Projecting Ottawa Senators UFA Contracts: Claude Giroux, Anton Forsberg, Adam Gaudette & More!

Projecting Ottawa Senators UFA Contracts: Claude Giroux, Anton Forsberg, Adam Gaudette & More!

On today’s show, what kind of contracts should the senators be handing out or not to their unrestricted free agents? And we get into a deep dive of how important is it for the Ottawa senators to resign Clou. This is Brad Kachchuck and you’re listening to the Locked On Senator podcast. Your Locked On Senators, your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome. You are locked on to the Ottawa Senators, the only daily podcast covering the sends on the outskirts of enemy territory. I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon Pillar up in the Blue Mountains. Today’s episode’s brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. I just signed up and you can too. Use code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com and get 50% off your first year. Today is Thursday, May 8th in Pilzy. The Ottawa Senators have to resign Clou. Yeah, I mean this is a veteran guy that brings so much to the team and he’s a unrestricted free agent, Ross. So realistically, he could test the open market if he wanted to. But I think I speak for both of us and all Sens fans. It is crucial that the Ottawa Senators resign Klo Ju. But at what cost? That’s the big question. We’ll get into AFP analytics projections. They do great work. We’ll link their entire graph in the episode bio. They’ve got projections, comparables for every free agent. We’ll get into all the senators ones throughout this show, but with Cloeru, I just don’t want the Senators to rest on the laurels that he’s home. He’s happy here. Let’s make it a very friendly deal for the team. I think that that could be a slippery slope and could backfire. We saw it backfire last time. Now, it’s not the same circumstances, but the last time Khlo Jaru was an unrestricted free agent, the Florida Panthers, who he had just been traded to, that trade deadline, offered him a one-year $1 million contract. Like, that’s that’s not going to fly. I mean, that that was the Florida Panthers being like, “Let us save $5 million and we’ll give you a Stanley Cup.” Which would have been the exchange if he would have resigned. He wins the cup that year, right? Or was it a year after that? Well, he signed a three-year or Yeah, it was a one-year deal, right? So, no, he would have made the finals and lost. Maybe he would have pushed them over the edge. Yeah, true. Yeah. Um, but the Ottawa Senators certainly will not be going the route of offering Klo Jaru a one-year $1 million deal. So, what is the contract offer for Klo Jaru? Klo Jaru played the second most minutes of any winger on the Ottawa Senators behind Brady Kachchuck. The only other players that averaged more time on ice per game, Tim Stutzla and Josh Norris. other than Brady Kachchuck. So, played 18 minutes and 12 seconds, had 50 points, was the best faceoff man percentage-wise in the National Hockey League. Like, there’s a ton of value left in his game despite the fact that maybe he’s lost a step than he did in his first year in Ottawa when he set a careerhigh in goals. I mean, but Ross, if you go total time on ice, I’m sure he was the top forward, right? Maybe unless Drake Bath had more Timmy. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I meant winger. Yeah. Yeah. Um, that’s the thing, like you look at a guy in his late 30s that still is very healthy, contributing 50 points, a league leader in faceoff percentage, a veteran, something that the Ottawa Senators don’t have a lot of on their team. Now, Steve Seos obviously did a better job of bringing in veterans in the offseason, but still Clo Jaru is he’s the guy as far as veteran leadership goes on this team. So, it’s so important that the Ottawa senators don’t try to, like you mentioned, try to be like, “Hey, let’s let’s try to save some money on one of our veterans um so that we can go out and make a big splash in free agency or something.” I think it’s crucial that they get this done. And I think we’re looking at a one or twoyear deal here, right? Like I don’t there’s no way we’re going to reup for three years. I don’t think Kojaru wants that. I don’t think the team wants that. I think ideally, and I’ve said this all along, Ross, you want to just keep doing one-year deals with Clo. See what the team thinks of him. See how he feels about his career, how he feels about the team, and then each off season, you can re-evaluate. Ideally, yes. But to me, a two-year deal wouldn’t be off the table. If that is a concession the Senators would have to make to get him back, you put that one extra year on. I’m I would be comfortable with that. And even if it doesn’t bring the value of the contract down a whole lot, you would imagine it would at least a little bit in terms of the AAV and you can move it down. So according to AFP analytics, the contract that is projected for Cloeroo would be a two-year deal at 5.2 million. If that was the contract that is ultimately signed, would you be