Senators Roundtable – Goaltending Trade Rumors: Ullmark, Markstrom & Saros; Drafting Tij Iginla

Senators Roundtable – Goaltending Trade Rumors: Ullmark, Markstrom & Saros; Drafting Tij Iginla

hey everybody welcome back to the Senators round table I’m your host Jacob Billington joined by Paul Quinny uh today we’re missing out on Dayton um so we’re just gonna do this together and uh honestly there’s quite a bit to talk about over the past week we’ve it’s been pretty quiet and SS land and uh couple rumors have come out over the past even just couple days at this point so uh Paul how you doing I’m freezing cold man I’m sitting here in Ottawa and highs of uh 13 de freeze constant rain and no Cloud I think I’m starting to develop uh rickets or something you know where your body can’t synthesize uh vitamin D without sunlight I’m you know so if I Stumble during the show you know what’s going on rck perfect um well not perfect really I hope you’re hope you’re doing okay um yeah the gloomy weather it’s been kind of all around and lot of lot of cloudy days so far this kind of early summer um but yeah so playoffs are in full swing and otwa is not relevant in the playoffs but they are relevant in some other conversations uh we’ve talked about this a couple times on this podcast but uh first question I’m going to ask you is does otwa need to acquire a goalie so we talked about this a couple weeks ago Dayton had some really good points in the fact that it’s not necessarily A Personnel issue in the net it’s a team issue but do you think that Ottawa should be going out and spending big assets for a you know Jacob I think they have to if they don’t have goal tending and goal tending right out the shoot I I think you’re looking at an eighth consecutive year of them not being in the playoffs and if that I no one can afford that stos can’t afford it the team can’t afford it so I you know I’m I’ve heard that argument that hey it’s not the goalies uh it’s the team in front of them um I don’t know about that I mean we’ve seen these guys uh Corpus Salo uh um I wasn’t impressed with him you know when I heard he signed him he for me he was just never a a consistent goenda starter you can argue the point but I don’t think he was a Bonafide starter anywhere so he just wasn’t the solution despite what Pier dorion claimed that um you know he he had solve the Senator’s goal tending problems last Su summer like not yeah he he did that a couple times he did that with Matt Murray too didn’t he and cam Talbot well you know branstrom was a what what was he a generational signing or some bloody thing so I don’t know that’s just the way he talked I guess yeah he he had a big mouth and not in a disrespectful way he just he got ahead of himself and he just let let everything come out without thinking about what he was going to do and I mean it made for some excellent quotes to break down but it kind of blew up in his face quite a few times too uh so there’s a couple names before we get into that it’s been four full seasons now since AWA has had Craig Anderson man the net do you know how many goalies that they’ve used since the last time Craig Anderson was in the crease no and I’m kicking myself here Jacob because you answered that question in your latest article I should have read it I I just you know I’d read a few others of your articles didn’t get that one so you know the answer what is it yeah so uh I wrote a piece about the goal tending Carousel that Ottawa has kind of had since the last time Anderson was in the crease 13 goalies and now you include Dylan Ferguson in there who had a phenomenal NHL debut and then just he was breath in the wind and he’s in the KHL now uh you got Kevin mandaly and uh Levy Miran they played a couple games as prospects and whatnot but 13 goalies like that is insane I I don’t know if that’s the most in the NHL but it’s got to be up there uh they had a record uh a franchise record of seven goalies used uh two seasons ago that’s injuries happen sure but you also have completely inconsistent depth in the crease and um we saw even in the cam talot season that at the end of the year he was a scratch and Ottawa ran with forsberg and sogard at the end of the season when they were I mean not in the running for the playoffs but they finished the season six points out of the playoffs and even though running down the stretch they would sit cam talet like there hasn’t been any success outside of I would say Anton fordsburg out of those 13 goalies I don’t know what makes me want to hit the bottle of Scotch in my drawer worse the the fact that you know you’ve had 13 goal tenders it says you put it a carousel or uh when I think of all the great goenda they just let go I mean look around the league uh the number of goal tenders good goenda Senators uh you know you could go on and on right well yeah just over the past decade I mean they’ve had uh Robin Leonard Ben Bishop they let those guys go um even more recently you got Philip gustofson he was great in Minnesota it’s Ottawa always seems to let go of the wrong guy and it’s not just a dorion thing it happened with Brian Murray too and it’s happened in the past as well um it’s just always had a hard time finding consistent goenda Anderson who’s who’s next on the list Patrick leim who was good for a little bit but like I don’t know yeah I’m just listening to your talk there it makes me think I I read an essay I forget where it was um about the almost there’s almost no correlation between um college football quarterbacks like where where they go in the draft and how successful they are in the NFL and I don’t know what it is with Ottawa I