And now for a little analysis for todays ground changing deal. The deal was Ottawa sending fan favourite Mike fisher to Nashville for a 1st round this year and a conditional pick next year depending on how he fares with the team.
I'm very surprised. All my colleagues at work here in Ottawa will be devastated but I honestly did not expect the Sens to get this much for him. Given that they should be headed to rebuild road, this is a phenomenal deal for them and for once I have to congratulate them on pulling something off for once.
So what does tis mean and why did both teams win here? Fisher is making 4.5 million a season which is a bit overpaid since he probably should make around 3.5-4 so Ottawa was lucky to find any takers. They manage to dump salary and get back a huge first rounder to help with the rebuilding process. And with rebuilding, at 30 he's in the middle of his prime but won't factor into the future plans. He plays a physical style much like Micheal Peca for example, but has been lucky in not being hurt overly much if at all. You know that the style of play will take its toll and like Peca he'll start to break down in the next 4 or 5 years, so it was in Ottawa's best interests longterm to sell high if a deal was met for what they were looking for.
The physical element that Fisher brings will be a great asset to Nashville, along with his experience, especially in playoff situations (07 finals with Ottawa). They made a balsy move but one that will give them a good shot at going deep in the playoffs by adding to their depth since he clearly replaces Jason Arnott who left last summer.
Now a lot of people are devastated here in Ottawa. Fisher is a fan favourite and many are wondering why they didn't dump guys like Gonchar and Kovalev before moving him. The fact is, they can't get rid of Gonchar or Kovalev. Both are too old, paid way too much and contribute too little. Fisher may be a fan favourite, but they have to make a move in the best interest of the club, not necessarily the fans. Yes the fans are the reason your in business and all, but if you ask any fan who they like more, their favourite player on their favourite team, or being a contender every year and maybe even winning the Cup. Most fans will say the team winning since one player doesn't make a team in the NHL. But this is exactly like with Toronto in the early 1990's. leaf fans didn't want to trade Wendel Clark since he was a fan favourite. But the team sold high and moved him despite the fans wishes. The fans were mad for awhile, but what helped was getting Mats Sundin on the deal, which over the long term they clearly won. Wendel ended up being solid after the deal but clearly was starting to decline. Fisher will always be a fan favourite for what he did during his time here, but he simply won't be fitting into their long-term plans moving forward, especially when they are offered a huge piece of the rebuilding puzzle.
Now I know there is a lot of anger amongst the fans in Ottawa already and it's probably going to escalate as time moves forward from this deal. I have already heard from some of my own co-workers even about how they want Bryan Murray to be fired and they won't be buying any more tickets or going to the games. To me I think this is incredibly stupid and shows how stupid Ottawa fans have become.
Now I am going to agree, that GM Bryan Murray should be fired. He should have been fired 3 years ago when he wouldn't handle the situation with Emery which is the root cause of all of this team's problems as they've spiralled out of control. But lets face facts, he's not coming back at the end of the season as the GM and frankly, this is the first bit of sense the man has made in years. For me it comes down to this. The fans were stupid enough to keep going to the games with this idea that the Sens went to the final in 07, so this team, being roughly the same, should be able to go back again. 3 years later things have gotten progressively worse, yet no one called for anyone's head, and everyone still piled into the arena with this stupid belief that they were elite. In other words they've spent 3 years ignoring the problems and issues that keep plaguing this team. If they'd (Sens management) have done something about this 3 years ago, they would have had an off season in 2008 and been back in contention since then by doing a mini renovation. But instead they ignored it and now they will have to spend 3-5 years most likely rebuilding. So the fans have no one to blame but themselves and by not going to games now are nothing more than fair weather fans. To take it a step further, by not bothering with resigning Alfredsson's contract for $4 million per over 4 season and trading him for a 1st rounder to Detroit (rumoured to have been the offer at the trade deadline a year and a half ago) they would have unloaded his contract and brought in a major part of the renovation process and Fisher wouldn't be going anywhere now. However fans wouldn't stomach that either as they are under an illusion Daniel is still 28 and able to get 90+ points a year. They failed to sell high on Alfredsson but I'll give Sens management credit for learning from their mistakes and selling high on Fisher during their next go around.
