Veteran defenceman Sergei Gonchar signs with Ottawa Senators

[foxman]

Veteran defenceman Sergei Gonchar has signed a three-year contract with the Ottawa Senators worth $5.5 million per year.

The contract also includes a no-trade clause.

Sens GM Bryan Murray had been said to be looking for a puck-moving blueliner and he did so in acquiring the Russian powerplay quarterback.

Gonchar had 11 goals and 39 assists for the Pens last season.

[BogeyGolf]

I like the idea of having Gonchar quaterbacking the powerplay, but I don't know about 3 years and a no trade clause....

[jonf]

We just got an older, more injury prone, offsensive defenseman, instead of re-signing a stellar defensive defenseman. I don't get the logic of signing an offensive D-man for more money than Volchenkov, on a team sorely lacking in defensive talent. Welcome Kovalev the second. Gonchar is a great talent, but is aging, and will not be worth anywhere near 5.5 by his final year. We just downgraded d-men, while increasing the tab.

[fundonny]

Wow, it would be SOOOOOOOOOO nice if we got this type of defenseman in his prime.... Sigh.

[justsomeguy]

We just got an older, more injury prone, offsensive defenseman, instead of re-signing a stellar defensive defenseman. I don't get the logic of signing an offensive D-man for more money than Volchenkov, on a team sorely lacking in defensive talent. Welcome Kovalev the second. Gonchar is a great talent, but is aging, and will not be worth anywhere near 5.5 by his final year. We just downgraded d-men, while increasing the tab.

It ain't the 90's anymore. You need defencemen who can skate, pass and shoot in today's NHL, and Gonchar is not the defensive liability that he used to be. They still have Phillips and Carkner if they need to push people around.

I agree with BogeyGolf - great pickup for the PP (which has been a longstanding problem), but 3-years with a no-trade is a bit worrisome.

[sensfan63]

We just got an older, more injury prone, offsensive defenseman, instead of re-signing a stellar defensive defenseman. I don't get the logic of signing an offensive D-man for more money than Volchenkov, on a team sorely lacking in defensive talent. Welcome Kovalev the second. Gonchar is a great talent, but is aging, and will not be worth anywhere near 5.5 by his final year. We just downgraded d-men, while increasing the tab.

Disagree with the term "injury prone." Sure, the last two years he's been bitten by the injury bug. However, in the previous five seasons, he's only missed a handful of games per year (an average of 6, I believe).

The Senators, for once, took a chance on a bona fide stud. Gonchar will upgrade the PP immediately, take some pressure off of Kuba and allow him to play the #3 d-man role, where he should be.

I like it. We don't need to block shots. We need to score more goals.

[chris_woods]

agree with sensfan, Volchenkov only played 64 games last year and usually plays about that every year. When Kuba was out of the lineup Karlsson played just about the entire pp and now with the help of Gonchar I think he will wake up kovalev and help him score more goals from his famous spot on the pp. We still have Phillips, Kuba, and even Cowen who will be coming up in the next year or two. Gonchar tore us up whenever he played against us, I think he will be a great addition to our club.

[orangeTANG]

Wonder how many more pucks the goalies will save with Voltchenkov out of their way. I'm sure a lot of goals and frustrations were because he was in the crease with them. Sure he saved a few that were going in the net, but I've never seen a player in any sport interfere so much with his own goalie.