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Randy Lee Speaks: Development Camp, Chabot Comments, Gagne’s Improvements
TDS Staff via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Meant to publish this earlier in the week, but it got thrown on the back burner. On Monday, Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee joined TSN 1200’s ‘In the Box’ to wrap up the 2016 edition of the organization’s development camp and elaborate on his comments regarding his disappointment in Thomas Chabot’s performance.
To listen to the full interview, you can stream it via the embedded media player at the bottom of this post.
As always, my thoughts are in bold.
On how many development camps there have been…
“At least 15. Shawn Camp has done 15 for us, so it could be at least 15.”
The aptly-named Shawn Camp is not only a development camp coach for the Ottawa Senators, but he also serves as the head coach for the University of Guelph.
On how this year’s development camp went…
“Very smooth. I think our staff really stepped up. I really thank them a lot because there were a lot of things going on when you have new coaching staffs in Ottawa, a new head coach in Binghamton and you’re moving your East Coast (Hockey) League team to the Wichita Thunder. I told the players that today and they weren’t excited. So they said, ‘If I don’t make Binghamton, I go to Wichita?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. Remember the Thunder.’ They didn’t like that. They didn’t embrace that.”
I looked up Wichita, Kansas on Trip Advisor and the top five things to do based on the recommendations are:
Sounds wonderful.
On why Nick Paul was named the ‘hardest worker’ at this year’s camp…
“It’s voted on by all the coaches, all the conditioning guys and all the trainers and guys that worked with him on a daily basis. He did everything on the ice, off the ice, in the room, the dry-land sessions and the seminars. He worked his rear end off.”
It’s completely unfair to Paul that he’s one of two remaining pieces from an unsalvageable Jason Spezza trade and because of it, fans will always link him to it, but there’s value in developing into an effective third liner. Even though Paul struggled in his first professional season and didn’t really dominate the AHL before his late season promotion, with a little more time and development, the prevailing sentiment is that he safely projects as a third liner.
With the announcement of Chris Kelly’s signing this afternoon, it remains to be seen how the Senators intend on using him. The safe assumption is that he can slot in on the fourth line as the left winger, but it’s possible the Senators would prefer him to get more development time as a centre in Binghamton.
On this being a hurdle and test for Paul because he did play games in the NHL…
“He did (embrace this development camp) and it’s a good story for our guys because this was a guy who went into our camp last year, thought he had a good chance of making our team, didn’t and at one point during the season (he) was a healthy scratch in Binghamton. So you go from a high to a low to the point where he played his first NHL game, scored his first NHL goal and was named the ‘hardest worker’ in development camp. So he’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
Paul was promoted from Binghamton despite putting up an unimpressive six goals and 17 points in 45 games. Equally disappointing was his Paul’s shot rate of 1.71 shots per game.
In Ottawa, he got off to a decent start tallying two goals and an assist in his first six games, but after that, he only managed two assists in his final 18 games. Territorially, whenever he was on the ice, the Senators wound up on the wrong side of the shots on goal, shots, scoring chances and goal columns.
It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll make the Senators’ roster out of camp, but it’s not like there’s a lot of competition for that fourth line left wing spot. He’s competing with guys like Ryan Dzingel and Matt Puempel and neither of those guys have established themselves as regular NHLers either.
On who some of the surprises were in development camp…
“For a guy who’s sort of reclaimed his career is Vince Dunn. He worked really hard on and off the ice. He got a number of votes for ‘hardest worker’. (He) definitely got the most votes for ‘biggest pest’, which is good because that’s his brand. But, he worked his rear end off and he was a real leader, which is good to see. Gabriel Gagne, who is a guy who Shean Donovan and myself have gone after really hard for a guy who’s got tons of skills, but his effort, his intensity and his engagement didn’t match (those skills). And he addressed it and he was more of a power forward this camp. He worked really hard on and off the ice. We watched him in the sparring sessions, we watched him in the sprint mechanic sessions and he applied himself. We gave him a big pat on the back.”
It’s incredibly satisfying to see that Gabriel Gagne is someone who turned some heads with his performance at camp.
After having his work ethic and character questioned in a number of third party evaluations that led up to the 2015 NHL Draft, the Senators gambled on Gagne’s tools and skill set by trading up to select him in the second round of the draft.
The dividends weren’t there in the early going. Not only did he spend much of the early stretch of the season on the shelf with a lower-body injury, he was a prospect who wasn’t exactly being lavished with praise.
