Gord Stellick (GS): Hey all welcome to Hockey Night In Canada Radio Show on CBC Sirius Radio, I’m Gord Stellick along with Kelly Hrude. It’s almost that time again, the chill is starting to set in which only means one thing doesn’t Kelly?
Kelly Hrude (KH): Yes it does, it means its hockey season. It is going to be defiantly interesting this season in the OTHL, this free agency was long, but it showed some big moves. Today were starting a team by team preview, and first up is the Ottawa Senators.
GS: Neil Burkholder will stop by in studio and promised to stay awhile and talk about what happened with the Senators this offseason. A lot of big moves happened for the Sens. Which is encouraging after last year’s dismal season for them.
KH: Yeah that team has always had success with former GM Alex Snyder, after he left they brought in former GM Alex Tousignant, and he overhauled the roster and it wasn’t looking right, which caused his firing in middle of the season.
GS: Got to be fair though Alex Tousignant left the Senators in good terms towards the future with his moves of picking up high end prospects, which many teams were wishing they had them now.
KH: Your right Gord, looking at some of their prospects if some of them pan out to their potential there could be a major power swing in the Northeastern Division.
GS: We’re going to step out just for a second because Ottawa Senators general manager Neil Burkholder has just arrived, so we’ll step out and we’ll be back.
KH: Welcome back to Hockey Night in Canada Radio and we are joined with Neil Burkholder in studio the general manager of the Ottawa Senators, Welcome.
Neil Burkholder (NB): I’m glad to be here, I listen to your show religiously, thanks for having me.
GS: So your entering your first full season in Ottawa, how has it been so far coming out East.
NB: We’ll as you guys probably already know, I grew up, and live in Michigan in the offseason so I love being close to home, and being in the same time zone is nice. Don’t get me wrong I loved being out in Vancouver, but that three hours was rough getting on schedule for the first month or so, once I got my clock in check I was fine.
KH: Let’s start from the beginning of your general manager career you were a surprise hire for the Canucks back in 2009-10 season. You took over a Vancouver Canuck team that just went through a dispersal draft, and the team was pretty much depleted from a team it use to be.
NB: Yeah it was defiantly a big challenge for me, many felt like that first season we were going to be bottom feeders and many thought that is what my plans were going to end up being is blowing up and starting from scratch. Instead I stayed status quo and ended up turning out a great playoff season lead by Alex Tanguay, and Jere Lehtinen. The old timers and veteran leadership really showed the test of time, and kept the team together and we were in a big division fight with the Edmonton Oilers and we did our job and beat them to win the division. Ultimately the Oilers got the last laugh and swept us out of the playoffs.
GS: That offseason you wanted to make some big deals and change the makeup of the franchise.
NB: Yeah I had to, I kept the core together and us signing Alex Tanguay to a one year extension helped us a lot. He was a warrior for us, and we went out and acquired Marian Hossa, and acquired some good depth which lead to us winning the President’s Trophy, and you got to admit that was the coming out year for Jonathan Quick. Johnny had a great year and signed to a reasonable contract for us then, and we were able to build around him. Again our offense went really cold, Coach Sutter thought that we should of let Marian Hossa play less. and I think that hurt the team psyche and again we got swept out again, this time by division rival the Calgary Flames. I couldn’t believe it happened twice because we went out and got Alexander Frolov and he played very well for us down the stretch, this time it just stopped.
KH: Then that leads to last season where you were supposed to produce, after making a blockbuster and added in Dany Heatley, signing Olli Jokinen to play with his little brother Jussi, and Ales Hemsky, along with a Vezina winner Jonathan Quick, but it ended badly.
NB: Agreed, it was good. There was no excuse for it, just wasn’t good, our depth got depleted a little bit, and don’t forget we lost Alex Tanguay to free agency, and it was really just a combination of everything, it didn’t work and I take responsibility for it. Our team wasn’t deep as our other rosters and injuries ended up making the team screwed.
GS: Did that ultimately cost you your job in Vancouver?
