It's tough being a Senators fan these days. The casual fans are all apathetic now that the Montreal Canadiens have officially been eliminated from the postseason. Anton Volchenkov has apparently put his house up for sale and is rumoured to sign with the Washington Capitals. And we also learned that the Senators wanted Cammalleri, but settled for Kovalev.

It's a good thing that management invigorated the fan base by re-signing Ryan Keller to a two-way contract otherwise it would have been tough not to join in on the untimely and inexplicable criticism of Bryan Murray's Alexei Kovalev signing ... (wait for it) ... in late May.

According to The Ottawa Citizen, Bryan Murray offered Mike Cammalleri less years and less money (4 years, $5.5 million per year) than the Canadiens. And if you want to fool yourself into thinking that he almost came to Ottawa, well, that's your prerogative.

At this time of year, it's a recurring theme for the mainstream types to dedicate pieces to those players who have exhibited some recent success in the playoffs and wonder what if. It's the kind of knee-jerk water cooler discussion that's hilarious to pause and reflect upon years later. (Ed. note: I think everyone knows at least someone who once thought that signing Erik Cole to an expensive, long-term contract was a good idea.) Unfortunately, it's in vogue to use this as an opportunity to dump all over Bryan Murray for what he should have, could have, would have done. But it's not just the fans, for the second time in less than a week, the mainstream media has reminded us during these lackluster news days of how uninspired and unproductive Kovalev's play was this past season. It's almost too easy and unnecessary.

While it's become cliche to characterize Alexei Kovalev as untradeable. Apparently he's not alone. According to Bruce Garrioch's sources, there's 'no market' for Jason Spezza. With the way that the past two weeks have unfolded, I can't help but wonder if he's the latest to appear in a summer long feature series that chronicles the list of players who can't be dealt from the Senators. Next week, it will be Daniel Alfredsson. The week after, Pascal Leclaire.

I realize that the whole trade Spezza angle is of particular concern to that sect of fan who don't want to see Ottawa's number one center dealt out of town for a lesser return. Especially when a significant portion of a mainstream paper's respondents voted to move Spezza out of town. (Ed. note: Every Ottawa Sun poll should come with a skill testing question like (4-2) 5 +3 = so that we can determine how bright the respondents are.)  Anyways, that's not what really interested me from Garrioch's article. The part that had me truly concerned is the speculation that Spezza isn’t thrilled with the fans, either. He complained to Murray about being booed by the hometown faithful in the playoffs. The Senators told him that comes with the territory.

I wish I could have heard the transcript that went with that conversation. It probably would have gone something like this:

Jason: Mr. Murray, they're booing me.

Bryan: Well, if you're that concerned, I'll need to know since the window of opportunity to trade you before your NTC kicks in on July 1st. Is Ottawa a city where you'll be comfortable spending the rest of your contract playing?

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter>

Bryan: Do you remember how the Dany Heatley situation unfolded? It won't be good for either of us.

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter>

Bryan: Is this a city that you're comfortable playing in if I can't find a reasonable return for you on the trade market?

Jason: <awkward nervous laughter> ... Please don't send me to Edmonton.

There's a lesson to be learned from these NHL playoffs: With every subsequent elimination, the mainstream media has elected to pick up their torch and pitchforks in an effort to find some angle to work as the hockey news thins out faster than Steve Simmons' coif. First there were the trade rumblings that Jarome Iginla could be shipped out of town to kickstart a Calgary rebuild. (Ed. note: It would be just another feather in the cap to cement Darryl Sutter's legacy in Calgary.) Then there was Bobby Lou in Vancouver. And after months of being fed the same merde about the Pittsburgh Penguins being an elite NHL team, some scribes are now touting an Evgeni Malkin trade as the most prudent decision that general manager Ray Shero could make.

Here's a snippet from the article by The Hockey News' John Griggs...

Trading Malkin would do a number of things for the Pens. First, it would net Pittsburgh a winger to play with Crosby; God only knows what type of numbers he could put up with something more than an average player to pass the puck to.

Second, it would open up more ice time for Staal; who, although he didn’t put up great numbers, was a beast in the playoffs and looks to be on the verge of becoming a player more akin to older brother Eric than the third line checker he’s been pigeon-holed as.

Also, a Malkin trade frees up cap space; $8.7 million to be exact. That’s a lot of cake. And having Staal’s $4 million as No. 2 center money makes a lot more sense these days. The $8.7-million difference could be spent shoring up a blueline that has just three players signed to it next season.