In his midseason 2015 draft review, ESPN Insider Corey Pronman noted that, “Ottawa picking Gabriel Gagne No. 36 overall was questionable at the time — and looks worse now. He has good hands for a big man, but his skating could keep his NHL prospects low.”
If Gagne has finally recognized that he can no longer just simply get by on raw talent, it’s great. If he starts putting in the work on and off the ice and realizing what it takes to be a good pro, there’s a good chance that Ottawa’s gamble will pay off.
On how difficult it is to evaluate when you have guys at different stages of their offseason because of when their season ended…
“That’s a good point. Like, some guys haven’t skated for a long time and then they’re expected to go on the ice for six out of seven days and play one scrimmage and a three-on-three tournament, so it’s very hard. So that’s a good point, it’s hard to assess apples to apples, but that’s part of it. We want to see what they do. We want to see how they embrace it. We want to see their work ethic, but we understand. We look at their schedules to see who hasn’t had that much time to prepare. We had one guy that eight days before the camp was on a motorcycle and got hit by a van, so he couldn’t do anything for the five days leading up to camp or six days leading up to camp. So that was tough and he really ruined some of his really nice tattoos, which is a bad sign too. Burned them right off of his body. Stay off motorcycles – that was the message there. He mentioned that, that he’s going to put the motorcycle away.
PSA: don’t drive motorcycles, kids.
On Nick Paul stating that he was too heavy, but he knows that and knows what he needs to work on…
“But, it’s not too heavy in terms of being fat, it’s too heavy in maybe the muscle mass is too much. So it’s a big difference. (The weight is too much) for the type of tempo game that he wants to play? Yeah, we thought that was the best thing for him was to be down a bit. Chris Neil did it before. (Mark Borowiecki) did it, definitely. So (these two) are great examples for him and he understands. He wants to be as big and strong as he can, but for him to get around the ice, he probably has to be a bit lighter.”
Paul sounds like the antithesis of Kyle Turris. He is a naturally large dude, so it is going to be interesting to see if this will be a constant struggle for him.
On some of the new draft picks who surprised because of where they are in their development…
“Christian Wolanin, a defenceman who played with Drake Caggiula and we went and saw him in Grand Forks. He didn’t play much this year, but he worked really hard and he’s a guy who’s going to have a big role next year in North Dakota. And he had a really good camp, got a lot of votes. Very confident guy. Understands his role (at North Dakota), had to sit and didn’t play every game, but when he did play, he played with confidence and he played really well. Miles Gendron was a guy who was a first year guy in university. He had a tough year. His role was not what he was used to. He was very restrained in his role. He had to adapt to that and he went through some real struggles. He looked really good (in the scrimmage). I said, ‘You skate like Paul Coffey,’ and he goes, ‘Who’s Paul Coffey?’ I said, ‘How about Scott Niedermayer?’ and he goes, ‘I know Scott Niedermayer.’ But, he is, he is that fluid of a skater and he’s got to now figure out how to get his coach’s confidence so he can do that at the college level. (He’s) a very top-end talent. Chris Leblanc was a guy who we loved early on, then he bottomed out. He lost confidence, didn’t understand his role and his position was switched all over the place. We kept thinking, ‘This is maybe not going to work out,’ and now this year, Shean Donovan has sort of taken him under his wing and simplified his game. The kid came in with a huge smile, knows his role – right wing, power forward, get pucks deep, get to the front of the net, simple and he’s happy. He’s got a chance (to be a professional).”
Considering that not a lot has been said or written about these prospects since they were drafted, it’s great to get an update on how these project players are developing, even if it means that Miles Gendron is making the rest of us feel old.
On Leblanc being part of team white that won the three-on-three and how they were comprised mostly of unsigned guys who probably had extra motivation…
“Most competitive, not the most skilled, definitely. But, they had motivation though because Vince Dunn was part of their team. Vince was injured, so (their motto) was, ‘Do it for Dunner!’ So that’s what they were doing, that was their motivation.”
Okay, sure.