NB: It was a mutual decision, see I signed a three year contract. It was coming up at end of this past season, I was talking to the Aquilini and they weren’t happy with our performance overall the past two seasons with short playoff exits. Then a terrible start didn’t help, at the All-Star break I was told I wouldn’t be back for the 2012-13 season, and I resigned so they could bring someone in who can put their mark on their team at the trade deadline. They brought in Michael Cooley who has done a good job with the club and got them close to a playoff run, but feel short.
KH: Were you angry with Aquilini family, because some suggest there was internal struggle of power?
NB: Not that I know of, they were good owners and really stayed out of the hockey decisions. That was my call and that was my fault, This is a business where you have to produce, if you don’t you get fired. There is no second place, its winning and if you don’t win you can go just like that, I know. I do know in December, the Detroit Red Wings did contact the Aquilini’s and wanted to know my availability, because they were thinking about a change and talked to my agent, before the Aquilini’s which caused problems, but again that was my fault. I knew it was time for me to move on, because it wasn’t working. I’ll always be grateful for the Aquilini’s for what they did for me, and I wish them nothing but the best. I was rooting for the Canucks to pull it off and make the playoffs, and will always root for them, if were not playing against them.
GS: How long were you unemployed for? It seemed like just a few minutes after you resigned you were hired by the Ottawa Senators?
NB: Yeah I was going to head home to Detroit, and just relax and see what happens down the road, A day later my agent got that call from Eugene Melnyk and wanted to know if I would be interested in their general manager spot. My agent called and told me, and I was a little luke warm on it, a couple hours later Eugene called again and flew me out to Ottawa I met him and Ron Wilson, and I got itch once I got off the private jet, and I signed that five year contract with the Sens.
KH: What sold you on Ottawa?
NB: Honestly what sold me was Mr. Melnyk, he has a passion for hockey, and is one of those owners who will sign off on a big signing, or a trade if it makes sense for us. He is a great guy, and expects a good product in return. In return I’ll do that, when I took over I went to work and reworked this franchise, and I feel like we did an amazing job this offseason. I do feel we have really closed the gap on some of the Eastern Conference powerhouses.
GS: We have to go to break, but we’ll be back again with Neil Burkholder from the Ottawa Senators.
(Commercials)
KH: Welcome back, were still here with Neil Burkholder, for another segment. We left saying you closed the gap.
NB: Yeah I do this offseason was going to be a defining point for us. During our preliminary offseason plans we could of went two different ways. The way we took, or we had another blockbuster that was potentially would of changed our team, and maybe even the Western Conference for that matter as well. Heading into the offseason we were getting offers on Bobby Ryan and around draft day the Nashville Predators had interest and we were close to getting the same deal that Columbus got on Alex Pietrangelo. We were still going to trade up from #9 to #3 and we could have had the #2, #3, and #7 picks in the draft Maybe a name here or there difference. Once that deal feel apart we moved forward and heard that Marian Gaborik was available in Los Angeles, so two days before the Draft we made the trade.
GS: Wow that would have been a huge deal, and it would of changed your makeup the league. Ah that is where the never ending deal started.
(Chuckles from Gord, Kelly, and Neil)
NB: Yeah it was, the league Board of Directors made a rule, where there was a complete one year no movement clause on Unrestricted Free Agents. Which is a great rule, the only issue I have with it is once the season is over it should be lifted it cut down draft day trades and really what does two months really matter? They still played the season with the club they signed with, but it made the draft interesting from that standpoint. We had to call Los Angeles scouts on our #17th, and 24th overall picks to see who they wanted to select, so really Malcolm Subban, and Matt Finn is who they wanted. We held them as our property but told them do not participate in our offseason prospect camps. Since they won’t be here with us. So we waited till the one year mark and went through the team office, and the traded got voided again because UFA didn’t start right away, then a month later it was lifted and sent it through again then it went under review, and we decided that we would adjust the offer and added in Ben Hanowski, and a 4th round pick to get Marian. Once that Bobby Ryan deal to Nashville feel apart we decided we had to go for it.
