Michael Sharp: Hockey Blogger Extraordinaire

For anyone with an interest in following the progress of Ottawa's prospects, and the Binghamton AHL team for which many of them play, Michael Sharp's blog, Sharp on Sens, is invaluable.

Here's a recap of his latest and greatest.

"We were the quickest team in the tournament" - new Bingo head coach Don Nachbaur's impressions of the rookie tournament in Kitchener.

"I thought all the drafted players, and the free agents that showed up, were outstanding," he said. "Had a tremendous show. I thought within the tournament our scouts did a really good job of assembling young talent, and we really utilized our speed. We were the quickest team in that tournament, and consequently, we were able to score some big numbers throughout the tournament.

"But names? Our young goaltender (Robin Lehner) was outstanding. Jimmy O'Brien was good. Condra had an excellent camp. (Keegan) Dansereau. I mean, we go through the list of guys -- I thought everybody had a real decent showing for themselves."

Lehner in 2010? - Binghamton General Manager Tim Murray talks about Robin Lehner.

"Obviously, he's committed and we've committed for him to go to (the OHL's Soo Greyhounds) this year, but we'll see the year he has in the Soo," Ottawa assistant GM Tim Murray said. "We'll see who we have coming back. As you know in the American League, there's a lot of one-year deals, and guys moving on to better opportunities, or perceived better opportunities. So, yeah, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that at 19-turning-20, he'd be playing in Binghamton."

Rookie Watch: Jim O'Brien - Binghamton General Manager Tim Murray talks about Jim O'Brien.

"He had a good tournament. Jimmy's biggest thing is consistency, I think, as any player. And strength. And early in the shift, he's really jumping and flying, and later on in the shift, you can see his strength and stamina and skating suffer a little bit. And I find that with most young players. He's got a good head on his shoulders. I think he can play both ends of the rink. He can shoot the puck. I think it's just a matter of, again, the grind. Him moving to Seattle (in the WHL) two years ago from (the University of) Minnesota I think will really help that area of it. I think he's grown up a lot, and he wants to be a player. So, he'll have an opportunity to play with good players down there, and we'll just see what he does."

Kaspars Daugavins Update - recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and almost ready for contact.

Not Your Typical Prospect

Peter R. over at SilverSeven has an interesting post about Jeremy Yablonski. He was originally signed to an AHL deal for this season but the team tore it up and signed him to a 2-way deal, and AGM Tim Murray had this to say.

"Well, we're going to give him an opportunity for sure," Murray said. "We had contract space. You're allowed 50 NHL contracts, (so) we had contract space. I think he's done everything we've asked him to do the two previous years down there. He's been a great teammate. He's fought for his teammates. He's been very professional about it. He fights for the right reasons, and he's certainly not an idiot the way some of those big guys can be. He's been great, so I guess as a bit of a reward -- it gives him the opportunity to come to camp and earn a job, rather than just come to camp and get sent down right away. And it gets it (done), we don't have to do (the contract) in camp if he plays well in camp. And it doesn't give another team an opportunity to give him an NHL deal. So I think it was good for him and good for us.

He's not going to see much if any icetime but his is an interesting story line to follow. Very much the antithesis of Dany Heatley and his me-first attitude.

SensBuzz: Summer 2009 Sens Top 10 Prospects

SensBuzz has analyzed the Top 10 Senators Prospects.

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Jared Cowen
3. Ilya Zubov
4. Peter Regin
5. Patrick Wiercioch
6. Jim O'Brien
7. Louie Caporusso
8. Erik Condra
9. Robin Lehner
10. Zack Smith