On how much correspondence he has with these prospects now that development is over…
“They still email me every week. Some guys will go in and out. We’re trying to figure out everyone’s different schedules. I mean, some guys start really soon. Some have to go into their colleges mid-August. You know that routine, it’s tough. Some of the guys like Logan Brown, like he’s going to have World Junior camp, then he’s going to have a rookie camp, then he’s going to have a main camp, then he’s maybe going to have a junior camp, that’s a lot to manage. So we’re trying to figure out… maybe he should talk to a Curtis Lazar or a Nick Paul who’s done that process to make sure he doesn’t get burned out. So some of those guys do that routine and then by October 15th, they’re spent. So it’s a really tough thing to manage, so Chris Schwarz, Shean Donovan and myself are sitting down and looking at each and every guy and saying, ‘What do we have to do? What are the pitfalls that we have to watch out for with this guy and how do we have to encourage them?’”
Logan Brown’s going to be one busy dude.
On sitting down with Logan Brown and how hard it is to not come away impressed…
“Very impressive and he understands how much work he has to put into it now. Like, the potential is incredible. Like, I knew he was a big player. I didn’t know he had that good vision with the puck and the way he made plays. He sees the game at a different level, like the way Mark Stone sees the game. Colin White sees the game that way. There’s something different about those guys, but (Logan) knows he’s got to put in the work, so that’s a good sign.”
Heading into the draft, I was pretty fired up seeing Clayton Keller frequently fall to the Senators’ range in some mock drafts, but the more I read about Brown, the harder it is not to get excited. He already has a blend of elite playmaking and a knack for protecting the puck, but if he can figure out ways to be more creative and make better use of his shot, the Sens could have something special here.
On Colin White’s decision to return to Boston College and how confident he is that this is the right decision for him…
“100-percent. He could have (turned professional). We could have made it work. It’s safer this way and it’s a smarter decision for him just because the year before, he had mono. This year, he’s got the wrist injury, he lost weight during the season, but he’s a special player. We think this is the best thing for him and he knows how much we care about him. We said, ‘Don’t worry about putting up points. You don’t have to sell us (on your offensive upside). We know that you’re going to be a good player. Just play right and play the type of player that you’re going to be and things will work out,’ and he was very happy with that decision.”
It feels weird to say, but it almost feels like this season is a bit of a write off in the sense that the team is essentially returning the same roster that it ended last season with – with the exception being yesterday’s addition of Chris Kelly. Now maybe Thomas Chabot makes the jump and gives fans and the organization someone to be excited about on the team’s third pairing, but I’m already looking ahead to the 2017-18 season when Colin White and Logan Brown and potentially even Chabot will be a part of the roster.
With the current roster composition and a budget that’s essentially been stretched to its limits, I can’t help but wonder if the current roster has taken the Senators as far as it can go. At least for me, it feels like it’s going to have to be this next generation of players who will push the team from its playoff bubble status into something greater.
On Thomas Chabot’s camp and his public criticisms of it during the main media scrimmage…
“Oh, I was just honest. We expected him to dominate the camp. He was really good last year and he had a great season last year. He went into the World Junior camp and the Hockey Canada guys were telling me, ‘Don’t get too excited. We’ve got a lot of guys like him,’ and I said, “Oooh, he might impress you.’ He found his way onto the team and he had a good role. He had a great season, his coaches loved him and he worked really hard. I just felt, to me, my expectation of him (is) that the bar is higher for him. He just didn’t meet it, that’s all.”
Considering Ottawa’s budget and the lack of available quality alternatives on the market, Randy Lee’s trying to light a fire under Chabot’s ass because the team recognizes its situation and realizes that it could use his puck-moving skills to shore up one of its biggest weaknesses. Without knowing what kind of personality Chabot has and how well he’d receive this kind of candid public criticism, it’s hard to criticize Lee for putting it out there. If anyone has an idea on how to push Chabot’s buttons, I’d like to think it’s the guy who has the player development background.
I just hope Chabot handles it well and continues to build on last season’s growth and development.
On Chabot getting the push mid-summer to improve because he has a real opportunity to make this team…
“Absolutely. We have six defencemen signed, like, that’s a great opportunity and he’s a great kid. Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t arrogance. It just, he looked not as engaged and I thought he would have made more of an impression on the coaching staff, that’s all.”
The good news is that there’s still a few months between now and the rookie tournament and eventually main camp. There’s still plenty of time and opportunity for Chabot to impress.
On the performance of the goaltenders during camp and his satisfaction with their development…
“Yeah, really happy. Matt O’Connor had a tough year last year. I mean, going from BU to be the most sought after college free agent, he had a tough start in Binghamton. Both our goalies had a tough start and (Chris) Driedger’s season went really strong and Matt took off at the end. Matt now has lots of confidence. He has a good relationship with the new goaltending coaches, which is good. We’ve signed Cory Cooper to be a full-time goaltending development coach, which he really likes. So we’ve got presence every week down in Binghamton with the goaltending situation and (Marcus) Hogberg understands he has got to go back one more year and then he’s ready to come over and he’s a real talent too.”