I'm very surprised. All my colleagues at work here in Ottawa will be devastated but I honestly did not expect the Sens to get this much for him. Given that they should be headed to rebuild road, this is a phenomenal deal for them and for once I have to congratulate them on pulling something off for once.
So what does tis mean and why did both teams win here? Fisher is making 4.5 million a season which is a bit overpaid since he probably should make around 3.5-4 so Ottawa was lucky to find any takers. They manage to dump salary and get back a huge first rounder to help with the rebuilding process. And with rebuilding, at 30 he's in the middle of his prime but won't factor into the future plans. He plays a physical style much like Micheal Peca for example, but has been lucky in not being hurt overly much if at all. You know that the style of play will take its toll and like Peca he'll start to break down in the next 4 or 5 years, so it was in Ottawa's best interests longterm to sell high if a deal was met for what they were looking for.
The physical element that Fisher brings will be a great asset to Nashville, along with his experience, especially in playoff situations (07 finals with Ottawa). They made a balsy move but one that will give them a good shot at going deep in the playoffs by adding to their depth since he clearly replaces Jason Arnott who left last summer.
Now a lot of people are devastated here in Ottawa. Fisher is a fan favourite and many are wondering why they didn't dump guys like Gonchar and Kovalev before moving him. The fact is, they can't get rid of Gonchar or Kovalev. Both are too old, paid way too much and contribute too little. Fisher may be a fan favourite, but they have to make a move in the best interest of the club, not necessarily the fans. Yes the fans are the reason your in business and all, but if you ask any fan who they like more, their favourite player on their favourite team, or being a contender every year and maybe even winning the Cup. Most fans will say the team winning since one player doesn't make a team in the NHL. But this is exactly like with Toronto in the early 1990's. leaf fans didn't want to trade Wendel Clark since he was a fan favourite. But the team sold high and moved him despite the fans wishes. The fans were mad for awhile, but what helped was getting Mats Sundin on the deal, which over the long term they clearly won. Wendel ended up being solid after the deal but clearly was starting to decline. Fisher will always be a fan favourite for what he did during his time here, but he simply won't be fitting into their long-term plans moving forward, especially when they are offered a huge piece of the rebuilding puzzle.
Now I know there is a lot of anger amongst the fans in Ottawa already and it's probably going to escalate as time moves forward from this deal. I have already heard from some of my own co-workers even about how they want Bryan Murray to be fired and they won't be buying any more tickets or going to the games. To me I think this is incredibly stupid and shows how stupid Ottawa fans have become.
Now I am going to agree, that GM Bryan Murray should be fired. He should have been fired 3 years ago when he wouldn't handle the situation with Emery which is the root cause of all of this team's problems as they've spiralled out of control. But lets face facts, he's not coming back at the end of the season as the GM and frankly, this is the first bit of sense the man has made in years. For me it comes down to this. The fans were stupid enough to keep going to the games with this idea that the Sens went to the final in 07, so this team, being roughly the same, should be able to go back again. 3 years later things have gotten progressively worse, yet no one called for anyone's head, and everyone still piled into the arena with this stupid belief that they were elite. In other words they've spent 3 years ignoring the problems and issues that keep plaguing this team. If they'd (Sens management) have done something about this 3 years ago, they would have had an off season in 2008 and been back in contention since then by doing a mini renovation. But instead they ignored it and now they will have to spend 3-5 years most likely rebuilding. So the fans have no one to blame but themselves and by not going to games now are nothing more than fair weather fans. To take it a step further, by not bothering with resigning Alfredsson's contract for $4 million per over 4 season and trading him for a 1st rounder to Detroit (rumoured to have been the offer at the trade deadline a year and a half ago) they would have unloaded his contract and brought in a major part of the renovation process and Fisher wouldn't be going anywhere now. However fans wouldn't stomach that either as they are under an illusion Daniel is still 28 and able to get 90+ points a year. They failed to sell high on Alfredsson but I'll give Sens management credit for learning from their mistakes and selling high on Fisher during their next go around.
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