comfortable with that? Yeah, definitely. I mean, like, it’s so funny seeing some Sens fans project that Klo Drew is going to make like two and a half, three million, three and a half. Like, that is that is wild. Unless Klo Drew is really like, “Hey, I think we’re on the cusp of something with this team. I’ve made my money.” Clo is uh he’s got a pretty good bank account in this point in his career. If he’s just like, “I’ve made my money. I don’t really care. I’m willing to take a massive cap hit to try to help this team, then you’re looking at that. But I I don’t know if that’s the kind of situation uh Clou is in and if that’s the situation he sees this team in where if I shave what $2.5 million, like is that going to that extra $2.5 million off my deal going to really push this team over the edge? Probably not. Let’s be honest. The Ottawa Centers need a major impact player to really become a contender here in my opinion. So, I don’t see that happening, Ross. But I would be comfortable with the contract to 5.2 million for two years. Yeah, I I think it’s I think it’s fair value. And like we talked about, this isn’t a 37y old that’s had multiple surgeries or uh looks lost out there. Has it has he slowed down a step? For sure. I mean, that’s fair. That’s going to happen. Um, but I don’t think Clo Jaru is a guy that’s going to fall off the cliff. And Ross, we we’ve had his personal trainer in the offseason, Tony Greco, on and he he always has positive things. I mean, it’s not like he’s going to come on here and dog him obviously, but he’s always saying Klo Jaru puts the work in. And you could tell he’s one of those disciplined professionals that really kind of has respect for the game and his craft. and I don’t see him falling off a cliff physically anytime soon. The fact that Klo Jaru came into this team and believed in them when he did to me is enough that shows the loyalty right off the bat. But it’s the continuation of how he’s played that gives me confidence that his his style is going to continue on. And I’m one game shy here on his career totals with the Ottawa Senators, but you can see that he’s been an impact player and he said in his exit interviews that he believes he can still be an impact player. This guy led the entire National Hockey League in faceoff percentage this season. And for those who say he slows down, you look at it and he was tied for second on the team in points in the playoffs. Now, the faceoff percentage took a hit. The Leafs were the second best faceoff team in the league this year. Ottawa was fourth. And yeah, you would have liked a couple of those PK draws to be won in game game one where three goals go in off the draw. But at the same time, the biggest testimonial that Kiru could have gotten was from all of his teammates and he got that from Tim Stutz, Brady Kachchuck, and the like saying, “This guy means the world to our locker room.” And could you imagine if he signed with a team like Montreal or Toronto? Cuz you’d think that he doesn’t want to go far from home. Yeah. If he does decide to leave Ottawa, he’s staying on the East Coast for sure. Um just quickly though about Clo Jaru losing a step and being a little bit slower. Speed was never his game, right? Like even when he was younger, uh I don’t think people looked at him as a slow player when he was younger, but it was never like, “Oh, Ko Drew the speedster sir.” Like that’s how he dominates the game. So, it’s not like you’re losing that essence of Klo Drew that ultimately makes him a good player. It’s the hockey IQ. It’s the faceoffs. It’s being able to be one of the most respected players in the league. Like, it’s all these things that give Clou an edge on the ice. So, the fact that he’s slowed down doesn’t concern me because he’s still got that hockey IQ. He’s still a playmaker. He still snaps him back in the draw in the draws. Um, so he’s the first guy out on the PK and he plays a ton of power play as well. Well, and Ross, he’s kind of a specialist. Like look at how the Ottawa Center set up for overtimes threeon-ree. Clou goes out there, wins the draw, comes right to the bench, Brady comes on. Like you you want guys like that that can have that impact and and give you puck possession. Now, as far as if he decides not to come back to Ottawa, I think he’s made it clear that it’s Ottawa or bust. He’s probably going to stay in Ottawa or he’s going to retire. However, our guy, guest of the show, guest of the show a couple years ago, we got to get him back on. actually one of our most electric interviews. Andre Wah uh our guy Cadri Sens on Twitter tweet tweeted out that translated from French that basically Andre uh has done events with him and his buddies I guess I I forget what the exact quote was but essentially alluding to the fact that Klo Jaru would have interest in joining the Montreal Canadians. What was your reaction when you saw that Ross? I’m taking this as a a little bit of uh negotiation if that’s the case and two it’s a Montreal media member on Montreal radio and I don’t think Andre W cares about if this is true or not like