To no one’s surprise, the Senators spent most of the first few days of free agency trying to shore up their AHL roster. It’s not like Binghamton’s goaltenders were fortunate to play behind a talented club. With essentially all of Ottawa’s best young talent already on the big club’s roster, there wasn’t enough talent in Binghamton to insulate their young goaltenders. Maybe that will change this season.
On what the plan is for Gabriel Gagne this season because he hasn’t signed an entry-level contract and has the ability to start the 2016-17 season in the AHL…
“No, (we will not turn pro). Yeah, absolutely. He’s going to do the (Francis) Perron thing. He’s going to go back and prove it to us. We talked to him just two minutes ago. ‘You’re going to be the hardest worker on your team. You’re going to be the hardest and most competitive guy in games. Anything we want you to address, you’re going to work on.’ He said, ‘This is great!’ It looks like we’re talking to a new person. It’s really nice to see, but we’re not going to go ahead and sign him. We’re going to wait and we’re going to make sure he earns it. We did it to (Francis) Perron and he sweated it out. We’re not trying to make them sweat, but we want to make sure. But, this kid has got lots of talent. He’s one guy who impressed Guy Boucher quite a bit.”
It’s probably an empty threat more than anything, considering the organization traded some picks to move up in the draft and grab him, but it doesn’t hurt to leave the prospect in a temporary limbo as some sort of motivational tool to get him to mature and take some initiative.
On who the guy was who got injured in the motorcycle incident…
“Chris Carlisle. A very competitive defenceman. Great skater. Played on Tobias Lindberg’s team in Oshawa that had a great season there. He went into Binghamton on an AHL contract and started last season with the Evansville Icemen, got called up once for Luke (Richardson) and never went back. He’s a great competitive kid. No more motorcycles.”
No more nice tattoo either.
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/179/44244/itb 3-2.mp3
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TDS Staff via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Meant to publish this earlier in the week, but it got thrown on the back burner. On Monday, Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee joined TSN 1200’s ‘In the Box’ to wrap up the 2016 edition of the organization’s development camp and elaborate on his comments regarding his disappointment in Thomas Chabot’s performance.
To listen to the full interview, you can stream it via the embedded media player at the bottom of this post.
As always, my thoughts are in bold.
On how many development camps there have been…
“At least 15. Shawn Camp has done 15 for us, so it could be at least 15.”
The aptly-named Shawn Camp is not only a development camp coach for the Ottawa Senators, but he also serves as the head coach for the University of Guelph.
On how this year’s development camp went…
“Very smooth. I think our staff really stepped up. I really thank them a lot because there were a lot of things going on when you have new coaching staffs in Ottawa, a new head coach in Binghamton and you’re moving your East Coast (Hockey) League team to the Wichita Thunder. I told the players that today and they weren’t excited. So they said, ‘If I don’t make Binghamton, I go to Wichita?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. Remember the Thunder.’ They didn’t like that. They didn’t embrace that.”
I looked up Wichita, Kansas on Trip Advisor and the top five things to do based on the recommendations are:
- Sedgwick County Zoo
- Botanica: The Wichita Gardens – which are described as a “garden right in downtown Wichita!”
- The Keeper of the Plains – a “Wichita Classic!”
- Museum of World Treasures – which houses “many different kinds of Treasures!”
- Old Cowtown Museum
Sounds wonderful.
On why Nick Paul was named the ‘hardest worker’ at this year’s camp…
“It’s voted on by all the coaches, all the conditioning guys and all the trainers and guys that worked with him on a daily basis. He did everything on the ice, off the ice, in the room, the dry-land sessions and the seminars. He worked his rear end off.”
It’s completely unfair to Paul that he’s one of two remaining pieces from an unsalvageable Jason Spezza trade and because of it, fans will always link him to it, but there’s value in developing into an effective third liner. Even though Paul struggled in his first professional season and didn’t really dominate the AHL before his late season promotion, with a little more time and development, the prevailing sentiment is that he safely projects as a third liner.
With the announcement of Chris Kelly’s signing this afternoon, it remains to be seen how the Senators intend on using him. The safe assumption is that he can slot in on the fourth line as the left winger, but it’s possible the Senators would prefer him to get more development time as a centre in Binghamton.