mean do other teams have the same problem they they just don’t seem to be able to identify uh a starting goal cender and keep them but you know that’s the only explanation I have for letting all these goenda scouting at times and I think that that all stems back to um how much that kind of stuff is valued and how much the owner of the team was willing to pay um and in Ottawa I mean it’s no secret that under the Eugene melck they weren’t looking to hand out money to people that they didn’t need to um but you could certainly argue that they needed to looking at how their kind of trajectory was over the past two decades yeah but I guess you know if you look back over uh goal tenders that came out of nowhere uh to to become stars is just you know how do you explain it um I I think this is a problem across the NHL yeah it absolutely is and I think that like right now we’re seeing the Russians and the Americans kind of take over the goal tending conversation um and I I don’t know what it is I don’t know why um like we go through phases right so for for five or six years it was just Americans coming out of the draft that were really starting to drive in the NHL and now we’re in the kind of the Russian territory and um so like we’re seeing ilas soken uh Andre Vas lski Igor shurin at like just these Russian goenda um and yeah when you look at the Americans like there’s um Connor huk Jake tinger Jeremy Swan like they’re they’re all still fairly young um but it’s it’s insane that and like you look at the Canadian goal tending depth who are they going to run with in the four nations face off and the Olympics and all that and it’s it’s a bit of a crapshoot makes you Pine for the days of mar BR yeah absolutely um so let’s get into some actual rumors that have been surrounding Ottawa now these have come from a number of sources Elliot Freeman Bruce garok uh David David pegoda has uh mentioned a couple names um but first we’re going to go to the one that’s been talked about the most is lenus Omar so he he had a phenomenal season in Boston last season uh with a N I believe it was a 938 won the won the vzna uh he took a bit of a step back this year I think it was a 9 18 this season which is still incredible and otwell would love to have something like that he’s got one year left on a five million contract and he’s got a 15 team no trade clause so he would likely have to wave it to come to Ottawa because I can almost guarantee that that’s going to be on his on his list uh but what do you think should Ottawa be looking at Lena Omar oh I think they have to I I would imagine uh stos he he’s all Mark’s probably at the very top of his uh goal tending file on his desk um but that said you know there’s a lot of other teams interested he’s probably well arguably along with markstrom the best talent that is available this summer so he’s going to get a lot of attention I wonder uh you know you could make a hockey trade it’s almost one for one if you traded Chan uh for allmark right they make similar salaries they both both got onee term left um but I rumor has it that um Don Sweeney the Boston GM is um you know he he’s being aggressive in terms of what he wants I mean not only does he want uh a roster player but apparently he’s looking for a first round pick or at least a very high pick and uh so the question then becomes is that something Ottawa would consider uh given the sor state of the prospect pool is that too high I think it’s really interesting because yes the prospect pool is terrible you can kind of forgive that like you look at the Bruins you look at the Tampa Bay Lightning you can forgive that with some success and is lenus Omar going to give you more success than uh who you expect at 25th overall or who you expect at 37th overall with the second round pick probably but how much are you willing to risk on that uh I do think that Omar would be a fantastic addition I do think that he is still a great goal and could really help save the senators in the crease how much are you really willing to give up like if if the ask is for Jacob Cher and 25th overall are you gonna take that 25th yeah I’d consider that yeah you know so it’s it’s really interesting I think that no matter what if Ottawa is trading for lenus olark it needs to come with an extension they’ve been bit by that a couple times they had uh De Brat that contract situation blew up in their face Jacob Chan played one season now he’s one year away from unrestricted free agency and it doesn’t look like an extension is going to happen so they need long-term stability and especially in the net like they’ve been like I said it’s it’s just been a carousel of goenda ility there they need to sign somebody to uh like not necessarily eight years but five or six years to for somebody that can be a true number one goenda one at that how old’s Omar 30 he is 30 yeah that’s what I thought so you know there’s some some runway for him you know possibly five years well you look at goldendent to 29 range uh for goalies it’s usually like 28 to 35 like they takes a while for them to get their feet wet and with goalies it’s always just they’re great until they’re not but you know if you’re stos this summer you you okay theoretically um you could look internally you know do you have a prospect the answer we all know what the answer to that is Matt sogard is not it he needs more seasoning in the AHL I think we saw that in the six game six games he’s played and then if you look at the free agency market is there any solution out there the answer is really no there’s there’s just not a lot of talent in free agency so that leaves a trade and you got to make