Ottawa's goalie log jam

[Hoopo]

I think trading Lehner would be a mistake. I think signing Hammond is a mistake. But no one cares what I think.

Lehner is young. I don't know how to evaluate goalies' potential, but everything I've heard suggests Lehner has it. A lot of goalies don't really make a mark until they're in their mid-to-late 20s, especially big guys. Look at Bishop, for example. 26? 27 before he made a real impact? Consider also that O'Connor is getting drafted out of college and is the same age as Lehner(!) despite Lehner getting (comparatively) tons of experience at the highest level. I still think Lehner has time to put it all together. Tossing him out now is a mistake.

Also confused about O'Connor. Ottawa has a great system for developing goalies now? That's why he picked us? Dude, we trade for them. Historically we run our goalies ragged and send them off unceremoniously. The only goalies of note I recall coming up through the Senators system were Ray Emery and Brian Elliott, and frankly Elliott wasn't even very good until he got the benefit of a St Louis system in front of him.

Realistically Anderson and Hammond should be the guys to consider letting go. And I think if you don't want to sacrifice next season, you pretty much gotta let the Hamburglar go. With O'Connor signing up, he's got 0 leverage in contract negotiations at this point so make him a lowball, and let him walk if he doesn't like it. Otherwise it's a 2-way contract and he's in the AHL again.

[Big Ev]

I think trading Lehner would be a mistake. I think signing Hammond is a mistake. But no one cares what I think.

Lehner is young. I don't know how to evaluate goalies' potential, but everything I've heard suggests Lehner has it. A lot of goalies don't really make a mark until they're in their mid-to-late 20s, especially big guys. Look at Bishop, for example. 26? 27 before he made a real impact? Consider also that O'Connor is getting drafted out of college and is the same age as Lehner(!) despite Lehner getting (comparatively) tons of experience at the highest level. I still think Lehner has time to put it all together. Tossing him out now is a mistake.

Also confused about O'Connor. Ottawa has a great system for developing goalies now? That's why he picked us? Dude, we trade for them. Historically we run our goalies ragged and send them off unceremoniously. The only goalies of note I recall coming up through the Senators system were Ray Emery and Brian Elliott, and frankly Elliott wasn't even very good until he got the benefit of a St Louis system in front of him.

Realistically Anderson and Hammond should be the guys to consider letting go. And I think if you don't want to sacrifice next season, you pretty much gotta let the Hamburglar go. With O'Connor signing up, he's got 0 leverage in contract negotiations at this point so make him a lowball, and let him walk if he doesn't like it. Otherwise it's a 2-way contract and he's in the AHL again.

Sure we care what you think. IMO Hammond should be signed to be the backup. He has the perfect skillset and mentality for that + he was our #1 on our playoff push. I think it's a mistake to go with Anderson/Lehner as the tandem next year. But yes they would let Hammond walk if he was demanding something egregious. He will get a one-way though. His AHL days are over.

Elliott was a great development case for us. He was a decent goalie for the Sens and was an AHL star. He was our starter when we made the playoffs one year. A late pick who was developed slowly and went on to be a good NHL goalie. Bishop was also developed in Ottawa and maybe isn't in the NHL if he didn't get traded here. But O'Connor signed here because a) he is the clear starter in the AHL which he wanted in order to develop properly b) we were the first team to invite him to an NHL development camp, c) he is an Ontario kid, and d) he could be in the NHL once his contract is over.

[SeaDawg]

Sure we care what you think. IMO Hammond should be signed to be the backup. He has the perfect skillset and mentality for that + he was our #1 on our playoff push. I think it's a mistake to go with Anderson/Lehner as the tandem next year. But yes they would let Hammond walk if he was demanding something egregious. He will get a one-way though. His AHL days are over.

Elliott was a great development case for us. He was a decent goalie for the Sens and was an AHL star. He was our starter when we made the playoffs one year. A late pick who was developed slowly and went on to be a good NHL goalie. Bishop was also developed in Ottawa and maybe isn't in the NHL if he didn't get traded here. But O'Connor signed here because a) he is the clear starter in the AHL which he wanted in order to develop properly b) we were the first team to invite him to an NHL development camp, c) he is an Ontario kid, and d) he could be in the NHL once his contract is over.

agree 100% with all of this

I think Hammond would be happy with a one-way deal to be the back up in Ottawa.

I'm really impressed that O'Connor chose Ottawa for the reasons Big Ev listed. Good for him to sign with Ottawa, returning the faith Ottawa showed in him by giving him a shot in their development camp.

[Zorro]

So how long until this O'Connor is the starter for the Senators??

[SeaDawg]

I think Lehner is the go-to guy for the Sens and he is still quite young, so O'Connor won't get a shot at being the starter for a long time.

Lehner is signed for two more years and Anderson for three more. I assume Hammond will sign a two or three-year deal, so I can't see O'Connor even getting a chance to be a backup in the NHL for at least three years. Then he'd likely be the backup to Lehner, or I suppose Hammond if he shows that his late-season run wasn't a fluke.

If I had to guess, Anderson is traded, Lehner is the starter, Hammond is the backup for 2-3 years. Once Hammond is a UFA again, he will sign somewhere else and O'Connor would then be the NHL backup to Lehner for another 2-3 years before he is ready to be the starter.

Of course with goal-tending especially, nothing can really be predicted, but I believe what I have described above is the best-case scenario for O'Connor to become the starter.

[Axeman33]

So how long until this O'Connor is the starter for the Senators??

He's probably 2-3 years out at best.

[Hoopo]

Bishop was also developed in Ottawa and maybe isn't in the NHL if he didn't get traded here.

Pretty sure he was already known as probably the best goalie in the AHL before he got to Ottawa -- I wouldn't want to take too much away from St Louis with respect to Bishop's development. He hit the ground running in Ottawa after the trade and only played 16 games in Bingo total.

[Big Ev]

Pretty sure he was already known as probably the best goalie in the AHL before he got to Ottawa -- I wouldn't want to take too much away from St Louis with respect to Bishop's development. He hit the ground running in Ottawa after the trade and only played 16 games in Bingo total.

I agree but they kind of gave up on him and didn't view him as their starter going forward. His AHL season in Peoria before getting dealt was good. Ottawa gave him a chance and they had injuries which forced him to play nhl games.