What will happen for the B-Sens on Free Agency Day?

First things first with tomorrow (July 5th) starting the Free Agent Frenzy Days, the Ottawa Senators do not have a lot to do to fill up roster spots for the Binghamton Senators. The O-Sens do need defensive help though in the organization with right now only 5 NHL defense-men signed with Erik Karlsson,  Chris Phillips, Marc Methot, Jared Cowen & Eric Gryba all under contract for the 2013-14 upcoming season. I would imagine that restricted free-agents Patrick Wiercioch & Mark Borowiecki will get contracts and unless the Senators sign another defenseman that could be your top 7 for the NHL club.

Un-restricted free agents Andre Benoit & Mike Lundin could be looking for new homes this upcoming season if the Senators decide to save a little on payroll & go withe the younger & cheaper route with signing the Patty & Boro. Benoit last season was signed primarily to play in Binghamton & lead a very young team as captain & showed his dominance early in the league during the lockout. Benoit was called up to Ottawa after injuries started to plague the O-Sens and stayed with the team all through the post season as well. This is not to say that the Ottawa brass would not mind to have the 9th year pro back into the system, but I would imagine it would have to be at the similar price that they got last season. (AHL 300K/NHL 650K) Mike Lundin, one of the players played victim of injury may also see his way out of the O-Sens with the younger players like Cody Ceci impressing so well in Binghamton at the end of the season and into the shortened playoff season for the B-Sens.

For Binghamton this would leave at the moment 7 blue-line players under contract for the 12th season of Senators hockey being played at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Steve Sterling led D-Corp will be anchored at the moment by Tyler Eckford, Eckford will be entering into his 6th season professionally and is truly a defensive defenseman in every regard. In 5 seasons in the American Hockey League, Eckford has only 29 goals in 304 games played. With the players manning the blu-line being so young and a little in-experienced, Eckford & another potential veteran defenseman if not Benoit would have to lead the team in front of re-signed goaltender, Nathan Lawson.

The B-Sens young defense is just that, young but has some promising talent that will be working either on it’s rookie or 2nd year campaigns. Codi Ceci, Michael Sdao & Troy Rutkowski will be 3 automatic locks for the the B-Sens defensive corp with Ceci being the player that the O-Sens will take a seriously long look at during all the training camps that will happen over the next 90 days. Ceci was a captain last season for the Ottawa 67’s before being traded to the Owen Sound Attack and had 49 goals, 121 assists for 170 points in 265 games played in the OHL. Michael Sdao brings size, 6’4″ & 229 lbs & a strong hockey sense to the B-Sens after playing 4 seasons with the Princeton Tigers after a +4 rating in his first 12 games with the B-Sens, there should be a lot of growth from the rookie this season.

And though Codi Ceci may have one eye on him from the O-Sens, the other eye should be squarely on rookie defenseman from the Portland Winterhawks out of the WHL, Troy Rutkowski. Originally drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 5th round of the 2010 draft, the Ottawa Senators signed the free agent defenseman on March 14th of this year to a 3 year entry level contract. The Winterhawks captain in 2012-13, scored 61 goals & 155 assists for 216 points in 351 games and will add a much needed puck movement abilities to the B-Sens and along with Ceci & Sdao could be apart of the best young D-Corp in the American Hockey League this upcoming season.

Rounding out the B-Sens on the blue line this season will be 2nd year pro’s Ben Blood, Fredik Claesson & Chris Wideman. Unless Blood impresses out of camp in Ottawa or Binghamton the Plymouth, MN native may find himself traveling back and forth again on Interstate 86 to Elmira in the ECHL. Chris Wideman found himself on the 2nd power play unit frequently and that could be what he becomes known for as his one-timer from the point, though not as productive as hoped for, continued to improve as the season went on. Claesson had his ups & downs in his 1st year with the B-Sens but showed signs of being both a shut down defenseman that will be able to move the puck out of the zone with ease. With sophomore slumps always a possibility, these three players will need to improve greatly and be a big part of any push the B-Sens make this season with Ceci, Boro, Patty Wiercioch & Sdao/Rutkowski ahead of them in the depth chart.

Ottawa & Binghamton seemingly have the four goal-tenders needed to both have good seasons this year. Craig Anderson & Robin Lehner will man the pipes in Ottawa while Binghamton will see a returning Nathan Lawson who re-signed this week & rookie Andrew Hammond. Expect Ottawa to sign a 5th goalie, most likely to an AHL/ECHL deal, if not Marc Cheverie then another goal-tender to his level that will back-up in Binghamton if Nathan Lawson needs to go up to Ottawa at all this season.

On the forward aspect, Ottawa has a little less to worry about in the off-season however with 1 iconic player (in the eyes of the O-Sens fans eyes) Daniel Alfredsson made the announcement to come back and play this season and is apparently entertaining multiple offers, which will distract GM Bryan Murray for a little bit until the situation is take care of. But with 12 players already under contract that finished their seasons in Ottawa, the Sens concentration will be on the long time captain and adding to their defense on the NHL side of things. The 12 players signed up in Ottawa are currently Spezza, Michalek, Turris, Neil,  Smith, Zibanejad, Conacher, Silfverberg, Greening, O’Brien, Pageau, Kassian. If Ottawa re-signs the Captain & restricted free-agent Erik Condra & lets UFA’s Regin & Latendresse walk that still puts the forwards count at 14 and could mean one of the younger players (Zibanejad, Conacher, Silfverberg or Pageau) could start in Binghamton but would be the automatic call-up to Ottawa when Coach MacLean feels the need for a change in the line-up.

In Binghamton, all ready a large amount of forwards are signed which could mean that the team could be remain largely intact from last years end to the season. Matt Puempel, Cole Schneider, Shane Prince, Jakub Culek, Darren Kramer, Wacey Hamilton, Pat Connone, Derek Grant, Buddy Robinson, Stefan Noesen, Mark Stone & Andre Petersson are currently all under contract with the B-Sens leaving only restricted free-agents Corey Cowick, David Dziurzynski, Mike Hoffman and rumored to be playing in Europe this season Stephan Da Costa the remaining restricted free agents to be signed. If Da Costa plays in Europe next season the B-Sens line-up without any help from the Ottawa Senators would consist of 15 forwards which could mean 3 players get shipped off to Elmira to work on their craft.

Putting it in simpler form for everyone:

Matt Puempel – Mike Hoffman (R) – Stefan Noesen
Cole Schneider – Derek Grant – Mark Stone
Shane Prince – Pat Connone – Andre Petersson
Jakub Culek – Wacey Hamilton – Buddy Robinson

Darren Kramer – Corey Cowick (R) – David Dziurzynski (R)
(This is not my prediction of the line combos, but just a look at what players at the positions are all ready signed, except Hoffman, who I expect will be signed because of the lack of natural centers in the organization – (R=Restricted Free Agent)

So when you see it like that, you can see that the Senators do not have as much work on the forward side of things versus on the defensive end of things. With that said, I think that the Free Agent Frenzy that tomorrow will bring for the NHL & AHL will be relatively quiet for the Ottawa Senators organization. I expect announcements in the next few days on the restricted free agents, but not any block buster signings for either team.

However, I will be paying close attention and will provide my thoughts on any signings that Ottawa makes on twitter right here: @PPPShow

Also check out the Ottawa Senators page on Cap Geek here & the Binghamton Senators page on Elite Prospects.com here. These are great tools on keeping up with the Senators and the players that are signed.

Thanks for reading!

Bob Howard
Power Play Post Show Host
Part-time B-Sens Color Man
On Twitter: @PPPShow