On this being a hurdle and test for Paul because he did play games in the NHL…
“He did (embrace this development camp) and it’s a good story for our guys because this was a guy who went into our camp last year, thought he had a good chance of making our team, didn’t and at one point during the season (he) was a healthy scratch in Binghamton. So you go from a high to a low to the point where he played his first NHL game, scored his first NHL goal and was named the ‘hardest worker’ in development camp. So he’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
Paul was promoted from Binghamton despite putting up an unimpressive six goals and 17 points in 45 games. Equally disappointing was his Paul’s shot rate of 1.71 shots per game.
In Ottawa, he got off to a decent start tallying two goals and an assist in his first six games, but after that, he only managed two assists in his final 18 games. Territorially, whenever he was on the ice, the Senators wound up on the wrong side of the shots on goal, shots, scoring chances and goal columns.
It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll make the Senators’ roster out of camp, but it’s not like there’s a lot of competition for that fourth line left wing spot. He’s competing with guys like Ryan Dzingel and Matt Puempel and neither of those guys have established themselves as regular NHLers either.
On who some of the surprises were in development camp…
“For a guy who’s sort of reclaimed his career is Vince Dunn. He worked really hard on and off the ice. He got a number of votes for ‘hardest worker’. (He) definitely got the most votes for ‘biggest pest’, which is good because that’s his brand. But, he worked his rear end off and he was a real leader, which is good to see. Gabriel Gagne, who is a guy who Shean Donovan and myself have gone after really hard for a guy who’s got tons of skills, but his effort, his intensity and his engagement didn’t match (those skills). And he addressed it and he was more of a power forward this camp. He worked really hard on and off the ice. We watched him in the sparring sessions, we watched him in the sprint mechanic sessions and he applied himself. We gave him a big pat on the back.”
It’s incredibly satisfying to see that Gabriel Gagne is someone who turned some heads with his performance at camp.
After having his work ethic and character questioned in a number of third party evaluations that led up to the 2015 NHL Draft, the Senators gambled on Gagne’s tools and skill set by trading up to select him in the second round of the draft.
The dividends weren’t there in the early going. Not only did he spend much of the early stretch of the season on the shelf with a lower-body injury, he was a prospect who wasn’t exactly being lavished with praise.
In his midseason 2015 draft review, ESPN Insider Corey Pronman noted that, “Ottawa picking Gabriel Gagne No. 36 overall was questionable at the time — and looks worse now. He has good hands for a big man, but his skating could keep his NHL prospects low.”
If Gagne has finally recognized that he can no longer just simply get by on raw talent, it’s great. If he starts putting in the work on and off the ice and realizing what it takes to be a good pro, there’s a good chance that Ottawa’s gamble will pay off.
On how difficult it is to evaluate when you have guys at different stages of their offseason because of when their season ended…
“That’s a good point. Like, some guys haven’t skated for a long time and then they’re expected to go on the ice for six out of seven days and play one scrimmage and a three-on-three tournament, so it’s very hard. So that’s a good point, it’s hard to assess apples to apples, but that’s part of it. We want to see what they do. We want to see how they embrace it. We want to see their work ethic, but we understand. We look at their schedules to see who hasn’t had that much time to prepare. We had one guy that eight days before the camp was on a motorcycle and got hit by a van, so he couldn’t do anything for the five days leading up to camp or six days leading up to camp. So that was tough and he really ruined some of his really nice tattoos, which is a bad sign too. Burned them right off of his body. Stay off motorcycles – that was the message there. He mentioned that, that he’s going to put the motorcycle away.
PSA: don’t drive motorcycles, kids.
On Nick Paul stating that he was too heavy, but he knows that and knows what he needs to work on…
“But, it’s not too heavy in terms of being fat, it’s too heavy in maybe the muscle mass is too much. So it’s a big difference. (The weight is too much) for the type of tempo game that he wants to play? Yeah, we thought that was the best thing for him was to be down a bit. Chris Neil did it before. (Mark Borowiecki) did it, definitely. So (these two) are great examples for him and he understands. He wants to be as big and strong as he can, but for him to get around the ice, he probably has to be a bit lighter.”
Paul sounds like the antithesis of Kyle Turris. He is a naturally large dude, so it is going to be interesting to see if this will be a constant struggle for him.