he’s not putting his reputation on the line for this. Well, and he wasn’t exactly reporting it. He the way I interpreted it at least was he was like yeah like we’ve tossed it out there and like joked around about it kind of thing, right? and and it wasn’t shut down immediately. That that kind of uh thing. I don’t that doesn’t concern me. I’m not worried about that. I don’t think it makes much sense for him to leave Ottawa to go to Montreal. They’re in very similar spots in their paths right now. Sure, you could argue that the Montreal Canadians have a very bright future with all the prospects they have, but I would still say they’re a year behind where the Ottawa Senators are just because of where the Sens core is based on where the up and cominging players for the Habs are are in their experience. Now, I’m not saying who’s better, who’s worse, take it easy. I’m not getting into that. I’m just saying experience-wise, the Ottawa Senators have more NHL games under their belt as far as it goes for their young core. Yeah, no doubt. And when it comes to a comparable for Klo Jaru, and it’s kind of tough because the one we have here is in a tax-free state, but Joe Pavevelski and Klo Jaru have had very similar career paths from both being the captain in one place for a long time. And then even though Giru had a quick cup of coffee in South Florida, a little snowbird action one spring, other than that, they go to their next team and they stay there for multiple years. Funny enough, it was a three-year deal that Joe Pavevelski was also coming off of, and that was for $7 million per season, whereas Giru is coming off a three-year deal at 6.5. And Pavvelski’s next contract at the same age that Jiru is right now was one year at $5.5 million. I would also be comfortable with that as the deal. I think if the number starts with a six, I would start to be like, “Oh, that’s that might be a bit of an overpay.” But if one year 5.5 million or two years at 5.2 two are the contracts that are given. That would be the upper end of what I would be very happy and comfortable seeing Giru get. Yeah. I mean, the comparable contracts are tricky, Ross, because this is a a couple years ago, right? So, the cap is in a very different spot. 2022. Yeah. Uh tax-free. That changes a lot of things. Um, Joe Pavvelski was putting up more points than Klo Jaru at this at at that point if I if I’m not mistaken. Yes. Um, so I it’s tough to look at it like it like it’s a interesting tool to try to compare, but there’s so many variables that go into signing a contract that you can’t, you know, you can’t take it as black and white. Yeah, no doubt. Now, one thing that’s interesting about this Pavvelski contract that I want to get into briefly is that it was a $5.5 million cap hit, but there was also $500,000 in performance bonuses, which would then be added towards the cap next year, and he would get $100,000 at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 games played. So, you’re almost guaranteed to hit. That’s guaranteed for clothes. Yeah. Right. So that’s one way to kind of defer a bit of the money to next year’s cap where you expect it to rise once again. So there are ways that you can get into negotiations and make it fair for both sides. Clou is rep by Pat Bissau who’s one of the top agents in the National Hockey League. You’d imagine you’d have a good relationship with Steve St. And it will be fascinating to see where this goes. I hope it gets done sooner rather than later. This would be one of those where I’d be really happy if this uh segment is aged like in five minutes. The sooner that you can get this contract done, the better. It is the biggest question mark for me when it comes to the cost certainty around this team. And then you can start building the other pieces around it. This will be the single largest contract that’s given out to any of the senators restricted or unrestricted free agents. But it is far from the only one. We on the other side will get into the other unrestricted free agents on the Ottawa Senators. Anton Forsberg, Nick Cousins, Adam Goddet, and then there’s some guys who are knocking at the door on Belleville. Who is worth resigning and who is better to cut bait with? We will touch on that next. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Indeed. You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? It’s easy, guys. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other sites. Indeed sponsored jobs puts your post at the top of the page and helps you reach the right candidates faster. Have you been in a spot where you need the right hire like yesterday? The pressure’s on and every day without that right person is setting your business back. That’s exactly when Indeed sponsored jobs comes in handy. They make sure your post is seen by the right candidates right now. Now you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 sponsor job credit. Just go to indeed.com/lockedon right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on the Locked On Senators podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed, it’s all you need. All right, PZY. So, the Ottawa Senators are in offseason mode, which means taking care of what you already have and then turning your attention to what you need to improve. We’ve already talked about the offseason checklist earlier this week. If you missed any of the episodes, they are available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Shout out to the Everydayers making us your first listen here on Locked On. Senators, we appreciate you guys so so much. It was such a fun run this season and really just feels like the door is now open to bigger and better things. Michael Anlau put out a note to the fans yesterday. You can find it in its entirety on the Ottawa Senators website and Twitter account. Love how he threw out Steady Stevie Sto’s line in that one. and Steady Steviey’s got some work to do here, not only with Klo Jaru, but also Well, I’ll ask you this. Who is the next most important free agent who is unrestricted right now for Ottawa? I mean, it’s I I guess you probably start with Anton Forsber, Ross. Um because other at least to get a sense of what he’s looking for. Yeah. I I don’t want to say he’s the most important, but as far as like priorities, your backup goalending position is more important than your fourthline center, your fourth line winger, your ninth defenseman. Um, so yeah, I I think and I feel like he Forsber’s deserve that right to be like, “Okay, we’re gonna we’re going to start with you.” And if we’re going on dollar values, Ross, Forsber is probably the guy that’s going to make the next highest amount as far as UFAS go uh on this list here. So, and you want to figure out your goalending soon because I feel like goalending is one of those things, Ross, where everybody starts realizing, oh man, we have a problem in goalending. and then one team makes a move and then everyone’s like, “Oh no, now that guy’s not available. We got to make our move.” And then it’s just a domino effect of every team being like, “Let’s get our goalies. Come on, we got to figure this out.” Um, so I think you go to Anton Forsber, you see what his interest is. I think you can’t go more than a two-year deal. Even a two-year deal, I wouldn’t really love, but I’m I’m sure Forsberg, the priority for him and his agent would be getting security rather than top dollar. He he just finished a nice contract where he made some good money. Um, so they probably want two-year deal at least, and they would be willing to go down on AAV to make that happen. But it’s got to be like like 1.5 is probably the max I’m willing to go with Forsber. I wouldn’t even go 1.5 on a two-year deal. I would do one year close to 1.5, but you also just know that Marilion is knocking on the door and this is the last year that Marilyn doesn’t need waiverss. Also a bit of an a big elephant in the room, 6’8, would you have it? Is Matt Soggard is already on a one-way contract for next season. So I think if you had asked Steve Stos last summer with a little truth serum, he would have said, “Yeah, this is the last year for Forsber, we’ll move Mads up as the backup next season for one year and we’ll see where Marilyn and and and Soggard is after that.” Of course, Soggard unfortunately dealt with a ton of injuries and inconsistencies this season and couldn’t get into a rhythm. We still think that he h I mean, he’s got the size, he’s got the the lateral movement. He can be an NHL goalie for sure. And you don’t want to give up on guys too early like Ottawa’s done in the past. Joey Dord, Philip Gusson, even Ben Bishop, even though they uh they kind of got him just for a a hot minute. But you look at across the the league and teams are always using more than two goalies. So I think that you you would be remiss to go into next season with just Lenus Almark, Levy Marilyn, and Mad Soard. you need need a veteran goalie. And Anton Forsber is sixth in Senators history in wins and fifth in games played all time. Yeah. For goalies. Like he he’s comfortable here. He’s played here for a long time. He’s gone through a lot with the double MCL tears on the same play. He’s bounced back after an atrocious season last year where he started 28 games and had a minus 10 goals saved above average and now you’re looking at it where he’s shown signs of improvement. So, is it something you look back at? I know some people are smashing their steering wheels right now just saying, “Look, we’ve gone through the Anton Forsberg ups and downs. It’s time for a change.” And I get that as a fan because there were some frustrating games this year from Forsber, but there were also some unbelievable games from Anton Forsber. The guy had three shutouts on the season. And I just look at what like are are you going to be able to find an improvement for less money? And that’s where that’s where you come back to Anton Forsberg, who our friends at AFP Pro or AFP Analytics project that he will get a two-year contract at 1.7 million. I would not be comfortable with go going that high. I think you basically go to Forzy and you say, “We have this budget for a backup goalie. We’d