the trade this summer um well for a couple of reasons right I mean the last two seasons maybe three the Senators their season’s been over by November and the reason it’s been over is they’ve just had crummy goal tending that can’t happen again and if they don’t get a decent goal tender in there uh chances are it will so um you know and and in season trades yeah they they just don’t work out in this league right I mean they just don’t happen uh so you you got to make the trade now essentially so I imagine a goal chender is it’s right on the top of his problem by on his desk yeah I I agree it’s something that’s really GNA happen um and like you said it’s got to happen now the stability in net um just needs to be locked down you do look at their current goal go tending situation and if Ottawa is going to be tra trading for lenaar you would probably expect that Anton forsberg is going the other way um they do have uh Brandon booy as their kind of upcoming Prospect goalie uh who looks pretty good I don’t know if he’s quite ready for a backup spot so forsburg could take that he has lower cap hit he’s probably going to be part of that trade but he can’t go into the season with three goalies um and there’s no way that Boston’s taking uh Corpus Sal back so I think that forsburg kind of has to be part of that trade for it to make sense for both sides but um and one thing that you mentioned was the free agency the only goalie that I’m looking at in free agency that I would have any interest in which it it’s impossible to do when you have yonas Corpus Alo but uh I wouldn’t be opposed to bringing in lauron bris he had a fantastic season in Winnipeg he had a fantastic season in Vegas the year before he was there started going into the playoffs when they won the cup um so he could be an option but again unless you’re moving out Corpus Alo it’s you’re not signing him so you don’t think he could buy stos could buy a general manager somewhere a really nice dinner and sweet talking into the Tak Court pasalo huh I I don’t think so I don’t think teams are too eager to take that contract on right now yeah God reminds me of Matt Murray right I mean Ottawa was the only team that would take that one on and you know they did it again with Corpus Salo but uh yeah the the latest name to come up um and Ottawa seems to be heavily linked to them um is Jacob marstrom so the Calgary Flames go tender he has two years left with a $6 million cap hit he he’s the only reason the Calgary Flames were even a little bit competitive at parts of last season uh and he again he has a no trade clause so he would have to wave to come here and it sounds like the uh New Jersey Devils are leading the way in the kind of race for making a trade forar or sorry merom but Ottawa has been linked pretty heavily and is certainly in the running for that one really interesting piece that’s coming up is using the seventh overall draft pick to move down to ninth and swap with the Flames because moving up two spots in the top 10 is pretty significant uh especially with somebody who we’re going to talk about a little bit later Iginla he is I mean if the Flames want him I’m sure um and if they have the opport to move up a couple spots and hope to get them I’m sure they’re going to do that um they would also probably want 25th overall and Zack was stop Chuck and if that’s if they’re going to take Corp Salo back they’re not going into a place where they’re looking to s for Success over the next couple Seasons they’re in rebuild mode they’re looking for younger guys odwa giving them some Futures and then oop chuk just to take on Corpus Salo I think that that’s a pretty fair deal um but yeah what do you think of Jacob marrom do you think he’s somebody that that otwa should be looking at well I think he’d uh get you off to the right start you know he’s 33 he’s a a aging very expensive asset but uh at least he’ gets you off to the right start um he’s not longterm I think though you know you hit may I don’t want to rush ahead and start discussing Tia before you’re ready Jacob but uh you you raised it uh you know I’ve heard variations on uh trading ottawa’s 7th for Calgary’s ninth but the deal uh I’ve heard is markstrom plus um the ninth round pick in exchange for the seventh and you might be able to also dump some salary by moving forsberg and hamonic um you know there’s any number of combinations and per permutations here I guess but the basic structure would be seventh for ninth and include markstrom in it um yeah I you know it’s possible I guess you know I wouldn’t be opposed to it like I say they they they need some type of goal tending and Corpus Salo and forsberg aren’t it they they just can’t continue on with them yeah I think marrom his season in Calgary um in 2023 24 went really underappreciated I think that he again like I just mentioned he he’s the only reason that they weren’t like a bottom six team they were they were close to that but at points they were like playoffs weren’t unrealistic for them like halfway through the season and that’s only because of Jacob markstrom and I think that they uh teams really understand the impact that he had on them last season now he’s a bit of a hot and cold goalie he’ll have a good year and a bad year A Good Year and a bad year um but of course when he lands in Ottawa it’s probably going to be two bad years in a row uh but he he’s really really good he is a veteran and he has two years left if Steve stos believes that it’s going to be Levy Mir linan or um mad soard that are going to be ready to take the net in two years then I think that Jacob marstrom is a fantastic stop Gap and could