On some of the new draft picks who surprised because of where they are in their development…
“Christian Wolanin, a defenceman who played with Drake Caggiula and we went and saw him in Grand Forks. He didn’t play much this year, but he worked really hard and he’s a guy who’s going to have a big role next year in North Dakota. And he had a really good camp, got a lot of votes. Very confident guy. Understands his role (at North Dakota), had to sit and didn’t play every game, but when he did play, he played with confidence and he played really well. Miles Gendron was a guy who was a first year guy in university. He had a tough year. His role was not what he was used to. He was very restrained in his role. He had to adapt to that and he went through some real struggles. He looked really good (in the scrimmage). I said, ‘You skate like Paul Coffey,’ and he goes, ‘Who’s Paul Coffey?’ I said, ‘How about Scott Niedermayer?’ and he goes, ‘I know Scott Niedermayer.’ But, he is, he is that fluid of a skater and he’s got to now figure out how to get his coach’s confidence so he can do that at the college level. (He’s) a very top-end talent. Chris Leblanc was a guy who we loved early on, then he bottomed out. He lost confidence, didn’t understand his role and his position was switched all over the place. We kept thinking, ‘This is maybe not going to work out,’ and now this year, Shean Donovan has sort of taken him under his wing and simplified his game. The kid came in with a huge smile, knows his role – right wing, power forward, get pucks deep, get to the front of the net, simple and he’s happy. He’s got a chance (to be a professional).”
Considering that not a lot has been said or written about these prospects since they were drafted, it’s great to get an update on how these project players are developing, even if it means that Miles Gendron is making the rest of us feel old.
On Leblanc being part of team white that won the three-on-three and how they were comprised mostly of unsigned guys who probably had extra motivation…
“Most competitive, not the most skilled, definitely. But, they had motivation though because Vince Dunn was part of their team. Vince was injured, so (their motto) was, ‘Do it for Dunner!’ So that’s what they were doing, that was their motivation.”
Okay, sure.
On how much correspondence he has with these prospects now that development is over…
“They still email me every week. Some guys will go in and out. We’re trying to figure out everyone’s different schedules. I mean, some guys start really soon. Some have to go into their colleges mid-August. You know that routine, it’s tough. Some of the guys like Logan Brown, like he’s going to have World Junior camp, then he’s going to have a rookie camp, then he’s going to have a main camp, then he’s maybe going to have a junior camp, that’s a lot to manage. So we’re trying to figure out… maybe he should talk to a Curtis Lazar or a Nick Paul who’s done that process to make sure he doesn’t get burned out. So some of those guys do that routine and then by October 15th, they’re spent. So it’s a really tough thing to manage, so Chris Schwarz, Shean Donovan and myself are sitting down and looking at each and every guy and saying, ‘What do we have to do? What are the pitfalls that we have to watch out for with this guy and how do we have to encourage them?’”
Logan Brown’s going to be one busy dude.
On sitting down with Logan Brown and how hard it is to not come away impressed…
“Very impressive and he understands how much work he has to put into it now. Like, the potential is incredible. Like, I knew he was a big player. I didn’t know he had that good vision with the puck and the way he made plays. He sees the game at a different level, like the way Mark Stone sees the game. Colin White sees the game that way. There’s something different about those guys, but (Logan) knows he’s got to put in the work, so that’s a good sign.”
Heading into the draft, I was pretty fired up seeing Clayton Keller frequently fall to the Senators’ range in some mock drafts, but the more I read about Brown, the harder it is not to get excited. He already has a blend of elite playmaking and a knack for protecting the puck, but if he can figure out ways to be more creative and make better use of his shot, the Sens could have something special here.
On Colin White’s decision to return to Boston College and how confident he is that this is the right decision for him…
“100-percent. He could have (turned professional). We could have made it work. It’s safer this way and it’s a smarter decision for him just because the year before, he had mono. This year, he’s got the wrist injury, he lost weight during the season, but he’s a special player. We think this is the best thing for him and he knows how much we care about him. We said, ‘Don’t worry about putting up points. You don’t have to sell us (on your offensive upside). We know that you’re going to be a good player. Just play right and play the type of player that you’re going to be and things will work out,’ and he was very happy with that decision.”
It feels weird to say, but it almost feels like this season is a bit of a write off in the sense that the team is essentially returning the same roster that it ended last season with – with the exception being yesterday’s addition of Chris Kelly. Now maybe Thomas Chabot makes the jump and gives fans and the organization someone to be excited about on the team’s third pairing, but I’m already looking ahead to the 2017-18 season when Colin White and Logan Brown and potentially even Chabot will be a part of the roster.