There's no inherent risk in trading a second line center who has put up over 100 points in two of the past three seasons to open up ice-time for a player who has never posted a 50-point season.  Especially when the numbers clearly indicate that Jordan Staal played with better quality linemates than Malkin did. Nevermind that Malkin's annual cap hit -- $8.7 million -- would likely hamper or diminish any prospective trade return or that the proposed trade partner in Griggs' trade scenario, the Edmonton Oilers, would never part with the first overall pick, a prospect or two and a roster player in exchange for a quick fix solution who would only turn their team into a bubble playoff team.

It all makes for wonderful logic.

Anyways, here's my point: Jason Spezza's hardly alone. Even though there's an argument to be made that Ottawa should explore trade options for their number one center -- his impending NTC; locking up a young player who already has a wonky back -- the notion that Jason Spezza be held accountable for Ottawa's playoff shortcomings is misguided. Not every city needs a scapegoat. They just need better angles for appropriate water-cooler discussion.

The NHL Entry Draft

When the Canadiens eliminated the Penguins last week, it assured that one of the Eastern Conferences' lowest seeds would be featured in this year's Stanley Cup Finals. In other words, it guarantees that Ottawa moves up to select 16th in this summer's NHL Entry Draft.

In yesterday's Ottawa Sun, Bruce Garrioch talked at length with Tim Murray in regards to this year's draft and there were some important details shared by the Senators' Assistant General Manager...

“We feel we’re going to get a good player,” Tim Murray said during a break in the meetings Friday. “We’ve looked at the lists and we feel good right up to No. 20-to-No. 21. From there, we feel like the first round drops off quite a bit. Sure, there’s still going to be some good players there, but you’re going to have to look a little bit harder.”

Murray said the club won’t prioritize by position, but admitted the Senators would like a forward.

“We’re just going to take the best player,” said Murray. “If it’s a defenceman, that’s what we’re taking. I look at our depth chart every day and it looks like we’ve got a ton of defencemen. All of sudden (Anton) Volchenkov could be gone (as a unrestricted free agent come July 1) and (Filip) Kuba got hurt last year.

“Just when you think that you have lots, you don’t. The one thing I know about defencemen, if you do have too many — and I don’t think you can ever have too many — but if you feel you do, they’re easy to move and they have high value.

“Ideally, if we could get a skilled centre, that’d be great. If we can’t, then it’s the best player available.”

Even if it is just lip service (Ed. note: if young defencemen were easy to move, why's Brian Lee still here?), it's encouraging to hear that management's not going to behave like the previous regime and make draft selections based on need.

Sunning It

According to some anonymous league executives who spoke with Bruce Garrioch, Alexei Kovalev is... wait for it ... untradeable. Like their identities, I'm pretty sure that some other adjectives that were used to describe Kovalev were kept off the record and hidden.

Buried at the bottom of Garrioch's article is fantastic news that TSN's Pierre McGuire is actually a candidate for the  vacant Tampa Bay position. With names like Yzerman and McGuire in circulation, I wonder if Tampa has actually learned anything from the Barry Melrose incident. Here's hoping that either candidate is hired and somehow the Lightning manage to piss way the inexpensive years of Stamkos and Hedman's careers.

Here's some other interesting Garrioch news from the past two days:

• Management's no closer to signing the unrestricted Andy Sutton, Matt Cullen or Anton Volchenkov.
  
• Bryan Murray wants to retain all of his restricted free agents -- Peter Regin, Nick Foligno and Chris Campoli. (Ed. note: No mention of Jesse Winchester? Ouch. Instead of signing long-term deals, I fully expect Foligno and Regin to sign inexpensive one or two year deals to cash in on playing in expanded roles.)
• Management wants to get Mike Hoffman and Corey Cowick signed to entry level deals and believes that Roman Wick will come to camp under contract.
  
• That Swedish newspaper report that indicated that Andre Petersson was close to signing was believed to have been leaked by Petersson's agent in an effort to maximize his contract with his SEL team.

With the NHL Entry Draft and the July 1st free agency period sneaking up on hockey fans like an unexpected Dany Heatley trade request, there isn't much to do as the playoffs unfold but put pen to paper and attempt to figure out what kind of offseason the Senators could foreseeably have.

So the challenge was simple and the invitations to the rest of the Ottawa blogosphere were sent out. Using Capgeek.com, some creativity and common sense, come up an offseason plan that was feasible.