love it to be you. We love your work ethic. We love your relationship with Lena Smar. you are a valuable member of this team, but in terms of the hierarchy and how our cap is distributed throughout the team with big raises coming for Ridley Greg and um and you just need to to find a way here to get him in the right spot capwise. And if he wants to go get top dollar, good for him and and we’ll be happy to to to say thank you for your service. Yeah, and that’s the thing. I think he could get better money in the open market. Like as far as unrestricted free agent goalies goes, I would correct me if I’m wrong, Ross, but I think it’s fair to say he’s in the top five of the goalies available right now. UFA, there’s not many, right? Like maybe even top three. Like he he could be a coveted backup goalie, especially Ross for like a rebuilding team that’s like, “Hey, you’re not going to be a backup. We’re going to pay you to be a 1B.” um like that that could certainly be the case for Forest. So, it’s going to be tough. All I know, Ross, is for all the fans that are like, “You guys are crazy. Levy was so good last year. He’s the backup.” It’s I’m not comfortable with that. And it’s not because I don’t believe in Levy Marinan. It’s I don’t want to push too much too soon. And we did see a situation where Lena Almark missed a long stretch of games and then you’re in big trouble if that happens. So you got to have a safety net of a veteran backup goalie. The only goalies who are unrestricted free agents that played more than Forsber’s 30 games last season, Alexander Gorgiev. Yeah. David Riddick and Jake Allen. The save percentages 874, 887, and 9008 was Jake Allen. Forz had a 901 only. How many goalies? He has the second best save percentage after Jake Allen of every single unrestricted free agent goalie this season. That’s what I’m saying. For the Sense fans that are mad that we’re even having this discussion, if there were better options out there, we would be talking about that. But Forz is not a bad option. So, we’ll see. What would be the highest you’d be willing to go with Anton Forsber? 1.7 for one year is the highest I’m willing to go. One year. What about if he says two-year deal or bust? 1.5. Okay. Wow. I I don’t think I’d be willing to go. I mean, Ross, we’re talking about a couple hundred grand here with a what $14 million cap. Like Yeah, it is continuing to go up. Like if if that’s between you getting Forzy and having to roll the dice on I don’t know Gorgiev or or someone like that I’m chipping in a couple hundredk to keep for around and then when you are in that situation on the second year waivers trades you figure it out. Exactly. Yeah. But, uh, the more I look at the options available, the better it looks to stick with what, you know, won’t disrupt the room, won’t disrupt the goalending, uh, area of the team. And I’m curious to hear what the Citizens have to say. Let us know in the comments on Anton Forsber and Klo Jaru, what you feel is fair for their next contracts. On the other side, there’s plenty of other unrestricted free agents. We know Belleville is going to see changes like they always do, but Nick Cousins and Adam Goddet, are they worth bringing back? That’s next. You’re listening to Luckon Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Monarch Money. 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Code locked on NHL for half off your first year. All right, PZY. It is our projection show for unrestricted free agents. Tomorrow we’ll discuss the restricted free agents like Fabian Zetterland, Travis uh Travis Hamnick. Travis Hamick will be discussed shortly, Tyler Cleven, and others including Levy Maril Linan. But the unrestricted free agents, we have decided if we’re the general manager, you go one year at 5.5 with Clo Jeru, one year at 1.5 million for Anton Forsberg. Now, that is asking both of them to take a substantial pay cut. It would be a $1 million pay cut for Klo Jeru and it would be a $1.25 million pay cut for Anton Forsber. One guy that’s not getting a pay cut is Adam Goddet. 19 goals for Adam Goddet. Sure, you could say a lot of them came in a bunch at the start of the season, but 19 goals is 19 goals was a plus 12. Average 10 and a half minutes per game. Where do you even start with negotiations with Godette? No clue, Ross. It’s like this guy goes from leading the AHL in goals and gets a one-year what league minimum deal or a little more. I guess it was two-way. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh and then he lights it up with a hot start and finishes the year with 19 goals, a plus 12. Um he was good in the playoffs, too. Yeah. Like he was a relied upon guy by Travis Green throughout the year. He trusted him and they’ve got that rapport going back to Vancouver, right? So, I don’t know, Ross. I just think if you’re Adam Godet and his agent, you’re looking at this and you’re like, “This is a massive time for us. We’re not accepting team friendly deals. We’re not trying to stay in the same place. We’re going for the bag.” Personally, I see him trying to get a one-year deal at like two and a half million with the Chicago Blackhawks or something like that. like a team that’s just like we need goals and we’ve got cap space. I see him just trying to get the bag for one year and capitalize on having a hot start. I don’t see him signing a 2, threeear deal at like 1.2 or something. If I was Adam Goddet’s agent, I would be calling every team with the most cap space and saying, “Hey, are you interested in my client? He has found his footing in the National Hockey League. He has shown that he doesn’t have to be one of those guys where if he’s not in the top six as a scoring style player, that he’s irrelevant. He showed that he can be a guy relied upon to win faceoffs over 50% of them. He wants to be on the penalty kill, had a great play, that his agent can show teams uh stealing the puck off of Austin Matthews and making a great play in game five in Toronto in the playoffs. like he’s got a lot going for him. So much so that I would have a quick conversation with him. Hey, we know you love playing for Travis Green. We’d like to have you back, but what’s it going to look like? And if that conversation starts with him asking for more than $1.1 million, I probably say, “Good luck to you. Congratulations. You did us a solid signing a two-way contract and you are a very valuable fourthline piece, but we just can’t fit that in to the team uh salary structure that we’re building. Yeah, I mean costwise, the Ottawa Centers hit a home run with Adam Goddet last season. Um now, do you how long do you want to test your luck on that or I guess that’s not a fair way to put it. Do you believe Adam Goddet can be that consistent? I’d like to word it that way. That that remains to be seen and that’s what you got to look at here. I I think Ross even like 1.3 wouldn’t be crazy for Adam God. He scored 19 goals, man. Like but I just think on your fourth line that’s where you got to find scrappy hungry guys uh that are just excited for a chance to be in the NHL like Adam Godette was. or you got to find physical defensive minded penalty killers like so those guys you can’t be breaking the bank on those guys. I honestly unless Michael Amadio ends up on the fourth mind just because of the way the roster shakes out and he’s making what 2.6 um I don’t want anyone making over $2 million on my fourth line for sure. So if I’m talking to Adam Goddet I don’t I don’t want to give him term either. I feel bad shortch changing these guys with just one year offers. But yeah, I would go something one year, 1.3, something like that. And if he doesn’t take it, you say, I I hope you get the bag somewhere else. Yeah, I agree with that. And uh the Athletic, they do those player cards. They said he played at a $2.2 million market value this season. That’s what I’m saying. Like a team is I bet he gets an offer of one year, 2.5 million from some team in the open market. I wouldn’t be surprised. But you don’t touch that if you’re No, you don’t do that if you’re Ottawa. No, but that but for a rebuilding team, that’s that’s great. Yeah, I agree. And he’s 28 years old. It’s not like this guy like he’s in his prime right now. Obby Baker winner. There you go. Yeah. And uh AFP Analytics, they weren’t uh I don’t want to say fooled. I think that’s the wrong uh word, but they weren’t uh they weren’t impressed to the point where they think it’s going to be a consistent 1920 plus goal scorer type guy. They have him projected at one year at 1.03. And if I’m Steve Stos, I happily sign that contract, but as you alluded to, Adam’s not touching that. It’s very And I mean, good on him, man. Perfect timing for his career, too. uh he mentioned that he’s not going to the Worlds because he’s welcoming his second kid any moment now. So, he’s got a family to take care of and you got to respect him for wanting to chase the bag after having an incredible season for his standards as you mentioned. Like, this guy played two NHL games last year for St. Louis. Was in the AHL with the Marlies the year before that. Like, good on him, man. He’s a full-time NHLer and um and he did provide value for the Ottawa Senators. My moment for Adam Goddet this year was that one hand deflection in the game where they got rocked by San Jose shots-wise and he that was like their only shot in the third period and he got the game winner. So hey I’ll have great memories of Adam Goddet no matter how it shakes out but I don’t believe that he will be back. And just last thing we can wrap up on Godette is this is a guy that believes in himself. Like remember I think it was like that was after the San Jose game. Okay, it was after that. But reporters are like, “Oh, are you surprised at how good the season is going?” He’s like, “What? No.” Like, I’m a good hockey player. I score goals. I led the AHL in goals last year. I’m not surprised that that I’m able to do it at the NHL. So, this is a guy that believes in himself. He’s not going to short change himself just just to be happy to have an opportunity to be in the NHL again. I don’t think so. Yeah. Well said. Uh, speaking of a guy who got a late