Player Discussion Zack MacEwen signed for 3 years @ $775,000

[L'Aveuglette]

Uhh, yeah Marc, you actually don't know wtf people are talking about yourself bud. It's not that we don't want fighters dummy, it's that we want *good* fighters who can at least PK. Macewen is a scrub who probably won't play many nights.

You gotta love how arrogant Methot can be in his wrongness though.

 

[aragorn]

Uhh, yeah Marc, you actually don't know wtf people are talking about yourself bud. It's not that we don't want fighters dummy, it's that we want *good* fighters who can at least PK. Macewen is a scrub who probably won't play many nights.

You gotta love how arrogant Methot can be in his wrongness though.

I've made post trades for Crouse & Wilson & few wanted them, when I suggested we draft Wilson in the first rd people went nuts. They also don't want to spend the money for good enforcers. Most fans only want the best players ALL the time & don't have any concept in filling out an NHL roster & certainly don't seem to understand roles on hockey teams.

They are fans & I don't expect most to understand the intricacies of roster construction in todays NHL, but to criticize an X NHL player who has been there & is also an NHL analyst on TV is somewhat arrogant. Give him some credit for all the yrs he played at the highest level & was mostly successful. I don't think he is wrong here, given their cap situation MacEwen might be all they could afford at this time & we certainly don't want our better players fighting. MacEwen just has to get the other guy off the ice, that's it, he doesn't have to win, most fights are just hanging on & swinging randomly until the refs stop it. It's also likely he doesn't play in all games & when he does it will likely be less than a few minutes per game. It's the toughest job in hockey.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I’m looking forward to see what he brings. I loved the relentless hitting Watson brought when he was on, and that 4th line was on.

Zach looks like he’s a guy that can skate, hit, and pressure the D. Willingness to fight in defence of his teammates will quickly make him a lockerroom favourite and fan favourite to most.

Sounds like a solid add for the fourth line, leaving the rest of the DBC cash to spend on perhaps a single top 6 replacement player.

Every NHL player, coach, and GM argues that we need guys like this, so I’ll go with that coupled with the eye test. Some fans simple don’t like or value toughness to n general so they’ll never be happy.

Can’t please everyone, but I like this role players in general. Welcome Zach!

 

[Xspyrit]

I think all the Watsons, MacEwens, etc puts the light on HOW valuable Chris Neil was. Not only he was a fierce intimidation factor but he could play 2-way hockey and not be a liability at ES. If only Boucher could develop into a Chris Neil (very unlikely), that reach would have been worth it

Is it?

It was bad last year in large part because we lost Norris for an entire season. Now, there'll probably be injuries again, but hopefully not a season-ending one to a top 6 player.

The key isn't adding more expensive players to the bottom 6. It's spreading out the talent more effectively. Let's assume the NHL player we acquire for DBC is Berggren.

Icing this:

Tkachuk - Stützle - Joseph
Greig - Norris - Giroux
Berggren - Pinto - Batherson
Smejkal/Crookshank/Kelly - Kastelic - MacEwen

Is not that bad. You have good duos on each of the top 3 lines, who should be able to drive play and contribute.

Are Joseph and Greig (or Berggren if you move him up) top 6 players on their own? No. But a team's "top 6" is never just made up of "top 6 players". The bolded are staples and should make up 90% of icetime. The rest you move around.

Florida had Nick Cousins playing with Tkachuk and Bennett in the playoffs.
Vegas had Brett Howden with Stone and Stephenson.

Spread the wealth. That's how you improve the bottom 6.

I don't think we should break up Norris-Batherson, they were money together in 2021-22

Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
Greig - Norris - Batherson
Berggren - Pinto - Joseph
Crookshank - Kastelic - MacEwen
Kelly

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[Bileur]

I’m not too worried about term. 775 is low enough that I’m sure someone would pick up a facepuncher off waivers if ever the sens absolutely had to get rid of him.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

bad signing

Why?

 

[Flamingo]

Huh.

 

[Icelevel]

Great interview on 1200.
Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

 

[Samsquanch]

Huh.