I will post what some of the others came up with first before concluding with what I came up. I would like to thank those who took the time to lend their thoughts and participate. Here it goes:

There was some talk that Phoenix Coyotes free agent blueliner Zbynek Michalek would go to the Ottawa Senators to play with his brother, Milan. The Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson wrote, "They were teammates on the Czech Olympic team. but they could easily be NHL roomies as well."

The thought is that Michalek would replace Anton Volchenkov, who is going to command around $5 million a year on the free agent market -- something the Senators can't afford. However, there's also a possibility Michalek will also price himself out of playing with his brother.

CBC's Elliotte Friedman writes, "That could be a pretty good replacement for Anton Volchenkov. Word is, however, Michalek is asking for about $4 million US per year." The cash-strapped Sens will have to pass on that number. ~ ESPN Insider's NHL Trade Rumors

In the event that Anton Volchenkov bolts via unrestricted free agency, the notion that Milan Michalek's older brother could be a suitable replacement has been an idea that's been kicked around the nation's capital pretty frequently. Here is how their respective numbers break down from this past season:

• Michalek: 72 GP, 3 G, 14 A, 17 pts, +5, 22:38 TOI/G, 80 hits, 152 blocked shots, 0.102 Quality of competition rating
  
• Volchenkov: 64 GP, 4 G, 10 A, 14 pts, +2, 20:41 TOI/G, 153 hits, 172 blocked shots, 0.133 Quality of competition rating

While there is a slight disparity in their physicality and shot blocking ability, a superficial glance at their numbers indicates that they're a similar breed of defenceman. Neither will ever be confused with Mike Green as both are defensively responsible blueliners who are charged with the task of shutting down their opponents' top lines.

The the question of how much general managers will be comfortable paying defensive these one-dimensional savants in a weak free agent class will be an intriguing subplot to follow this offseason. When precedent has essentially established the cost of a good defensive defenceman at around $3.5 to $3.75 million,  (Ed. note: For a list of comparables that I made earlier this year, click here.) will desperate teams like Washington use Mike Komisarek's contract as a benchmark and overpay for Volchenkov's services? Or will teams wait out the first few days of free agency once many teams have pissed away their cap space and find this year's Dennis Seidenberg?

Anyways, here's my point: Elliotte Friedman's wrong. (Sort of.) Although Michalek might be a good replacement for Volchenkov, at an average cap hit of 4 million dollars, the monetary value just isn't there... for either of them. The financial value and risk of injury for this kind of defenceman just isn't worthwhile over the long term. Besides, isn't the whole point of making a nepotistic signing like this designed to get a player at below market value?

When Dany Heatley rumo(u)rs were running more rampant than Kirstie Alley's caloric intake, one of his suitors was rumoured to be the New York Rangers. Amongst the names that was allegedly involved a prospective Heatley package was Ryan McDonagh -- a prospect who was acquired earlier in the offseason from the Canadiens along with Christopher Higgins, Doug Janik and Pavel Valentenko for Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt, and Mike Busto.

If Ottawa's interest in McDonagh is genuine, there may not be a better time to go out and acquire the Rangers' defenceman via trade. Allow me to explain. In Larry Brooks' most recent Sunday column, he dropped this little nugget of information:

Rangers, who conducted organizational meetings last week, are believed keenly interested in signing Ryan McDonagh, whose rights they acquired from Montreal in the Scott Gomez deal, but the Wisconsin defenseman has a fair amount of leverage as he awaits an offer.

McDonagh, who turns 21 next month, would play his senior year for the Badgers if he does not turn pro. If he remains unsigned through next year, McDonagh would become an unrestricted free agent as of Aug. 15, 2011.

Chances are, then, if the 6-foot-1, 215-pound McDonagh, who is regarded as a proficient, stay-at-home type physically ready for the NHL, does not sign this summer, he will not sign at all with the Blueshirts.

McDonagh has all of the leverage. Inevitably, he could wind up being the next Blake Wheeler. As a promising young player, Wheeler spurned the Phoenix Coyotes entry level contract offer(s) and elected for free agency because he wanted the ability to choose where he'd play and live for the foreseeable future. Like Wheeler, if McDonagh doesn't like the team's current situation, their contract offer, roster availability, or the coaching staff / management, he doesn't have to sign a contract. And by August 15th, 2011, he can hand pick a situation which team is ideal for him.

Like Blake Wheeler's agent, Matt Keator, said when his client elected for free agency, “Now he might have 29 other options. That’s a powerful thing.”

One devoted Rangers website called The Rangers Tribune made a great point of alluding to Matt Gilroy as an example of why McDonagh may be so hesitant to forego his final year of collegiate ability.