With the current roster composition and a budget that’s essentially been stretched to its limits, I can’t help but wonder if the current roster has taken the Senators as far as it can go. At least for me, it feels like it’s going to have to be this next generation of players who will push the team from its playoff bubble status into something greater.
On Thomas Chabot’s camp and his public criticisms of it during the main media scrimmage…
“Oh, I was just honest. We expected him to dominate the camp. He was really good last year and he had a great season last year. He went into the World Junior camp and the Hockey Canada guys were telling me, ‘Don’t get too excited. We’ve got a lot of guys like him,’ and I said, “Oooh, he might impress you.’ He found his way onto the team and he had a good role. He had a great season, his coaches loved him and he worked really hard. I just felt, to me, my expectation of him (is) that the bar is higher for him. He just didn’t meet it, that’s all.”
Considering Ottawa’s budget and the lack of available quality alternatives on the market, Randy Lee’s trying to light a fire under Chabot’s ass because the team recognizes its situation and realizes that it could use his puck-moving skills to shore up one of its biggest weaknesses. Without knowing what kind of personality Chabot has and how well he’d receive this kind of candid public criticism, it’s hard to criticize Lee for putting it out there. If anyone has an idea on how to push Chabot’s buttons, I’d like to think it’s the guy who has the player development background.
I just hope Chabot handles it well and continues to build on last season’s growth and development.
On Chabot getting the push mid-summer to improve because he has a real opportunity to make this team…
“Absolutely. We have six defencemen signed, like, that’s a great opportunity and he’s a great kid. Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t arrogance. It just, he looked not as engaged and I thought he would have made more of an impression on the coaching staff, that’s all.”
The good news is that there’s still a few months between now and the rookie tournament and eventually main camp. There’s still plenty of time and opportunity for Chabot to impress.
On the performance of the goaltenders during camp and his satisfaction with their development…
“Yeah, really happy. Matt O’Connor had a tough year last year. I mean, going from BU to be the most sought after college free agent, he had a tough start in Binghamton. Both our goalies had a tough start and (Chris) Driedger’s season went really strong and Matt took off at the end. Matt now has lots of confidence. He has a good relationship with the new goaltending coaches, which is good. We’ve signed Cory Cooper to be a full-time goaltending development coach, which he really likes. So we’ve got presence every week down in Binghamton with the goaltending situation and (Marcus) Hogberg understands he has got to go back one more year and then he’s ready to come over and he’s a real talent too.”
To no one’s surprise, the Senators spent most of the first few days of free agency trying to shore up their AHL roster. It’s not like Binghamton’s goaltenders were fortunate to play behind a talented club. With essentially all of Ottawa’s best young talent already on the big club’s roster, there wasn’t enough talent in Binghamton to insulate their young goaltenders. Maybe that will change this season.
On what the plan is for Gabriel Gagne this season because he hasn’t signed an entry-level contract and has the ability to start the 2016-17 season in the AHL…
“No, (we will not turn pro). Yeah, absolutely. He’s going to do the (Francis) Perron thing. He’s going to go back and prove it to us. We talked to him just two minutes ago. ‘You’re going to be the hardest worker on your team. You’re going to be the hardest and most competitive guy in games. Anything we want you to address, you’re going to work on.’ He said, ‘This is great!’ It looks like we’re talking to a new person. It’s really nice to see, but we’re not going to go ahead and sign him. We’re going to wait and we’re going to make sure he earns it. We did it to (Francis) Perron and he sweated it out. We’re not trying to make them sweat, but we want to make sure. But, this kid has got lots of talent. He’s one guy who impressed Guy Boucher quite a bit.”
It’s probably an empty threat more than anything, considering the organization traded some picks to move up in the draft and grab him, but it doesn’t hurt to leave the prospect in a temporary limbo as some sort of motivational tool to get him to mature and take some initiative.
On who the guy was who got injured in the motorcycle incident…
“Chris Carlisle. A very competitive defenceman. Great skater. Played on Tobias Lindberg’s team in Oshawa that had a great season there. He went into Binghamton on an AHL contract and started last season with the Evansville Icemen, got called up once for Luke (Richardson) and never went back. He’s a great competitive kid. No more motorcycles.”
No more nice tattoo either.
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/179/44244/itb 3-2.mp3
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