Friday, February 20, 2004
The cost for Kolzig
Much has been made in Ottawa about Patrick Lalime's struggles this season. Fans question if he is the weak link that could cost the Sens the Stanley Cup this year. Backup Martin Prusek has outplayed Lalime so far this year but he's unproven in the NHL postseason. With Olaf Kolzig's recent play, he's probably the only available goalie that could upgrade the Sens in net.
The pros with getting Kolzig would be that he's taken a team to the Cup finals before, he's a good leader, he's put up pretty good numbers in the playoffs on teams that were never considered Cup contenders and he's not that old by goalie standards.
The cons would be that he's got another year left on his contract after this year at over $6M, his playoff numbers aren't as good as Lalime's, and there's no guarantee for any goalie that they'll be better then the guy they replace since goalies can be so streaky.
As far as what it would take to get Kolzig, any package the Sens send the Caps would have to include Lalime. There is no point in keeping him in Ottawa if someone is brought in to replace him. Either the Caps go with him until they feel Maxime Ouellet is ready or, if they feel Ouellet is ready, they could move him along to the Rangers. The best thing for the Sens is that, with the Burke deal to Philly, there aren't a lot of teams going into the playoffs looking for a starting goalie. St Louis would be the other team that comes to mind but they could be might be leery of adding a big contract next year for a team that might need to be rebuilt in the offseason. Colorado would probably only be interested in Kolzig as a backup. Because there isn't a lot of demand out there, Ottawa might be able to get him for a pick/prospect/depth blueliner along with Lalime. Probably something similiar to the Tugnutt & Laukkanen for Barrasso trade the Senators made several years ago.
So what about Kolzig's contract? Well, the Sens have too much invested to risk making an unexpected exit because of poor goaltending. They'll only be on the hook for less then a quarter of Kolzig's contract this year. As for next year, if the Sens were to win the Cup with Lalime he'd be due a raise that wouldn't be too far off what Kolzig would make anyways. Kolzig could stay in Ottawa for a season and pass the torch to Prusek and Sens uber goalie prospect Ray Emery the next year.
The pros with getting Kolzig would be that he's taken a team to the Cup finals before, he's a good leader, he's put up pretty good numbers in the playoffs on teams that were never considered Cup contenders and he's not that old by goalie standards.
The cons would be that he's got another year left on his contract after this year at over $6M, his playoff numbers aren't as good as Lalime's, and there's no guarantee for any goalie that they'll be better then the guy they replace since goalies can be so streaky.
As far as what it would take to get Kolzig, any package the Sens send the Caps would have to include Lalime. There is no point in keeping him in Ottawa if someone is brought in to replace him. Either the Caps go with him until they feel Maxime Ouellet is ready or, if they feel Ouellet is ready, they could move him along to the Rangers. The best thing for the Sens is that, with the Burke deal to Philly, there aren't a lot of teams going into the playoffs looking for a starting goalie. St Louis would be the other team that comes to mind but they could be might be leery of adding a big contract next year for a team that might need to be rebuilt in the offseason. Colorado would probably only be interested in Kolzig as a backup. Because there isn't a lot of demand out there, Ottawa might be able to get him for a pick/prospect/depth blueliner along with Lalime. Probably something similiar to the Tugnutt & Laukkanen for Barrasso trade the Senators made several years ago.
So what about Kolzig's contract? Well, the Sens have too much invested to risk making an unexpected exit because of poor goaltending. They'll only be on the hook for less then a quarter of Kolzig's contract this year. As for next year, if the Sens were to win the Cup with Lalime he'd be due a raise that wouldn't be too far off what Kolzig would make anyways. Kolzig could stay in Ottawa for a season and pass the torch to Prusek and Sens uber goalie prospect Ray Emery the next year.