Clearly Giroux is not the smartest guy in the room, and has no idea what it takes to win. Not like I do.

-somebody here, probably

 

[Crosside]

MacEwen: Giroux was one of the guys pulling for me to sign here

Zack MacEwen joins The Drive to talk about his new deal with Ottawa, the role he plans to fill, and players on the team he has familiarity with.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Mingus Dew]

Clearly Giroux is not the smartest guy in the room, and has no idea what it takes to win. Not like I do.

-somebody here, probably

G played with him in Philly and obviously thinks highly of him. Have no doubt this guy will be beloved in the room.

 

[swiftwin]

Clearly Giroux is not the smartest guy in the room, and has no idea what it takes to win. Not like I do.

-somebody here, probably

hfsens with egg on their face once again

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Clearly Giroux is not the smartest guy in the room, and has no idea what it takes to win. Not like I do.

-somebody here, probably

Well I mean giroux. Has exactly how many cups. And how many conference final appearances.

I’m being half facetious. Players aren’t the swiftest people on earth.

 

[Xspyrit]

You have to look at the bigger picture. If we had a Top-9 full of top notch 2-way forwards then of course you could afford to be more loose on role players

The concern here is that we were 25th in GF% at 5v5 last season, WITH DeBrincat. We need to bring in forwards that will contribute to improve that CRUCIAL stat. I'm not fully convinced that Hamonic, Korpisalo, MacEwen and Tarasenko (if) will help us to do that

Of course MacEwen is not the key here but this is how I see things. Our coaching staff, our forward group and even the defense has not proved that they can get in the top-10 in that important stat.

 

[Johnny Hanson]

MacEwen: Giroux was one of the guys pulling for me to sign here

Zack MacEwen joins The Drive to talk about his new deal with Ottawa, the role he plans to fill, and players on the team he has familiarity with.

www.tsn.ca

Chris Stevenson, considering how long he’s been in the game, is one of the worst interviewers I’ve ever heard. Man he’s awkward

 

[Mingus Dew]

Well I mean giroux. Has exactly how many cups. And how many conference final appearances.

I’m being half facetious. Players aren’t the swiftest people on earth.

Has nothing to do with how swift he is. The boys will love this guy. These sorts of guys are typically loved in sports teams because they play a thankless role and they sacrifice their body for the good of the team.

Says absolutely nothing about his skill as a hockey player lol. He’s still gonna be awful.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Well I mean giroux. Has exactly how many cups. And how many conference final appearances.

I’m being half facetious. Players aren’t the swiftest people on earth.

Maybe not (though some are clearly much brighter than you or I), but they do know hockey and hockey players, and well respected long time NHL captains probably know a thing or two about chemistry and what a team needs in terms of role players.

Just hazarding a guess…..

You have to look at the bigger picture. If we had a Top-9 full of top notch 2-way forwards then of course you could afford to be more loose on role players

The concern here is that we were 25th in GF% at 5v5 last season, WITH DeBrincat. We need to bring in forwards that will contribute to improve that CRUCIAL stat. I'm not fully convinced that Hamonic, Korpisalo, MacEwen and Tarasenko (if) will help us to do that

Of course MacEwen is not the key here but this is how I see things. Our coaching staff, our forward group and even the defense has not proved that they can get in the top-10 in that important stat.

My advice is to step back from the stats and just enjoy watching games again.

Honestly this ‘nerd shit’ is turning hockey fans into hockey bookkeepers.

Try and remember it’s sports entertainment, not work.

 

[Micklebot]

hfsens with egg on their face once again

So, DJ convinced Zaitsev to waive his NMC and come over in the Ceci trade, does that mean Zaitsev was a great acquisition?

I just don't see this as proof of anything other than Giroux getting along with the guy. Chabot gets along with Joseph, White was well like on the team, that doesn't mean either of them had good contracts or were the type of players that would help the team win.