KH: Well in the meantime you went out and traded Bobby Ryan to New Jersey anyways, what made you decide to do that?
NB: Two reason, first was we really wanted to keep Bobby Ryan, but the problem was when Bobby heard he was possibly headed to Nashville he wasn’t happy, it wasn’t a forsure thing we were going to even trade him, but he forced our hand and wanted to be dealt. We talked to a few teams and we were looking to fill some holes. We have some and we wanted to compete once Marian is on board, and we couldn’t fill our roster in free agency because it’s not realistic. So we went out and got three solid contributors in Berglund, Read, Grossman, Jenner, and two picks to go along made it a good deal for us. I believe you have to have depth the two successful seasons in Vancouver we had depth, especially scoring, and our fourth line checking slash defensive line. So we came to a deal, and that’s why it happened.
GS: A deal that went really under the radar was trading out Joni Pitkanen, and a 2012 first round pick and 2012 third round pick to Calgary for Devin Setoguchi, Andrew Cogliano, and Ron Hainsey, and a late round pick.
NB: Again I put premium on depth and we were lacking scoring ability, While we like Joni a lot our problem was his durability comes in question. He is a good puck moving defenseman, but we felt his durability won’t stand the test of time, We feel like Ron Hainsey fits more towards our defensive style. Devin Setoguchi is a great young scorer who can score twenty goals to thirty goals for us, and can pass the puck around, and Andrew Cogliano can be a solid two way forward for us. We feel like those picks are just picks, we have a lot of top end prospects already where we can gamble on it.
KH: Speaking about a lot of picks you guys ended up with seventeen selections I’m not counting Matt Finn, or Malcolm Subban. Then you traded Wojtek Wolski to New York for two more 2012 Draft prospects including 2nd round pick Brock McGinn, and goalie Sean Maguire. You traded with division rival and picked up mid to late round picks for 2013 picks.
NB: Yeah a lot of people were hyping this draft up, but injuries happened which caused nervousness to this class, and we felt like there are some really talented kids in here, and the selling of picks was really low for the cost so we took some picks and made the moves. There projects outside of our third overall pick Alex Galchenyuk who I believe will be a superstar in the OTHL. That we traded up for. We took hard working, and high character players like Coda Gordon, Logan Nelson, Connor Brown. Kids like those always get passed over and most of the time they make it and you got to take the risk. We got skilled kids as well like Samuel Fejes who is very talented, Erik Nystrom who is small but was playing in SEL as an eighteen year old, a speedy winger in Francis Beauvillier, and we took flyers on hulking defenseman and most were 6 foot four plus, outside of Nick Walters who played with second overall pick Ryan Murray.
GS: What really opened up the draft was the blockbuster with Anaheim that saw you move up from number nine to number three to pick up Alex Galchenyuk. You paid a hefty price of a 2nd round pick, Tyson Barrie, Markus Grandlund, and Bill Arnold.
NB: We did pay a lot, Markus Grandlund, and Bill Arnold doesn’t have the skill that Alex Galchenyuk has. Alex is a true number one center who can pass, and score, and is super deadly. If you look at our future if they turn out to potential a center combo of Alex Galchenyuk, and Ryan Strome, look out. That is devastating duo that can electrify OTHL, and can be a cornerstone to a dynasty.
KH: You now have set yourself up now with last years Los Angeles Kings first line with acquiring Michael Ryder? You paid a hefty price of highly touted prospect Beau Bennett, prospect Daniel Catenacci, a second round, and third round pick in the 2014 Draft.
NB: Yeah we had to make a move of big proportions, we saw there was limited group of free agents and nobody but two left wingers who could score thirty plus goals, one was going to get close to nine million and is suited best at center, and the other one we were interested in, we made a very nice offer to him, but we were on the outside looking in, so we went out via the trade market. We actually talked about Michael Ryder during our discussions with Marian Gaborik before the draft. At that time we thought the price was going to be to high, it turns out we paid more later on. We love the deal on our side you add a impact goal scorer for futures. We didn’t give up a roster players, and futures are gambles, but we do believe Beau and Daniel have incredible talent and will play in the OTHL, they just need time to develop. They were in our second tier of prospects.
