New or Old SENSations?

Peace from Russia.

Phoff has been after me for months to talk about the Senators changes since last season. First off, it's obviously tough to assess at this point, although the 1-2 start doesn't make me happy. Second, no one would argue that losing Chara and Havlat is a good thing. That's stupider than I'm willing to be without a quart of vodka. However, the moves all come down to management of the salary cap and choices that the franchise had no choice but to make. In that context, let's do a quick review:

Out - Havlat, Chara, Hasek, Pothier, Smolinski
In - Preissing, Corvo, McAmmond, Gerber
Contracts - Redden (2 years, $13-million), Spezza (2 years, $9-million)

There is no doubt that the Sens will miss Havlat's explosiveness on the second (sometimes third) line. Personally, I have wished for Smolinski's departure for three years. But, let's put this in context, this team scored 313 regular season goals and Havlat had 9 of them. With Alfie, Heatley, and Spezza leading the way they will score goals.

On defense, everyone seems to think that Chara is a Norris candidate, and who am I to argue (I could, but won't, let's just see at the end of the season). Pothier will be fine in Washington, but look up the post-Senators careers of Pitlick, Lance and Neckar, Stan for two examples of guys who were considered "good" defensemen in Ottawa prior to leaving as free agents. Corvo and Preissing were both very good last year for their respective teams. Better than expected, which is always a concern. It leaves you facing the choice of Chara versus Redden (or that's how I'm interpreting it) and the Sens management made their choice. I happen to think they made the right one and were then able to add depth to the blueline (until Corvo was hurt). Chara was unrestricted and bound to be overpriced. Chara got five years at the same price as Redden ($7.5-mil/season), which if you've ever seen the man pass the puck, you know is ridiculous. The Sens defense will have some more empty ice to cover this year, but I don't think this is the disaster some commentators do. If, as I assume, it also made room for the Spezza contract extension then I am totally satisfied. Enjoy Boston, Big Z! They'll love you.

The question as always is between the pipes and more specifically between the ears of the guy between the pipes. It seems so easy to remember in the glow of Cam Ward's playoff performance that Gerber was the better Carolina goalie in the regular season, and apparently (although I didn't know this until reading it over the summer) he was sick while getting shelled in the playoffs. Everyone bore witness to the fact that Ray Emery wasn't quite ready for prime time, as they say, so turning to Gerber who'd been cast off in Raleigh seems smart. The question is whether he's still carrying any baggage from what had to be an embarrassing end to his season in 2005.

After all the changes, one would likely have to surmise that this is still likely a 90 point, top half of the conference team. My impression is that few teams made a move that will cause them to make "the leap" and get above the Sens. Will they win the Conference? I don't think so. Is that a bad thing? Quite possibly not.