MacEwen is on a league min contract, the bar is pretty low for what he needs to bring, hopefully he can meet that threshold, if not whatever, he can be waived. I do think some are underestimating him, he's NHL caliber, he's a willing combatant, he can hit, we'll see how he does,

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Beauty Picture

 

[Tuna99]

So, DJ convinced Zaitsev to waive his NMC and come over in the Ceci trade, does that mean Zaitsev was a great acquisition?

I just don't see this as proof of anything other than Giroux getting along with the guy. Chabot gets along with Joseph, White was well like on the team, that doesn't mean either of them had good contracts or were the type of players that would help the team win.

MacEwen is on a league min contract, the bar is pretty low for what he needs to bring, hopefully he can meet that threshold, if not whatever, he can be waived. I do think some are underestimating him, he's NHL caliber, he's a willing combatant, he can hit, we'll see how he does,

Also playing into it is the 3 years. 1-2 years no problem, but has a feel of Ottawa having to go to 3 years to convince a borderline NHL player to come to Ottawa.

And Dorion signing free agents has always been a gong show so fans are right to be skeptical.

That being said - now we have a face for Ryan Reeves to pound in, which the team needed

 

[Micklebot]

Also playing into it is the 3 years. 1-2 years no problem, but has a feel of Ottawa having to go to 3 years to convince a borderline NHL player to come to Ottawa.

And Dorion signing free agents has always been a gong show so fans are right to be skeptical.

That being said - now we have a face for Ryan Reeves to pound in, which the team needed

One year too many on a league minimum contract isn't much of a big deal, if that's the worst we have to worry about, sign me up.

Worst case scenario is what, he's our 13th forward, and we play callups ahead of him? I'm not really seeing much of an issue here. I'd have rathered we hold off until we had some cost certainty wrt DeBrincat, and then decide what kind of contract we wanted to add. Maybe would could have added a 2 mil deal that pushes Kelly into the 13th forward role if we knew we had the space, but this deal isn't going to be the difference between success and failure.

 

[Boud]

I honestly don't know why people are so caught up on 3 years for a player who will be 30 by the time his contract is up. If Giroux played a big role in getting him here it means that he's a well liked player and he brings something that he thinks will be valuable to the team.

At that price you can easily have him as a 12th/13th forward and not worry about him sitting games. It shelters Tkachuk from fighting plugs, and even though he might still do it from time to time because he is a Tkachuk after all ... it will be less. We have some players that will come in and replace him at some point. Maybe a guy like Boucher in a year or 2.

At that point you can waive him and there will be a team out there looking for a fighter. 800K will never be an issue in my opinion. Let's see but I don't understand the panic over this move.

For the PK we already have a bunch of guys who can do it. That's the last worry we should have.

 

[Loach]

I don't feel anyway about it. There seems to be an odd sort of conversation going on though. He is not a good fighter so what's the point. He fights so Brady won't have to. He replaces Watson, but can't pk. Watson couldn't fight and having him didn't stop Brady from fighting. I think you could have prime Probert on the team and Brady gonna Brady. Lol. Watson could pk, but couldn't keep up with the play 5v5. Maybe it's a wash. ZMaC can be better 5v5 and somebody else can pk. If he can zoom about, make some hits, annoy the other team and not hurt us...ok. Neiler could have a chat with him too. Maybe that would help? There are bigger things than this guy.

 

[Cosmix]

You have to look at the bigger picture. If we had a Top-9 full of top notch 2-way forwards then of course you could afford to be more loose on role players

The concern here is that we were 25th in GF% at 5v5 last season, WITH DeBrincat. We need to bring in forwards that will contribute to improve that CRUCIAL stat. I'm not fully convinced that Hamonic, Korpisalo, MacEwen and Tarasenko (if) will help us to do that

Of course MacEwen is not the key here but this is how I see things. Our coaching staff, our forward group and even the defense has not proved that they can get in the top-10 in that important stat.

Yes we need to improve our GF and also the GA by adding players who can improve the ES offense and prevent shots and goals against, preferably both.

Nevertheless, I think we needed to add more physical players. Zack was not my preferred physical player though. Cap ceiling dictated this addition. Hopefully the Debrincat trade could add additional muscle plus improve the ES play too.