GS: Looking at facts you have picked up forty percent Los Angeles’s goal scoring last season with Gaborik, Lecavalier, and Ryder.
NB: Yeah just in our Bobby Ryan trade, and picking up those three we added seventy five goals from last year with Gabby, Vinny, Mike, Patrik Berglund, and Michael Read. That’s not including Devin, or Andrew from Calgary. With them added were looking at over 100+ new goals from last year. It just shows were going to have a very, very potent offense, and how are teams going to stop a team that is rolling out three consistent scoring lines?
KH: You went out and signed veteran forward Chuck Kobasew to a one year deal, what was your reasoning behind bringing him to Ottawa?
NB: Well you need some depth in case of injury, we felt like he would be a nice addition in case of a injury we can plug him in on one the wing and not lose a beat on the fourth line. We’ll keep him on our pro club and when a injury occurs we’ll bring him up and see what he can do for us.
GS: Lastly you finished the free agency period with signing veteran defender Toni Lydman to a three year deal. What type of roll do you think he’ll play on your club?
NB: We love what Toni brings to us, he is a steady shut down defender, and when you can get one in the free agency market you make the move which we did. We were shopping around and were in on all of the top tier defenders this offseason, and were happy with what Toni can do for us. We can line him up with Robyn Reghner and they can shut down offenses. In our division, and with Tuukka starting for his first official season having a full six competent defense will mean a few wins at end of the year.
KH: We have to go to another break, Neil can you stay for one more segment?
NB: Yeah I can stay for another segment.
KH: Great, we’ll be right back.
(Commercials)
GS: Welcome back were here for segment number three with Ottawa Senators GM Neil Burkholder. It has been an open book back from his days in Vancouver, till how he got the job in Ottawa, his blockbuster trades, and we just went through the draft, now lastly we’ll finish on the most recent. The free agency period.
NB: Yeah it was a crazy for us, I have to admit, in Vancouver we were active, but we wanted to make a huge splash so we were nibbling around on everything. The biggest fish out there was Jarome Iginla and I would of loved him wearing red and black, but didn’t have a spot for him, On the right side we were packed. That left really two more big names Patrick Marleau and Vincent Lecavalier. We focused in on offense this year so we were talking to both and Vincent seemed like a better overall fit for us. He played with Marian Gaborik last year and really created some magic and those two almost single handily made the playoffs for them.
KH: You gave out a massive contract, but his numbers hasn’t lived up to the cap hit?
NB: Well know his worst season has been sixty-five points back with the Predators in the 2010-11 Season. He scored 70 points last season, and a lot of players would die to have that. We feel like you add Vinny to Gabby, and Ryder, so Vinny should be racking some points, so the contract really is a non issue, we tried to cap conscious incase the Cap goes down next year, but we have close to twenty five million coming off the books, and I tried to keep a nice cushion for a mid-season trade if need be.
GS: You have totally remade the team, how do you feel you guys have so far?
NB: Great question Gord. Well lets see when I took over our roster had pro talent but largely we had to make a choice to either A… Go with the rebuilding mode, or B…. Build the Senators back up, which was the route we took. Since I took over we have revamped the team, we are bringing back eight players from last year. Our prospect pool is very deep still, even though we don’t have really any picks in this years draft, but we again we drafted nineteen players and they are going through the system, and we want them to take their time. I feel like we could be a great team this year, and for many years after.
KH: Last question what is your goal for this season? What will make you say the season was a success.
NB: That’s an easy question. Winning the Stanley Cup, I hate losing and last year wore on me, and every year we were bounced out of the playoffs early made me a bear for my family when I came home. Fact is, it’s Stanley Cup or not a successful year. Every team should have that mindset. We feel like we have the team to do it. I’m anxious to get this season on their way, and get to work.