Take Matt Gilroy, for example, who signed with the Rangers out of college last April. A former Hobey Baker Award winner, Gilroy entered the National Hockey League playing under a coach that apparently did not have much patients to allow him to develop. He was docked ice time, sent down to the minors, and then was sentenced to watch the final week of the regular season from the press box. Again, a Hobey Baker Award winner, coming out of college, was shown very little respect by head coach John Tortorella, and barely was given a chance.

After seeing that, can you blame McDonagh for wanting to stay in college for his final year where he is one of their "go to" players instead of being belittled by Tortorella and possibly not even dressing on occasion? I cannot, and it is a shame that out coach can possibly scare off future talent. Gilroy has potential, and could have developed nicely this past season, but Torts finds it necessary to play individuals such as Wade Redden over him. If I am McDonagh, I do not jump to the pros and lock into a contract with the risk of having to contend with that nonsense.

Now I am not saying this is why McDonagh is holding out, but without a doubt, it is a possible explanation. Once the upcoming NCAA season concludes, the 6-foot-1 blue-liner has no choice but to enter the National Hockey League, and there is plenty of time between the end of his season and early August for him to strike a deal with the Blueshirts before becoming an unrestricted free agent and New York losses his rights. Until then, he is Rangers property and has shown no indication whatsoever of not wanting to play on Broadway as Brooks claims in his article.

Obviously the question moving forward will be: Can the Rangers get McDonagh to turn pro? If they can't and McDonagh returns to Wisconsin, it might be a fortuitous opportunity for a team like the Senators to trade for his rights and continue to stockpile bluechip talent on the back end. With names like Wiercioch, Cowen, Karlsson and Gryba under wraps, maybe a deal involving Anton Volchenkov's negotiation rights or some package involving Brian Lee might entice the Rangers to act if they truly fear the risk of losing him for nothing.

With the playoffs over for his Ottawa Senators, owner Eugene Melnyk is doling out interviews more often than Glenn Healy can publicly fawn over Sidney Crosby on HNiC. While his sky is blue interviews for the Ottawa Sun and the Ottawa Citizen can be read here and here respectively, one thing that did stick out was this portion of his conversation with Bruce Garrioch...

Q: There’s been a lot of discussion about Jason Spezza and his no-trade clause. Murray insinuated on the radio that Spezza was very emotional and didn’t like being booed. Are we going to go through another summer where you’re going to be moving a star player?

MELNYK: That’s going to be Bryan’s decision. There’s a little bit of misconception about how hands-on I am. I keep myself knowledgeable. But at the end of the day, the people that I hire make the decisions because they’re accountable for those decisions and it’s their responsibility. Do we talk about it? Do I want to understand what is the rationale behind it? Absolutely. That to me is important to know the logic behind any transaction. (But) it’s their decision to make. If they came to me, “We want to do this or that,” then I’ll ask all the hard questions. But at the end of the day, it’s their decision and I don’t think I’ve ever overruled a decision.

It would be much easier to buy into what he was saying if he wasn't the same owner who once said, "Anybody that says we should blow up this organization should get their own bomb and go blow themselves up. This is not an organization that is completely crippled. It needs fine tuning, it needs some tweaking, it needs a player here, a player there, a few good bounces and that's it. But we are nowhere near that type of environment."

Now, as a result, many fans like myself take The Euge with a grain of salt. From the to the perpetuated mainstream media opinion that Melnyk had his fingerprints all over the Alexei Kovalev signing, to Bryan Murray trading a first round pick for Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli, it has always seemed like the organization had a mandate to win now. Call it the Brian Lee corollary.

As a non-playoff team in the salary cap era, it never made any sense for the organization to peddle a high draft pick, the most valuable currency in the NHL, for a washed up UFA and healthy scratch on the Island. The only answer that  I could come up with at the time was that the team wanted to inflate its win totals for the remainder of the season and demonstrate to fans that they weren't as bad as some people thought.

Even the coaching decisions helped foster my belief. Look back to when Bryan Murray acquired a future number one starting goaltender in Pascal Leclaire (Ed. note: still hoping), Cory Clouston dressed Alex Auld for the bulk of the starts during the team's final ten games. It's not as though Auld's value increased exponentially after those starts, it would have been more beneficial to let Elliott get in as many games as possible let help him develop for the future.

I think Ted Leonsis had it right when he wrote, And then I think this player should stand up and communicate to his team’s fan base about their plan to compete for a Cup and how they will qualify for the playoffs year after year. And then back it up. It is a simple formula: Outline a plan - communicate it - back it up.