fill that role really well um and provide like that again that veteran leadership um kind of maybe in a year or two have soard miror line and back him up and learn from him figure out how to play figure out the tricks and whatnot to make a successful NHL goenda ad again I think the devils are leading the leading the race there but I think that markson would be a great addition to the Senators so do you think he could handle North of 60 games in a year um I know when he was younger he used to like to do that uh but then more recently I think teams have gone to a what they call a 1A and a one B goal tending structure so you’ve got basically two equally talented goal tenders that split the workload don’t know if that would be possible in in Ottawa with Corpus Salo as the backup yeah I well with Corpus Salo as the backup I wouldn’t mind 30 games out of them like a 5030 split I don’t think that’s a huge problem and if it’s uh forsberg I wouldn’t mind that either um if if marrom can stay healthy and can uh put put together 50 really good games I don’t think that that’s going to be a problem in Ottawa I do think that not last year I think he played 48 games this past season but the two years before that I think he played 59 and 63 so he’s still capable of it um and he I think he’s better in a smaller sample size like closer to the 50 games but I it’s it’s really interesting to kind of ask that though because he is getting older uh it’s kind of going to be his preference how much do you want to play and then let his let his play dictate that um but yeah I I think that Salo forsburg or even soard are fine for a backup rooll like a 25 to 30 games yeah I mean Mark’s an interesting guy right I was just thinking I I don’t think he’s played uh anywhere else except Canada right Vancouver Calgary uh possibly Ottawa now has he played outside of Canada before no I don’t think so he was uh yeah no I don’t think so he he he likes Canada no he played in Florida for a couple years yeah all right um so the last goalie that we kind of have to talk about today is the Holy Grail um if Ottawa can land yuss SOS then that’s a complete success he’s going to have a big ticket this uh with an extension this summer and again this is a deal that would have to come with an extension if otwa was going to make it uh but it would probably start with Jacob chran probably include the 25th overall pick and probably another asset or two I think that going after UC Saros and again we talked about this with simmer last week we don’t really have a basis on what superstar goalies go for in the NHL we haven’t seen one traded in a long time so there there’s no Market Market already set so Ottawa would be setting that or whoever acquires SOS is going to be setting that um but what do you think should Ottawa try and hit a home run and get SOS well sure they you know stos has to try it um but You’ hit the nail on the head uh it all depends on the term you know he’d better come with an extension uh you know if you’re giving up those types of assets um you know and you’re right there hasn’t been a major goal tender trade in in years right and and it used to be you weren’t trading roster players for them they they were picks prospects that was the price so yeah and I don’t think Nashville is in a spot that they want picks and Prospect I think that they want that as part of it but I think like looking at what the Senators have to offer I think they would want one of Chen Pinto or Greg I don’t think odwell wants to give up pinto I’m not sure I mean they don’t want to give up Greg but I think that he might be more available than Shane Pinto for sure um and then Chan again he’s he’s on the Block so those are three players that I think Nashville would be looking at from Ottawa and like do you include Matthew Joseph in there um add some depth to Nashville and try and help balance the salary um there’s a lot of options to make a deal with Nashville yeah yeah there really are um you know I actually in in anticipation of this discussion um I was looking at some other so they don’t really have any need of them and they might be interested in your Picks and Prospects I think he’s 30 years old but my gosh he’s expensive $6.4 million um any thoughts on Gibson whether he’d be an option I like Gibson it’s been too long since he’s played for a good team Anaheim hell on for too long to really have a a clear understanding of what he brings to the table now um like two three years ago I would have been all for it he I just don’t know what to expect from him he’s had some bad Seasons he’s played on some really bad teams is that part of it I don’t know um and so I wouldn’t take the risk just because it’s probably going to cost a lot and he has a big salary um but I don’t know I I wouldn’t be against it if Steve stos made that deal I just don’t think I would Target him just because it’s magic beans I think at this point yeah I mean I’m just listening you know we threw out uh the goalies that we’ve been talking about have been with the exception ofar have been outside the Atlantic division um and that’s I think it just occurred to me that would be a downside uh or well downside it’d be an obstacle I think to an Ottawa Boston trade for wmart because you’re sending a good golender like that to Ottawa and it’s uh Sweeny would have to you know raise an eyebrow on that one he’d think twice I don’t think Sweeney’s afraid make those deals though like you look they acquired Tyler bruzi last year uh they like they’ve made some inivision uh trades and I don’t think that’s something Don sweene is afraid of there are GMS that hate doing it and just