contract last year, a guy who’s had success, Nick Cousins is an interesting one. Obviously, it was unfortunate that he suffered that knee injury against Toronto in January and he missed a ton of hockey. Still played 50 games. So, missed 32, played 50 games, 15 points, six goals, nine assists, minus one. Um, where do you stand with Nick Cousins? I think this could be an intriguing one where uh even if it gets past July 1st, maybe you circle back. But what would your initial offer be to Nick Cousins? Well, let’s start with h how he got here because I think that’s interesting. He signed very late like wasn’t it like August? Can you can you get LSP stat department on the date of when he signed? LSP stats department August 29th. Look at me. Got it. Um, so it’s not like team and this guy just came off winning a Stanley Cup. It’s not like teams were eager to sign him and he just got a one-year 800,000 quick easy deal. Yeah. So that’s interesting to see the league perception of his value. And then you look at a guy that’s coming off a knee surgery in his 30s. He was brought in to be the sta Stanley Cup winner. That’s a pest that has experience in the playoffs. Unfortunately, alongside Dylan Cousins, Nick Cousins were was one of the more disappointing players in the playoffs. And that’s what he was brought here for, to be a pest in the playoffs. Now, he was fresh off coming off knee surgery there. He had only got a couple games in the regular season at the end of it there. So, that could have been a part of it for sure. Um, it was just such a tease because he had two points in his last two regular season games. Yeah, it’s true. But when your most notable moment is shooting a puck at a goalie in warm-ups for a playoff series, that’s not exactly popping off the page uh valuewise. I would bring him back though. I like when he was healthy, excuse me, and in moments where like this guy when he got breakaways and time and space in the slot, he buried it top shelf it seemed like every time. Like he has the ability to be a good player. Other guys on other teams absolutely despise him. He was the winner of the NHL player poll, anonymous player poll of guy you want to punch in the face most. Like that’s a guy you want on your team, not up against you. And if he’s willing just to reup again one year, $800,000 or even I would give him a slight raise if needed, but under a million dollar one year, sign me up. I think he’s a nice fit on that fourth line. I would not go a penny over $1 million on the dot. Agreed. Yeah, agreed. And if he wants to test the market, go ahead. He seemed to to say all the right things in the uh press conference at the end of the year. He wants to be in Ottawa, but it has to make sense because he is a fourthline winger at this point of his career. So, we’ll see what the deal is, if there is one to be made with Nick Cousins. Our friends at AFP Analytics project him to get a one-year contract at $1.1 million. I I honestly don’t think I would give him that extra $100,000. I think you can find a replacement for a million or less. The comparable there was Matias Yanmark with Edmonton. He signed a one times$1 million contract to stay there. Pelysey, there’s a bunch of Belleville guys knocking at the door and we did a little bit of market research in there. Um, Matthew Hymore got a lot of NHL games as well. He’s a guy I would only be comfortable bringing back on a two-way contract where if he plays well down there, he can come up and help the team in a limited role. But if he moves on, wouldn’t be the end of the world. The others are the group six free agents where they’ve been RFAS for long enough and not gotten the requisite number of NHL games. So Angus Krookshank, Cole Reinhardt, and Wyatt Bon Giovani are all group six UFAs. I would love selfishly for Angus Krookshank to get back. He obviously had that full year miss with uh with his surgery. That was at an unfortunate time in his career, but I I would also understand if any of those three guys felt like a fresh start was for the best for them. Yeah. I mean, I want to bring back Krooker, Reinhardt, and who was the third guy you mentioned there? Group six. Uh, it was Wyatt Von Giovani. Yeah, I want to bring all three of those guys back, honestly. Um, Reinhardt and Krooker proved that they can be fringe NHL call-ups when needed. Uh, serviceable for sure. Krooker’s got more to give. Uh, he’s a leader in that Belleville locker room. He leads the team in is it franchise goals Ross? Yeah, goals and I think points too. Yeah. So, he’s been a staple of that team and that community for a while. But I think just goals. Uh he is 31 points behind uh Eigor. Oh wow. Damn. Um 38 less games though. Fair. But I I do think Kirker is one of those guys that if I’m the Sens, I want to keep around just because I feel like he can play a middle six role for a short amount of time. Whereas some of the other guys in Belleville, I wouldn’t want them playing in those positions in the NHL. So obviously Bias Krooker, front of the show, great guy, we love him. We’re cheering for him. Um I’d like