Kelly Hrude (KH): Yes it does, it means its hockey season. It is going to be defiantly interesting this season in the OTHL, this free agency was long, but it showed some big moves. Today were starting a team by team preview, and first up is the Ottawa Senators.
GS: Neil Burkholder will stop by in studio and promised to stay awhile and talk about what happened with the Senators this offseason. A lot of big moves happened for the Sens. Which is encouraging after last year’s dismal season for them.
KH: Yeah that team has always had success with former GM Alex Snyder, after he left they brought in former GM Alex Tousignant, and he overhauled the roster and it wasn’t looking right, which caused his firing in middle of the season.
GS: Got to be fair though Alex Tousignant left the Senators in good terms towards the future with his moves of picking up high end prospects, which many teams were wishing they had them now.
KH: Your right Gord, looking at some of their prospects if some of them pan out to their potential there could be a major power swing in the Northeastern Division.
GS: We’re going to step out just for a second because Ottawa Senators general manager Neil Burkholder has just arrived, so we’ll step out and we’ll be back.
KH: Welcome back to Hockey Night in Canada Radio and we are joined with Neil Burkholder in studio the general manager of the Ottawa Senators, Welcome.
Neil Burkholder (NB): I’m glad to be here, I listen to your show religiously, thanks for having me.
GS: So your entering your first full season in Ottawa, how has it been so far coming out East.
NB: We’ll as you guys probably already know, I grew up, and live in Michigan in the offseason so I love being close to home, and being in the same time zone is nice. Don’t get me wrong I loved being out in Vancouver, but that three hours was rough getting on schedule for the first month or so, once I got my clock in check I was fine.
KH: Let’s start from the beginning of your general manager career you were a surprise hire for the Canucks back in 2009-10 season. You took over a Vancouver Canuck team that just went through a dispersal draft, and the team was pretty much depleted from a team it use to be.
NB: Yeah it was defiantly a big challenge for me, many felt like that first season we were going to be bottom feeders and many thought that is what my plans were going to end up being is blowing up and starting from scratch. Instead I stayed status quo and ended up turning out a great playoff season lead by Alex Tanguay, and Jere Lehtinen. The old timers and veteran leadership really showed the test of time, and kept the team together and we were in a big division fight with the Edmonton Oilers and we did our job and beat them to win the division. Ultimately the Oilers got the last laugh and swept us out of the playoffs.
GS: That offseason you wanted to make some big deals and change the makeup of the franchise.
NB: Yeah I had to, I kept the core together and us signing Alex Tanguay to a one year extension helped us a lot. He was a warrior for us, and we went out and acquired Marian Hossa, and acquired some good depth which lead to us winning the President’s Trophy, and you got to admit that was the coming out year for Jonathan Quick. Johnny had a great year and signed to a reasonable contract for us then, and we were able to build around him. Again our offense went really cold, Coach Sutter thought that we should of let Marian Hossa play less. and I think that hurt the team psyche and again we got swept out again, this time by division rival the Calgary Flames. I couldn’t believe it happened twice because we went out and got Alexander Frolov and he played very well for us down the stretch, this time it just stopped.
KH: Then that leads to last season where you were supposed to produce, after making a blockbuster and added in Dany Heatley, signing Olli Jokinen to play with his little brother Jussi, and Ales Hemsky, along with a Vezina winner Jonathan Quick, but it ended badly.
NB: Agreed, it was good. There was no excuse for it, just wasn’t good, our depth got depleted a little bit, and don’t forget we lost Alex Tanguay to free agency, and it was really just a combination of everything, it didn’t work and I take responsibility for it. Our team wasn’t deep as our other rosters and injuries ended up making the team screwed.
GS: Did that ultimately cost you your job in Vancouver?
