The Mike Fisher trade is a smoke signal that the fire sale has begun in earnest in Ottawa.
It can take a long, long time to build a championship team.
Just ask the frustrated followers of the Toronto Maple Leafs who have not won a title since the NHL was a six-team league.
However, it doesn’t take much time at all for a championship-calibre club to tumble from the top of the mountain down to the foothills. That is the case of the Ottawa Senators who, with the trading of veteran centre Mike Fisher for a first-round draft choice, have officially begun their rebuilding program.
Was it really just four years ago that the Senators made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final only to lose in five games to the Anaheim Ducks? Indeed it was. Hockey Fever was at an all-time high in Ottawa and the Senators appeared to be a team that would compete for the Cup for years to come.
Even though the Senators lost in the final, the future still looked bright.
Captain Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley formed one of the most lethal lines in the NHL and, all three finished tied for the scoring lead in the post-season that spring with 22 points apiece.
The Senators boasted a nice combination of experience, youth and toughness with the likes of Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Peter Schaefer, Chris Kelly, Dean McAmmond and Patrick Eaves up front and a formidable defence consisting of Wade Redden, Joe Corvo, Andrej Meszaros, Anton Volchenkov, Chris Phillips and Tom Preissing.
Ray Emery was a bit of a handful in net, but displayed enough talent that it seemed worthwhile to put up with his occasional nonsense.
All in all, the Ottawa Senators were a happy group with a bright future. Or so it seemed.
In reality, the Senators have been spiraling downward since the spring of ’07 and you can make the case they have not hit rock bottom yet.
Heatley decided he couldn’t exist in the same world as Clouston and demanded a trade. The Senators appeased him, making a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, but Heatley, who had a no-trade clause, turned down the deal and wasn’t satisfied until Murray traded him to the San Jose Sharks in sunny California. The Senators hoped free agent Alex Kovalev would be a suitable replacement, but he has been a disappointment.
Emery eventually wore out his welcome and was bought out while others were either traded or left as free agents. The changes weren’t only on the ice.
The Senators are on their third coach, Cory Clouston, since the near-championship season and his future is tenuous at best. General manager Bryan Murray continues to run the show as the team’s general manager, but his future is also cloudy. Both Clouston and Murray are on expiring contracts and it is doubtful either will be extended. It has been suggested Murray would remain with the organization in an advisory capacity.
While the Senators were not considered serious Stanley Cup threats this season, being a playoff contender did not seem too far fetched. Instead, they have been decidedly horrible.
This is a team lacking an identity. Are they fast? No. Are they solid defensively? No. Can they beat opponents in an old-fashioned shootout? No. Are they tough? No.
It doesn’t help matters that Spezza, the team’s most gifted scorer, has spent much of the season injured, limited to just 35 of his team’s 55 games. Even when he has been in the lineup, Spezza has not been firing on all cylinders. Father Time has caught up with Alfredsson who has lost a step and now he’s injured, too.
Sergei Gonchar, brought in as a free agent to bolster the defence and help with power play with his offensive skills, has been a bust. He has six goals and 22 points in 55 games and is minus-20. Jarkko Ruutu, once one of the NHL’s better two-way performers with an agitating side, has just two goals in 48 games. After a rotten start, Nick Foligno is up to nine goals, but a lot more was expected from the Senators’ first-round draft pick in ‘06. Chris Phillips, once a defensive stud, is minus-27 and has just four assists.
The Senators’ goaltending has been painfully inconsistent, one of the big reasons why the team has allowed 62 more goals than it has scored.
The biggest concern for the Senators is the failure of some of the team’s top youngsters to take the next step. After scoring three goals and recording four points in six playoff games last season, it looked as though Peter Regin was primed to be the team’s No. 2 scoring centre and that along with Spezza and Fisher, would provide his team with significant strength down the middle. Instead Regin has just two goals in 51 games; 11 fewer than he scored in the regular season last year.
Erik Karlsson, who is a gifted and creative force on offence from the blueline, has put up decent numbers (eight goals, 30 points in 53 games), but is wildly inconsistent bordering on dangerous in his own zone. He is minus-25. But at 20, Karlsson shows a tremendous upside, but for the Senators to be better, his game needs to mature in a hurry.
The Fisher trade is likely the tip of the iceberg.
Phillips, Kovalev and Ruutu are all unrestricted free agents next summer and have some trade value. It wouldn’t be surprising to see all three moved.
Changes will be plentiful and will come quickly in Ottawa.
A return to the Stanley Cup final? Well, that could take some time.
