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Report: Senators Sign Chris Kelly to $900k One-Year, One-Way Deal
TDS Staff via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
CALGARY, CANADA – FEBRUARY 9: Chris Kelly #22 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Calgary Flames on February 9, 2011 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)
First it was Shaun Van Allen and now it’s Chris Kelly.
Whenever it comes to the players who have donned the number 22 for the Ottawa Senators, apparently there is always room for a second tour.
After hearing Bryan Murray repeatedly state that trading players like Mike Fisher and Kelly were some of the hardest decisions he’s had to make, today the Senators announced that Kelly was returning to the team on a one-way, one-year deal worth $900,000.
The centre, who was drafted in the third round (94th overall) in the 1999 NHL Draft by the Senators, returns after spending parts of the last six seasons with the Boston Bruins that included a Stanley Cup championship in 2011.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since the Senators elected to move Kelly to Beantown for a 2011 second round pick, but here we are.
A return to Ottawa makes sense for both parties.
Without Kelly, Ottawa’s bottom-six lacked depth and quality and with him in the fold, it solidifies the centre picture and allows the organization to be more patient with its prospects.
It also makes the lines easier to project:
The only real question at this point pertains to where Curtis Lazar fits in.
There’s probably something to be said about the Senators having the option of penciling in Zack Smith and Mark Stone alongside Jean Gabriel Pageau and keeping that productive trio together, but essentially keeping them together to create a very good third line comes at the cost of being forced to play Lazar as a top-six right winger.
As an alternative, the Senators could reunite Stone with Kyle Turris, but that would necessitate using Lazar on the third line alongside Pageau and Smith.
Neither of those two Lazar situations is particularly enticing however.
I mentioned it in a previous blog post, but of the 240 forwards who played over 1,500 five-on-five minutes in the past two seasons, Lazar ranked tied for 236th in points per 60 minutes of ice time, but perhaps most importantly, in looking at his ‘With or Without You’ numbers, he’s essentially been a possession drag with every teammate that he’s played with over this span.
It’s easy to fall into the belief that Pageau’s ready to carry his own line, but having seen the third line struggle at the beginning of last season without a responsible two-way winger who could deftly and responsibly move the puck up the ice, I worry about how much Lazar could drag down the performance of that line.
With only 11 games left before he’s no longer waiver exempt, the Senators could theoretically elect to have Lazar start the season in Binghamton where he could ideally build some confidence with the puck and work on the offensive side of the game, but having already spent the past two full seasons in Ottawa, one has to wonder whether the organization would bite the bullet and essentially invite questions pertaining to their handling of Lazar’s development. Moreover, it would remain to be seen how Lazar would handle a demotion. He is after all, the same player who openly complained about how much it affected him being jerked around the lineup all last season and never really finding a role. Add these factors together and mix in the fact that Guy Boucher stated during his introductory media tour that Lazar was one of the young players that he was most looking forward to working with and I can’t possibly envision a situation in which Lazar isn’t logging minutes in Ottawa’s top-nine.
Even with uncertainty concerning Lazar’s impact and place on the roster, coming to Ottawa makes a lot of sense for Kelly.
He still lived in Ottawa during his offseasons and having played just 11 games last season before suffering an fractured left femur during a game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, it feels safe to assume that there wasn’t going to be a ton of interest or multi-year offers for a 35-year old centre coming off that kind of debilitating injury.
And really, Kelly’s ability to recover to full-health is the only risk for Ottawa.
It’s not like he’s boxing out an NHL-ready prospect who’s had an impact or is ready to make an impact next season. Colin White and Logan Brown will return to college and junior respectively, while despite some flashes and good PDO-driven luck, neither of Ryan Dzingel or Nick Paul were particularly good down the stretch or did enough to warrant a guaranteed spot on the roster come fall.
Kelly’s simply the kind of inexpensive veteran placeholder that this team needed.
If he’s healthy, Kelly can still help on the defensive side of the puck and be a key member of the penalty kill unit and even at his age, it’s probably fair to assume that he can be a bigger contributor than a Dzingel or even a Paul. And if this proves to be true and the Senators fall out of the playoff picture, the Senators can even dangle him as a deadline chip to fetch a future asset or two.
Unlike many Senators moves these past few years, there’s nothing to really dislike or be wary of here. It might not be the kind of big splash that some fans were or are hoping for, but it’s a welcomed one.
Welcome back, Chris.
Continue reading...
