Ottawa begins overhaul on B-Sens roster
Ottawa added a defenseman, drafted five players and made decisions on all 13 potential restricted free agents
Matt Weinstein, mweinstein@gannett.com | @SteinTime44
Ottawa Senators development camp begins Tuesday, June 28
Ottawa traded for defenseman Patrick Sieloff on Monday and he could start the season in Binghamton
The National Hockey League offseason is officially underway, and the Ottawa Senators have already made several moves to enhance its organizational depth, which includes reshaping the roster of the Binghamton Senators.
In addition to adding five prospects in the NHL Entry Draft the past weekend, the Senators also made a trade for a young defenseman and issued qualifying offers to seven of 11 potential restricted free agents.
A week ago, the Senators had 13 players set to become restricted free agents, but they re-signed forward Buddy Robinson to a one-year contract before the draft and then traded underperforming forward Alex Chiasson to Calgary on Monday for defenseman Patrick Sieloff.
Sieloff, who was a second-round pick by Calgary in the 2012 draft, has four goals, 12 assists and 132 penalty minutes in 102 career American Hockey League games in the Flames organization. He also scored a goal last season in his lone career NHL game. Sieloff is limited offensively but brings a strong physical presence and good decision-making skills. He projects to start the season with Binghamton but has an outside chance to make the NHL roster. Chiasson was acquired from Dallas in the trade for forward Jason Spezza two years ago but regressed in production each of the past two seasons in Ottawa.
Of the seven players given qualifying offers on Monday, Cody Ceci and Mike Hoffman are the only two full-time NHL players on the list, and both will likely be looking for longer-term deals this offseason. Forwards Casey Bailey, Ryan Dzingel, Max McCormick and Matt Puempel, and defenseman Fredrik Claesson were also given qualifying offers and, in addition to Robinson, will all be fighting for a NHL roster spot this fall, although most will likely begin the year in Binghamton.
The Senators did not send qualifying offers to defensemen Patrick Wiercioch, Troy Rutkowski and Jerome Leduc, and forward Trevor Ewanyk. Wiercioch, a member of the B-Sens' 2011 Calder Cup championship team, made $2.7 million the past season, and Ottawa decided not to give him a qualifying offer in the same amount, making him an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Acquired in an offseason trade the past summer, Ewanyk is a serviceable AHL fourth-liner, but that may not be enough for Ottawa to keep him around another season. Ewanyk scored five goals and finished with nine points in 66 games for the B-Sens last season while also piling up 110 penalty minutes, but it was not enough to earn himself another year in the organization. Rutkowski appeared in only 30 games with the B-Sens over three seasons and never could adjust to the AHL level.
Leduc is a mild surprise, because he is a proven AHL defenseman and could have played a leadership role for a young group of blueliners projected to be in Binghamton in the fall. Leduc, 24 in July, was acquired in a big AHL trade with the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, and scored four goals and finished with 10 points in 22 games for Binghamton.
Ottawa also added four forwards and a defenseman in the draft who could figure into the B-Sens' future eventually. The Senators traded up one spot from 12th to 11th in the first round to select center Logan Brown, whose father Jeff played in the NHL for 13 seasons and now coaches the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League. Logan Brown is a 6-foot-6-inch center who scored 21 goals and 74 points in 59 games with Windsor, of the OHL, the past season.
Ottawa added speedy forward Jonathan Dahlen, the son of former NHL forward Ulf Dahlen, in the second round, forward Todd Burgess in the fourth round, defenseman Maxime Lajoie in the fifth round and forward Markus Nurmi in the sixth round.
Only Burgess and Nurmi would be eligible to start next season with the B-Sens, although the soon-to-be 18-year-old Nurmi will likely stay in Finland next season. The others could join the team after their junior seasons end.
All five players will be at the Ottawa Senators development camp this week, which runs from June 28 to July 4.
On Twitter: SteinTime44