Why on earth are Wideman and Claesson making so much money and what have they done to deserve that kind of money?

Wideman, at least to me was playing very well before he got injured, offensively and defensively, I know this isn’t the best thing to look at but he was on pace for 41 points this year, maybe it’s not the best thing to give him a large upgrade after an injury but I don’t think the value is out of the window.

Claesson has also been fine this year and I’d much rather him over Ceci, Borowiecki and Harpur, Ceci is just making more mainly because it seems the management has more faith in him. Maybe $500K-$750K off the Claesson deal would be better but still I don’t believe the value is out the window.

Why would Calgary want Smith? and for 3 pick's? You have the cap space and still need two forwards so just keep him instead of an unrealistic cap dump...

yeah sure you're number 6/7 d-man who was 26 before he even made the NHL is going to get paid the same as your number 2 24 year old former first round draft pick

Wideman makes sense but, I don't think you need to sign claesson for that much money and I rather borowiecki over claesson

Ceci is trash and he’s definitely not our second best defenseman, Chabot is easily second, with Claesson and Wideman still both being better.

Ceci plays 22-23 minutes a game,far more than any of those other guys, fact. everything else, your opinion. so yes he is their number 2 d-man whether you like it or not.

Fair enough, I get what you mean, he just definitely does not play like a number 2 defenseman.

maybe not, but he's still going to get paid a hell of a lot closer to one than the likes of Wideman.

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the Burrows move...A 4th to take him? No friggin' thanks.

$2.5M for a “meh” 4th liner? I know it’s not ideal but Vegas should have the cap to take on a contract like that and gain a pick.

You've got the cap room to keep him. They've got a ton of players, and have no reason to say "Oh hey, a 4th rounder! There's about a 20% chance of that 4th rounder ever playing a single game in the NHL...let's make a $2.5 million dollar gamble to get that!"

- I don't see what leverage Wideman has to demand such a contract. Same for Claesson, ouch.

- I really don't see Ottawa signing a 32 y/o bottom-6 forward, particularly for that type of money

- Wideman and Ceci are both RHD, can't have them on the same pair.

- Zadina will be making $925,000

- I think Smith will get 2 picks at most

- The rest is realistic. Wolanin will probably be developping in the AHL next year though, no point having him in Ottawa as the 6th/7th/8th

Maybe Calgary won't need him but a team will. He is a big, versatile and physical two-way forward that is great on the PK and excellent on face-offs. He seems to struggle in seasons when he gets injured but you know, that's the case for most NHL players. Check at his production the 2 years prior this one (15-25 goals, ~35 points), that's quite good for a forward getting mostly just ES and PK TOI. I really don't think NHL teams see him as a cap dump at all. That's more fans job lol



The Sens fanbase is pretty divided on Ceci for some reason. I think it was because there was a very vocal contingent of Ceci haters (who looked at corsi) that went on a smear campaign against him but anyone who played hockey and has been watching him on a regular basis can see why Boucher plays him so much. Problem is that Boucher has given him the toughest role and minutes on the team since he is here when Ceci would be ideally your #4 or #3 D-man (if you have a very good #1 and #2). With Methot gone and Phaneuf declining, there was not many other options.

Looking at his advanced stats, it's funny how it's so much better since Phaneuf is gone and actually one of the bests among Sens D-men.

To me, Ceci is pretty much Chris Phillips version 2.0. He just needs to be better surrounded.