Raising The Banner In Our Nations Capital (A NHL 12 Ottawa Senators Dynasty)

[Tazer19]

Yeah go figure with Alfie. Good luck Sens.

[Lestat]

Quote: Originally Posted by SENS_AK27

As the NHL's longest serving Captain (12 years), he often lead by example.

Prior to the 1986–87 season at the age of 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Yzerman currently holds the NHL record (19 seasons/20 years, and 1303 games wearing the "C") as the longest serving captain of a single team.

[SENS_AK27]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lestat

Prior to the 1986–87 season at the age of 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Yzerman currently holds the NHL record (19 seasons/20 years, and 1303 games wearing the "C") as the longest serving captain of a single team.

By my statement I meant the longest serving Captain currently in the NHL. I know all about Stevie Y and his Captaincy streak.

[Lestat]

oh LOL, well i still have to say something about the Redwings......

[SENS_AK27]

Quote: Originally Posted by bthomp05

Good luck with 'grooming' the next Chara. ha-ha Great draft, what are your plans for the rest of the offseason? I can't believe Alfie retired...

You'll have to see...ha ha. Let's see if Murray can create a little magic.

[SENS_AK27]

SENS INSIDER

BY: Peter Kent
June 25th, 2012

The Sens Insider is proud to announce that they will be going behind the scenes with Ottawa GM Bryan Murray as he gets set for a busy off-season. With a busy summer ahead of him and a 2 year contract extension, Murray has the daunting task of assembling a winning team from the players available and the talent they have acquired.

With 6 1st Round Picks over the last 2 years, budding middle aged stars, and many highly touted prospects already in the system, things can only get better for the team that finished dead last this season.

Murray has 22 UFA/RFA's that he has to either resign or let go, or trade off during this off-season. There is also some big name players poised to make a splash in Free Agency this year. The Sens Insider will follow him closely for the next 2 weeks to see what it takes to be a successful GM in today's NHL.

[SENS_AK27]

SENS INSIDER

BY: Peter Kent
June 25th, 2012

It's 9:00AM and as I pull up to Scotiabank Place and I'm greeted by a valet who offers to park my car. A young man in a business suit is standing close by. It turns out, he is Eric Smith, Mr. Murray's personal assistant.

He was there to take me to the GM's office. So I follow the assistant to Murray's office all the way on the top floor of the Scotiabank Place, the whole time Eric is yammering on about the wealth of prospects in the Senators system and the teams recent draft picks. Then eventually we reach Murray's office and he waves us in. He is already on the phone, sitting behind a richly polished mahogany desk, several pictures of his family and Senator memorabilia adorn his office. I overhear the tail end of his conversation, he is just finishing up signing minor league center Corey Locke to a 1 year contract extension.

C. Locke signs a 1 year $900K contract extension (2W)


After getting off the phone Murray jokes about me being late, saying he has been at the office since 8 and already has 3 signings under his belt. Murray wasn't kidding, before resigning Locke he signed both T. Pek and J. Silfverberg to Entry Level Contracts.

T. Pek signs 3 year ELC for $849K
J. Silfverberg signs 3 year ELC for $925K

Next Murray gets Filip Forsberg's agent on the phone and tells him he wants him to either start on the SENS or start playing for Binghamton this year. After brief negotiations and price, a deal is struck. The same deal that was offered to Silfverberg a few minutes earlier.

F. Forsberg signs 3 year ELC for $925K

There is a knock at the door and it's Assistant Coach Dave Cameron, he has a bunch of papers with him and he hands them to Murray. Murray quickly examines them and nods. They are a list of recommended team cuts from the coaching staff. Murray starts making a long list of very difficult calls. Calling a players agent to let them know the Senators will not be resigning their contract. The list is long with a few notable names, but the Sens will need to make room on their roster to bring up some new talent from their system.

A. Auld (G) released to FA
P. Cannone (LW) released to FA
Z. Konopka (C) released to FA
J. Winchester (C) released to FA
T. Conboy (D) released to FA
F. Lessard (RW) released to FA
D. Haydar (RW) released to FA
C. Schira (D) released to FA
M. Carkner (D) released to FA

Murray then has a list of Restricted Free Agent's that he intends to qualify and needs to contact the players agent to let them know. He spend the next hour making the calls.

