Senators Sign Sergei Gonchar
Sergei Gonchar’s foray into free agency on July 1 was a rather short-lived experience. The former Pittsburgh Penguins defence was signed within minutes of his contract expiration and will now be an Ottawa Senator.
The Senators have reportedly signed the 36-year-old defence man to a three-year contract that will pay $5.5 million annually and also includes a no-trade clause.
This signing does not quite ail the Senators defensive woes, as their top blue-liner Anton Volchenkov was signed away to the New Jersey Devils and No. 2 defence man Andy Sutton will likely be departing during this off-season as well.
The addition of Gonchar gives the Senators a new offensive-minded back line. With Volchenkov and Sutton, Ottawa’s defence was the traditional shot-blocking physical type, but under Gonchar they should expand their counter-attacks and rush opportunities.
Gonchar spoke excitedly of the signing. He said: "I played against Ottawa in last season's play-offs [with the Penguins] and I saw how good they are, and they were close to making the next step to go far in the play-offs. I do believe I can help them with that. Also, playing in Canada is something special. Every time I play in Canada I always play better, and I enjoy playing there. That's another reason I wanted to sign with them."
Ottawa’s lack of play-off success has been blamed mainly on their stagnant stationary back line and general manager Bryan Murray and coach Cory Clouston think that with Gonchar the dynamic will shift.
Gonchar will be added to a line-up that includes Filip Kuba and Erik Karlsson, both of whom were Ottawa’s best scoring defensemen. Gonchar should be a valuable mentor to both players and is going to play a large role in a reshaped defence.
"We're going to have the puck now so we won't have to block the shots," Murray told reporters in Ottawa. Without Volchenkov and Sutton that will be a necessity, as Sutton had 204 blocked shots last season and Volchenkov had 172. They ranked second and eighth in the National Hockey League respectively.
Gonchar is an entirely different breed of defence-man, and although he is fundamentally sound at blue-line protection, his true worth comes from his up-ice contributions. Over the course of his five seasons in Pittsburgh, Gonchar managed 259 points on 54 goals and 205 assists in 322 games. Over a combined 20 years of NHL playing time, Volchenkov and Sutton have had 230 total points.
Gonchar’s scoring ability made him the Senators’ No. 1 free agency target. "We made the call right at 12:01 and basically made a proposal and they obviously accepted it," Murray said. "It adds a great deal to our team -- backend mobility, point on the power play. It's how you win games in the League now."
This signing should also help the Senators placate their star centre, Jason Spezza. Last month Spezza stated that he wouldn’t mind being traded, but Murray is counting on him wanting to stay and play with Gonchar.
"I've already talked to him and talked to his agent several times," Murray said. "I told Rick Curran, who is the agent, that in the next week or two what we'll do is just sit down and have a meeting to make sure he understands what we're doing. Hopefully he's not as frustrated at the end of next year when we beat someone in the first round rather than losing in the first round as we did this year."
Murray said he is done with signing agents, so this leaves the Senators with a slight predicament regarding the other open defensive position. If they can fill that position accordingly, Murray’s predictions of advancing in the play-offs may actually become a reality.
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