In order to get to know “my” Senators a little better, I started off trying to track down where all of the current Senators were playing and where their prospects are located for the interim (of course, I use “interim” here out of hope for a season). I thought that would also be a logical place to start off my THW career as well, providing Senators fans a primer for where they can find Sens players for now, if not at Scotiabank Place.
NHL Roster
The players below are currently on the active NHL roster with a contract for the 2012-13 season, should it take place, per CapGeek. Player locations are from Dobber Hockey’s awesome Lockout Player Tracker.
Jason Spezza – The Sens’ top forward will take his talents to Switzerland to play for Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss League. While some are worried about potential injury to the team’s top scoring threat, the team is slightly less concerned since he is at least being kind enough to insure his own contract at a ludicrous cost of $50,000 per month. His frustration is obvious from his public comments, but the desire to play is a nice confirmation that a player considered to be soft outside of Ottawa is so hockey-committed.
Kaspars Daugavins – The fourth line left winger is off to Riga Dynamo of the KHL, where he’s off to a cold start with a -2 rating through a single game.
Sergei Gonchar – The 38-year old power play specialist is off to Russia, just like during the last lockout, re-joining Magnitogorsk Metallurg, where he has a pair of assists in two games. Many older players will probably take the lockout to rest in the short term, so credit Gonchar for his desire to stay active and keep his game sharp.
Jared Cowen – Cowen is one of just two Senators who are still on Entry Level contracts (the other is Mika Zibanejad), and as such he will safely be deployed to Binghamton of the AHL when their season gets going.
Undetermined – Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, Guillaume Latendresse, Chris Neil, Kyle Turris, Colin Greening, Peter Regin, Zack Smith, Jim O’Brien, Erik Condra, Erik Karlsson (considering Sweden), Chris Phillips (busy suing ex-agent), Marc Methot (boxing lessons), Mike Lundin, Craig Anderson, Ben Bishop
Note: I will update this list as new news surfaces on this rather large list of hockey-less players.
Top Prospects
With no Senators to cheer for, fans may want to look to the minor leagues and keep their eyes on the development of prospects rather than try to track veterans overseas. As such, thanks to Hockey’s Future’s top prospect list, here are the Senators top-7 prospects and their location for this fall.
Mika Zibanejad – The 19-year old center and 2011 first round pick remains with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish SEL league, where he has spent most of his professional career.
Cody Ceci – The Sens’ top pick from the 2012 draft, the 18-year old blueliner will return to the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL.
Robin Lehner – Lehner got a small taste of the NHL last season, but the 21-year old netminder will be forced to continue on with Binghamton of the AHL, hoping to impress enough to be able to battle Ben Bishop to be Craig Anderson’s back-up when the season gets under way.
Matt Puempel – Another first rounder from the 2011 draft, the 19-year old left winger will rplay with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL after Peterborough traded his rights.
Shane Prince – The 19-year old left winger will join Ceci with the 67’s in the OHL.
Jakob Silfverberg – The 21-year old right winger was the 2012 SEL Most Valuable Player and earned himself two playoff games with the Senators. Despite strong Swedish ties, Silfverberg appears likely to play with Binghamton of the AHL.
Stefan Noesen – The 19-year old right winger is pegged to be a member of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers, while also potentially joining Prince on Team USA’s World Junior team at Christmas time.
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