Just the other day, Scott touched upon a report by Andrey Osadchenko indicating Ottawa was in talks to sign undrafted defenceman Viktor Antipin.

Although Ottawa’s depth in general is enviable – just ask Eugene Melnyk – there’s a discernible difference between quantity versus quality.

On the blue line, a number of players have graduated from Binghamton to join Erik Karlsson and Jared Cowen on the Senators’ blueline. We’re only two games into the start of the 2013 NHL season, but Patrick Wiercioch has not looked out of place and Mark Borowiecki is still waiting to make his first appearance of the season.

There are other defencemen within the system too.

Eric Gryba is one player whose prospects the organization seem to be quite high on. Luke Richardson was on the Team 1200 yesterday afternoon singling Gryba out as being one of the key reasons why the B-Sens haven’t missed a beat despite the absence of the players who graduated to the NHL.

And I haven’t even mentioned 2012 first rounder Cody Ceci. Having participated in Ottawa’s improvised training camp, one can hope that an extended playoff run with the Owen Sound Attack will help expedite his development and put him on the fast track for success.

The problem for Ottawa is that Ceci may realistically be one to three years away from being a dependable NHL regular. While the ceilings of the Senators remaiing defensive propects are somewhat limited.

For an organization that seemingly has depth and skill at a number of positions, the hope for every Sens fan is that the team can create a balanced pool of prospects at every position so that when the team is poised to make its ascent to Stanley Cup contention, it has fewer internal weaknesses. Balanced depth allows the team to sustain its window of opportunity or at the very least, it allows the organization to peddle depth for better talent.

Having missed out on Justin Schultz earlier in the summer and with the team allegedly talking with the representatives for Antipin, the organization has obviously identified the backend as an area that needs addressing.

Besides pursuing Antipin, there are a number of other intriguing possibilities that are worth revisiting.

Appearing on NHL Tonight Wednesay evening, Bob McKenzie saved a minute to discuss the Senators goaltending...and its future. Beyond referencing Luongo's continued stay in Vancouver as an impediment to goalie movement around the league, the other interesting nugget had Calgary as a possible Bishop landing spot.

Swatting away any speculation that Anderson could be on the outs, Bob seemed certain that Bishop was "the odd man out", and "that at some point Ben Bishop will be traded" when the market improves.

Speaking of which, Mike Smith was injured last night...

Of course it'd also probably help Bishop's value to play a game in 2013, which we might see this weekend.

From Bob McKenzie via TSN990: 

"At some point the notion of trading PK Subban is something that I think the Montreal Canadiens may decide to deal with."

So why would I care that a rebuilding Northeast Division rival's rookie GM is possibly on the verge of trading it's most marketable, young first pairing defenceman? And did I neglect to mention the future consequences of potentially irking said player's best friend, who also happens to be the franchise goalie? 

Because silly, mediocrity is hilarious.

And this news will probably culminate with Bryan Murray and Eugene Melnyk having the following conversation: 

Eugene Melnyk: "Hey Bry, hold on a second..." *puts call on hold and The Troggs' 'With A Girl Like You' starts playing

Bryan Murray: *starts humming* 

One minute elapses... 

Bryan Murray: "Baby baby is there no chance. I can take you for the last dance. All night long yeah. I've been waiting. Now there'll be no hesitating. So before this dance has reached the end. Ba ba ba ba, ba ba ba. To you across the floor, my love I'll send... Ba ba ba ba, ba ba ba..." 

Eugene Melnyk: "Okay, I'm back. You will never believe what just happened during tonight's Leaflet broadcast."

Bryan Murray: "... A James Reimer save?" 

Eugene Melnyk: "Who? What? No, guess again."

Bryan Murray: "Well, it couldn't have been a Leafs prospect that has panned out. I give up. What'd you see?"

Eugene Melnyk: "Hold onto your chair and buckle your seatbelt, Bryan. PK Subban."

Bryan Murray: "... is doing TV for TSN now? I thought he was an analyst for Sportsnet?"

Eugene Melnyk: "Better. Bob McKenzie believes the Subban/Montreal situation may end in a trade."

Bryan Murray: "Well, that's great for us. It should certainly make the Habs worse."

Eugene Melnyk: "Get him."

Bryan Murray: "What?"

Eugene Melnyk: "Get. Him."

Bryan Murray: "What? Why? No."

Eugene Melnyk: "But I want him! You have to get him Bryan. Remember the last time a GM ignored my pleas to bring in a player?"

Bryan Murray: (silence)

Eugene Melnyk: *whispers* "Gary Roberts, Bryan. Gary Roberts." 

Bryan Murray: (more silence)

Eugene Melnyk: "GARY FUCKING  ROBERTS!!! You want to get Mucklered Bryan? I will Muckler you up. 

Bryan Murray: "Okay, okay. I'll call Marc."

Eugene Melnyk: "Good. Because I have an E-card to finish..." 

"Come home PK." ~ signed, The Euge

And you thought listening to Bob Cole and Harry Neale call a Senators game was tough... 

Thanks to @kerfluffer for passing along the link. 

