The Fifth Liners

It has proven to be a big day for the Ottawa Senators so far as they have re-signed star right winger Bobby Ryan to a brand new seven year contract reportedly worth over $50.75 million and finally they have announced a new captain in the shape of defenseman Erik Karlsson . Debate has been raging today about whether the 24 year old Swede is the best man for the job? Ever since former captain and longtime Ottawa star Jason Spezza was traded to Dallas, the Sens management has been taking their time over announcing his replacement. In retrospect I think the selection of Karlsson is a fine one because he is a young man who is coming into his own and is fast becoming considered one of the leagues finest defensemen. So far Karlsson has spent six seasons in Ottawa, he has 63 goals and 237 points scored in 315 games, also he was awarded the James Norris Trophy in 2012. On these kind of stats alone combined with his committed play, I can think of no other candidate who was more qualified ...

Every player wants his shot at the cup.  It's been a few days since Ottawa Senators' Captain Jason Spezza asked to be traded , and it's since emerged that he's given the Sens a list of ten teams he doesn't want to go to. The actual list hasn't been released, but which teams should be queuing up their cheque books to sign Spezza? Given the fact that Jason has never won anything of note with the Sens, he's going to be looking for a team that's had recent success. So that pretty much rules out all but one of the Canadian teams: Montreal Canadiens The Habs might not have lifted the Stanley Cup since 1993 but if Spezza wants to stay north of the border then the NHL's winningest team are the best option. The real question is are the Habs interested in Spezza? There's no doubt that he's a quality center, guaranteed to bring home at least a point per game, but unless he's willing to settle for a place on the third or fourth line, th...