out it was just a bruise and he’s fine and likely to start Wednesday.

Dobber described Leclaire as the Sens golden boy, but I’m not so sure this is really the case. Clouston has shown that he will go with the hot hand on any given night. Despite Leclaire’s contract of $3.8 m he will definitely sit if Elliot is playing well. Yet Elliot also has shown that he is incredibly inconsistent and is streaky to a fault. The team does seem to rally around him though and he was a key factor in getting the Sens to the playoffs last year.

The window is there for Leclaire to steal his #1 job back and if his play at the start of the season is any indication, he will soon do so. So Elliot owners now is the time to fret. If you can get a decent return, I have to think this is selling high on Elliot, and you can probably grab Leclaire off of WW. To a certain degree this is a risky play, but could pay off bigtime in the longrun.

You might want to wait and see how Leclaire plays on Wednesday against Dallas, their offense has been rolling and it will be a good test. If he has a good game, and you have a high tolerance for risk, move Elliot to someone who needs another 3rd keeper. Last night was Leclaire's first win of the season, removing him from a list of Varlamov, McKenna, Lalime, and Peters of goalies who have started games but not won yet. His losses at the start of the season were a product of terrible play by Ottawa, and no fault of his own.

Leclaire has has shown flashes of brilliance but consistently over exerts himself and ends up out of position. His confidence is always a question mark, and he has been known to give up weak goals. (Seemingly the curse of being a Senators goalie... letting in flubs from the halfboards.... Lalime v Toronto anyone?) He gets hurt in the most random ways but I don't think its fair to call him a band aid boy just yet, but that title is definitely lingering around the corner should he go down again any time soon. But remeber he was the 8th overall draft pick in 2005 and has the pedigree of an elite netminder. While he's playing behind a shaky Sens D that has given up 20 goals in their last 4 contests, this could be the year where Sens fans and Brian Murray get what they paid for.

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

glad to have you guys on the team. who do you think the goalie of the future for the sens is? leclaire? elliot? or lehner?

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911

For me it's Lehner no question. I'm not sure if the Sens are anxious to rush his development though so he might not crack the bigs for a few years. I've gotta think that Leclaire leaves town at the end of the year, his contract is too big and there just hasn't been enough value there. If he plays lights out this season who knows... he'll get his shot and might win himself a contact out of it but probably for less money.

Cory Clouston seems to really like Elliot since their time down in Binghamton together, but it's debatable whether he has the talent to be a longterm #1. He's a big body but I've always thought his rebound control and focus have been shaky. If his mental game continues to improve he could be the #1 next year but Murray has seemingly built the team (i.e. Gonchar/Kovalev signing) to contend while Alfreddson is still playing so a FA goalie signing is not out of the question.

Lehner is definitely who Brian Murray is banking on in the future. See this article on the influence of his Dad, Lundquist's former goalie coach on his development. http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hock.../15471821.html IMHO, he'll be the go to guy in the future but he's still quite young. Please note that in his 2 NHL appearances for a total of 34 minutes to date he has yet to let in a goal

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

Pure speculation:

Ottaw anad Columbus have been furiously scouting eachother over the last couple of weeks. Tonight, Filatov and Marc Methot (who have both been playing ok), were healthy scratches tonight. Could Ottawa be trying to acquire Filatov? One could hope!

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Thursday Morning Mashup

Leclaire had a solid outing last night, didn't give up any softies and made some key saves, going 28 for 30. The score could have been worse if he hadn't snagged a few or if the Stars hadn't missed a couple of empty nets. I'd expect him to get the start against the Pens on Friday.

Will be interesting to see if Karlsson sits on Friday, I have to think that with the Sens only getting 19 shots in both of their last two games that he gets the call.

Sens prospect Jared Cowen ripped off a hat trick in Spokane against Kamloops, becoming only the third Spokane Chief's Dman to accomplish such a feat. Do note that it was a 10-1 blowout.

Prospect Bobby Butler is leading the AHL in goals, with 14 through 20. I wouldn't expect to see him in an Ottawa jersey anytime soon barring a major injury.

David Rundblad has been tearing it up in the SEL with 17 through 23. That puts him in the top 15 of the league.

Perennial AHL stud Corey Locke is also leading the league in points with 27 through 19.

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

What has Cowen's season overall looked like?? I have him as a keeper, do you see him as a offensive D man for OTT becuase I have gotten the impression that they are pushing him into a more defensive shutdown guy roll?

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LOTS OF TEAMS!

I think you're on the right track, he was supposed to complement Rundblad/Wiercoch/Karlsson rather than being a real offensive threat himself. He does have 18 points through 20 games but its in the WHL.... He could end up developing into a Chara-esque type of player but I doubt it, especially with the up and comers Ottawa has. He's never been more than a .5 ppg player and Spokane has had five games he's played in where they've scored 5+. 8 of his points were scored in those games, leaving him with 10 in the other 15. Still pretty respectable but again, he's playing against weaker talent in the WHL.

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

I'd put his upside at Shea Weber. Probably not as big of a shot from the point, but the combination of toughness + defensive skill + solid offensive instincts. Weber never had HUGE numbers in the WHL either.

and Chara was never supposed to become Chara either, remember that.

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