NB: It was a mutual decision, see I signed a three year contract. It was coming up at end of this past season, I was talking to the Aquilini and they weren’t happy with our performance overall the past two seasons with short playoff exits. Then a terrible start didn’t help, at the All-Star break I was told I wouldn’t be back for the 2012-13 season, and I resigned so they could bring someone in who can put their mark on their team at the trade deadline. They brought in Michael Cooley who has done a good job with the club and got them close to a playoff run, but feel short.
KH: Were you angry with Aquilini family, because some suggest there was internal struggle of power?
NB: Not that I know of, they were good owners and really stayed out of the hockey decisions. That was my call and that was my fault, This is a business where you have to produce, if you don’t you get fired. There is no second place, its winning and if you don’t win you can go just like that, I know. I do know in December, the Detroit Red Wings did contact the Aquilini’s and wanted to know my availability, because they were thinking about a change and talked to my agent, before the Aquilini’s which caused problems, but again that was my fault. I knew it was time for me to move on, because it wasn’t working. I’ll always be grateful for the Aquilini’s for what they did for me, and I wish them nothing but the best. I was rooting for the Canucks to pull it off and make the playoffs, and will always root for them, if were not playing against them.
GS: How long were you unemployed for? It seemed like just a few minutes after you resigned you were hired by the Ottawa Senators?
NB: Yeah I was going to head home to Detroit, and just relax and see what happens down the road, A day later my agent got that call from Eugene Melnyk and wanted to know if I would be interested in their general manager spot. My agent called and told me, and I was a little luke warm on it, a couple hours later Eugene called again and flew me out to Ottawa I met him and Ron Wilson, and I got itch once I got off the private jet, and I signed that five year contract with the Sens.
KH: What sold you on Ottawa?
NB: Honestly what sold me was Mr. Melnyk, he has a passion for hockey, and is one of those owners who will sign off on a big signing, or a trade if it makes sense for us. He is a great guy, and expects a good product in return. In return I’ll do that, when I took over I went to work and reworked this franchise, and I feel like we did an amazing job this offseason. I do feel we have really closed the gap on some of the Eastern Conference powerhouses.
GS: We have to go to break, but we’ll be back again with Neil Burkholder from the Ottawa Senators.
(Commercials)
KH: Welcome back, were still here with Neil Burkholder, for another segment. We left saying you closed the gap.
NB: Yeah I do this offseason was going to be a defining point for us. During our preliminary offseason plans we could of went two different ways. The way we took, or we had another blockbuster that was potentially would of changed our team, and maybe even the Western Conference for that matter as well. Heading into the offseason we were getting offers on Bobby Ryan and around draft day the Nashville Predators had interest and we were close to getting the same deal that Columbus got on Alex Pietrangelo. We were still going to trade up from #9 to #3 and we could have had the #2, #3, and #7 picks in the draft Maybe a name here or there difference. Once that deal feel apart we moved forward and heard that Marian Gaborik was available in Los Angeles, so two days before the Draft we made the trade.
GS: Wow that would have been a huge deal, and it would of changed your makeup the league. Ah that is where the never ending deal started.
(Chuckles from Gord, Kelly, and Neil)
NB: Yeah it was, the league Board of Directors made a rule, where there was a complete one year no movement clause on Unrestricted Free Agents. Which is a great rule, the only issue I have with it is once the season is over it should be lifted it cut down draft day trades and really what does two months really matter? They still played the season with the club they signed with, but it made the draft interesting from that standpoint. We had to call Los Angeles scouts on our #17th, and 24th overall picks to see who they wanted to select, so really Malcolm Subban, and Matt Finn is who they wanted. We held them as our property but told them do not participate in our offseason prospect camps. Since they won’t be here with us. So we waited till the one year mark and went through the team office, and the traded got voided again because UFA didn’t start right away, then a month later it was lifted and sent it through again then it went under review, and we decided that we would adjust the offer and added in Ben Hanowski, and a 4th round pick to get Marian. Once that Bobby Ryan deal to Nashville feel apart we decided we had to go for it.