While Mike Watson wasn't willing to come clean to Mendes, he was Tuesday, holding court with the local media and dropping the pretense of just being some innocent bystander in l'affaire DOPPELSTACHE. The whole interview is worth watching, but here's the gist:

- It wasn't until his "No. 2 brush cut" last year that "everything kicked in" with the heightened resemblance.

- On if he sat intentionally behind MacLean, "Of course I did, of course I did."

- On his plan the day of the game, "Let's get a suit jacket and a shirt and tie...and let's have fun."

- On fan reaction at the game, "I was actually walking out of the washroom and a guy grabbed my face right here and wanted me to take my mask off. ... He thought I had a mask on."

- On if he'll be back, "Do it again? Ah, probably not."

- On what he liked best about the past 24 hours, "Being at the game. That was the best part of it all for sure...and them winning, it was a good game."

- On if he was acting alone, "They (the Senators) didn't have anything to do with that. Like you might have heard on the radio on 1200 they were saying they weren't sure if the Senators had anything do with this or not. They had absolutely nothing to do it. Nothing whatsoever."

- Would he like to meet Paul MacLean? "Sure.", and what would he say to the man?, "Pleased to meet cha....maybe go for a beer, take him out for lunch."

- On if he think Paul's a good looking man, "Unbelievable, unbelievable how good looking he is."

This guy is good people.

The three headed monster is finally two-pronged. And no, I’m not referring to Robin Lehner’s goatee.

Today the Senators announced that they had returned Lehner back to their AHL affiliate in Binghamton. The decision to move the lauded prospect can hardly be categorized as a surprise. Given Ben Bishop’s contractual situation – a one-way deal that would necessitate putting him through waivers to send him to the AHL – the flexibility that Lehner’s two-way contract affords the organization two things: 1) an opportunity to maximize the value for either Bishop or number one starter Craig Anderson; and 2) an opportunity for Lehner to continue playing and develop instead of languishing on Ottawa’s bench. 

It’s a business decision that even Lehner is cognizant of. 

Lehner says it's disappointing to be sent down but understands the process. He's looking forward to the AHL All Star game. #Sens

— Steve Lloyd (@Steve_Lloyd) January 22, 2013

Lehner on going back to AHL: "It's been going pretty good..part of the process...politics involved...I'm happy and I'll keep on going" #Sens

— Steve Lloyd (@Steve_Lloyd) January 22, 2013

Although the use of the word ‘politics’ is unfortunate and could be portrayed as unseemly, you can’t fault him for being honest. On the other hand, he should recognize that the organization has rewarded his first half of play in the AHL. With Anderson’s assertion that he was ready to go for opening night, the decision to keep Bishop around was a foregone conclusion. They did not have to bring Lehner to Winnipeg and allowing him to dress as the backup and collect his NHL salary.

There’s no mistaking that Lehner is the future. I just hope he continues to work hard and perform at a high enough level to let the organization reward him in the greatest way – by parlaying a goaltender and letting him become ‘the man’ in the nation’s capital.

The scoop per Yahoo! Canada contributor Andrey Osadchenko:

Rookie dman Viktor Antipin is reported to be in talks with the #Sens. KHL All-Star played with Sergei Gonchar during lockout. #NHL #KHL

— Andrey Osadchenko (@AOsadchenko) January 22, 2013

Those familair with Andrey know his work is legit, no reason to doubt this.

Hands up if you had the first noise on a Senators defenseman acquisition concerning a 5'10 rookie out of Metallurg.

The Senators don't have any permanent Russian scouting presence, so this would appear a tip off from a recently returned Sergei Gonchar. Further to that initial point, in Murray's tenure as GM zero players have been selected out of Russia, a span that includes passing on some supreme talent in the first-round...*cough* Tarasenko *cough*. Hell, in 41 selections the Murrary regime has never even taken a player out of a European league that wasn't based in Sweden.

All that said, I think it's positive to see the organization widening their scope a little, I can understand not wanting to get burned in the draft (Ottawa does have some unfortunate history with Russians taken outside the top-30), so signing a free agent instead seems a smart low-risk move.

So what do we know about Viktor Antipin?

1. Born December 6, 1992 in Oskeman, Kazakhstan.

2. Went undrafted in 2011 and 2012, but played on the Russian WJC team last year in Alberta

3. He's small. Listed at 5'10 and variously between 152-165lbs.

4. He shoots left.

5. He's currently 10th in scoring among KHL defenceman with 10G, 20PTS in 40GP, which on the surface seems impressive at 20.

6. His first KHL goal (and only Youtube highlight!) has him parked right in front of the net on the powerplay, like many a miniscule d-man.

Pronman's take:

High-end offensive skills. Small, and questionable defense for small ice. RT @sensfan_4_life: @coreypronman Thoughts on Viktor Antipin?

— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) January 22, 2013

And Stefan provides this note:

Re: #Sens reported interest in D-man Antipin. He's a star defenceman for his KHL team, can't sign until next season unless club allows him.

— Stefan G:son (@steffeG) January 22, 2013

If anyone out there has a decent scouting report on this kid please don't hesitate to drop by in the comments.