TDS Staff via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
CALGARY, CANADA – FEBRUARY 9: Chris Kelly #22 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Calgary Flames on February 9, 2011 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)
First it was Shaun Van Allen and now it’s Chris Kelly.
Whenever it comes to the players who have donned the number 22 for the Ottawa Senators, apparently there is always room for a second tour.
After hearing Bryan Murray repeatedly state that trading players like Mike Fisher and Kelly were some of the hardest decisions he’s had to make, today the Senators announced that Kelly was returning to the team on a one-way, one-year deal worth $900,000.
The centre, who was drafted in the third round (94th overall) in the 1999 NHL Draft by the Senators, returns after spending parts of the last six seasons with the Boston Bruins that included a Stanley Cup championship in 2011.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since the Senators elected to move Kelly to Beantown for a 2011 second round pick, but here we are.
A return to Ottawa makes sense for both parties.
Without Kelly, Ottawa’s bottom-six lacked depth and quality and with him in the fold, it solidifies the centre picture and allows the organization to be more patient with its prospects.
It also makes the lines easier to project:
MacArthur – Turris – Stone/Ryan/Lazar
Hoffman – Zibanejad – Ryan/Lazar
Smith – Pageau – Stone/Lazar
Paul – Kelly – Neil
The only real question at this point pertains to where Curtis Lazar fits in.
There’s probably something to be said about the Senators having the option of penciling in Zack Smith and Mark Stone alongside Jean Gabriel Pageau and keeping that productive trio together, but essentially keeping them together to create a very good third line comes at the cost of being forced to play Lazar as a top-six right winger.
As an alternative, the Senators could reunite Stone with Kyle Turris, but that would necessitate using Lazar on the third line alongside Pageau and Smith.
Neither of those two Lazar situations is particularly enticing however.
I mentioned it in a previous blog post, but of the 240 forwards who played over 1,500 five-on-five minutes in the past two seasons, Lazar ranked tied for 236th in points per 60 minutes of ice time, but perhaps most importantly, in looking at his ‘With or Without You’ numbers, he’s essentially been a possession drag with every teammate that he’s played with over this span.
It’s easy to fall into the belief that Pageau’s ready to carry his own line, but having seen the third line struggle at the beginning of last season without a responsible two-way winger who could deftly and responsibly move the puck up the ice, I worry about how much Lazar could drag down the performance of that line.
With only 11 games left before he’s no longer waiver exempt, the Senators could theoretically elect to have Lazar start the season in Binghamton where he could ideally build some confidence with the puck and work on the offensive side of the game, but having already spent the past two full seasons in Ottawa, one has to wonder whether the organization would bite the bullet and essentially invite questions pertaining to their handling of Lazar’s development. Moreover, it would remain to be seen how Lazar would handle a demotion. He is after all, the same player who openly complained about how much it affected him being jerked around the lineup all last season and never really finding a role. Add these factors together and mix in the fact that Guy Boucher stated during his introductory media tour that Lazar was one of the young players that he was most looking forward to working with and I can’t possibly envision a situation in which Lazar isn’t logging minutes in Ottawa’s top-nine.
Even with uncertainty concerning Lazar’s impact and place on the roster, coming to Ottawa makes a lot of sense for Kelly.
He still lived in Ottawa during his offseasons and having played just 11 games last season before suffering an fractured left femur during a game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, it feels safe to assume that there wasn’t going to be a ton of interest or multi-year offers for a 35-year old centre coming off that kind of debilitating injury.
And really, Kelly’s ability to recover to full-health is the only risk for Ottawa.
It’s not like he’s boxing out an NHL-ready prospect who’s had an impact or is ready to make an impact next season. Colin White and Logan Brown will return to college and junior respectively, while despite some flashes and good PDO-driven luck, neither of Ryan Dzingel or Nick Paul were particularly good down the stretch or did enough to warrant a guaranteed spot on the roster come fall.
Kelly’s simply the kind of inexpensive veteran placeholder that this team needed.
If he’s healthy, Kelly can still help on the defensive side of the puck and be a key member of the penalty kill unit and even at his age, it’s probably fair to assume that he can be a bigger contributor than a Dzingel or even a Paul. And if this proves to be true and the Senators fall out of the playoff picture, the Senators can even dangle him as a deadline chip to fetch a future asset or two.
Unlike many Senators moves these past few years, there’s nothing to really dislike or be wary of here. It might not be the kind of big splash that some fans were or are hoping for, but it’s a welcomed one.
Welcome back, Chris.
Continue reading...