KH: Well in the meantime you went out and traded Bobby Ryan to New Jersey anyways, what made you decide to do that?
NB: Two reason, first was we really wanted to keep Bobby Ryan, but the problem was when Bobby heard he was possibly headed to Nashville he wasn’t happy, it wasn’t a forsure thing we were going to even trade him, but he forced our hand and wanted to be dealt. We talked to a few teams and we were looking to fill some holes. We have some and we wanted to compete once Marian is on board, and we couldn’t fill our roster in free agency because it’s not realistic. So we went out and got three solid contributors in Berglund, Read, Grossman, Jenner, and two picks to go along made it a good deal for us. I believe you have to have depth the two successful seasons in Vancouver we had depth, especially scoring, and our fourth line checking slash defensive line. So we came to a deal, and that’s why it happened.
GS: A deal that went really under the radar was trading out Joni Pitkanen, and a 2012 first round pick and 2012 third round pick to Calgary for Devin Setoguchi, Andrew Cogliano, and Ron Hainsey, and a late round pick.
NB: Again I put premium on depth and we were lacking scoring ability, While we like Joni a lot our problem was his durability comes in question. He is a good puck moving defenseman, but we felt his durability won’t stand the test of time, We feel like Ron Hainsey fits more towards our defensive style. Devin Setoguchi is a great young scorer who can score twenty goals to thirty goals for us, and can pass the puck around, and Andrew Cogliano can be a solid two way forward for us. We feel like those picks are just picks, we have a lot of top end prospects already where we can gamble on it.
KH: Speaking about a lot of picks you guys ended up with seventeen selections I’m not counting Matt Finn, or Malcolm Subban. Then you traded Wojtek Wolski to New York for two more 2012 Draft prospects including 2nd round pick Brock McGinn, and goalie Sean Maguire. You traded with division rival and picked up mid to late round picks for 2013 picks.
NB: Yeah a lot of people were hyping this draft up, but injuries happened which caused nervousness to this class, and we felt like there are some really talented kids in here, and the selling of picks was really low for the cost so we took some picks and made the moves. There projects outside of our third overall pick Alex Galchenyuk who I believe will be a superstar in the OTHL. That we traded up for. We took hard working, and high character players like Coda Gordon, Logan Nelson, Connor Brown. Kids like those always get passed over and most of the time they make it and you got to take the risk. We got skilled kids as well like Samuel Fejes who is very talented, Erik Nystrom who is small but was playing in SEL as an eighteen year old, a speedy winger in Francis Beauvillier, and we took flyers on hulking defenseman and most were 6 foot four plus, outside of Nick Walters who played with second overall pick Ryan Murray.
GS: What really opened up the draft was the blockbuster with Anaheim that saw you move up from number nine to number three to pick up Alex Galchenyuk. You paid a hefty price of a 2nd round pick, Tyson Barrie, Markus Grandlund, and Bill Arnold.
NB: We did pay a lot, Markus Grandlund, and Bill Arnold doesn’t have the skill that Alex Galchenyuk has. Alex is a true number one center who can pass, and score, and is super deadly. If you look at our future if they turn out to potential a center combo of Alex Galchenyuk, and Ryan Strome, look out. That is devastating duo that can electrify OTHL, and can be a cornerstone to a dynasty.
KH: You now have set yourself up now with last years Los Angeles Kings first line with acquiring Michael Ryder? You paid a hefty price of highly touted prospect Beau Bennett, prospect Daniel Catenacci, a second round, and third round pick in the 2014 Draft.
NB: Yeah we had to make a move of big proportions, we saw there was limited group of free agents and nobody but two left wingers who could score thirty plus goals, one was going to get close to nine million and is suited best at center, and the other one we were interested in, we made a very nice offer to him, but we were on the outside looking in, so we went out via the trade market. We actually talked about Michael Ryder during our discussions with Marian Gaborik before the draft. At that time we thought the price was going to be to high, it turns out we paid more later on. We love the deal on our side you add a impact goal scorer for futures. We didn’t give up a roster players, and futures are gambles, but we do believe Beau and Daniel have incredible talent and will play in the OTHL, they just need time to develop. They were in our second tier of prospects.
