Sens at Land’s End

According to the TSN Free Agent Signing Tracker thingy, there has only been one signing in the NHL in the last 36 hours! There are still some unsigned players left out there so I can only assume that this lack of activity means there has been some kind of power outage or other disaster in Tampa Bay. No doubt there will be more moves to come (rumours of a trade involving the Sens and a currently California-based defenceman continue to surface), but it seems that the most intense part of the offseason is now done.

Sens fans now officially have to bid farewell to a player who meant a lot to the Ottawa franchise during his 11-year career here: Wade Redden, who signed a six-year, $39 million contract with the New York Rangers.

…

Okay.

We’ve also seen the last of two players whose impact in Ottawa was far less significant: Cory Stillman (3 years, $10.6 million with the Panthers) and Mike Commodore (5 years, $18.75 million with the Blue Jackets — Team of the Future). I’d have liked to see Stillman stick around, but I certainly wouldn’t have tried to keep Commodore at that hideously inflated salary. Sometimes when you see these contract figures, all you can do is shake your head and try to remember that people are allowed to spend their money however they want, no matter how stupid it might seem to you.

The lone Sens free agent who has been re-signed by the team so far is Shean Donovan, who returns to us with a two-year contract and a very positive outlook on next season. So great was his desire to stay in Ottawa that he has apparently taken a fairly significant paycut to remain with the team. All I can really say about this signing is it’s about freaking time!

A brief review of our list of Sens free agents:

Gone: Redden, Stillman, Commodore
Returning: Donovan
As Yet Unsigned UFAs: Emery, Robitaille, Lapointe, Richardson
As Yet Unsigned RFAs: Vermette (he has filed for arbitration, which means no other team can now sign him to an offer sheet), Meszaros, Hennessy

The Sens have also gained two new faces from free agency. First, they signed Alex Auld, a new goalie to replace Ray Emery. Auld, signed to a two-year deal by the Sens at $1 million per year, was most recently seen backing up Tim Thomas in Boston, where he ended up after finding himself the odd goalie out when Phoenix acquired Ilya Bryzgalov off waivers early in the 2007-2008 season. Before that, he’d been traded to Florida from Vancouver in the Roberto Luongo deal. Auld told the Sun he’s very happy to have found a new home in Ottawa:

“It was an exciting day. There were lots of goalies in play and Ottawa is the team that I wanted to be with” said Auld, who was 9-7-5 in 23 games with Boston last season while sporting a 2.32 GAA. “I just hope it works out. I was really just excited about this opportunity. Everything looks good right now.

“I love the fact that it’s a great market for hockey. It kind of reminds me of when I played in Vancouver with the energy and the excitement.”

On the Sens’ official site, he says:

“There were other teams (that showed interest),” he said. “But at the same time, I believed a lot in everything to do with Ottawa, from the team, the organization, playing in Canada, the money, the term of the contract and the opportunity that it presented to myself. And being able to live and hopefully live for a long time and raise a family in a city like Ottawa was also very desirable.”

Well that’s good to hear. Auld is by all reports a very nice guy and Bryan Murray says he thinks he has found a goaltender who fits in well with his new vision of the Sens as a squad of Upstanding Young Men:

“We like his character and we like his ability. We know if he gets called upon to go into the net, he can do (the job). The other thing is, he’s a really good guy and he’s a real straight competitive person. We think he’ll be great in our locker room and that’s the type of atmosphere we want to create.”

So, to recap: no rage issues and a salary that isn’t ludicrous past the point of belief. This is a signing I can get behind.

The Sens also did their part in the league-wide effort to decimate the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster by signing Jarkko Ruutu to a three-year, $3.9 million deal. I know what you’re thinking: not that Jarkko Ruutu! Not the Jarkko Ruutu who didn’t get called for diving after embellishing on a high stick by Ottawa’s Martin Lapointe in game 3 of the playoffs this year which resulted in the penalty that cost Ottawa the game and any chance at the series? Not the Jarkko Ruutu who eventually scored the goal that eliminated the Sens from the playoffs?

Yep, that Jarkko Ruutu. If I had to guess, I’d say the top five adjectives used to describe Ruutu are “annoying,” “irritating,” “obnoxious,” “super” (but only combined with the noun “pest”), and “vexacious.” Okay, maybe not vexacious, but some other word that means he’s generally a pain in the ass. This is the guy who finished third behind only Sean Avery and Chris Pronger when Sports Illustrated asked 365 NHL players to name the dirtiest player in the league. Remember when Chris Simon got suspended for 30 games for stomping on Ruutu’s leg? Don Cherry then went on Coach’s Corner and basically said Ruutu had it coming. While I don’t condone this “blame the victim” crap, Cherry’s comments give us an idea of how really and truly hated Ruutu must be.

On the other hand, there are those who love him. He doesn’t appear to be as close to pure, undiluted evil as someone like Pronger. I did wonder when I heard about this signing how Murray could justify bringing Ruutu aboard with the Upstanding Young Men plan in full swing, but Murray told the Citizen Ruutu won’t compromise that vision:

“A big body, a strong guy, strong character,” said Murray.

“Good guy. His brother works for us, and he’s a good guy. Certainly a guy that plays, I think, a good role, kind of an agitator. A guy that shows up every night and plays well.

“I don’t think he scores like a Sean Avery, has that sort of offensive ability, but he’s bigger, he battles and he’s an agitator.

“The most important thing for me along with that is that he’s a good guy, and I think he’ll be quite popular now in our room.”

Well okay, that made me feel a bit better. Then I saw this post at Black Aces which includes video of the Frustrating Finn beating up not only Darcy Tucker, my most hated player ever aside from Pronger, but also Steve Downie, the vilest specimen of that vile segment of humanity known as the Philadelphia Flyers. Alright, maybe he’s not so bad. Maybe I can see how having someone like him on the team could be a good thing. Maybe I can even stop calling him Jerkface Ruutu and welcome him to Ottawa.