refuse to do it but I don’t think Don sweene is one of them uh but no you’re right especially with a goaly you just never know uh maybe he’s like we don’t want to play against this guy maybe he’s like we really want to play against this guy because we know how to beat him we don’t like I don’t know that’s that’s a really interesting point though yeah yeah well time will tell because I think if something’s going to happen it has to happen in the next couple of weeks yeah I agree uh so the last talking point that we’re going to kind of end off on here is uh TJ ginla we already mentioned him a little bit um he there’s been some rumors today uh and yesterday that if Ottawa can keeps the seventh overall pick and if Iginla is still available he he’s probably going to be a senator now there’s a couple pretty high-end defenseman available um around seventh overall it really sounds like odwell likes somebody like ainla and so what ainla is really good at is carrying momentum carrying offense and he’s really good at driving the net he’s one of the biggest risers in this draft he wasn’t projected to go top 10 um top 15 at top 20 at the beginning of the season but he is now what are your thoughts on Iginla I know that you aren’t um a prospect Guru you’re not signing up to be on Prospect Corner next week but um yeah if you’ve had some time to look into him what do you what do you think what do you see ah just in no particular order so so there’s no arguing with his performance this year right he’s exploded with a Colona Rockets um but it’s one year and he has been impressive um you know he’s gone 4737 for a total of 80 87 points in 64 games is that the real deal is that is that the real ainla here it’s all based on one season um the other thing you know stos you well you alluded to it do you do you do you draft for um do you draft the best available or do you draft for position Lord knows otwa needs Senator uh defenseman but um is a forward and um you know I think I know the answer because stos has given it in his previous I forget uh press conference but he’s he’s basically come out and said early rounds I will take the best available it won’t be driven by the position later rounds the position so it wouldn’t surprised me to see a ginla there um I know you know Calgary uh the fans would love to see him right given who his dad was but um you know I I think stalos is he understands the guinet pedigree uh stalos play played with uh his father in Calgary back in the day so he understands what he’s getting um but I think the question maybe you know one question has come up is is Ottawa feigning interest in stos uh just to up the ante with Calgary you know to or at least get a better deal on markstrom that’s a really good point I I that’s a really interesting point that I hadn’t thought of because it it is pretty interesting that these rumors are coming out right after Ottawa being interested in marom comes out that’s that’s really interesting and good to think about because are they trying to say you’re not getting him if we keep our pick that’s yeah well if you’re a if you’re if you’re a believer in conspiracy theories uh I’m not but it’s apparently all the rage now so hey we can we can engage in conspiracy theories we’re the best of them Jacob yeah um yeah it’s it’s going to be really interesting I’m not completely sold on uh TG ginla I think that he’s a great player I would be more comfortable taking him around 13 14 15 um he again he’s he’s offensively incredible he doesn’t play like his father did at all he’s not very physical um he doesn’t have great speed uh he he isn’t great defensively either uh but like his his shot and his hands and his playmaking abilities they’re all fantastic and again great at driving the net um he has he has a lot of great skills so I do think that he’s going to be an offensive beast in the NHL I just don’t know if he’s the kind of player Ottawa needs so drafting by position I also don’t know if he’s going to be the best player available at seven so that could come back to bite me 100% I’ll take the ownership on that but all right well this is recorded so we’re coming back on you so uh but uh well the other thing too with the ginla and you know look he’s 17 he’s 177 years old I don’t know that you don’t know what you have on your hands with a 17y old uh it’s all a crop shoot and by the time you know I’ve heard him his name B about is well he’d be great he’s a Winger uh he compliment um tchuk uh on the wing tchuk on the first line him on the second I mean come on guys by the time he makes the team yeah I think bwa’s window will have closed right yeah you know because he’s so young so but you know that’s the nature of hype associated with draft picks right it’s fun to engage in fantasy hockey but you just don’t know what you got with these kids it’s all magic beans um so yeah that’s G to wrap things up for today uh I really appreciate everybody for checking this out and if you enjoyed it let us know and we’ll see you next week

In this episode of The Hockey Writers Senators Roundtable, Ottawa Senators writers Jacob Billington and Paul Quinney get together to discuss the trade rumors surrounding Linus Ullmark (Boston Bruins), Jacob Markstrom (Calgary Flames) and Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators), and whether Steve Staios could draft Tij Iginla at 7th overall when the 2024 NHL Draft gets underway on June 28.

0:00 Intro
3:03 Senators’ Recent Goaltending Carousel
8:16 Linus Ullmark
15:09 Jacob Markstrom
21:12 Juuse Saros
25:38 Could the Senators select Tij Iginla at 7th overall?

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