GS: Looking at facts you have picked up forty percent Los Angeles’s goal scoring last season with Gaborik, Lecavalier, and Ryder.
NB: Yeah just in our Bobby Ryan trade, and picking up those three we added seventy five goals from last year with Gabby, Vinny, Mike, Patrik Berglund, and Michael Read. That’s not including Devin, or Andrew from Calgary. With them added were looking at over 100+ new goals from last year. It just shows were going to have a very, very potent offense, and how are teams going to stop a team that is rolling out three consistent scoring lines?
KH: You went out and signed veteran forward Chuck Kobasew to a one year deal, what was your reasoning behind bringing him to Ottawa?
NB: Well you need some depth in case of injury, we felt like he would be a nice addition in case of a injury we can plug him in on one the wing and not lose a beat on the fourth line. We’ll keep him on our pro club and when a injury occurs we’ll bring him up and see what he can do for us.
GS: Lastly you finished the free agency period with signing veteran defender Toni Lydman to a three year deal. What type of roll do you think he’ll play on your club?
NB: We love what Toni brings to us, he is a steady shut down defender, and when you can get one in the free agency market you make the move which we did. We were shopping around and were in on all of the top tier defenders this offseason, and were happy with what Toni can do for us. We can line him up with Robyn Reghner and they can shut down offenses. In our division, and with Tuukka starting for his first official season having a full six competent defense will mean a few wins at end of the year.
KH: We have to go to another break, Neil can you stay for one more segment?
NB: Yeah I can stay for another segment.
KH: Great, we’ll be right back.
(Commercials)
GS: Welcome back were here for segment number three with Ottawa Senators GM Neil Burkholder. It has been an open book back from his days in Vancouver, till how he got the job in Ottawa, his blockbuster trades, and we just went through the draft, now lastly we’ll finish on the most recent. The free agency period.
NB: Yeah it was a crazy for us, I have to admit, in Vancouver we were active, but we wanted to make a huge splash so we were nibbling around on everything. The biggest fish out there was Jarome Iginla and I would of loved him wearing red and black, but didn’t have a spot for him, On the right side we were packed. That left really two more big names Patrick Marleau and Vincent Lecavalier. We focused in on offense this year so we were talking to both and Vincent seemed like a better overall fit for us. He played with Marian Gaborik last year and really created some magic and those two almost single handily made the playoffs for them.
KH: You gave out a massive contract, but his numbers hasn’t lived up to the cap hit?
NB: Well know his worst season has been sixty-five points back with the Predators in the 2010-11 Season. He scored 70 points last season, and a lot of players would die to have that. We feel like you add Vinny to Gabby, and Ryder, so Vinny should be racking some points, so the contract really is a non issue, we tried to cap conscious incase the Cap goes down next year, but we have close to twenty five million coming off the books, and I tried to keep a nice cushion for a mid-season trade if need be.
GS: You have totally remade the team, how do you feel you guys have so far?
NB: Great question Gord. Well lets see when I took over our roster had pro talent but largely we had to make a choice to either A… Go with the rebuilding mode, or B…. Build the Senators back up, which was the route we took. Since I took over we have revamped the team, we are bringing back eight players from last year. Our prospect pool is very deep still, even though we don’t have really any picks in this years draft, but we again we drafted nineteen players and they are going through the system, and we want them to take their time. I feel like we could be a great team this year, and for many years after.
KH: Last question what is your goal for this season? What will make you say the season was a success.
NB: That’s an easy question. Winning the Stanley Cup, I hate losing and last year wore on me, and every year we were bounced out of the playoffs early made me a bear for my family when I came home. Fact is, it’s Stanley Cup or not a successful year. Every team should have that mindset. We feel like we have the team to do it. I’m anxious to get this season on their way, and get to work.
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