E. Karlsson (D) Qualified
K. Cumiskey (D) Qualified
B. Lee (D) Qualified
G. Gryba (D) Qualified
N. Foligno (LW) Qualified
N. Filatov (LW) Qualified
K. Daugavins (LW) Qualified
R. Klinkhammer (LW) Qualified
P. Regin (C) Qualified
S. Da Costa (C) Qualified
J. O'Brien (C) Qualified

Between now and June 30th, Murray will have a tough job as he will have to figure out if he is going to fill roster spots with players from Binghamton, with newly drafted players, or through free agency. It's a fine line to walk and making the wrong move could be quite costly.

The day ends with Murray setting up a sticker board for his depth chart for the Senators. It looked like this so far:

That means he has a lot of holes to fill before the team kicks off preseason in September.

[SENS_AK27]

SENS INSIDER

BY: Peter Kent
June 26th, 2012

The next day, I arrive and Bryan Murray is back in his office making phone calls. His assistant Eric informs me that Bryan will be spending most of the day working out deals with his RFA's that he qualified yesterday. He told me that Murray was eager to get the contracts out of the way so he can look at how much cap room he has to sign ELC's and Free Agents in July.

At the top of his negotiating list is speedy defender Erik Karlsson. Karlsson was Ottawa's Gem in the rough. Originally passed over by many teams because of his size and defensive play, Karlsson has emerged over the past 2 years as one of the leagues elite Offensive Defenseman, and puck movers. Not only that, but Karlsson also have improved his defensive play considerably this past year. Murray is all smiles when he gets off the phone with Karlsson's agent, he just locked up the star for an addition 4 years. Having already negotiated deals early for Cumiskey and Lee the Sens defense is slowly taking form.

E. Karlsson signs 4 year deal worth $3.2M (1w)
K. Cumiskey signs 2 year deal worth $2.2M (1w)
B. Lee signs 3 year deal worth $1.05M (1w)

Murray gets a call back stating that forward Nikita Filatov isn't happy with the offer presented to him earlier. Murray is hesiatant about offering the skilled Russian a 1 way contract because of his work ethic. The original offer was for a higher amount then asked but 2 way instead of 1 way. After all there is no guarantee that Filatov will make the NHL roster out of training camp. Murray then works out a counter offer, a 1 way contract but at a lower asking price. After some hesitation the offer is accepted. During this time Murray also wraps up several other 2 way contract.

N. Filatov signs 1 year deal worth $885K (1w)
S. Da Costa signs 1 year deal worth $545K (2w)
J. O'Brien signs 1 year deal worth $545K (2w)
R. Klinkhammer signs 1 year deal worth $700K (2w)
E. Gryba signs 1 year deal worth $545K (2w)

Throughout day 2 Murray, was back and forth with Agents for Regin, Foligno, Daugavins. It was apparent that either the Agent or the Client were being aggressive in their negotiating. Regin was being offered a 2 way contract but felt is Smith and Condra were offered a 1 way contract the year prior then he should deserve one as well. Like last year, Daugavins was considering about going back to Latvia if his role on the team didn't change. He was concerned about the lack of call-ups and although he enjoyed playing in Binghamton these past 2 years, he wanted a chance to make the big club. Lastly, was Foligno. Foligno saw time on all 4 lines last year and has been a staple for the club at left wing for quite some time. He wanted a commitment from Murray that they can work out a long-term contract and he can be guaranteed a top 6 position come this fall. Murray was hesitant to cater to Foligno because he is a firm believer that a player has to earn his ice time. With a serious lack of depth on the left side though, Murray caved a bit in his negotiations and was able to reach a deal with Foligno. The only offer still left on the table at the end of the 2nd day was the offer to Daugavins, who was going to take some extra time to consider it.

N. Foligno signs 2 year deal worth $1.32M (1w)
P. Regin signs 1 year deal worth $795K (2w)

Before he left for the day Murray went over to his depth chart board and penciled in Foligno and Karlsson under their respective positions. Below the depth chart Murray made a new list of names of players that could make the team this year, to this he added Lee, Cumiskey, Regin, and Filatov.