to see him back. Yeah, I thought he showed well in that final stretch when he filled in for uh for Brady when he was out and and he played in a top six role and didn’t look out of place. He hounds pucks and uh I I would like to say I still think he’s going to play over 100 games in his career and I’d love them to be in Ottawa. Pillsy on the back end. Dennis Gilbert barely knew you. Like I don’t like if he wants to go on a two-way contract, sure. But if he feels like he can get a one-way deal, um I wouldn’t be surprised even if he went back to Buffalo where he’s from. And they obviously I feel like Ottawa wanted him in that deal to get a defenseman back just for depth purposes throughout the year. But um I I I mean I saw people say when the team photo came out, hey, no disrespect, I’m a huge Sense fan, but who is this guy? and put a photo of him like we we just we just barely know you. I think he played what two if not three games uh for Ottawa. So that uh to me would be a guy if he’s willing to take a two-way contract and play in Belleville. Sure. Um I feel the same way about Philip Roose. That said, Jeremy Davies to me would be the guy that you would like to bring back allstar in the American Hockey League this year. and we’ve done our depth chart now and with a few graduates from the Ontario Hockey League joining Belleville and with Carter Yakamchuk being eligible for the AHL like that’s going to be a really young decor. It would be very very smart I think to bring back Jeremy Davies. Yeah, I’m I’m a big Jeremy Davies fan. Uh he was a leader in that locker room uh in points even like he I think he was third. He had 48 points and 11 goals for Belleville this year. Yeah, he crushed it. You got to bring that guy back in my opinion. I’m I’m letting go of Philip Roose. Just there’s there’s too many young young guys here. Um Gilbert though, if he Yeah, if he decided he was willing to do two-way, that’s a guy you want in Belleville. A big tough veteran defenseman that can protect the investments. Uh miss Scott Saburn. That guy’s an absolute beauty. Um, so you need those types of guys in your lineup in the AHL, so I wouldn’t mind that. But yeah, Davies, figure out a way to get that done. Yeah, he was tied for second with Garrett Pilon in points in Belleville this season. Three points behind Steven Halliday, who led the team with 51. So the Belleville guys, they either come back or they don’t. Honestly, with Matthewmore, I feel like if he’s available, Travis Green will find a way to get him in the lineup. So maybe that’s one where um you take away the toy before the kid can use him too much. But if he comes back on a two-way deal, so be it with that as well. But would really, really, really like to see Krooker, Cole Reinhardt, Wy Von Giovanni, and Jeremy Davies back with the Belleville Senators. Let us know in the comments how you feel about this crop of unrestricted free agents for the Ottawa Senators. Tomorrow we’ll be focusing on the restricted free agents. What kind of contract is fair for both parties when it comes to Fabian Zetterland? We’ll talk about that tomorrow. We’ll also get into some more playoff talk tomorrow. It’s been a fun I want to say fun, but it really hurts watching the second round after you’ve been in it. So, we’ll we’ll touch on that heading into the weekend as well. You can find us on Twitter, send central on Instagram, locked. Psy, any final thoughts on today’s show? Nope. No final thoughts for me, Ross. Let’s uh let’s keep this thing rolling. and RFAS tomorrow is going to be a very interesting discussion. Love that. Thank you so much for liking, watching, listening and engaging with the show. If you enjoyed it, click the thumbs up on YouTube. Leave a fivestar review wherever you listen to podcast. Means the world to us here on Locked On Senators and to all the everydayers, the citizens making us your first listen each and every day. For Brandon Pillar, I’m Ross Levitan. This has been another edition of the Locked On Senators podcast. Your team every day.

The Ottawa Senators have decisions to make with their Unrestricted Free Agents!

Brandon Piller and Ross Levitan do a deep dive on the most important UFA: Claude Giroux. What is a fair Annual Average Value and how many years would the team and player want? Is Anton Forsberg the best back up goalie available? And how much are 4th line players like Adam Gaudette and Nick Cousins worth? We use comparable contracts to try to project the value of these players and a few others!

Complete AFP Analytics Free Agent Projection Table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WuCp8WHgCaTAijtVsww-C-1qmdBdNBiTbDIPdJr_Fwo/edit?gid=1769332179#gid=1769332179

0:00 Intro: Senators’ unrestricted free agents
1:01 Analyzing Claude Giroux’s potential contract
11:40 Comparing Giroux to Joe Pavelski’s contract
17:15 Anton Forsberg’s value and contract projections
27:30 Adam Gaudette’s future with the Senators
33:55 Nick Cousins’ potential return to Ottawa
37:18 Belleville Senators’ free agents discussion

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