Much has been made about the prospect depth that Ottawa's front office has assembled through quality drafting. This has allowed both the fans and team optimism for the future, especially within the top six. However, it also enables trade flexibility (such as the Rundblad for Turris deal) and the opportunity to be a factor during free agency.
Ottawa has allegedly been very active in the Rick Nash sweepstakes and with Bobby Ryan's future with the Ducks organization growing thinner by the blog, the possibility of the Senators making an immediate boost to their offense is very real. A mixture of combinations involve the following names: Lehner, Stone, Zibanejad, Silfverberg, draft picks, possibly a depth piece like Smith. Perhaps Colin Greening who is coming off an impressive rookie campaign (17G-20A-37PTS) where he saw top line minutes playing with Jason Spezza and played in all 82 games.
We are holding these prized prospects with the hope that they emerge as elite forwards in the National Hockey League. Not only would we be getting that in return, but it would be a proven commodity. However there is always the risk of that these young stars will turn into 70+ point producers, something that Nash and Ryan have only accomplished once. Granted, Nash was playing with lackluster support and Ryan still has room to grow.
Fans would hate to see any of these high picks go but we don't need to go look back at Filitov to know that sometimes hype is just hype and having players with an impressive NHL track record is key to success.
Who on Ottawa's prospect list would you be willing to lose for Nash or Ryan?
Are there any other hidden gems within the UFA class that would allow the Sens to continue developing the team while not losing last years momentum?
Thanks for reading!
-Dylan Parker