Silver Nuggets: Ooh Aah Silfverberg
When was the last time an Ottawa Senators forward prospect had this much hype heading into camp? And when was the last time the Senators had a rookie forward that could be considered to have as big an impact as Silfver is expected to?
Preamble: I currently live in Kingston (invitation for Adnan joke), and attend Queen's University. What that really means is I go to school with a pile of kids from Toronto, some of whom are even semi-knowledgeable Leaf fans. One such fan started to talk to me yesterday about the Senators, and wanted to know: Just who is this Jakob Silfverberg guy? Is he any good?
While answering this question, I felt a strange sensation in my loins in my heart, and decided Silfver would be the topic of discussion today.
Because let's face it, this kid is pretty exciting. At 21 he no longer had anything to prove in Sweden, he had captained his team to a championship while shattering the league record (established by Daniel Alfredsson during the last lockout) for goals in a playoff run. Then he was named the MVP of the league. Did I mention he was 21 at the time?
Now here is the fun thing about Silfverberg. In the summer, it was easy to temper expectations about the kid. He had never played on a smaller ice surface (invitation for Adnan ridicule), and players like Erik Karlsson have been on record saying it is very different. So there was going to be an adjustment period, and expectations would have to be adjusted, no matter how talented Jakob is.
But then there was the lockout. And Silfverberg had months to figure out the way the game works here. Lately? Oh he's only over a point per game recently in the AHL and by all accounts (and you better all be reading Bobby's work), he looks like he simply does not belong in the AHL.
Which brings us to now. A 48 game schedule, hard to know what to expect. But he has adapted, he has been playing competitive games, and it looks very likely that he slides into that first line spot alongside Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. How many goals/points does Silfver get in 48 games?
Sens Links
- Amelia does an incredible job building on our story from yesterday about the blue line and presents a few options available to GMBM. [SSS]
- Could we see AHL standout Robin Lehner start Ottawa's opening game? In a shortened season, margin of error is small, and Adnan suggests going with the guy that has been playing lights out in Bingo. [SSS]
- Some fun, Peter puts together some Silver Seven Awards. Mark commented over 10000 times in 2012. Goal this year? Sources say he's shooting for 100000. [SSS]
- Speaking of the opening game, rumour has it that our Senators will be opening the short season against the Jets, in the peg. [6thSens]
- Marc Methot is looking forward to playing with Erik Karlsson. In the summer it was between him and Cowen for that spot, but now that Jared Cowen is hurt, the spot is Methots. [SensExtra]
- Another interview transcribed by the 6th Sens, this time with the Paulrus. [6thSens]
- Interesting article by Scanlan about how the short season will skew fans perspectives about stats, wins etc. Really interesting. What is a good season with only 48 games? [Scanlan]
- UPDATE: The Maple Leafs fired Brian Burke LOL [PPP]