I think Ceci proved last night that there is no need for BM to acquire a defenceman when he already has one in his organization that can do the job well enough. He has four PMD in Karlsson, Corvo, Wiercioch & Ceci & four defensive defencemen in Phillips, Methot, Gryba & Boroweicki, they don't need another defenceman. Corvo will likely not be re-signed for next season & Ceci will take his spot. Boroweicki has a one way contract for next season which I think could mean that Phillips may not be re-signed. The only problem is that the defence will still be young but I expect all the defencemen that have played all yr in Ottawa should be much better next yr & I expect that Boro & Ceci who both have played well so far in Ottawa will be ready to take the next step. Even with Corvo & Phillips gone they will still have 7 good D in Ottawa next yr & a couple more in Bingo.
Instead I think BM should be looking for a top 3 forward who can score consistently & play with Spezza. One more scorer who can create his own offence would really help this team in close games & give them more of an edge to make the playoffs instead of being a bubble team. There could be a number of very good forwards available July 1 & with the cap going up it would really help to add a very good forward to this roster. If the choice were to come down to re-signing Phillips or Michalek, I would re-sign Michalek because we know he can play with Spezza & he has a resume of scoring for Ottawa. I also expect that this team will eventually shorten their gaps, cut down on their turnovers, reduce their penalties against & goals against & increase goals for which should result in more wins.
