Sens at Land's End

Finishing up the school term has left me not much time for blogging lately, so I have not one, not two, but three rounds of draft picks to fill you in on from the NHL Re-Draft. Without further ado:

4th round, 97th overall: Brent Seabrook (D)

I thought it was about time the team had someone other than Cam Ward minding its own end, so I decided to go for a top pairing defenceman. Brent Seabrook has been earning a lot of praise (and an invitation to the Canadian Olympic camp) for his performance on the Blackhawks’ top defensive unit, and at a cap hit of $3.5 million I thought he’d be a good fit. He’s mostly known for his solid defensive play, but he’s also said to be a good passer with at least some offensive potential. His 26 points last season would have put him second among Sens’ defencemen.

5th round, 144th overall: Derick Brassard (C)

As you may know, I watched a lot of Blue Jackets games last season. If Derick Brassard hadn’t hurt himself (in a fight!) after 31 games, I think he’d have given his teammate Steve Mason a run for his Calder Trophy. Brassard is very young (only 21) and very inexperienced (only 48 career NHL games), but he’s got a ton of potential and, apparently, the will to live up to it. Plus, the upside of youth and inexperience is, of course, a cheap contract: we get him for just $1.247 million fake dollars. I really like the idea of a first line of Nash-Brassard-Hemsky. C’est aussi sûrement important pour les Sénateurs d’avoir un joueur qui parle français, et Brassard, qui est né à Hull, remplit ce rôle.*

6th round, 157th overall: Stephen Weiss (C)

You know what would be nice? If the Sens had a real second line centre, and if that second line centre made only $3.1 million. I love Mike Fisher as much as the next person who watched the 07 playoff run, but 32 points for $4.2 million? Really? Weiss led the Panthers in scoring last season with 61 points and has the reputation for being a player who makes his linemates better. Some Panthers fans view him as a future team captain. I believe he played on their first line last season, so I’d also view him as an alternative first liner for the Fake Sens in the obviously highly unlike event that Brassard should hit a sophomore slump.

So, we now have six players. I like the way the team is shaping up. I went into this process without much of a strategy but as I’ve gone through the lists of players trying to decide who to pick, I’ve noticed a few factors that make me add guys to my list, and a few that make me back away. The first thing is the contract. I don’t want any overblown dead weight contracts on this team. This has been a huge strike against most guys making over $5 million (because the really good ones were snapped up right away, and the ones left now are the totally super crappy ones anyway). The Fake Sens are also turning out to be quite a young team: so far, our oldest player is Stephen Weiss, who is just 26. This is partly a coincidence because the first three guys I drafted all happened to be 25. But since then youth has become a big part of the team’s identity in my mind.

My next pick is a long way off at 204 (pick 171 — Mattias Ohlund to Atlanta — is the most recent as I write this). Until then, you can as always follow along over at Cycle Like the Sedins. If anyone out there is looking to keep track of the Fake Sens’ roster and cap information, I have made this very beautiful depth chart page for your reference.

Re-Draft Horror: An Apology

I have the unpleasant duty of informing you that Daniel Alfredsson, who should be a Senator For Life even in the Fake NHL, was drafted in the third round by …

… the Anaheim Ducks.

Yes. It’s true. I feel terrible. I really dropped the ball here, and I apologize in advance for any nightmares you might have about Alfie wearing Ducks colours.

*I apologize if my French was offensively bad too.